Constructivism : Way to new learning

Pages: 276-279
Monika Choudhry (Tika Ram College of Education, Sonepat, Haryana)

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. Rooted in cognitive psychology and biology it is an approach that lays emphasis an the ways knowledge is created in order to adopt to the world. The learning goal is the highest order of learning, heuristic problem solving, meta-cognitive knowledge, creativity and originality. According to this theory, instructors have to adapt to the role of facilitators and not as teachers. 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. Constructivism gives teachers another perspective to rethink how students learn and to focus on cognitive process, provide ways of documenting change and transformation. In fact, constructivism taps into and triggers the student’s innate curiosity about the world and how things work. Isolated learning is an oxymoron. The current chapters highlights on the basic concept of constructivism, principles of constructivism, benefit, criticism, and educational implications