What is Constructivism?
emphasizes that individuals learn best when they actively construct knowledge and understanding
What are social constructivist approaches?
emphasize the social contexts of learning and that strategies and knowledge are mutually constructed.
What is Cognitive Apprenticeship?
an expert stretches and supports the novice’s understanding and use of the culture’s skills
What is Scaffolding?
changing the level of support over the course of a teaching session
What is tutoring?
includes peers, aides, volunteers, and mentors
What is cooperative learning?
students work in small groups to help each other learn
What types of tutoring are there?
1) individual tutoring
- operation Minerva
2) teacher aids, volunteers, mentors
- tutors in the classroom
3) peer tutoring
- cross-age peer tutoring
- same-age peer tutoring
Teaching strategies for volunteer and peer tutoring
- have a specialist serve as a supervisor
- provide tutors with training and support
- provide structured and concentrated tutoring sessions
- reward and honor volunteers
- use cross-age peer tutors
- have students participate as tutors and learners
- communicate with parents about tutoring sessions
What is cooperative learning?
occurs when students work in small groups to help each other to learn
What are some necessary components of cooperative learning?
- positive interdependence
- positive face-to-face interaction
- interpersonal and small group skills
- individual accountability
- critical reflection
How to structure cooperative group work
Grouping variables
-Heterogeneous ability
1 lower-ability students benefit from working with higher–ability students
2 medium-ability students may not get the best results in this situation
-ethic, SES, and gender heterogeneity
1 recommended to improve interpersonal relationships
2 equal numbers of males and females, multiples representatives from different ethnic and SES groups
Cooperative Learning Approaches: The Jigsaw Classroom
- teach one thing to each of 6 groups
- beak groups up and reform into 6 new groups, so that each of the new groups has 1 representative from every original groups
- each member of the new groups is responsible for teaching the rest of their members the one part in which they have expertise
Cooperative Learning Approaches: Round robin grouping
- teachers present an open-ended questions
- students consider the question and brainstorm possible responses/solutions individually
- after an appointed time, group members share their thoughts in a round robin format
Teaching strategies for preparing for cooperative learning
- teach interpersonal and communication skills
- help students become active listeners
- encourage and develop leadership skills
Students should be taught to read by:
- basic-skills-and-phonics
- whole-language
- balanced instruction
Approaches to Teaching Reading: Cognitive Constructivist Approaches
- Decoding and comprehending words
- reading recovery
- constructing meaning
- developing expert reading strategies
Approaches to Teaching Reading: Social Constructivist Approaches
- reciprocal teaching
- peer assisted learning strategies (PALS)
- school/family/community connections
Approaches to Teaching Writing: Cognitive Constructivist Approaches
- planning
- problem-solving
- revising
- metacognition
- wireless writing program
Approaches to Teaching Writing: Social Context of Writing
- writing “real texts”
- peer collaboration
- school/family/community connections
Teaching strategies for incorporating writing into the curriculum
- use writing as a learning tool
- use free-writing assignments - allow students to write openly about a topic
- use creative writing assignments- encourage writing as personal reflection
- use formal writing assignments- teach technical aspects: how to formulate an argument, plan, cite, reference.
Domain-Specific Constructivist Approaches; Mathematics Thinking
- arithmetic
- algebra
Mathematics- Constructivist Principles
- make math realist and interesting
- thinking vs. rote memorization
- consider prior knowledge of student
- make math curricula socially interactive
Science and Broad-Based Approaches- Constructivist Teaching Approaches
-students build their own knowledge
-teachers guide by altering misconceptions
-content is related to everyday life
-students consider the social context of science
Kids as Global Scientists Project
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Chapter 7- Behavioural and Social Cognitive Approaches to Teaching and Learning35
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Chapter 8- The congitive information- processing approach and teaching42
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Chapter 9- Social constructivist approaches, domain-specific approaches, and teaching23
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Chapter 11- Motivating Students to Learn42
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Chapter 12- Managing the Classroom31
