Towards expert knowledge? A comparison between a constructivist and a traditional learning environment in the university

Understanding the effects of constructivist learning environments: introducing a multi-directional approach

“…In essence, constructivism is a view of learning that considers the learner as a responsible, active agent in his/her knowledge acquisition process . In other words, the numerous perspectives on constructivism could be grouped around a fundamental assumption about learning: Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner (Birenbaum 2003;Harris and Alexander 1998;Tynjälä 1999).…”

“…Despite many animated discussions, there seems to be no incompatibility among the different existing theories and integrative approaches seem to be developing (Resnick 1994;Tynjälä 1999;Vosniadou 1996). As such, constructivist theories have led to several applications in educational practice, such as problem-based learning (PBL).…”

Engineering students’ conceptions of entrepreneurial learning as part of their education

“…Kolb 1984) or socio-constructivist learning theories (e.g. Palincsar 1998;Tynjälä 1999), where the main goal is to create real-life learning environments where unexpected events can occur (Cope 2003;Pittaway and Cope 2007;Gibb 2008). The current study represents ideas of the socio-constructivist view, thereby emphasising active, collaborative learning which differs considerably from the typical traditional learning environments of educational engineering programmes.…”

“…With the aim to highlight entrepreneurial learning aspects, the original integrative pedagogy model was modified for the course on entrepreneurship in engineering (AUTHOR et al 2014). Integration of the four forms of knowledge was achieved by applying different pedagogical tools and practices based on socio-constructivist principles (e.g., Palincsar 1998;Tynjälä 1999;Tynjälä et al 2009). For example, the students were assigned real-life practical problems, and they needed to use theoretical knowledge for solving these problems and to reflect on their thinking and actions with the help of theoretical concepts.…”

Out-of-classroom experiences: a survey of students’ perceptions of the learning process during internships

“…In this model, active experimentation is complemented in a balanced way with the reflexive observation of the acquired experience. Many authors have addressed the constructivism theory from different perspectives (see the compilation by Tynjälä, 1999) but of all of them have in common that the knowledge acquisition is metaphorically described as a construction process where knowledge is actively built by individuals or social communities. Therefore constructivism refuses the idea that knowledge is received in a passive manner.…”