Constructivism In Practice

I agree with, and teach using the Constructionist Learning Theory. “The Constructionist theory builds on the Constructivist theories of Jean Piaget, asserting that knowledge is not simply transmitted from teacher to student, but actively constructed in the mind of the learner” (Orey, 2001). I believe that it is very important for the students to be actively involved in their learning and having the students “create” an artifact is a perfect way to get them involved. I agree with Dr. Orey when he says that constructionism is a “theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact of something they can share with others” (Laureate Education, 2009).

In Chapter 11 Generating and Testing Hypotheses, there are many examples of how students can use technology in order to create a final project. "Technology can play a vital role in generating and testing hypotheses because new developments in probeware and interactive applets allow students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data - a processing that can be tedious and error prone" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007). They go on to give many examples of how allowing students to use a spreadsheet can help them to prove their hypothesis. Not only can students use spreadsheets to incorporate technology in proving a hypothesies but, "Simulation software also can provide incredibly engaging learning environments, resulting in increased motivation and retention in learning" (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007).

There are so many posibilites when using technology. This is a technology rich environment and according to Miss Donovan, “Their future is technology and they have to know how to use this in many different formats” (Laureate Education, 2009). As teachers, we need to give the students as much exposure to technology and its abilities as possible. Allowing students to create a project using the computer will help them to retain the information that they are being taught. Following the constructionist/constructivist approach, our focus needs to be on the students being active and engaged in the constructing of artifacts.

Cognitivism in Practice

Dr. Orey states that, "Cognitive learning theories revolve around information processing" (Laureate Education, 2009). In Chapter 4, Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers, the idea that advanced organizers "are structures that teachers provide to students before a learning activity to help them classify and make sense of the content they'll encounter, particularly new content that is not well organized in its original format"(Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). When using an advanced organizer the "higher-level" or "essential" questions should be in the center node and then from that you should branch off with facts or ideas you learned from the lesson. Creating this type of organizer is a great visual representation used to summarize what the students have learned from the lesson. In addition, it is important to have the students summarize not only at the end of the lesson, but also throughout the lesson. Having the students work on the organizer throughout the lesson will help to ensure that they are understanding the concept as you are going along rather than getting to the end and finding out they don't understand it.

In Chapter 6, Summarizing and Note Taking, "The instructional strategy summarizing and note taking focuses on enhancing students' ability to synthesize information and distill it into a concise new form" (Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). When taking notes it is important to organize the information in a way that is easy to refer back to and understand. In this chapter, they mention many different techniques to use when taking notes, such as: Microsoft Word and the AutoSummarize feature, Inspiration, Wikis and Blogs. Taking notes is difficult for students as it seems they like to write down everything exactly as they see or hear it. Using these techniques and with a lot of practice, eventually the students should be able to learn how to summarize and pull just the most important information to include in their notes. It is important that they have the most important ideas since the short term or working memory can "only process 7 plus or minus 2 pieces of information at one time" (Laureate Education, 2009).

The idea of Cues, Questions, Advanced Organizers and Summarizing and Note Taking correlate with the principles of the cognitive learning theory. All of these help to organize and internalize the information that is being taught for an easier retrieval at a later time.

Homework, Effort and the Behaviorist Learning Theory

“Homework and practice give students a chance to review and apply what they have learned” (Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). When I give homework to my students I give it to them as a reinforcement of what we have been learning in school. I also give it if we did not get finished something and the students are able to do it at home without me. For example, I may give a math sheet having to do with multiples and prime numbers if that’s what we are learning in math. As far as spelling, all of that is done as homework. We do not spend any time in class on spelling words for the week. I do not grade homework, rather I check to make sure it is done and I look over it to see if there are any students that do not seem to understand it. I do not grade it because there are some students that have very active parents and will sit down with the child and work on their homework with them, or in some cases do it for them, while others have to do all of their homework on their own.

I have had a couple of students who don’t think they need to put forth any effort on their homework since it is not graded. However, according to Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski “…effort is the most important factor in achievement” (2007). After reading Chapter 8, Reinforcing Effort, I am thinking about using the idea of a spreadsheet to show the correlation between the amount of effort they spend on their homework and their test grades. I am hoping that the students will see the more effort they put into their homework and their school work the greater their test scores will be. This is a perfect example of the behaviorist learning theory and how if you do something right you will be positively rewarded (study and put forth more effort and you will get better grades).




Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.