EDU 1803 Essay

Constructivism
Constructivism is a learning theory which explains how people obtain and construct knowledge from prior expe-
rience.Constructivists believe that prior knowledge impacts the learning process in solving novel problems, and
they also declared that the learner must actively construct new facts and knowledge to his existing ones to cre-
ate a significant learning.

Jean Piaget is famous for his theory about the stages of development, they are sensorimotor stage: From
birth two 2, the child in this phase is motivated to interact physically with the environment around them. To en-
courage learning in this stage adults should try to hang out toys far away from her , so she can learn how to
grasp them.
Preoperational stage: from two to seven, The child is going through the stage to understand abstract reason-
ing as well as language undergoes rapid growth. In order to focus on language and the childs understanding a
playing board game with simple rules will help the child learn faster.
Concrete operational stage from seven to eleven, With time, the child gained knowledge through the envi-
ronment and started to understand emphasizing classification or categorization by similarity and difference.
Children at this stage are good reversibility when something changes in shape or appearance it is still the same
for example, cutting apple into smaller pieces, its still the same amount when the apple was whole.
Formal operations from eleven to adulthood, in this period children can learn to use the scientific method in-
dependently. children can handle abstract ideas, make hypotheses. For instance, assume a person who has
achieved the formal operations level is given examples of a few drab fluids and is informed that some mix of
these fluids will bring about a yellow fluid. A person at the formal operations level would design out how to sys-
tematically test to discover the arrangement.

Lev Vygotksy emphasized in his theory the importance of language that plays an important role in the childs
development that results as a part of social interaction. He expressed that youngsters explain reasonable er-
rands with the assistance of discourse, eyes and hands and also they utilize dialect as apparatus to manage
their activities.
Vygotsy developed the theory of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) where he described what a child can
do alone, and what they can do with the help of others and what they cannot do at all. His investigations found
that a youngster regularly refined new undertakings while working as a team with a grown-up rather than all
alone. For example Students learn when theyre in the classroom, they look out for their surrounding and learn-
ing topics, they do their own learning rather than the teacher instruct them and teach them, like doing their
classroom room projects with enthusiasm, active participation in the classroom. And with that they gather prior
information and what they have learned creating new knowledge.

Jerome Bruner developed a model for understanding the way in which children represent experiences and
turn them into knowledge. His model identifies three modes: Enactive mood: It requires physical action such as
constructing a model of rocket ship
Iconic mode: Is the visual summarization of images, such as encouraging children to record experiences pho-
tographs and pictures.
The last mode is Symbolic mode when children portray experiences through a range of symbolic systems such
as Provide opportunities for scribbling and early writing skills.
Bruner proposed the idea of spiral curriculum in 1960s, stating that the most complex material, if properly struc-
tured and presented can be fully understood by very young children.Start with experiencing the
participants,look for patterns, add new information and theory, practice skills and plans for action,apply in ac-
tion.
In order for learners to learn and get educated, Bruner believed that the curriculum should encourage the de-
velopment of problem solving through the process of inquiry and discovery.

To conclude, According to the theorists, each child becomes active learner who seek out for information to de-
velop, because they learn through a well structured activities and learning exercises that bring out and chal-
lenges their academic, physical, social and emotional growth.

References:
1.David L, "Constructivism," in Learning Theories, June 20, 2015, https://www.learning-theories.com/constructivism.html.

2.Lipoff, S. (2011, April 26). Constructivism and the Developing Child. Retrieved November 7, 2017, from http://www.funderstand-
ing.com/theory/child-development/constructivism-and-the-developing-child/

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