Effective Constructivist Teaching Learning in the Classroom

Abstract

Constructivism has been a very powerful model for explaining how knowledge is produced in the world as well as how students learn. Moreover, constructivist teaching practices are becoming more prevalent in teacher education programs, while demonstrating significant success in promoting student learning. In this paper, the author takes a serious look at constructivist teaching practices highlighting both the promises and potential problems of these practices. The author argues that constructivist teaching has often been misinterpreted and misused, resulting in learning practices that neither challenge students nor address their needs. He outlines some of the ways in which constructivism has been misconstrued and analyzes several ways in which constructivist teaching has been misused. The author also presents two examples that illustrate the effective use of constructivist teaching and explains what makes them successful.

Online Teaching Experience during the COVID-19 in Pakistan: Pedagogy–Technology Balance and Student Engagement

“…For online learning design, approaches are different and rely on the techno-pedagogical design with an increased emphasis on learner's engagement through creative solutions and interaction (Winters and Mor 2008) to meet the requirements of the learners (Partlow and Gibbs 2003;Parchoma et al 2019). This makes the paradigm of constructivism applicable to online pedagogy (Taber 2011;Shah 2019). Notably, this online learner engagement is co-constructed within the larger socio-cultural influences and therefore provides a basis for exploration of lived experiences.…”

Slowing Down and Digging Deep: Teaching Students to Examine Interview Interaction in Depth

“…Our pedagogical approach is grounded in the scholarship of teaching interviewing, particularly strands encouraging student reflection on interviews, whether their own interviews or those conducted by others (Roulston, 2012). We ground our approach in a constructivist view of teaching and learning, which focuses on being learner-centered, designing learning encounters that are active and contextualized, and de-stigmatizing mistakes (Shah, 2019). This aligns with approaches to adult learning that emphasize fostering critical reflection with adult learners (Mezirow, 2000).…”

A series of realist evaluations of multi-component programmes with disengaged young people: What works, for whom, and in what contexts?

“…Within such an approach, the student is characterised as taking a passive role in the classroom environment, engaging in rote learning, repetition, and the memorisation of curriculum content (Ertmer & Newby, 2008). This type of approach may suppress students learning and can perpetuate feelings of disaffection and disengagement (Shah, 2019;Stewart, 2012). From a pedagogical perspective, the findings from this study suggest that if teachers and facilitators structure lessons to allow opportunity for disengaged students to actively participate, engage in group work, share their ideas and perspectives, and take responsibility for their learning, students feelings of disaffection and disengagement may be prevented.…”

“…Such findings echo previous research (Azzarito & Ennis, 2003;Bonnette et al, 2001) and supports the use of constructivist pedagogies for facilitating learning among disengaged students. Constructivist pedagogies share the belief that students should adopt an active role in their own learning and education (Shah, 2019;Thomson, 2012) and have been shown to empower and reinforce learning and to help students find value in their education (Azzarito & Ennis, 2003;Dogru & Kalander, 2007;Dochy, Segers, Bossche, & Gijbels, 2003).…”

“…Conversely, behaviourist or teacher centred learning (i.e., the teacher is in full control of knowledge dissemination and the direction of the lesson) provides limited opportunity for student exploration, creativity, independent thinking, and social interaction (Freire, 2000;Shah, 2019). Within such an approach, the student is characterised as taking a passive role in the classroom environment, engaging in rote learning, repetition, and the memorisation of curriculum content (Ertmer & Newby, 2008).…”