CONSTRUCTIVISM:

KNOWLEDGE
CONSTRUCTION/CONCEPT
LEARNING

Cognitive Processes

ADVANCE ORGANIZER
Constructivism

Views of
Constructivism

Characteristics of
Constructivism

Individual
Constructivism
Social
Constructivism

Organizing
Knowledge

Two Views of
Constructivism:
Individual

Constructivism- also
called cognitive constructivism. It
emphasizes individual, internal
construction
of
knowledge.
Proponents of this type choose childcentered and discovery learning.
They believe the learners should
allowed
to
discover
principles
through their own exploration rather
than direct instruction by the

Social Constructivism-emphasizes that

knowledge exist in a social context and
is initially shared with others instead of
being represented solely in the mind of
an individual. It is based on Vygotsky s
theory. Here, construction of knowledge is
shared by two or more people. According to
social constructivists, the opportunity to
interact and share among learners help to
shape and refine their ideas. Knowledge
construction becomes social, not individual.

Characteristics of
Constructivism
1. Learners construct
understanding: As discussed earlier,
constructivists do not view learners as
active thinkers who interpret new
information based on what they already
know. They construct in a way that
make sense to them.

Characteristics of
Constructivism
New

learning depends on
current understanding:
Background information is very
important. It is through the present
views or scheme that the learner
has, the new information will be
interpreted.

Characteristics of
Constructivism
Learning

is facilitated by social
interaction-Constructivists believe
in creating a community of
learners within classrooms.

Characteristics of
Constructivism
3. Learning is facilitated by social
interaction- constructivists believe in
creating a communities help learners
take responsibility for their own learning.
Learners have a lot of opportunities to
cooperate and collaborate to solve
problems and discover things. Teachers
play the role of a facilitator rather than
an expert who has all the knowledge.

Characteristics
of
of
Constructivism
Constructivism

4. Meaning learning occurs within

authentic learning tasks- an authentic task
is one that involves constructing knowledge
and understanding that is so akin to the
knowledge and understanding needed when
applied in the real world. Example, a writing
activity where six-year olds prepare a
checklist of thing they need to do in school is
more an authentic activity than for them to be
working only on tracing worksheets with
dotted lines.

Organizing knowledge
A concepts is a way of grouping or
categorizing objects or events in our mind.
A concept of teach, includes group of tasks
such as model, discuss, illustrate, explain,
assist, etc.. In your life as a student you
would learn thousands of concepts, some
simple ones, others more complicated that
may take you to learn them more gradually.
The concepts you learn are also revised as
you learn them more and experience more.

Concepts as Feature
Listslearning a concept involves learning specific features that
characterize positive instance of the concept of the
concept. Included here are defining feature and
correlational feature. A defining feature is a characteristic
present in ALL triangle. Example, a triangle has a three
side. Having three sides is defining feature of a triangle.
Because ALL triangles should have three sides. If doesnt,
then it is not a triangle. A correlational feature is one that
is present in many positive instances but not essential for
concept membership. For example, a mother is loving.
Being loving is a feature commonly present in the concept
mother. But a mother may not be loving. So being loving
is only a correlational feature, not a defining one.

Concepts as Prototypesa prototype is an idea or a typical example.

It is usually formed based on the positive
instances that learns encounter most often.
Example, close your eyes now and for a
moment think of a cat. Picture in mind what it
looks like. You probably thought of the image
of the common cat we see. Rather than some
rare breed or species. Once learns have their
own concept prototypes, the new examples
that they see are checked against this existing
prototype.

Concept as Exemplars
Exemplars represent a variety of examples.

It allows learners to know that an example

under a concept may have variability.
Example. A learners concept of vegetable
may include a wide variety of different
examples
like
cauliflower,
kangkong,
cabbage, strings beans, squash, corn,
potatoes. When he encounters a new type of
vegetable like bitsuelas, he would search
from the exemplars he knows and looks for
one that is most similar, like string beans.

Making Concept
Effective

Provide a clear definition of the concept

Make the definition features very concrete
and prominent
Give a variety of position instances
Cite a best example or a prototype
Provider opportunity for learns to identify
positive and negative instances
Ask learners to think of their own example of
the concept
Point out how concepts can be related to
each other.

Schemas and Scripts

Schema is an organized body of knowledge about something.it

is like a file of information you hold in your mind about
something. Like schema of predictable events about a specific
activity. Examples would include knowing the series of steps
done when we visit a doctor, or what transpires at the beginning
of the class when the teacher arrives.
Your role as a teacher is to bring learners to construct their own
knowledge such that have a well organized set of concepts. Aim
to make clear those concepts that are still vague for them, and
to pave the way for them to overcome misconceptions. Kit is
important that you acquire skill on how to facilitate concept
formation and development. Constructivism can be an excellent
guide for you.

Applying Constructivism in Facilitating

Learning

Aim to make learners understand a few key

ideas in an in-depth manner, rather than
taking up so many topics superficially.
Give varied examples.
Provide opportunities for quality interaction.
Have lots of opportunities quality interaction.
Have lots of hands-on activities.
Related your topic to real life situations.
Do not depend on the explanation method
all the time.