ECE 7706 Module Six: Article Five

A Field Guide to Constructivism in the College Science Classroom: Four Essential Criteria and a Guide to their Usage 

R. Todd Hartle, Sandhya Baviskar, and Rosemary Smith

Synopsis: 

      Constructivism has been a hot learning theory/topic more recently in modern Science education due to its basis of inquiry based teaching methods. However, most educators do not truly understand how to teach using a constructivism approach. This article gives an overview of how constructivism should look within the classroom environment. 

      There are many misconceptions about the constructivism approach, so the first thing we need to realize is that social constructionism and cognitive constructivism may sound similar, but they are not the same and will not effect students' learning in the same manner. Cognitive constructivism uses students' past experiences and past knowledge to form new ideas or experiences, while the social constructionism theory takes place when "that describes how the facts that a society believes to be true are ‘constructed’ through social interactions". Cognitive constructivism is what students need in order to succeed with their education, not necessarily group work. It is the manner in which the content is presented. One false characteristic that usually pushes people away from constructivism is that it seems to be an unstructured environment, when it fact it is not that way at all. Student-centered lessons does not mean that the students can do whatever they want whenever they want. 

      "The four criteria essential to identifying and assessing constructivism are as follows: 1) eliciting prior knowledge, 2) creating cognitive dissonance, 3) applying new knowledge with feedback, and 4) reflecting on learning (metacognition)." Eliciting prior knowledge most simply means to activate student prior knowledge on the content such as through an activity, or a real-world problem. The initial activity, problem or experience must be something that is engaging. This introduction is basically a time for the students to let the teacher know what they think they already know on the topic. The information gathered through the experience will let the teacher know where to begin with the lesson and how quickly the students can move through the content. This process will also allow the students to understand where to "file" the content within their previous knowledge. Creating cognitive dissonance means that the students and teacher become aware of misconceptions in the students' knowledge. The teacher needs to help the student realize their misconceptions, so that the student can construct new links. With the Application of new knowledge with feedback the teacher should give the students various real-life problems that could be looked at from different angles in order to challenge the students thinking. Once the problems are completed, feedback needs to be given through solving a problem as a class to give the students something to compare their findings too, teacher comments on assignments/assessments, and/or peer feedback. Reflecting on learning  takes the lesson back to the beginning where the students are able to re-evaluate their initial thinking at the very beginning of the lesson or unit. The more they understand about their process of thinking/learning the more likely they will be to absorb the information. reflecting on their learning 

Hartle, R., Baviskar, S., & Smith, R. (2012). A field guide to constructivism in the college science    classroom: Four essential criteria and a guide to their usage. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ1002158.pdf

Reflection: 

      This article was very informative regarding the various characteristics needed in order for a classroom to have a true constructivist environment. I understand what a constructivist classroom is, but to see it broken down into steps makes it much easier to understand. These steps will help me to create lesson plans that really make my students think more critically about what they already know and about the current content. I really like that the last step brings the students back to their initial thinking, and allows them to correct themselves. I think that this is something that would really stick with a student and help assure their understanding. These steps still allow for the students to complete their own research and experiments in order to create their own understanding, but give the teacher a "template" to structure the lesson. 

      However, the step that confuses me the most is "creating cognitive dissonance", because it was a very short, vague description. I understand that it is important to correct misconceptions, but is this something that needs to be done on a more individual basis in order not to "call out" the children who do not understand? The paragraphs specifically stated not to have the students undergo too much cognitive dissonance because it will be detrimental to the students' confidence and overall interest in the topic. Therefore, I do not understand the best way to go about fixing the misconceptions without unmotivating the students.