Constructivism in the Classroom

What kind of teacher are you in the classroom? Is your way of teaching student-centered or teacher-centered? Do you lecture or opt for group collaboration on solving an issue? As we begin to explore different learning theories (cognitive, behaviorist and constructivism approaches to learning) in this course, it makes you reflect on your ideas of how students learn best.

Since I only teach adults in higher education (18 years and up) I have students in the classroom with a foundation of prior knowledge. These students can read, write and understand basic math concepts (or so I hope :-) I find that with non-traditional students (ages 24+) they learn best using the constructivism approach to learning. They bring to the table many life experiences and enjoy group collaboration. I encourage group discussion/projects because it allows students to use problem-solving skills. In the class I am currently teaching, the answers to the questions posed don't always have right or wrong answers, therefore this approach to learning works very well in the classroom.

After conducting a little research on the web, I found that Jean Piaget, a Swiss philosopher born in the late 1800s, helped to shape (some say pioneer) the constructivism approach. He is pictured above.

Piaget's photo was taken from: http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/2000/scheepers_md/projects/loo/theory/construct.html