SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM IN THE CLASSROOM 1

Social Constructivism in the Classroom

Tayler A. Logue

Dakota State University

Educational Psychology 302

April 11, 2017

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Kenny, a nine-year-old boy, hates school because he struggles to learn in class. Last year

his teacher taught with a traditional approach. He used lecture slides which didnt hold Kennys

attention; used test questions that focused on specific details which led Kenny to believe he

needed to study specific facts instead of understanding the main idea; had few group assignments

in which Kenny seemed to excel during that time; and chided Kenny because he didnt have the

correct answer in front of the class which led Kenny to keep his answers to himself and not ask

questions. This year, Kenny has a different teacher who uses a constructivist approach in the

classroom. This teacher focuses on understanding the main point of the lesson; encourages

questions and group work; and frequently asks for students point of view on topics or ideas. As

the year progresses, Kenny flourishes in the classroom. He asks several questions; speaks up in

class; improves his grades from last year; and finds himself changing his viewpoint of school to a

more positive one. Constructivism can help all students, not just those struggling, learn in an

effective way, and it provides the basis for several teaching methods used in classrooms.

Constructivism is a learning theory describing that children learn by creating their own

understandings through experiences, interactions, and observations. More specifically, social

constructivism examines the idea that working together will allow all parties involved to gain a

better understanding than they could alone (Ormrod, 2012). Lev Vygotskys work in

developmental psychology stands as the foundation for social constructivism. He explained how

children learn and described certain learning strategies to accompany their development.

Learning starts at birth and continues throughout the childs entire life. The child learns

implicitly, which requires little to no effort, until passing toddlerhood. Children take part in

explicit learning once they accept an active role in what they learn by thinking about,

interpreting, and reconfiguring stimuli from their environment (Ormrod, 2012). They create
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understandings from information they see and hear. Every child draws a unique meaning from

the same situation or observation because they each have different previous experiences to the

situation; these could arise from childhood, cultural backgrounds, and assumptions about the

world. Organizing information remains an essential part of effective learning. Continuing as an

explicit learner will help children learn more effectively.

A social constructivist classroom uses a learner centered approach where students take

an active role in their class. Students have significant control over what information they cover

and how they learn it. The teacher becomes the tutor or guide who learns as much from the

students as they learn from him or her. Jill Stefaniak and Monica Tracey state, Learner-centered

teaching strategies provide students with increased responsibility; promote critical thinking;

support student development; and peer learning and teaching (2015). Learner centered

instructional strategies include scaffolding, anchored instruction, and group learning. Using these

strategies will help students draw comparisons, advance understandings, as well as foster active

learning.

Interactions between classmates and teachers will increase learning. Discussing topics

and exchanging ideas allow learners the opportunity to notice holes or discrepancies in their

logic and change or adopt others explanations as their own if they find it more suitable or

precise, also known as co-construction (Ormrod, 2012). Scaffolding, another support

mechanism, helps students successfully complete a challenging task by providing the amount of

support needed. Some children will need more right away, but as they gain an understanding of

the topic they will need less. In a study conducted by Alex Zurek, Julia Torquati, and Ibrahim

Acar (2014), teachers of a preschool used scaffolding to increase learning about nature. As the

most common type of scaffolding in the study, inferential questioning (used approximately
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twenty-five percent of the time) happened when the teacher prompted the students to draw a

conclusion based on the evidence given; a few examples included, What do you see? What

happened to this tree? Did it fall down or did someone cut it? (Zurek, Torquati, Acar, 2014).

Eliciting occurred with the next highest frequency (approximately fifteen percent of the time)

making it the next major type of scaffolding, where teachers provided a statement or question

that stimulated a response from the children; a specific example involved the teacher asking,

When the leaf falls to the ground, it dries all up and turns into and the children respond with

Soil! (Zurek, Torquati, Acar, 2014). Using the observations and results, Zurek, Torquati, and

Acar concluded, Scaffolding can be an effective strategy for supporting young childrens

learning about the natural environment (2014). Co-construction and scaffolding remain

effective social constructivist teaching strategies; however, more exist.

Many social constructivism strategies for the classroom include using real world

situations and working together in a group to enhance learning. When learning becomes

anchored around a piece of technology, often a video, it offers the students a shared experience

that the teacher can build upon, known as anchored instruction. The Cognition and Technology

Group at Vanderbilt (CTGV) in 1990, provided examples of anchored instruction by showing

students commercial videos based on Sherlock Holmes and Oliver Twist and having them

participate in group activities dealing with historical accuracy, plot analysis, and determination

of other issues to examine (as cited in Hunter, 2015). CTGV reasons that by completing the

activities, the students engaged in authentic practice and problem-solving because the activities

use similar work methods performed by movie producers; furthermore, since the students

utilized authentic activities, CTGV labels the activities as a cognitive apprenticeship (Hunter,

2015). Cognitive apprenticeship teaches students how to think about and perform a task.
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Additional classroom examples include: translating a difficult passage written in another

language to English; collecting and analyzing data from soil samples for harmful chemicals; and

solving a difficult brain teaser in math (Ormrod, 2012). For teachers hoping to use anchored

instruction, they should promote group discussion of films involving similar problems to those

studied in class; encourage the search for instructional videos online; and engage students with a

create your own video project dealing with relevant issues discussed in class (Hunter, 2015).

Using anchored instruction and cognitive apprenticeships will help provide the authentic

activities students need.

Reciprocal teaching utilizes group learning. This social constructivist strategy can

increase reading and listening comprehension levels by teaching students to ask one another

questions to promote the four cognitive processes: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and

predicting; the teacher starts by leading the discussion, but gradually allows the students to take

charge and ask questions he or she modeled (Ormrod, 2012). A study conducted by Brown and

Palincsar (1984) found after twenty, half-hour reciprocal teaching sessions, the six students

involved greatly improved their reading comprehension skills enabling them to process reading

material effectively without the teacher; in addition, they generalized their skills to other classes

occasionally surpassing the achievement of other students (as cited in Ormrod, 2012). Since

reciprocal teaching enhanced the students comprehension skills, it shows this approach to

learning has a beneficial place in the classroom.

Peer tutoring remains an additional, valuable strategy to promote group learning. Peer

tutoring or cross-grade tutoring allows one student to deliver instruction to a peer or student in a

lower grade. This provides an atmosphere where the less advanced student can feel more

comfortable in asking questions. According to Ormrod, Students asked 240 times as many
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questions during peer tutoring as they did during whole class instruction (2012). More questions

can lead to a greater understanding, in turn, boosting the students academic achievement. Tutors

also benefit from this experience. Because they must teach a peer, they remain intrinsically

motivated to learn and elaborate on the topic which can lead to internalization of directing and

guiding learning; this helps the tutor improve his or her self-regulation (Ormrod, 2012). In the

classroom, the teacher should model what an effective peer tutoring session looks like and

provide questions the students can ask one another. Peer tutoring remains an effective approach

to classroom learning that benefits all students in the group.

Like Kenny, students can successfully learn from the many learning strategies social

constructivism provides. These include: co-construction, scaffolding, anchored instruction,

reciprocal teaching, and peer tutoring. Each strategy promotes effective learning in class. For

teachers to effectively use social constructivism in their classrooms, they need to create a learner

centered approach which emphasizes social constructivist learning strategies.

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References

Hunter, B. (2015). Teaching for engagement: Part 1--constructivist principles, case-based

teaching, and active learning. College Quarterly, 18(2), 1-16.

Ormond, J. E. (2012). Essentials of educational psychology: Big ideas to guide effective

teaching. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Stefaniak, J. E., & Tracey, M. W. (2015). An exploration of student experiences with learner-

centered instructional strategies. Contemporary Educational Technology, 6(2), 95-112.

Zurek, A., Torquati, J., & Acar, I. (2014). Scaffolding as a tool for environmental education in

early childhood. International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental

Education, 2(1), 27-57.