Workshop Constructivism Introductory Unit

CONSTRUCTIVISM
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
INTRODUCTORY UNIT
MAP OF THE COURSE
OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, you will:
Understand the general principles of constructivism

Be aware of the differences between a traditional class and a student-centred
class
Acknowledge the role of the students and the teacher in a student-centred
classroom and identify them in a video
Identify main exponents and their models
Be acquainted with the strategies used in a student-centred class
Reflect upon evaluation in a constructivist class
Discover features of the constructivist approach in a video
Design activities consistent with constructivist evaluation principles
CONTENTS
In order to achieve the objectives above, we will discuss:
Unit I Constructivism.
1.1. Definition and principles
1.2. The constructivist teacher
1.3. Instructional strategies
Unit II The Constructivist approach. Main models and exponents

2.1. Piaget’s developmental learning theory
2.2. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural learning theory
2.3. Bruner’s discovery learning theory
2.4. Ausubel’s meaningful learning theory
2.5. Novak’s concept mapping theory
Unit III Teaching contexts

3.1. The traditional class
3.2. A student-centred class
3.3. The role of the teacher and the students
3.4. Interactions in the class
Unit IV. Evaluation of the learning process in constructivist settings

Pre-assessment techniques
Strategies and tools to evaluate the students’ performance
CONCEPT MAP
CONSTRUCTIVISM
POSITS THAT
LEARNING
IS AN
CONSTRUCTIION
ACTIVE
PROCESS OF
IN WHICH
LEARNERS BRING
THEIR
UNIQUE PRIOR EXPERIENCE
KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS
TO A
LEARNING
SITUATION
CREATED BY MEANS OF
TEACHING
STRATEGIES
THAT ENSURE
THE USE OF
DAILY
OBJECTIVES VISUAL
ADVANCE AIDS
ORGANIZERS HANDS ON
EXPERIENCE
IN THE PRESENTATION AND

DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING
CONTENTS AND MATERIALS
AND
EVALUATION TOOLS THAT GUARANTEE PRINCIPLES

THAT ENCOURAGE MEANINGFULNESS, AUTONOMY
AND SOCIAL INTERACTION, AMONG OTHER
CONSTRUCTIVIST BELIEFS
LINKS: The concepts covered in this unit will introduce you to the world of cognitive
learning, area of discussion that will be enlarged along the following units
KEY WORDS: Meaningful learning- prior knowledge- organizers- hands-on

experience-zone of proximal development-scaffolding-discovery learning-dialogical
learning
COMPULSORY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Agrawall, S. (2010) Constructivist Pedagogy in ELT Classroom. ELTWEEKLY.

Available at: http://www.eltweekly.com/elt-newsletter/2010/11/74-research-
article-constructivist-pedagogy-in-elt-classroom-by-dr-s-k-agrawal/
Paniagua, M. (2009).Introducción al enfoque constructivista: Conociendo a

Vigotsky, Piaget, Ausubel y Novak. [Video]. Available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
YpCocmWxPA&playnext=1&list=PL2BA4CDCA6833CC30
Karagiorgi, Y., Street, I., & Tziambazi, E. (2005). Translating Constructivism into
Instructional Design : Potential and Limitations Constructivism – An overview of
the learning theory. Educational Technology & Society, 8(1), 17-27. Citeseer.
Retrieved from http://www.fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/faculty/ltu/pdfs/karagiorgi.pdf
SEDL (Southeast Educational Development Laboratory: Technology Assistance

Program). [s.f.] A Brief Introduction to constructivism. Available at:
http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html
Serrano, D & Valero Borras, V.(2008). Strategies for meaningful learning in L2

writing. UAM-A. Available at
http://www.anupi.org.mx/PDF/08008_VidaSerrano.pdf
Bureau of Educational and cultural Affairs. Department of State, Washington DC.

[s.f.] Shaping the way we teach: successful practices around d the world.
Module 1: Contextualizing language .[video] Office of English Language
Programs
Edutopia.org.(2010) Five-Year-Olds Pilot Their Own Project[ video]
Learning.youtube
http://www.youtubedownloaderonline.com/?URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=_eyucHMifto
SUPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAHPY
Ausubel, P., & Ivie, S. D. (1998). Ausubel’s Learning Theory: An Approach To

Teaching Higher Order Thinking Skills.(educational psychologist David Paul
Ausubel). Stanley D. Ivie. High School Journal, 1(Oct).
Birbili, M. (2006) Mapping Knowledge: Concept Maps in Early Childhood Education
ECAP Available at: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/birbili.html
Boeree, G. (2006). Jean Piaget: Personality theories. Psychology Department

Shippensburg University. Available at :
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html
Bruner, J. (1960). The process of education. New York: Vintage Book
Charalambos,Vrasidas. (2000). Constructivism versus objectivism: implications for

interaction, course design and evaluation in distance education International
Journal of Educational Telecommunications. Available at:
http://www.cardet.org/vrasidas/pubs/continuum.pdf
Company, A. P. (2005). Beyond constructivism  : Exploring future learning

paradigms. Aries, (2), 1-11.
Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Toronto, ON: Pearson
Gotbeter, G. (2007). Vigotsky: aportes para pensar la enseñanza. Revista

12(ntes). # 17
Harmer, J. (1991) The practice of English language teaching. New York: Longman
Hein, G. (1991). Constructivist learning theory. Massachusetts. Lesley College.

Available at:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/constructivistlearning.html
Learning Theories Knowledge base (2011). Constructivism at Learning-

Theories.com. Retrieved December 29th, 2011 from http://www.learning-
theories.com/constructivism.html
Kesal, F. (2003) An investigation on constructivist classroom characteristics in

ELT methodology II Course. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree od doctor of philosophy. Graduate School of Social Sciences Middle
East Technical University. Available at :
http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/541417/index.pdf Downloaded in January 2012
Martínez, E. & Zea, E (2004) Estrategias de enseñanza basadas en un enfoque

constructivista. Revista Ciencias de la Educación. Vol 2 N° 24 pp. 69 -90
http://servicio.cid.uc.edu.ve/educacion/revista/a4n24/4-24-4.pdf
Meaningful Learning: Interview to Joseph Novak. (2010) [video] Available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agh6ZhW5zSM&feature=related
Novak, J and Gowin, D. (1984) Learning how to learn. Cambridge: CUP

Richards,J & Rodgers, T. (1990). Approaches and methods in language teaching.
Cambridge: CUP
Riddle Elizabeth M. [s.f.] Lev Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory. Available at:
http://www.balancedreading.com/vygotsky.html
Salkind, N. (2008) Encyclopaedia of Educational Psychology. California: Sage

Publications
SOME INTRODUCTORY WORDS:
Along this course you will be introduced to the principles of constructivism

and how this approach is used in a language classroom. You will read about
the main constructivist exponents, the way English is taught in a
traditional and in a student-centred class, as well as the different strategies
that can be applied to help the students develop their higher order thinking
abilities in an environment where they are the owners of their learning
process.
Many of you may wonder if constructivism could be put into practice in

crowded classes showing low levels of linguistic competence. The answer is
you can do it! And, in doing so, you will be not only helping your students
work autonomously but you will also ensure this will be a long-term
learning experience.
We hope you will enjoy this path of learning through a distance-learning

course to which you will contribute with your insight and your background
knowledge to find out how learning takes place in the minds of your
students, enlarging in this way your chances to be better students and
teachers! Throughout the development of this workshop, you will be guided
and supported by your tutor in whatever aspect you need. We wish you the
best in this enterprise!
INTRODUCTION
Although Constructivism as a philosophy of learning can be traced back to the

eighteenth century, the emergence of constructivism in the ELT field took place
later during the last decades of the nineteenth century with the advent of a new
paradigm in the English Language Teaching arena. This change demanded
the implementation of new roles in the relationship between the students and
the teacher as well as the use of methodologies that focused on the
development of skills rather than on the acquisition of grammar rules.
Constructivist theories maintain that learning takes place because of

psychological, affective and cognitive processes occurring in the human mind,
processes in which students acquire new meanings because of their interaction
with mates and teachers in the process of relating their prior knowledge and
experience to the new concepts presented.
This theory is often contrasted with the behaviorist approaches which entailed
the use of skill and drill exercises to foster repetition and the application of
question and answer exercises which were reinforced until they were “learnt”.
Evaluation was summative and highly objective, that is, items were evaluated
by means of tools such as dictations, fill in the gap, and multiple-choice kind of
exercises. These tools were replicated once and again so that the students had
little opportunities of showing their understanding on an area of study.
Constructivism caused radical changes within the English teaching field; the
rote learning that behaviourist approaches proposed, containing highly
structured grammar lessons, together with the demotivating nature of the
teaching techniques used to present the language exponents, had to be
gradually replaced by real-to -life activities through which the students used the
language in a natural way.
Accordingly, constructivist theorists highlight the idea that for learning to occur,
the use of authentic tasks carried out in collaborative environments, and in
meaningful contexts is a must, since learning is the product of experience and
social interaction. This change in the teaching paradigm demands a dramatic
shift in the use of materials, teaching techniques, and evaluation tools that
conceive learning as a productive process.
ACTIVITY 1 FORUM
Write about your experience as student in relation to the

application of the approaches mentioned above.
Based on your experience as a learner, describe how you

could have seen any of these teaching approaches reflected in
either English or Spanish classes. Post your comments on the
forum. Remember that your participation is important for your
peers.

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CONSTRUCTIVISM

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

By the end of this course, you will:

Understand the general principles of constructivism

In order to achieve the objectives above, we will discuss:

Unit II The Constructivist approach. Main models and exponents

Unit III Teaching contexts

Unit IV. Evaluation of the learning process in constructivist settings

IN THE PRESENTATION AND

EVALUATION TOOLS THAT GUARANTEE PRINCIPLES

KEY WORDS: Meaningful learning- prior knowledge- organizers- hands-on

Agrawall, S. (2010) Constructivist Pedagogy in ELT Classroom. ELTWEEKLY.

Paniagua, M. (2009).Introducción al enfoque constructivista: Conociendo a

SEDL (Southeast Educational Development Laboratory: Technology Assistance

Serrano, D & Valero Borras, V.(2008). Strategies for meaningful learning in L2

Bureau of Educational and cultural Affairs. Department of State, Washington DC.

Ausubel, P., & Ivie, S. D. (1998). Ausubel’s Learning Theory: An Approach To

Boeree, G. (2006). Jean Piaget: Personality theories. Psychology Department

Bruner, J. (1960). The process of education. New York: Vintage Book

Charalambos,Vrasidas. (2000). Constructivism versus objectivism: implications for

Company, A. P. (2005). Beyond constructivism : Exploring future learning

Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Toronto, ON: Pearson

Gotbeter, G. (2007). Vigotsky: aportes para pensar la enseñanza. Revista

Hein, G. (1991). Constructivist learning theory. Massachusetts. Lesley College.

Learning Theories Knowledge base (2011). Constructivism at Learning-

Kesal, F. (2003) An investigation on constructivist classroom characteristics in

Martínez, E. & Zea, E (2004) Estrategias de enseñanza basadas en un enfoque

Meaningful Learning: Interview to Joseph Novak. (2010) [video] Available at:

Novak, J and Gowin, D. (1984) Learning how to learn. Cambridge: CUP

Salkind, N. (2008) Encyclopaedia of Educational Psychology. California: Sage

Along this course you will be introduced to the principles of constructivism

Many of you may wonder if constructivism could be put into practice in

We hope you will enjoy this path of learning through a distance-learning

Although Constructivism as a philosophy of learning can be traced back to the

Constructivist theories maintain that learning takes place because of

Write about your experience as student in relation to the

Based on your experience as a learner, describe how you

You might also like

Company, A. P. (2005). Beyond constructivism  : Exploring future learning