![]() ![]() Many hits relate to informal teaching and learning as found in science centers. One also notes that most of the educational entries are related to the teaching and learning of science, technology, and mathematics, although many also relate to other areas. ![]() Searches on the Internet provide entries in millions, even when limiting the searches by adding education or learning. Similarly, Encarta (2008, DVD version) gives 30 entries, none of which are related to education. ![]() Most of these, including the article with the heading Constructivism, are related to a Russian art movement, and none of them are related to the constructivism we talk about in education. In Encyclopaedia Britannica (2008, DVD version) constructivism is discussed in 29 articles. If one looks it up in an encyclopedia, one gets somewhat disturbing results. The term constructivism is used in different fields and with many different meanings. Sjøberg, in International Encyclopedia of Education (Third Edition), 2010 The Many Faces of Constructivism Evaluation is an integral part of the constructivist view, in which processes are more important than results however, there are no predefined evaluation methods, which are theoretically derived and empirically ‘secured.’ In the constructivist position, learning is viewed as an active constructing process, which is situated in a definite context. The learner finds him/herself in an active position, while the teacher has the task of providing problem situations and the tools to solve them and, if necessary, is available to react to the needs of the learner. The question of how knowledge is constructed and the connection between knowledge and action is more important than how knowledge is transferred (Gerstenmaier and Mandl 1995). While teaching and learning methods in the tradition of the cognitive view hold the instruction at the center of their efforts, the views of the constructivists distinguish themselves by placing the learner and the learning process at the center. Central to this is the assumption that knowledge is not a copy of reality, but rather a human construction (Knuth and Cunningham 1993). In questions of teaching and learning the ‘new’ constructivism becomes especially relevant: in contrast to radical constructivism, the new constructivism is more concerned with the thinking and acting subject. Reinmann-Rothmeier, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001 2.1 Basic AssumptionsĬonstructivism has been discussed intensively again in educational psychology since the 1980s, and specifically constructivism as a scientific and cognition theory and also as a paradigm in sociology, cognition science, and psychology (‘new’ constructivism) (see Gerstenmaier and Mandl 1995). Therefore, relativism must be evaluated separately from constructivism. After all, it is logically possible to admit the reality of the external world while claiming that it is impossible to know it objectively, hence intersubjectively. However, cognitive relativism can be held, and is usually held, independently of ontological constructivism. Whether individualist or collectivist, ontological constructivism implies cognitive relativism. Whereas according to the former the individual is the source of everything, according to the latter the social group, in particular the scientific community, constructs whatever it studies, even natural things such as stars. Whether ontological or epistemological, constructivism comes in two varieties: individualist and social. In particular, it denies the difference between reality and appearance, which may be deceiving: it bans recurrent questions of the forms ‘What is really the case?’ and ‘Which of the two hypotheses is the truer?’ Moreover, it is destructive, because it dispenses with any tests aiming at checking whether a hypothesis matches the facts it refers to. By contrast, ontological constructivism strains credibility. Cognitive psychology has confirmed the hypothesis that all concepts and hypotheses are constructed rather than given. Ontological constructivism claims that the knower makes the world. The former holds that concepts and hypotheses are human constructions rather than either innate ideas or the product of revelation, perception, or intuition. Bunge, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001 1.2 Constructivism Entails RelativismĬonstructivism can be cognitive or ontological. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |