In this week's video Dr. Orey stated that constructivism is when students "construct" their own meaning of something, while constructionism is when they build on something that they have already learned about (Orey 2007). I view constructivism as a theory in which students have the opportunity to get their hands into and actually build a knowledge base by being involved. Educators are fortunate in that there are several technological resources that make this learning construction possible. The first example given in the text "Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works" is spread sheets. When most of us this of spread sheet we think of a program called Microsoft Excel, but there are several different programs that have grown in popularity (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, p.204, 2007). When I think of spread sheets I have some anxiety. This tool can be very overwhelming at first, but with just a little training it may be used for seemingly endless possibilities. It can get you from point A to point B with out having to do all of the dirty work in the middle. I actually used a spread sheet in a class to track work out habits and caloric intake. It actually helped me to build a plan and a certain knowledge about energy intake vs. energy out put. What was most impressive to me was that I could create any type of graph that I wanted, so that I had that visual reassurance that my work actually had some positive results.
I believe that if students are actively involved and almost teaching themselves Then there is a high change for retention. Most students will remember their science projects from elementary school for their life time. The reason that they do is simple, because they had to develop a hypothesis and test it. The out come was not always what was expected, but the experience of actively learning about a specific subject was defiantly memorable.
Resources
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenowski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2007). "Constructionism and Constructivism". Presenter: Dr. Orey
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Hi Josh,
ReplyDeleteI think you made one very valid point - this type of learning provides relevant and memorable experience for students.
As you said it yourself, creating a spreadsheet is not something that too many people get excited about. However, it has many practical uses and if you get to make one to serve some purpose to you (monitoring your workout progress and/or calorie intake) your motivation to use one and learn as much as you can about will significantly increase.
Secondly, perhaps not as much with spreadsheets as with some other tools, these experience turn into episodic memories and are much easier to remember later on in life. For example, the 4th grades made tornadoes in the bottle today at my school, we build volcanoes,etc. For them that is so exciting. I am sure they will remember those things forever.
Hi, Josh.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that spreadsheets are a really useful tool that help cut out a lot of the menial work and give the learner/user more time to work with the data and less hassle with the actual formulas that create the data. I have only used them sporadically, and they do require a bit of training, but they are worth the use. I'd like to do something similar to your track spreadsheet with my 8th graders at some point. I'm still figuring out how to implement it.
I agree that students will retain more when they are in charge of the learning. There is a big difference in the way a constructivism classroom is structured. The focus tends to shift from the teacher to the students. The teacher’s role is now more as a facilitator, who coaches, mediates, prompts, and helps students develop an understanding of class concepts. I believe that this type of teaching fosters critical thinking skills, and creates motivated and independent students. I feel that students do learn more because they are fully emerged in the content.
ReplyDeleteJosh , I think you sum it up nice. The idea that we learn by doing is not something new. There is an old Confucius quote that goes: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." We can talk about application and theory on any subject all day but when you become involved in the application or test and trial then you comprehend a much more concrete understanding of any concept.
ReplyDeleteJosh,
ReplyDeleteI definitely have anxiety about using spread sheets and know very little about them. Did you have training on them or was it a trial and error situation?
Laura