Week 8

CONSTRUCTIVISM AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM

Learners actively construct their own knowledge and meaning from their experiences.

(Fosnot, 1996: Steffe & Gale, 1995)

Types of Constructivism

• Cognitive Constructivism

• Social Constructivism

Cognitive Constructivism

• Associated with information processing and it’s reliance on the component processes of cognition.

• Knowledge acquisition is an adaptive process and results from active cognizing by the learner.

• Learning is the process of building accurate internal models or representations that mirror or reflect external structures that exist in the real world.

• Perspective on learning focuses on

-The procedures or processes of learning

-How what is learned is represented or symbolized in the mind

-H -How these representations are organized within the mind

Cognitive constructivism – authentic experiences are essential so that individual can construct an accurate representation of the real world.

A Theory of knowledge acquisition occurs amid 4 assumptions:

· Learning involves active cognitive processing

· Learning is adaptive

· Learning is subjective

· Learning involves both social/cultural and individual processes

S So

cial Constructivism

· Emphasizes the important of culture and context in understanding what occurs in society and constructing knowledge based on this understanding.

· Developmental theories of Vygotsky, Bruner and Bandura’s social cognitive theory

· Reality – reality is constructed through human activity

· Knowledge – knowledge is a human product and is socially and culturally constructed. Individual create meaning through their interactions with each other and with the environment they live in.

· Learning – view learning as a social process. Meaningful learning occurs when individual are engaged in social activities

GenGeneral perspectives of Social Constructivism on learning

· Cognitive tools perspective

· Idea-based social constructivism

· Pragmatic/emergent approach

· Transactional/situated cognitive perspectives

Co Cognitive tools perspective

· Focuses on learning of cognitive skills and strategies.

· Students engage in social learning activities that involve hands-on project-based methods. They produce a product and as a group impose meaning on it through the social learning process.

Vy Vgotsky’s Constructivism

· Social interaction in development of cognition

· Social learning precedes development

· MKO (More Knowledgeable Other)

· ZPD – distance between the actual development level as determined by the independent problem solving and level of potential development as determined through problem solving under MKO

· ZPD provide scaffolding

· Social interaction leads to increased knowledge

· Emphasized the important of culture and social context for cognitive development