Question

How can teachers create effective environments to encourage constructivist learning?
What are some key attributes of effective learning environments? Think about tangibles such as technology and equipment as well as intangibles such as classroom rules and standards of behavior and expectations for student work and interactions. How can teachers assess the environments they create? What underlying structure(s) do you need in the classroom to accommodate the aspects of constructivist teaching and learning related to social interaction among students? Make sure to think about how you would aid your students in acquiring this skill.

Answer 1

Constructivism is a learning theory that emphasizes student agency through self-guided exploration, reflection, and evaluation. It encourages students to reflect, evaluate their work, and identify intermediary skills to acquire based on their needs. It reflects our modern world's vast access to content.

In a constructivist classroom,  teachers create situations in which the students will question their own and each other's assumptions. In a similar way, a constructivist teacher creates situations in which he or she is able to challenge the assumptions upon which traditional teaching and learning are based.

A constructivist teacher and classroom differ from a traditional classroom in a number of ways: the learners are interactive and student-centered; and the teacher facilitates a process of learning in which students are encouraged to be responsible and autonomous.

Constructivist teaching is based on the belief that learning occurs as learners are actively involved in a process of meaning and knowledge construction as opposed to passively receiving information. Learners are the makers of meaning and knowledge. Construcivist teaching fosters critical thinking, and creates motivated and independent learners.

As a researcher of constructivist teaching, I visited one of the teachers classroom. His secondary language arts programme exemplified the attributes of constructivist teaching: learner-centered instruction in a democratic environment; active learners who build and create meaning and knowledge; learners who hypothesize, question, investigate, imagine and invent; learners who reflect and make associations with prior knowledge to reach new understandings.

A constructivist teacher and a constructivist classroom exhibit a number of discernable qualities markedly different from a traditional or direct instruction classroom. A constructivist teacher is able to flexibly and creatively incorporate ongoing experiences in the classroom into the negotiation and construction of lessons with small groups and individuals. The environment is democratic, the activites are interactive and student centered, and the students are empowered by a teacher who operates as a facilitator/consultant.

In shot Research suggests that constructivist teaching is an effective way to teach. It encourages active and meaningful learning and promotes responsibility and autonomy. Because constructivist teaching is beneficial in achieving desirable educational goals for students, it is important for teachers to grow professionally towards a constructivist practice.