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Derived from the Latin con struere, the verb to construct means to orga-
nize, arrange, or give structure (Mahoney, 1999). Although contemporary edu-
cational literature is replete with a wide range of definitions for constructivism
(Null, 2004), at the core level this term proposes that “knowledge is individu-
ally constructed and socially co-constructed by learners based on their interpre-
tations of experiences in the world” (Jonassen, 1999, p. 217). As both a school
of thought and a springboard for instructional practice, constructivism has a
long and diverse history rooted in philosophy, psychology, and education (Null,
2004; von Glasersfeld, 1989b; Warrick, 2001).
According to Hein (1991), constructivism is “a position which has been
frequently adopted ever since people began to ponder epistemology” (¶ 3) in
investigating how people acquire, transmit, and apply knowledge (Bunge,
1983; Ozmon & Craver, 1999). Constructivism stresses the importance of self-
discovery and life experiences in examining the genesis of knowledge. Rather
than focusing on knowledge acquisition as something that exists outside of the
individual, constructivism sees it as a uniquely inner experience. In believing
that knowledge must be created in the mind of the knower, constructivism
contrasts with objectivism, which posits that knowledge exists independ-
ently of the knower (Biggs, 1996) and thus people must learn passively about
33
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/12081-002
Constructing Undergraduate Psychology Curricula: Promoting Authentic Learning
and Assessment in the Teaching of Psychology, by J. A. Mayo
Copyright © 2010 American Psychological Association. All rights reserved.
objective reality rather than actively construct working models of it (T. M. Butt,
personal communication, November 10, 2008).