Connor Nagel

Dr. Hawkes

Educational Psychology

11 November 2015

Constructivism Learning Theory and Involvement in the Classroom

Constructivism is a learning theory based on observation and study. The theory was

created by Jean Piaget, but was also heavily influence by Lev Vygotsky; it is the idea that

learners or students are able to construct knowledge on their own through adaptation. A student is

able to produce ideas based on existing knowledge and schemas. Being able to recall and

reconsider previous events or experiences, and being able to change beliefs, or getting rid

previous thoughts and ideas all together. As educators we wonder where constructivism can be

introduced into the classroom. There are many ways to introduce the constructivist way of

learning and thinking into the classroom. Constructivism starts with the educator knowing and

understanding the students prior knowledge about a specific subject or skill. Without knowing,

the educator is not able to help guide and accommodate ideas with new incoming knowledge.

This essay will talk about what constructivism is, how it guides learning compared to traditional

teaching methods, and how to approach it in the classroom.

Jean Piagets job was to develop questions for English intelligence tests. He was

interested in figuring out why children gave wrong answers to questions that required logic.

Piaget thought he could understand the difference in thought of children versus adults. To

Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of the mental process. As a result

of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an understanding of

the world around them, then experience differences between what they know and what they

discover in their environment.

There are three components of Piagets constructivism theory which involve schemes,

adaptations, and the stages of development. All three of these play a role helping understand the

way a children learn. Assimilation is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or

situation. An example of assimilation is when a child sees an animal and immediately shouts

Cow! when its actually a horse. A childs equilibrium is when their schema deals with the

newest information they have received, but when this schema is interrupted then accommodation

occurs. The child is told the animal is not a cow but actually a horse and now has a different view

and realizes the new animal is not a cow but in reality is a different animal. Adaptation is used

throughout life but there are stages everyone has to go through to be able to adapt and construct

ways of learning.

Piaget has four stages of cognitive development; the first stage is sensorimotor it happens

from birth to the age of two. During this stage the infants are aware of what is immediately in

front of them, and is only necessary to them at that moment. The second stage is preoperational

which occurs from ages two to seven. During this stage children learns through pretending, but

they have a hard time putting themselves in other peoples shoes. Stage three is the concrete-

operational and occurs from ages seven to eleven. These children are able to think logically but

still struggle with abstract ideas. During stage four, which is formal operations, children (ages

11+) are thinking critically and finding multiple solutions to one problem; as well as seeing other

peoples view points, and abstract concepts. Knowing these stages and Piagets work allows

educators to understand what their students are thinking and what they are capable of learning.
 Constructivism is often seen as a way of teaching more than it is a theory. This is based

on that even though constructivism is seen as the individual doing most of the learning, they are

being supported into the right direction. Lev Vygotsky was another psychologist who provided a

major impact to this learning theory. Vygotsky had three primary themes, he believed that social

interaction is an integral role on the cognitive process, the more knowledgeable other, and zone

of proximal development.

Social learning precedes development, Vygotsky believed Every function in a childs

cultural development happens twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level.

First, between people, then inside the child (Vygotsky). The more knowledgeable other is the

next theme in Vygotskys foundation. It represents anything that can be learned from with what

has a greater ability or higher knowledge. This is basically a teacher, parent, or coach who is the

expert on the subject, but it could also be a computer or a book. The more knowledgeable other

is a one of the most fundamental building blocks of constructivism without this there is no way

to increase a learners knowledge. The next thing is that he believed most of learning went on in

the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal is the distance between the ability of a

student to perform a task with support and the students ability to perform it on their own. As a

future teacher it would be easy to think that when focusing on teaching, the student should be

reflecting and constructing new ideas, but its the teacher job to support and lead the ideas and

methods of a subject to have the student create their own understanding of the lesson and

content.

Traditional schooling has been the norm for a while, but constructivism is a new building

block to education. In constructivism learning theory the students are more likely to remember

information for long periods of time by association of past experiences with new ones. Even
though many schools use traditional teaching methods, such like direct instruction, where the

teacher lectures and sends direct messages at the students. Constructivism encourages almost the

exact opposite where the student plays a more active role in the learning process. The teacher is a

guide and the student uses the teacher as a safety net. Students are encouraged to use

collaborative learning to find a solution. Using other students allows them to receive different

viewpoints on the assignment and different ways to do the assignment. It can also help create

new ideas someone may not have known before. In traditional learning the student succeeds or

fails usually on their own and the information becomes a process of memorization for course

tests and assignments. Then the information memorized is lost in the next few days after starting

the next chapter.

There are multiple methods to incorporate this theory into the classroom. When teaching

students the teacher should allow the students to create their own questions, this is known as

inquiry based learning. Students using inquiry based learning are to investigate and experiment,

and find multiple ways to find solutions to any problem. The main function for a constructivist

classroom is solving problems and asking questions. Teachers are also encouraged to help

reference students learning to their personal interests. Students all learn differently through

multiple intelligences, as said by Dr. Howard Gardner. There are eight different intelligences that

account for how all students learn, they are linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical

intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, Musical intelligence,

interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, naturalist intelligence.

Knowing the history of the constructivism learning theory and what way it affects the

learning process affects more than just the classroom. When educators can teach students to

think, analyze, socialize, and critically ask question they will be able to learn outside the
classroom and apply it to real world problems and situations as well. Students will find a larger

understanding of what is going on in the environment around them and how others see whats

going on. Constructivism gives the greatest possibly of learning to everyone, simply put because

the learning is on the individual and how they themselves need to be built up rather than pushed

aside.
 Work Cited

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Mar. 2015.

"Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning." Constructivism as a Paradigm for

Teaching and Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.

McLeod, Saul. "Jean Piaget." Simply Psychology. Simplypsychology.org, 17 Sept. 2009.

Web. 30 Mar. 2015.

"Social Development Theory (Vygotsky) | Learning Theories." Learning Theories. Learning-

Theories.com, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.