Constructivism in Biology Instruction

SRJIS/BIMONTHLY/ SHUBNEET SIDHU (2267-2274)
CONSTRUCTIVISM IN BIOLOGY INSTRUCTION

Shubneet Sidhu Research scholar, department of community education and disability studies,
Panjab University, Chandigarh
Abstract
There are many learning theories which we study under Educational Psychology.
Constructivism is one of them which focus on developing the learners knowledge by
constructing the world around them through experience, observation, documentation, analysis
and reflection. In the classrooms of today, learners are no longer passive recipients nor are the
teachers givers of information, knowledge and wisdom. According to constructivist perspective,
the teaching or the learning of biology is not the search for the ultimate truth. So, the process of
learning biology involves active construction of knowledge by children, and then the classroom
environment must call for more synergies rather than mere individual participation. The
teachers need to develop the ability to work with children creatively to generate new ideas, new
theories, new products and new knowledge.
Keywords: constructivism, meaning, biology instruction, implications, compare
Introduction: In recent past, three important trends in Science Education have been identified.
First, research has indicated that all students are capable of learning science and therefore, must
be given the opportunities for optional science learning. Science is for all. An equitable science
curriculum is one in which both the content and pedagogy are inclusive to all students. The term
inclusive is used to describe curriculum that by its nature and the ways it is offered, includes all
students. Contemporary science education is for equity, equality and inclusiveness. Second,
scientists use scientific inquiry to search new knowledge in science. Therefore, understanding the
meaning and importance of scientific inquiry is useful for teaching science. Learning through
scientific inquiry involves hands-on and minds-on activities, using processes of science and
cognitive processes. Since 1990s science education has been moving towards an inquiry-based
constructivism. Inquiry is a fundamental component of effective science teaching and learning.
Third, traditionally school science teaching has ignored exploration of the nature of science.
NOV - DECEMBER, 2014. VOL-II/XV
www.srjis.com
Page 2267
Hence, pedagogy of school science has tended to be didactic, authoritarian and non discursive
with little room for active learning or development of critical reasoning. Research on cognitive
learning, neuroscience and constructivist epistemology asserts that learning occurs being active,
through senses in the brain. Consequently, the science educators have accepted inquiry-based
constructivism as a method of teaching science.
In this paper an attempt has been made to search about constructivism in biology education.
History of Constructivism: Constructivism as applied to education is a more recent
development derived from the work of development psychologist Jean Piaget (1973), Russian
psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) and John Dewey. According to John Dewey, education
depends on action. For him, mind is a means of transforming, reorganizing, reshaping, accepted
meanings and values, a means of attending to the lived situations of life. Dewey kept telling
his readers, Mind is active, a verb and not a noun. Dewey stressed the importance of having a
students knowledge grow from experience. Knowledge and ideas come only from a situation
where learners had to draw them out of experiences that had meaning and importance to them.
Jean Piaget was another psychologist who had a great influence on the theory of Constructivism.
Piaget was interested in the way that children think. Piagets constructivism was based on his
view of the psychological development of children. He believed that the fundamental basis of
learning was discovery: To understand is to discover, to reconstruct by rediscovery, and such
conditions must be complied with if in the future individuals are to be formed who are capable of
production and creativity and not simply repetition.
Meaning of Constructivism: The Verb to construct is derived from the Latin word Con
struere which means to arrange or to give structure. Ongoing structuring (organizing) processes
are the conceptual heart of constructivism. Constructivism is a learning theory based on scientific
observation and research and explains how people learn. They construct their own knowledge of
the world around them through reflection on their experiences. When we are faced with new
knowledge, we tend to relate it to our previous experiences and either modify our ideas or
discard the new information. In the process we tend to create new knowledge by asking
questions, explaining and assessing what we already known. Constructivist epistemology
assumes that learners construct their own knowledge on the basis of Interaction with their
environment. Constructivism focuses on knowledge construction, and not on knowledge
www.srjis.com
Page 2268
reproduction. Our view of the external world differs from others because of our unique set of
experiences. We dont describe the world we see; we see the world we can describe.
Constructivist Learning Model
Introduction Engage students in activities: dialogue discussion.
Explore Students explore through experimentation, questions.
Explain Search new ideas through interaction and engage in meaning making.
Expand Expand this knowledge through knowledge construction. Reflection.
Evaluate Evaluate during the process of learning: formative evaluation.

Types of Constructivism
1. Radical constructivism (Propagated by Von Glasersfield)
2. Social constructivism (Propagated by Lev Vygotsky )
3. Cognitive constructivism (Propagated by Jean Piaget)
According to National Curriculum Framework 2005 by the NCERT, some of the key principles
underlying constructivist approach are summarized below:
1.
In the constructivist perspective, learning is a process of construction of knowledge.
2.
Learners actively construct their own knowledge by connecting new ideas to existing
ideas on the basis of materials/ activities presented to them (experience).

3.
The structuring and restructuring of ideas are essential features as the learners progress in
learning.
4.
The engagement of learners, through relevant activities, can further facilitate in the
construction of mental images of the relationships (cause-effect).

5.
Collaborative learning provides room for negotiation of meaning, sharing multiple views
and changing the internal representative of external reality.

Constructivism in Science Education : It appears that both the nature of science and inquirybased instruction are part of positivist view of knowledge. But the emergence of constructivism
as a view of learning as well as knowing has been accepted as a paradigm shift in science
education. Constructivism is a philosophy of learning. It is also an epistemology of knowledge. It
is based on the premise that humans construct knowledge to make understanding of their world.
www.srjis.com
Page 2269
Constructivist view is potentially more sensitive to the needs of a diverse student population;
they need to understand two basic tenets of constructivism. First, constructivism is a
philosophical view on how knowledge is acquired or constructed. Second, knowledge is
constructed by individuals to make sense of their world. Knowledge is acquired by our senses
and mental images we carry in our mind. These mental images facilitate what and how we learn.
Teachers need to bring these two understandings in the classroom. This leads to constructivism
based inquiry.
From a constructivist perspective, biology is not the search for truth. It is a process that assists us
to make sense of our world. Using a constructivist perspective, it is an active, social process of
making sense of experiences, as opposed to what we now call school biology. Indeed, actively
engaging students in science (we have all heard the call for hands-on, minds on science) is the
goal of most science education reform. Also science knowledge as accepted today in scientific
communities in principle is tentative in nature and open for revision. There is a shift in the goals
of science teaching from students simply creating a knowledge base of scientific facts to students
developing deeper understandings of major concepts within scientific discipline. For example,
what is the use of detailed working knowledge of the chemical reactions of the Krebs cycle
without a deeper understanding of the relationship between these chemical reactions of cellular
respiration and an organisms need to harvest energy from food?
Implications of use of Constructivism in life science Teaching are:
1.
Tools available to a knower are the senses. It is only through seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling and tasting that an individual interacts with the environment. With these messages from
the senses the individual builds a picture of the world. Students should be given ample
opportunities for visiting bio-diversity parks, bird sanctuaries, lakes, agricultural fields,
grasslands as well as ridge areas. They should be taken for nature walks.
2.
Experience involves an interaction of an individual with events, objects, or phenomenon
in the universe; an interaction of the senses with things, a personal construction which fits some
of the external reality but does not provide a match. Students prior science conceptions are
sometimes in stark contrast to the science conceptions to be learned.
a.
For example, when students see water droplets on the glass of water, they think that it
must be coming out from inside the glass. They need to formulate a problem, hypothesis,
www.srjis.com
Page 2270
experiment, observe and then must be able to conclude on their own Teachers role is very
important here.
3.
A cooperative learning strategy allows individuals to test the fitness of their experiential
world with a community of others. Others help to constrain our thinking. The interactions with
others cause perturbations, and by resolving the perturbations individuals make adaptations to fit
their new experiential world.
a.
Group work given in the class provides opportunities to read, express or ask to listen and
to interact. Projects and activities that can be carried out by groups need to become a feature of
learning in the schools.
4.
The process of learning should not stop at what has been learned in the negotiation of a
class consensus. This process can involve accessing other learning resources such as books,
videotapes, and practicing scientists.
a.
Lets understand constructivism by comparing the biology teaching of two teachers
teaching in a secondary school.

CLASSROOM A
Teacher A was teaching Ecosystem in her biology classroom (Classroom A). She considered
science to be a body of knowledge to be learned. Her job was to give out what she (and the
textbook) knew about science to her students. Thus, the learning environment which Teacher A
tried to maintain in her classroom facilitated this transfer of knowledge; the desks were neatly in
rows facing the teacher and the blackboard. Lecture notes and assignments from the text were
given to students. Teacher A tried to keep students quiet and working all during the class period
to ensure that all students could absorb the science knowledge efficiently. Another
consequence of Teacher As notion of teaching and learning was her belief that she had to cover
so much that she had no time for laboratory activities. Lets look at an example that typifies
Teacher As teaching style. Teacher As students were to complete a worksheet that covered
the concept of ecosystem. In this worksheet students were given certain exercises on food-chains
like to fill the names of organisms at certain
trophic levels. Some questions like what will happen if grass is missing in the grassdeerlion
food chain were also included in the worksheet. After the students completed the worksheet,
Teacher A went over the answers so the students could have the correct answers for the test later
in the week. From a constructivist perspective, what opportunities did Teacher As students have
www.srjis.com
Page 2271
to relate the concept of ecosystem to their own experiences? Were these opportunities in Teacher
As lesson plan were provided to negotiate meanings and build a consensus of understanding?
Teacher A spent one class period covering the concept of ecosystem; is that sufficient time for
students to learn a concept with understanding?
CLASSROOM B
Teacher B is another teacher whose class (Classroom B), in contrast, was inspired by
constructivism. Her classes were always student entered and activity-based. At secondary level,
she introduced students to above mentioned biology topics with short lectures, textbook readings,
and laboratories. After the introduction she would ask students what interested them about the
topic and encouraged them to pursue and test these ideas. Students usually divided themselves
into groups and then, conducted a library research, formulated questions/problems, and
procedures to test the questions/problems. In other words, the students were acting as scientists
in the classroom. In one class she was teaching students about ecosystem. Included in Teacher B
lessons were activities to get the students involved. Students were shown the Aquarium in
the biology laboratory. They discussed:
1.
different food-chains in this manmade ecosystem
2.
how different living organisms depend on each other in an ecosystem
3.
use of dissolved oxygen in water by aquatic plants and animals
4.
What happens if any particular trophic level is missing in the food chain?
Students were also involved in role-play activity where they played the roles of different plants
and animals in different food-chains. They used certain props and few dialogues in the role-play
activity. Then a few animal sanctuaries were discussed to highlight the importance of habitat for
wild animals. Teacher B spent two weeks teaching this topic on ecosystem. Were Teacher B
students given opportunities to make sense of the concept of ecosystem? Were they able to use
personal experiences? Whose students do you think had a deeper understanding of ecosystem?
A close understanding of the two classrooms has revealed the following points of difference
between them.
CLASSROOM A
CLASSROOM B
www.srjis.com
Page 2272
Materials
Primarily textbook.
Teacher's
Role
Based on repetition,
explanation by the
teacher.
Seen as inert, to be
passed on from teacher
to taught.
Giver of information,
rooted in authority.
Student's
Role
Passive recipients of
knowledge.
Transaction
Strategies
Approach
Teaching facing class.
Learning
Knowledge
Learning
Process
Lecture method, teacher

asking questions as well
as answering them,
Teacher led class,

Students are not used as
a resource for learning.
Includes Primary sources and other

resources.
Interactive and build on what the
student already knows.
Seen as dynamic, ever changing, to be
constituted by the learner.
Creative collaborator, facilitator,
mentor, guide who moderates,
suggests, coaches.
Interactive, construct their own
knowledge based on previous
experiences, ask questions, explore,
experiment, reflect, discuss.
Group work and pair work, using peers
as Resources.
Construction of meaning by learner by
formulating their own questions inquiry
allowing
multiple
interpretations
expressions of
learning multiple intelligence
encouraging collaborating learning
Students full participation in learning
activities such as projects and hands on
experiments. Collaboration among
students, peer teaching helps them to
review and reflect on their learning
processes and pick up strategies and
methods from one another.
and
Conclusion
From a constructivist perspective, science is not the search for truth. It is a process that assists us
to make sense of our world. Using a constructivist perspective, teaching biology becomes more
like the biology that biologists do -it is an active, social process of making sense of experiences.
It is an enjoyable activity and the role of the teacher is very challenging. Just as teachers have to
learn how to teach from a constructivist point of view, so too must students learn how to learn.
Educating students to be effective learners is an important priority in establishing environments
conducive to effective learning of biology.
www.srjis.com
Page 2273
References
Dogra, B.(2010). Constructive Classroom Activities for Biology Learning. Journal of Indian
Education, 36(2), 111-120. Retrieved from http:// www.ncert.nic.in
Kumar, R. & Gupta, V.K. (2009). An Introduction to Cognitive Constructivism in Education.
Journal of Indian Education, XXXV(3), 39-45. Retrieved from http:// www.ncert.nic.in
NCERT 2005. National Curriculum Framework 2005. New Delhi. Retrieved from http://
www.ncert.nic.in
_____2005. National Focus Group on Teaching of Science. New Delhi. Retrieved from http://
www.ncert.nic.in
Prabha, S.(2010). Characteristics of a Constructivist Classroom in the Context of Science
Education. Journal of Indian Education, XXXVI(1), 20-28. Retrieved from http://
www.ncert.nic.in
Sood, J.K. & Saraswat, A.(2013). Teaching the Nature of Science : Restructuring Science
Instruction. School Science, 50-57. Retrieved from http:// www.ncert.nic.in
www.srjis.com
Page 2274

Constructivism in Biology Instruction

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Constructivism in Biology Instruction

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SRJIS/BIMONTHLY/ SHUBNEET SIDHU (2267-2274)