Constructivism and Situated Learning

Question 1

what are some examples of pedagogical models

Answer 1

• teaching games for understanding
• sport education
• cooperative learning
• teaching for personal and social responsibility
• step game approach (SGA)
• invasion games competence model (IGCM)

Question 2

what is the focus of pedagogical models

Answer 2

• open tasks
• task-orientation
• self and co regulation
• self referenced assessment
• groups
• student centered
• problem solving
• ownership / responsibility

Question 3

what are the main learning theories

Answer 3

• behaviourism
  
  • measurable change in observable behaviour (product)
• cognitivism
  
  • meaning-making process inside the head of individual learners (process, conceptual growth)
• constructivism
  
  • active construction of personal meaning and understandings (independent process) + social learning
• situated learning
  
  • learning is ‘situated’ in the context of social practice in which it has meaning

Question 4

what are the explanations behind the main theories

Answer 4

• ‘if behaviorism treats the organism as a black box, cognitive theory recognises the importance of the mind in making sense of the material with which it is presented’
• nevertheless, it is still presupposes that the role of the learner is primarily to assimilate [and make sense] whatever the teacher presents
• constructivism in its social forms - suggests that the learner is much more actively involved in a joint enterprise with the teacher (and other students) of creating new meanings

Question 5

what is a constructivist perspective

Answer 5

• learning is an active process where learners reflect upon their current and past knowledge and experiences to generate (construct) new ideas and concepts
• learners are actively engaged in a process if constructing individual interpretations of their experiences

Question 6

what are the key assumptions about learning

Answer 6

• learning is an active process
• learning involves construction of meaning
• learning builds upon prior knowledge
• learning is social

Question 7

how is learning an active process

Answer 7

• ‘constructive learning is active in that the learner must do certain things while processing incoming information in order to learn the material in a meaningful way’
• Piaget (1969): children cannot learn by simply absorbing information without prior having an experience of the knowledge they are receiving
• how people interact with the environment and the material in order to acquire knowledge influences what they learn and how they understand and embed the new knowledge

Question 8

why does learning involve construction of meaning

Answer 8

• construction means
  
  • negotiating the meaning of experiences
  • revising and creating new understandings out of existing ones
• knowledge is not something fix and determined but something dynamic that is understood as in a constant reformation

Question 9

what are the philosophical foundations of constructivism

Answer 9

• objectivism
• relativism

Question 10

what does learning as a social construction mean

Answer 10

• emphasises the collaborative and contextual nature of knowledge development and knowledge construction
• theoretical development: Vygotsky (1978) and the zone of proximal development

Question 11

what is the zone of proximal development

Answer 11

the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers

Question 12

what are the situated perspectives on learning

Answer 12

• learning as acquisition
• learning as construction
• learning as participation - learning cannot be seen as an individual, internal, cognitive process but as a social activity that takes place in a complex socio-cultural world
• in school learning… out of school learning…
• researchers and pscyhologists observed that in many cases students in schools learned specific skills or knowledge that could not be used outside of school context

Question 13

what are the implications for practioners

Answer 13

• identify what is to be learned
• consider the ‘real’ world situations in which this learning is to be used
• select to get the learners engaged in those practices and activities that are consistent with the practices’ of the real world (bring in…)
• recontextualise authentic learning opportunities