CONSTRUCTIVISM IN THE

CLASSROOM

By:
Khairunnisa
Ainur Adhwa
Syazwi
Nur Arina Zafirah
Nur Haniffa
Nur Ain Syafinaz

WHAT IS
CONSTRUCTIVISM
?
Constructivism is not a new concept, it has been around since the
turn of the century and was supported by:
John Dewey,
An American psychologist, philosopher, educator, social critic
and political activist.

Lev Vygotsky,
A Russian psychologist and philosopher and is associated
with the social constructivist theory. He believed that the
influences of cultural and social contexts played an important
part in learning and supports a discovery model of learning.

Jean Piaget
who based his view of psychological development of children
such that a child constructs understanding through many
channels: such as reading, listening, exploring and
experiencing his or her environment.

LEV VYGOTSKY - ASSOCIATED WITH THE

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY

Santrock,JohnW.;2010;Adolescence;McGraw-HillCompany,NewYork

ZONE OF PROXIMAL
DEVELOPMENT

JEAN PIAGET - THE LEARNER IS ADVANCED THROUGH

THREE MECHANISMS
According to Jean Piaget the three mechanisms used are:

Assimilation

Accomodation

fitting a new experience

into an exisiting mental
structure(schema).

revising an existing
schema because of new
experience.

Equilibrium
seeking cognitive
stability through
assimilation and
accommodation. (p. 95)
Santrock,JohnW.;2010;Adolescence;McGraw-HillCompany,NewYork

PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
4 basic guiding principles of
constructivist thinking that educators
must keep in mind:

1.Learning is a social activity

2.Learning is contextual
3.Learning is not the passive
acceptance of knowledge, it takes
work
4.Motivation is a major aspect of
learning

CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOM

TRADITIONAL VS
CONSTRUCTIVIST INSTRUCTOR

TRADITIONAL VS CONSTRUCTIVIST
CLASSROOM
Traditional Classroom
Constructivist Classroom
Studentprimarilyworkalone

Curriculumispresentedpartto
whole,withemphasisonbasicskills
Strictadherencetoafixedcurriculum
Curricularactivitiesrelyheavilyon
textbooksofdataandmanipulative
materials
Studentsareviewedas"blank
slates"
Teachersgenerallybehaveina
didacticmanner,
Teachersseekthecorrectanswersto
validatestudentlessons.
Assessmentofstudentlearningis
viewedasseparatefromteaching
andoccursalmostentirelythrough
testing.

Studentsprimarilyworkingroups
Curriculumispresentedwholeto
partwithemphasisonthebig
concept
Pursuitofstudentquestionsis
highlyvalued.
Studentsareviewedasthinkers
withemergingtheoriesaboutthe
world
Teachersgenerallybehaveas
facilitators
Teachersseekthestudent'spointof
viewinordertounderstandstudent
learningforuselateron
Assessmentofstudentlearningis
interwovenwithteachingand
occursthroughteacherobservation
ofstudentsatworkandthrough
exhibitionsandprotfolios.

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects/eitankaplan/pages/classroom.htm

PROS & CONS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

HOW DO TEACHERS
SUPPORT A
CONSTRUCTIVIST
ENVIRONMENT?