EDUC 311: FACILITATING LEARNER-

CENTERED TEACHING

MODULE 8

PART IV. CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING THEORIES

The essence of creativity is figuring out how to use what you already know in order to go beyond what
you already think. –Jerome Bruner
Constructivism lies on the premise that learning is an active process. When given the proper guidance
and learning environment, learners can create representations of objective reality. Learners are not empty vessels
to be filled up, but they can construct knowledge when new information is linked to their prior knowledge.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the module, the students must have:
1. Explained the theory of constructivism
2. Discussed the implicatio9ns of constructivism to the teaching and learning process
3. Cited specific teaching practices that manifest constructivism

CONTENT

LESSON 1: JEROME BRUNER’S CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY

CONSTRUCTIVISM Defined
Coming from the works of Piaget and Vygotsky, the constructivist theory of learning posits that
learners derive meaning and form concepts out their own experiences. In the process, the learner reflects on the
experience and then creates new understanding and knowledge from a new experience. If the experience is
related to a previous one, the learner revises the knowledge and understanding and discards whatever
information is deemed irrelevant. Using questioning, exploring, and assessing, the learner constructs and
reorganizes knowledge. Therefore, the learner is an active creator of knowledge and understanding. For instance,
a small child who touches the flame of a candle soon realizes that it is hot, and that touching it hurts. From that
experience, the child learns that the flame is hot; that the flame can burn the skin. Now, the child, with this
realization, evades and no longer attempts to touch a lit candle again. These concepts are derived from the child’s
personal experience.

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BRUNER’S CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY
Jerome Bruner believes that learning is an active process where learners can create new ideas or
concepts using their current or past knowledge about things, events or situations. Learners can select information,
transform them into new ones, adds-up to them to make decisions or create new sets of understanding. When
properly guided and motivated, learners can even go beyond the information given to them. This is a time when
learners’ creativity on concept formation is made evident because they are given opportunities to make
hypotheses and tests them through further discovery. Very remarkable from Bruner is his emphasis on
categorization in learning.
“To perceive is to categorize, to conceptualize is to categorize, to learn is to form categories, to make
decisions is to categorize.”
CATEGORIZATION involves perception, conceptualization, learning, decision-making, and making
inferences. Bruner encourages teachers to allow students to discover concepts by themselves through learning
opportunities and activities that allow them to explore and experiment. The learners should never fear committing
mistakes or errors while discovering because everything that happens in between is a part of their construction
of new ideas or concepts.
Bruner (1966) emphasized four major aspects to be addresses during the teaching and learning process.
These aspects moderate the process of learning.
1. Predisposition toward learning. The child’s readiness to learn is an important aspect to
consider in learning concepts and skills. Love of learning should be emphasized at an early
age. One of the factors that can contribute to this is the parent and teacher influences on
a child. When both parents and teachers provide enjoyable opportunities for exploration
and play, the child can discover concepts in interesting ways. With the guidance of
teachers in school and the provision of appropriate learning materials, spontaneous
explorations bring about learning of new concepts.
2. How a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped
by the learners. Topics and concepts are effectively learned when details of such as
arranged and ordered in the context of the learner. Structures are usually arranged from
simple to its more complex form. Patterns are also based on what is recognizable or
familiar to the learners than to those who are very new to them.
3. The most effective sequences in which to present material. Sequencing of
presentation is a part of a teacher’s innovation in teaching. The teacher considers which
the learners need most, and can understand first and can master first as a prerequisite
knowledge or skill to the next topic or concept.
4. The nature and pacing of rewards and punishments. Rewards and punishments should
be properly selected and that whenever they are given to learners, they should know and
understand why they are rewarded or punished.

BRUNER’S PRINCIPLES OF INSTRUCTION:

1. Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and
able to learn(readiness)
2. Instruction must be structured so that it can easily be grasped by the students (spiral organization).
3. Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps (going beyond the
information given)

GESTALT THEORY
Gestalt came from a German term that means pattern or form. Gestalt psychology was introduced in
1912 by Max Wertheimer. He is a German psychologist who believed that a whole is more than just the totality of
its parts. The focus of this theory was on grouping.
a. SIMILARITY – elements that have the same or nearly similar features are grouped together
b. PROXIMITY – elements that are near to each other are grouped together
c. CONTINUITY – elements that define smooth lines or even curves are also grouped together
d. CLOSURE – elements that fill up missing parts to complete an entity are grouped together
When teachers present information or concepts to their learners, instructional strategies should use
these laws of grouping. The strategies a teacher uses will help the learners to discover if there are elements

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hindering them from learning new concepts. Teachers assists learners in removing these barriers to learning so
that new knowledge can be stored and effectively used in varied situations.
Gestalt theory looks into an individual’s way of problem solving. A person can solve a problem if he has
a good understanding of the overall or general structure of the problem. Understanding a problem means knowing
and seeing the whole and its parts. Gestalt also looks into how people organize their learning by looking at their
experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. When the instructions given are related to their
experiences, learning effectively takes place.
Major principles of Gestalt theory of learning.
1. The learner should be encouraged to discover the underlying nature of a topic or a
problem.
2. Gaps, incongruities, disturbances are an essential stimulus for learning.
3. Instruction should be based upon the laws of organization: similarity, proximity, continuity,
closure

SUBSUMPTION THEORY
The Subsumption Theory was developed by David Ausubel. This theory emphasizes how individuals
learn large amounts of meaningful material from both verbal and textual presentations in a school setting. The
use of advance organizers is a useful way of learning. Subsumption means to put or include something within
something larger or more comprehensive. A person learns something from what he already knows. An individual’s
cognitive structure consists of all his learning experiences that make up his knowledge of facts, concepts, and
other data. Sometimes, some of these are forgotten because they are integrated into larger structures of
knowledge.
Before a new set of knowledge can be learned, a person’s cognitive structure should be strengthened.
Using advance organizers is one way of strengthening one’s cognitive structure because they enable the learner
to see a general picture of the concept even before looking into its details or parts. Advance organizers enable a
learner to connect new information with what he or she already knows about it and also helps the learner to see
the interrelationships of concepts to each other.
The subsumption theory presents four learning processes where a piece of new knowledge is
assimilated into an existing cognitive structure.
1. Derivative subsumption: a new concept learned is an example of a concept that you
have already learned before.
2. Correlative subsumption: a new concept learned is an extension or modification of a
previously learned information
3. Superordinate subsumption: what was learned are specific examples of a new concept
4. Combinatorial subsumption: a new concept is combined with a prior known concept to
enrich both concepts.

Constructivism is a broad theory that believes on the construction of knowledge through the lumping of
experiences and reflecting on such experiences. In applying the theories under constructivism, teachers should
always ensure that their level of teaching, the kind of instructional materials, and the degree of difficulty of tasks
should always be within the level of the learners. Bruners’ enactive, iconic, and symbolic strategies can be used
to ensure smooth learning of concepts. For instance, in introducing fractions to elementary pupils, Lego blocks
can be used to illustrate the concepts first before using numbers.
The used of advanced organizers, questions for recall and stimulated illustrations can help the students
to pick their past experiences. After that, teachers may use such experiences as starting point to connect the next
lesson. For example, an English teacher can use the experiences of the students to reintroduce vocabulary and
grammar points. Mathematics teachers who categorize examples or non-examples of a certain topic (e.g.,
numbers divisible by 8) can immensely help the students to organize their concept about it, hence, a clearer
understanding of the lesson.
Exposing students to do certain procedures in a real-life context can actually enrich the learners’
experiences for transfer of learning and longer retention. In that way, students’ prior knowledge can be of help in
learning a certain related context deeper and wider. Giving feedback also plays a vital role in directing intrinsic

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motivation, and emphasizing grades and competition is discouraged in the classroom. Bruner believed that
students need to experience both success and failure in the classroom not as a reward or punishment but as a
piece of information.
Constructivism involves enriching experiences to construct new knowledge. This implies that learning is
an active process, where learners are always involved. Some theories are lodged under constructivism,
they have specific implications to teaching and learning, which are potentially used to facilitate learner-
centered teaching. In fact, K to 12 curriculum promotes the use of constructivism instructional delivery