Photo by Ron Lach
Constructivism
IDT100x
Knowledge is subjective. We construct our own understanding of world, building from what we already know. Constructivism takes the idea of active processing, initiated by Cognitivism, and considers human agency, shaped by free will and the search for meaning. We naturally seek order in the universe, to make sense of external realities from our existing knowledge.
Piaget's radical (or cognitive) constructivism focuses on the learner's interaction with their own subjective experience in knowledge creation. For social constructivists, like Vygotsky, knowledge is constructed through social interaction and context.
Wonderland Sculpture. Calgary by Bernard Spragg,
background photo by Scott Webb
Background photo by Alizee Marchand
Jean Piaget
(1874-1949)
Pioneer of Constructivism
From his detailed observational studies, Piaget concluded that humans create knowledge through adjusting their understanding of the world around them. Humans are at the center of their own knowledge creation.
Humans
Learning Inner Dynamic
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Cognitive conflict – friction between student's schema + reality
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Cognitive equilibrium – resolving this conflict
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Assimilating – new knowledge is brought in and adjustments made
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Accommodating – revision of old schema to incorporate new reality
Motivational Psycholgists
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation
Thorndike and Skinner's models of learning were extrinsic in nature; Constuctivism assumes a more intrinsic motivational stance, a product of free will.
Intrinsic Motivation
One does the activity for the enjoyment of it. It's inherently relaxing. Effective rewards; More likely to sustain long-term; Self-motivation to take on new tasks; Slower changes in behavior; Sense of accomplishment
John Dewey
(1859-1952)
Educational Reformer
Dewey wanted to encourage plurality in education to meet the American ideal of democracy in education. He integrated Piaget's cognitive constructivism with concerns similar to Vygotsky. Cultural forms and generated meanings are central to human thought. Nurturing independent thought was key.
Real World Activities
to Dewey, enable creativity and collaboration and provide important context for learning.
John Keller
(1938-present)
Creator of ARCS Model
Keller proposed a model to engage and motivate students
Four Key Elements
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Attention – focus on stimulating and varied instructional methods and materials
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Relevance – make sure it's applicable to real-life situations
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Confidence – build through clear, achievable goals and challenges, constructive feedback
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Satisfaction – provide opportunities for success and recognition.
Lev Vygotsky
(1896-1934)
Sociocultural Theorist of Constructivism
To Vygotsky, learning is embedded in cultural values and is a socially mediated process of collaborating with a more learned member of society. One creates meaning through meaningful (social) interactions with the world.
Zone of proximal development (ZPD):
The span between independent learning, guided learning, and learning just beyond the learner's grasp, ZPD emphasized the need for a guide in co-constructing knowledge.
The mind seeks meaningful connections
Jean Piaget
& Radical Constructivism
Implications for teaching & learning
Approach has best applicability to higher education, since it emphasizes higher order abstraction, synthesis, analysis, and generalization. But in breaking down the process of learning into steps, teachers can scaffold learning how to learn at these higher orders at a developmentally appropriate level, as per Piaget's teachings.
John Dewey & the Real World
as the Ultimate Classroom
John Dewey believed in integrating learning from children's real world environment. Independent inquiry, considering alternatives, and evidence-based beliefs were central to his approach.
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Implications for teaching & learning
The instructor takes on the role of facilitator, creating guidelines and environment for the learner to come up with their own conclusions. The instructor takes a more hands on approach and employs cooperative learning.
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Reciprocal questioning, jigsaw classroom, and structured controversies are three examples. Students work together to form their inquiries and answer. Or they become experts and teach one aspect of a group project. Lastly, they research a particular controversy together (Brau). However, this works less for novice learners, who would need more structure, according to Bekki Brau.
Lev Vygotsky
& the Zone of Proximal Development
Vygotsky considered the role of culture and society as central in the formation and development of reason, speech, and mental abilities in children. Adults, as purveyors of knowledge, are key players in children's cognitive development by assigning culturally specific meaning to the world around them. Their mutual co-creation or construction expands the child's capacity to learn toward formal reasoning.
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Language is also central to learning. Inner speech enables mental reasoning and external speech enables one to communicate with others. Before the age of two, Vygotsky believed, the child has no internal language, only social language.
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Implications for teaching & learning
Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed in the central role of the learner as active participant in the learning process through meaningful interactions with the world. Unlike Piaget, whose knowledge acquisition involved interactions with content, Vygotsky saw knowledge as co-constructed through meaningful social interactions. Learning is thus collaborative in nature.
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Vygotsky's zone of proximal development places the teacher in the pivotal role of More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), who provides the tools of intellectual adaptation. With the guidance of the MKO, the student expands their access to knowledge towards areas just beyond their reach through scaffolding. Learning is more student-centered, customized to their individual zones of independence. Based on that, the teacher can create the framework for reaching learning goals.
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Motivational Psychologists:
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation
Simply put, extrinsic motivation comes from outside the individual; whereas, intrinsic comes from within. Early psychologist models of learning emphasized external motivation, in the early 20th Century, by Skinner and Thorndike. Intrinsic motivation is a more recent focus.
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Extrinsic Motivation
One focuses on the benefits derived from participation. Yet one feels a sense of social pressure. There are usually social or material rewards. It enables us to do a task that could be seen as of little interest otherwise. If you were to remove the rewards, the incentive to continue diminishes.
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4 Types of Intrinsic Motivation
Challenge
One seeks to master skills for the pleasure of accomplishment. Achievement becomes an end in and of itself, for personal development.
Curiosity
Competence motivation is a willingness to develop skills, sparked by a desire to get to know the world. Because it's tied to extrinsic rewards of improving one's occupational outlook it can be perceived as motivation that's both extrinsic and intrinsic in nature.
Control
According to Hunt, who first coined the term, intrinsic motivation, one weeks having a sense of control over one's environment.
Context
Bruner was one to teach the relevance and utility of skills taught at school for solving problems in the real world.
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3 Types of Extrinsic Motivation
Reward-based, power-based, and fear-based
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For Constructivist's active learner-constructed paradigm, motivation for learning and pursuing knowledge is key. How does one becomes self-motivated? This is perhaps one of the biggest questions for engaging learners from K–12, foundational education that either sparks further inquiry or ends with high school.
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We employ both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation throughout the day. I love my coffee ritual, of listening to binaural beats while writing in my journal, visualizing my goals. It's intrinsically motivated because the effective rewards of waking up in a stimulating but relaxing manner getting in touch with what keeps me going.
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Developing content for this website is extrinsically motivated. I'm trying to retool professionally so I have more options for work. The more skills I have under my belt the more employable I feel. I also know understanding learning theory is inherently good for teaching, so there's a level of idealism mixed in. Perhaps one can label it intrinsic when one employs one's values and seeks to feel a sense of accomplishment. However, the effort is toward a separate outcome of obtaining a certificate, which would make it extrinsic.
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Further, why do we choose to learn certain topics over others? Once upon a time, college felt like a rite of passage. Nowadays, with the deeper disparity of income, students are choosing majors that can guarantee an income. Extrinsic motivation rules the day but the subject matter has to have some level of intrinsic curiosity and interest to pursue at an advanced level.
Implications for teaching & learning design
"Offering choice and autonomy in learning activities allows learners to feel in control of their learning process, which can lead to increased motivation and engagement." (edX, Week 4, Constructivism and Motivation).
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This becomes even more important to sustain motivation as children enter adolescence and seek a level of autonomy and choice. Of concern is the decrease in intrinsic motivation in education when the purpose to get a good job within areas of competence.
John Keller
& ARCS Model of Motivation
Implications (of constructivism) for instructional (learning) design:
Constructivist learning theories place the inner process of learning front and center. Whether the environment itself provides the input (stimulus) for learning or its social context furnishes the impetus for learning, the learner is active participant in knowledge acquisition.
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Motivation is key for active engagement in Constructivism
In Keller's ARCS model of motivation, problem solving is central to the learning process. The following are tips for instructional designers applying the ARCS model, which seeks to engage learner motivation.
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Attention
Attention could employ perceptual arousal (surprise, doubt, or disbelief) or inquiry arousal (curiosity from stimulating problem).
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Active participation – games, role play, hands-on practice are some of the segueways toward active participation. Engagement will encourage completion of course
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Humor – attention grabbing but use with caution
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Conflict – stating contrary facts to what learner perceives as true
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Variety – different media can grab attention
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Real world examples – practical application can be motivating.
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Relevance
Relevance motivates users. Use relatable language, stories, and analogies.
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Link to learner's previous experience – provides a sense of continuity and expension of knoweldge base
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Perceived current worth – motivated by resolving current issues with new knowledge and skills
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Perceived projected usefulness – communicate how the course will help them in their future real lives
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Modeling – present models of success
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Choice – allow learners to choose their own instructional strategy.
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Confidence
Help learners believe they can succeed.
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Facilitate self growth – show progress from baby steps to help them believe in themselves, toward self growth
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Communicate objectives and prereqs – show how the learner will be evaluated and what they are expected to achieve
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Provide feedback – constructive feedback is essential for providing a sense of confidence to progress
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Give learners control – providing a sense of autonomy and control over their learning is motivating to commit.
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Satisfaction
Satisfaction is directly tied to motivation, whether extrinsic or intrinsic.
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Praise or rewards – provide a sense of accomplishment in the form of a reward
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Immediate application – skills should be presented as directly applicable in the future. This can be done by engaging with real world examples to problem solve.
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ARCS Model of Motivation is applicable to instructional design for all age groups, corporate and academic settings.
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Strength and limitations of constructivism in Higher Education>
Learning Scenario: Constructivism>
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Works cited
Bates, A. W. (2022). Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning (3rd ed.). Tony Bates Associates Ltd. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev3m/
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Brau, Bekki, and Royce Kimmons. Education Research Across Multiple Paradigms. EdTech Books, 2022, https://doi.org/10.59668/133.
Hanssen-Passeri, Catherine. "Instructional Design and Technology: Learning Theories." EdX.Org, 7 Aug. 2023, learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:USMx+LDT100x+2T2023. Accessed 20 Aug. 2023.
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Nickerson, Charlotte. "Extrinsic Vs. Intrinsic Motivation: What's the Difference?" Simply Psychology, 12 Apr. 2023, www.simplypsychology.org/differences-between-extrinsic-and-intrinsic-motivation.html. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
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Pappas, Christopher. "Instructional Design Models and Theories: Keller's ARCS Model of Motivation." ELearning Industry, 20 May 2015, elearningindustry.com/arcs-model-of-motivation. Accessed 1 Sept. 2023.
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​"Social Constructivism." Graduate Student Instructor Teaching & Resource Center UC Berkeley, gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/social-constructivism/. Accessed 2 Sept. 2023.