e. In the overall context of daily teaching) than merely scoring their ability to demonstrate superficial recall of assigned information of questionable relevance (Brooks & Brooks, 1999).
In the constructivist classroom, students work within smaller groups that promote interactive communication, expression and sharing of thoughts processes, and critical evaluation of ideas related to assigned substantive subject matter (Brooks & Brooks, 1999). Within the traditional format, students almost always work in isolation. Teachers using constructivist methods teach interactively and they deliberately involve students in two-way exchanges and expression of ideas and analyses. There is a specific effort of selecting subject matter that relates in meaningful ways to important contemporary concepts, issues, controversies, and concerns (Brooks & Brooks, 1999).
The other most important defining characteristic of constructivist classrooms is that teachers evaluate learning much more broadly than they do within the traditional classroom (Brooks & Brooks, 1999). Instead of assessing learning primarily (or exclusively) through end-of-term (or periodic) testing, teachers conduct assessments continually throughout the term and in connection with every aspect of student involvement...
Classroom Media Citizens in Twenty-first century find the technological advancements as an inexorable support. Justified access; connectivity to technological advancement along with adequate training need to be provided to teachers in order to make them capable of utilizing the available technology to the fullest possible utilization of skills. Naisbitt states that Computers provide a cost effective method of personalizing education even though its capital intensive nature cannot be denied. Simplifications of
The whole language method of teaching reading, versus phonics instruction, is a common use of constructivist theory (Chen, 2010, Social constructivist). Cognitive theories As the structures of the human mind began to become better understood in the 20th century, cognitivism became a popular learning theory. It suggests that by understanding how the mind works, teachers are better able to enable students to learn. Assumptions of this approach include the idea that
..control the environment by implementing a logical system (the teacher's, of course) of conditioning." (Tauber, 1999, p. 19) in this context the teacher is seen as an "interventionist" in that he or she has to control and dictate the learning and behavioral environment. "By accepting a position as a teacher, a person has not only the right but an 'obligation' to modify student behavior" (Axelrod, 1977, p. 158). In essence
Constructivist Methods in Social Studies Kaiser, C. (2010, February). Redrawing the boundaries: A constructivist approach to combating student apathy in the secondary history classroom. The History Teacher, 43(2), 223-232. Kaiser argues that there is really nothing terribly tidy or accurate about the divisions that teachers use to teach and study history. The author suggests that teachers need to know both why and how the divisions in the study of history occur --
Creativity is a necessary attribute for instructors using the Gardner method of instruction, precisely because it does not prescribe the use of any specific materials in particular at all. A typical approach within the Gardner system might use an ice skating session to present lessons of Newtonian physics in a manner conducive to understanding by students with better kinesthetic awareness, for one example. Likewise, music might be used to present
Classroom -- Deploying the Constructivist Philosophy in a Standards-Based Educational Environment In today's standards-based educational environment, there is a strong amount of pressure upon both teachers and students to achieve certain set requirements at certain set times, rather than to engage in the process of learning for learning's sake in an experimental and student-directed fashion. Yet such a hands-on and independent process of learning is the key to the constructivist
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