Teachers Development Day

Constructivism in the Classroom

    

                                                                                                                                       Pat Alfarone                                                       Michelle Rios                                                    SusanMcBride                                                 Richard Haan

Background & History:

The philosophy of constructivism is that learners need to build their understanding of new ideas based on prior learning experiences.  Learners build their ideas piece by piece.  What is learned can then be applied to new situations and problems to solve.

A constructivist learning environment should foster creative learning experiences  and  provide opportunities to support the construction of student understanding.

Traditional classrooms focused only on an end product, characteristics include memorization, repetition, textbooks, teacher directed instruction.

Visual Display

 Contributors to Constructivism

• Jean Piaget- Knowledge is built on experience.

• Lev Vygotsky - Knowledge comes from culture & social influence.

• John Dewey - Knowledge comes from examining and learning from one’s personal experiences.

• Jerome Bruner - Learning is an active process, new ideas based on current or previous knowledge.

Bruner's Recent ContributionThe 5Es

groovylibrarian.edublogs.org

Essential Ideas and various aspects to Constructivist Learning Environmentfrom BSCS: Biological Science Curriculum Study

Engage:• encounter and identify the task

Explore:• active team learning-teacher is only a facilitator-

Explain:• organize the work to explain to others

o communicate in groupso share ideas: video, drawings, recordings

Essential Ideas and various aspects to Constructivist Learning Environmentfrom BSCS: Biological Science Curriculum Study

Elaborate:• expand concepts• make connections• apply your understanding

Evaluate & Assessment• ON- GOING

Advantages

• Student  Centered

• Active learning

• Problem Solving Learning

Disadvantages

• Time consuming             • Who will do the training

• Possible teachers who  are        resistant to change

5 E  Lesson Plan

Title - Life Cycle of a Plant (A 5E lesson) Primary Subject - Science

Topic: Life Cycle of Plants Objectives: • At the end of the lesson, pupils will:

o create a power point presentation that states: *  conditions suitable for the growth of a seed and a plant *  plant a seed and begin to observe the complete life cycle of flowering plants grown from seeds over a period of time* Insert images, pictures and/or videos into their Power Point Presentation 

Engage

Engage: • Concepts:

o Plants have life cycles. o Plant goes through stages of growth and development that

includes seed, young plant, and adult plant.•   • Teacher shows a video of the life cycle of a plant as an example. 

Teacher ask pupils: o Students watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCtzQS1xSIo Students engage in a discussion of which part do they think is

the beginning part of the plant cycle, what do they think are the stages of a plant cycle

Explore

Explore: • In groups, pupils will use the resource room computers to explore

for diagrams, information and video's to use in their Power Point Presentation.

• Before going power point or internet sites, brief pupils on:o group tasks, computer accesso collection of common sites to useo Where and how to save there information

 

Explain

• organize the work to explain to otherso communicate in groupso share ideas: video, drawings, recordings

 •     Students use the class wiki, googledocs accounts to collaborate

and communicate ideas.  

Expand

 o Students will elaborate in a short essay on how

the life cycle of the plants is important to the ecosystem. 

o Students will find three internet sites that are active in helping to save the world.

o The sites and a short explaination of what it is about should be one slide of the final Power Point Presentation.

      

Evaluate

Evaluate: • Brief pupils on their ongoing assignment: • Pupils will follow the rubric designed for the class activity

 

Resources

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ScienceLifeCycleOfAPlant5ELesson23.htm  http://newliteraciesintheclassroom.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/constrct-vs-trad.jpg(slide 3)

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQDgBxmzPzzoc1l_jgvLH2O44b-PmFcU7nKdSDBJW4Xzf-gn5k8 (slide 4)