Constructivism in Practice

Dr. Orey state that "Constructivism is a theory of knowledge stating that each individual actively constructs his/her own meaning of various topics". Also, it is a theory of learning that states students learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others.

As I think about the 21st century students, technology definitely plays and will play a great role in their future. Therefore, incorporating technology into their lessons on a daily basis is essential for greater learning. As Dr. Orey (DVD, 2009) explains about the constructivism/constructionist theory, this will allow students to share examples and models of their learning and allows the student to display or show their understanding of a topic using technology. Teachers should always allow students to work on projects and tasks that allows the student to show their thinking, understandings and beliefs of a certain topic.

Dr. Orey (DVD, 2009) states that constructivism and constructionism is no absolute thing, because it is a theory of knowledge that allows individuals to actively construct his/her own meaning of a subject. Therefore, because I teach Math and Science this becomes very valuable in my classroom. Students will be able to use technology to display their own way of thinking about a certain activity or topic. For instance, in ecology, students will be able to use technology to develop their own food chain or food web and after doing that, the students can create a website showing their work or create their own project using every aspect of technology like a Power Point.

In Math, the students can use a topic or lesson like Geometry to create their own Geometry Map or city using technology. Students can obtain whatever is needed from the Internet and create a book that will show their Geometry Map or City. Students can create a explanation of their city or map to share with other students.

My students have used technology to do project-based assignments in Science before with Weather, however my goal would be to use project-based assignments more in Math. My students created Weather Maps using the laptops. Students entered Weather symbols, temperatures, storm clouds, sunny skies, etc on their maps. Students then wrote a short report on their map and turned it in for a grade. This was their culminating activity for their unit in Science on Weather.

Therefore, "Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007) state that the strategy for generating and testing hypotheses is often thought of in the context of science concepts, it is applicable in all content areas. Students and be asked to test their hypotheses in all concept areas, especially in Math and Reading. Not that they cannot do it in Language Arts and Social Studies, those are two areas that are very evident. As a teacher we can use higher order questioning that will allow the students to use this type level of thinking that will be very useful to them.