Constructivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Constructivism - Essay Example Constructivism is based on how learning takes place. It offers an account on how learners acquire knowledge and not how to acquire it. It can be traced to the periods of the 18th century to philosophers like Giambattista Vico and John Dewey. They argue that ideas came from the social context that manipulates their thinking and coming up with new ideas. It has its roots in philosophy, sociology, education, and psychology. It only helps give solid basics why and how knowledge was passed to individuals. It is characterized by sharing of knowledge between individuals, the environment influences the learners understanding, and social collaborations enable learners to build new concepts. It disagrees with the concept of standardized curriculum, system. It bases its argument on the difference of individual capacities different people are influenced differently by their environments and therefore their knowledge becomes incomparable. Basing a curriculum in the learning system, it results to limiting the reasoning of learners rather than promoting their open minds and encouraging them to interpret, predict and analyze situations. Students should be encouraged to [practice extensive dialogue among them and thereby this enhances their abilities. This develops their courage and motivating them to feel capable of solving challenging problems, and therefore given time, in the future they can be able to handle more competent and complex problems. An instructor in learning is only supposed to give guidelines. and not to give complete details of the subject studied. It is therefore more efficient having instructors rather than teachers in the learning centre’s. According to Dewey learning is an everyday’s thing and one their senses to cultivate meaning from an idea. With times in learning, it gives one the experience to cultivate more knowledge and ideas from existing environs. He also adds that language is of considerable influence to the learning process. Langua ge enhances communication even within oneself and even passing of ideas from one person to another. After learning when one reflects on it, the idea becomes parts of us, inseparable from our lives (Rideout 176). Previous knowledge acquired is also of immense use on that it builds the foundation for further learning activity. The constructivists encourage interactive and collaborative environment for learners since it enables learners to acquire new experience and be able to manipulate objects, ask questions, and experiment on a new thing and even be able to aim at achieving a set goal Collaboration in constructivist learning classrooms encourage learners to get new ideas from their peers. It enhances problem solving and investigations on issues on efforts to come up with a solution. Technology can be used in assisting learners since it offers a variety of information based from different angles. This can be the best module to be used for learning because it encourages application of knowledge, critical thinking, and active involvement in the learning process. They criticize learning process where the teacher acts as a trainer (Poikela and Anna