CONSTRUCTIVISM IN EDUCATION
Constructivism allows us as, as educators, the conceptual tools with which to view our students and how they learn in a way that is congruent with best practice. Until recently, “best practice” has been defined by traditional behaviorist definitions focused on student academic outcomes; constructivist “best” practice is a relatively new focus of research. “Constructivist best practice” in the past has been defined by practitioners and those observing them: by teacher anecdotal evidence, clinical observation, the success of affective and social teaching, and, increasingly, the positive relationship of constructivist teaching and academic success (Zins, Weissberg, Wang, & Walberg, 2004).
Constructivism is basically a theory based on observation and scientific study about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students’ preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them.
For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem in physics. Though the teacher knows the “answer” to the problem, she focuses on helping students restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine his or her current knowledge. When one of the students comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher seizes upon it, and indicates to the group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not help) them to better understand the concept.
Students are not blank slates upon which knowledge is etched. They come to learning situations with already formulated knowledge, ideas, and understandings. This previous knowledge is the raw material for the new knowledge they will create. The student is the person who creates new understanding for herself. The teacher coaches, moderates, suggest, but allow the students room to experiment, ask questions, try things that don’t work. Learning activities require the students’ full participation. An important part of the learning process is that students reflect on, and talk about, their activities. Students also help set their own goals and means of assessment.
The chart below compares the traditional classroom to the constructivist one.
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Curriculum begins with the parts of the whole. Emphasizes basic skills. |
Curriculum emphasizes big concepts, beginning with the whole and expanding to include the parts. |
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Strict adherence to fixed curriculum is highly valued. |
Pursuit of student questions and interests is valued. |
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Materials are primarily textbooks and workbooks. |
Materials include primary sources of material and manipulative materials. |
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Learning is based on repetition. |
Learning is interactive, building on what the student already knows. |
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Teachers disseminate information to students; students are recipients of knowledge. |
Teachers have a dialogue with students, helping students construct their own knowledge. |
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Teacher’s role is directive, rooted in authority. |
Teacher’s role is interactive, rooted in negotiation. |
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Assessment is through testing, correct answers. |
Assessment includes student works, observations, and points of view, as well as tests. Process is as important as product. |
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Knowledge is seen as inert. |
Knowledge is seen as dynamic, ever changing with our experiences. |
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Students work primarily alone. |
Students work primarily in groups. |
They are the benefits of constructivism:
- Children learn more, and enjoy learning more when they are actively involved, rather than passive listeners.
- Education works best when it concentrates on thinking and understanding, rather than on rote memorization. Constructivism concentrates on learning how to think and understand.
- Constructivist learning is transferable. In constructivist classrooms, students create organizing principles that they can take with them to other learning settings
- By grounding learning activities in an authentic, real-world context, constructivism stimulates and engages students. Students in constructivist classrooms learn to question things and to apply their natural curiosity to the world.
- Constructivism promotes social and communication skills by creating a classroom environment that emphasizes collaboration and exchange of ideas. Students must learn how to articulate their ideas clearly as well as to collaborate on tasks effectively by sharing in group projects. Students must therefore exchange ideas and so must learn to “negotiate” with others and to evaluate their contributions in a socially acceptable manner. This is essential to success in the real world, since they will always be exposed to a variety of experiences in which they will have to cooperate and navigate among the ideas of others.
Conclusion
The principles of constructivism, increasingly influential in the organization of classrooms and curricula in schools, can be applied to learning in museums. The principles appeal to our modern views of learning and knowledge but conflict with traditional museum practices. We need to reflect on our practice in order to apply these ideas to our work.
BEHAVIOURISM IN EDUCATION
Behaviorism is described as a developmental theory that measures observable behaviors produced by a learner’s response to stimuli. Responses to stimuli can be reinforced with positive or negative feedback to condition desired behaviors. Punishment is sometimes used in eliminating or reducing incorrect actions, followed by clarifying desired actions. Educational effects of behaviorism are keys in developing basic skills and foundations of understanding in all subject areas and in classroom management.
Behaviorism is focus on behaviors that can be observed only. Behaviorism deals with the consequences of behavior and those behaviors can be rewarded or punished. For example, a reward would consist of some sort of praise like stickers, treats, food, and shopping. Punishment would consist of no play time, extra chores, and taking away items. These are some of the key consequences of behavior. Reward reinforcements can strengthen behaviors or increase the behavior for example, giving praise promotes good behavior. Punishments goal is to decrease the behavior or likelihood of it happening again for example, if the child is acting out the get extra work or no recess.
The theory of reasoned action states that individual performance of a given behavior is primarily determined by a person’s intention to perform that behavior. This intention is determined by two major factors: the person’s attitude toward the behavior (example beliefs about the outcomes of the behavior and the value of these outcomes) and the influence of the person’s social environment or subjective norm (example beliefs about what other people think the person should do, as well as the person’s motivation to comply with the opinions of others). The theory of planned behavior adds to the theory of reasoned action the concept of perceived control over the opportunities, resources, and skills necessary to perform a behavior. The concept of perceived behavioral control is similar to the concept of self efficacy person’s perception of his or her ability to perform the behavior. Perceived behavioral control over opportunities, resources, and skills necessary to perform a behavior is believed to be a critical aspect of behavior change processes.
The underlying concept when it comes to behaviorism is the learning theory of reinforcement. By giving students a reward for doing well will keep the students interested in learning. Arranging the classrooms settings so that the teacher can observe the students behavior against the learning strategy that they have put forth for the students. Teachers may also want to create self-instructional materials that doesn’t require much instruction from them, which is called independent learning.
Using behaviorist theory in the classroom can be rewarding for both students and teachers. Behavioral change occurs for a reason; many students work for things that bring them positive feelings, and for approval from their peers. They may change their behaviors to satisfy the desires they have learned to value. They generally avoid behaviors they associate with unpleasantness and develop habitual behaviors from those that are repeated often (Parkay & Hass, 2000). The entire rationale of behavior modification is that most behavior is learned. If behaviors can be learned, then they can also be unlearned or relearned. Behavior is something that an individual has learned and does repeatedly. When there is a change or interruption in their environment, then there will be a change in the students’ behavior. Behaviorist learning theory is not only important in achieving desired behavior in mainstream education, special education teachers have classroom behavior modification plans to implement for their students. These plans assure success for these students in and out of school.
One example, used by two of our own group members, is using a token system to reinforce positive academic performance and student behavior. A classroom application of using drill and practice includes computer software, such as Math Blaster’s. These types of software provide positive and negative reinforcements for answering math problems correctly or incorrectly. A final example highlighting the behaviorist theory is rote memorization. Rote memorization may include memorizing addition or multiplication facts or memorizing state capitals.
The benefit of behaviorism is the fact that time is used more efficiently. Maybe the most important strength of behaviorism is the ease of application to real world examples. Measuring the outcome is much simpler. “The criticism of behaviorism normally comes from those who say it is too narrow, mechanical, and not humanistic” (Pulliam & Patten, 1999, p.170). “Skinner was a strong advocate of education, although many critics argue that what he meant by education is not education but “training”” (Ozmon and Craver, 1995, p. 223). Skinner thought that much of what others call education is not good education because it is not reinforcing, it does not motivate the students to grow and continue learning and it does not deal with direct reinforcement. Others argue that the education systems are just turning out robots, or people who will only know how to work for others and not think for themselves. Skinner thought we must use the technology and world around us to advance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.education.com/reference/article/behaviorism/
http://www.nelliemuller.com/effectiveclassroommanagementstrategiesfortechnology.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_teaching_methods
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index_sub6.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/constructivistlearning.html
Dwi Maryani Rispatiningsih 