A Reflection on constructivism. In your own words summarize the main concepts of Constructivism. Be succinct as possible; boil this down to key features. (No more than a paragraph) Then use the other 80% of this entry to describe how these ideas relate to the FOCUS summer program. How will you create a constructivist environment for the summer students?
An arts, humanities, and science summer immersion program for high school students; An award-winning student organization; A service-learning opportunity
Constructivism involves helping students learn by guiding more than teaching. Motivation is intrinsic rather than external, each person interprets experiences differently and learns from them in their own way, and knowledge gained is influenced by the person’s background.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of constructivism will be present in FOCUS this summer. A lot of the students will be there because they want to learn and have this experience but are unable to because of a lack of resources at their schools. As a college leader, I’m there to help the students learn, not to teach them mundane subjects they aren’t interested in. These students are intrinsically motivated which is seen by their willingness to devote two weeks out of their summer to the program. They also come from a variety of backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, and cultures, as do the college leaders. I’ll be teaching the cooking workshop this summer. My experience with cooking has always been a hobby and something I enjoy doing in my free time. Some of these students may have been cooking for their younger siblings for years so they interpret it as a job rather than a hobby.
To create a constructivist environment, the main goal I have is for the students to learn how to cook a cheap, healthy meal while acknowledging and appreciating their own cooking talents. I understand that every student will have different levels of motivation based off their personal interests. However, I’ll do everything I can to keep them all interested because motivation can be stronger with some extrinsic influences. I also plan on discussing the possibility of collaborative cooking with my partners. If a meal needs two students to work together, they can learn from each other and develop a closer relationship to that person. They can also carry over the skills to their family. If they cooked with a person in FOCUS, they may be more likely to teach one of their siblings or other family members how to cook the meal with them. Another idea is to let the students get creative with their meal. Even a slight alteration to the recipe determined by the students’ individual tastes will give them the opportunity to think more about the meal rather than just copy the workshop leaders. Not only will this increase their personal knowledge about cooking, it will also increase the students’ interest in cooking.
Constructivism is a form of learning based on experience rather than being told what to do. This reminds me of my nonfiction teacher in high school, who used to tell us to do things in our stories as opposed to telling things. Instead of telling our audience that Susie walked to a store, and leave it at that, we were to show the scene; walking past a gas station whose attendant was changing out the gas prices, past the elderly neighbor walking slowly with her tiny dog, past the abandoned synagogue with a new "For Sale" banner hanging above the front door. This way, the writer paints a scene of the neighborhood, instead of placing Susie in a stagnant environment.
ReplyDeleteTo continue this metaphor, I suppose the point of Constructivism is to make sure our Susies aren't stuck in a stale learning environment. With writing, this can be frustrating to bring about. Despite the ease of being able to tell students to just write something, which already puts them in the subject matter, you have to further engage them, make them actually want to write. I plan to do this by getting the students to read writing that will inspire them first, so they can have something to write toward, somewhat like a goal.
To keep them thinking as they write, as opposed to completely zoning out (which, yes, is part of the process sometimes, but not when you're trying to keep students engaged), I think using a couple short, quick prompts to start class off and get students thinking like writers is the best idea. That way, when they're reading or listening to poems, they can empathize a little more with the poets and feel closer to the work.
The absolute best way to help students participate in constructivism with a poetry class is to simply have them write, and I think my partner and I will definitely do that.
Constructivism, the educational theory of constructing a learning environment, puts students in charge of creating and innovating the classroom through his or her personal experiences. The instructor in such a learning environment acts as the mentor who guides learning and thinking, and as such plays as a facilitator.
ReplyDeleteAmong its many goals, FOCUS seeks to provide a constructivist environment for its students. I will provide my students with the opportunity to create their own summer program. Of course I will have lesson plans and structure in mind, but I must place myself as a facilitator, guiding the students’ learning, instead of an instructor, controlling the student’s learning. How to keep a constructivist mindset? Have an open mind and allow the student’s experiences and background to shape the curriculum and happenings. Social constructivism comes to practice, as the FOCUS students do not rely on my experiences as their “teacher” to guide their productivity but use their own life experiences to shape the things and ways they learn. I hope to actively engage students into the program by asking their opinions, thoughts, and outlooks on the activities, games, group work, and lessons being taught. I also hope that each FOCUS student collaborates with one another as well as me to gain broader prospective. Each student has something to bring to the program, and my group will best benefit when we all work, share, play, and learn together. In turn, it is my hope that the students see real-life implications of the relationships formed and activities created for their OWN lives – beyond both the summer and school purposes. Constructivism can be unpredictable and messy but as a group leader I hope to put the fear of unstructuredness aside and allow my students to construct their own learning and as such create a fun, unique, and worthy experience for all!!
Constructivism puts the student in control of learning and creating the environment of the classroom. Students learn from each other and are capable of understanding concepts on a level appropriate to their interests. The teacher is there as guide to lead the students in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteDuring FOCUS, a constructive environment will the be most efficient way to keep the students involved. They will be learning new ideas that may be frustrating to them because they have not experienced these lessons in high school. Through constructivism, the students can help teach each other and create a more relaxed and successful learning environment.
As a nutrition workshop leader, I have plans to teach the students the basics of nutrition; however, I have activities planned to help the students soak in what they have learned and apply it in different ways with each other. This constructive environment allows the students to be able to remember the information they learn and go on to apply it to their everyday lives. With nutrition, I plan to connect with the students through their favorite foods and help them decide small changes that can make a large impact on their diet. I also plan to have them work in groups to "test" their knowledge, so I know that they can go on to make healthy choices in their eating habits. I am looking forward to this workshop and I am glad I will be able to guide them in the right direction.
Knowledge is created by the learner, but guided by the teacher. Students can only learn through active discovery. Constructivism also calls for an internal want to learn, as opposed to an incentive based motive. This style of instruction relies heavily on what students already know, and piling more knowledge on top of this, as well as trying to make the information kind of relatable.
ReplyDeleteI think a constructivist environment is the only way to teach arts related classes. These aren’t art history classes. You can’t drill in facts on how to dance; you have to actually dance. The same goes for theater and music, etc. Creativity is not a skill that people can take notes on and become creative. Just because a person listened to a lecture on dancing doesn’t mean that suddenly the class is filled with Debbie Allens and Michael Jacksons. A person must actively want to seek that knowledge. Teachers are there to guide the process with assignments that may provoke a new way of thinking or doing something, but never telling how to actually achieve a finished product. Their job is to try to get that student to the next level. I think achieving this kind of setting will be an easy task for the seminar leaders. For one, I’m betting it is safe to assume that nineteen to twenty-two year olds are not experts in artistic fields, so teaching in a behaviorist manner seems a bit far-fetched. I just don’t think their backgrounds would be strong enough for that kind of environment. They would be knowledgeable enough to guide, however. I think that the seminar leaders want each student to come out of focus with a finished product of their own. For me, I will be literally guiding the students somewhere. As a part of the group that is leading the field trip, it will be our responsibility to bring them to a hands-on, social experience that they will hopefully learn something from.
Constructivism is based on the idea of intrinsic motivation for learning. It calls for a mutual want for learning not just from the student but from the teacher as well. This theory takes into account the outside factors that have the potential to affect a student’s or an entire school’s educational experience and results. A constructivist approach is more holistic in nature and seeks to use relatable and hands-on techniques to reach out to the greatest number of students from all different backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteConstructivist teaching and learning is imperative for the success of the FOCUS program, and all education in general. Being from under-resourced schools, it can be assumed that many of the students have been exposed to very few instances of constructivist education. By using a constructivist approach, we can help the students to see how education can be interactive, effective, and geared towards their own interests and strengths. As a creative writing seminar leader, I am planning on including a lot of discussion in class so as to get an idea about their own notions surrounding the subject and how those notions were formed. Hopefully, during the course of my class I will be able to change some of the ideas they have about writing and literature by presenting information in new ways. Activities like Mad Libs and even just the use of technology like Youtube are things that I plan to use to relate the subject to the individual students in a modern and constructivist way. I also plan to participate with the students in writing and sharing during discussions in order to create a more mutually beneficial learning relationship between the teacher and student. Hopefully these efforts can create a learning environment in which the majority of FOCUS students can feel comfortable and in turn learn lasting lessons on the subject.
Constructivism is an educational theory in which the "teacher" is a guide, helping each student explore the subject within the realm of his/her own talents, experiences, and interests. Constructivism seeks to eliminate the standard boring classroom lecture setting that fails to keep students' interest and instead replace it with engaging and self motivated learning activities. This summer, we will all plan to use constructivism to help our FOCUS students learn.
ReplyDeleteI am planning the field trip. Field trips in general invite constructivism, since they involve getting out and learning from experiences. Field trips allow student to interact with each other and FOCUS leaders to gain knowledge and explore interests outside the classroom setting. While we want to keep the field trip educational, it is important that the locations chosen are fun and interesting for the students. We will also try to make our visits engaging so that even a student who is less interested in what that particular location has to offer can learn and gain something. Another way to help students learn on the field trip would be some reflection time. After we return, I would love to see everyone break into small groups to discuss what they saw, learned, and enjoyed. This will help students think and encourage them to share and teach each other. Maybe this discussion could take place on the bus between locations instead.
Constructivism is the educational theory that knowledge cannot be drilled into a student’s mind, nor that learning can exist in a vacuum. Rather, it proposes that learning comes from the creation or construction of new ideas by the learner. Any new knowledge must be assimilated to preexisting knowledge, and the actual ‘learning’ is the reshaping or abandoning of old beliefs. Social constructivism purports the same ideas, except it says that learning only exists on a social level. This emphasizes language and culture in a learning environment, since the motivation for a learner is to join a knowledge community.
ReplyDeleteIn my curriculum, I try to facilitate discovery rather than drill concepts into my students. For example, many of the topics I introduce are done through question and answer sessions and discussion, to get the students to try and figure out the answer or to listen to their peers’ opinions. This is especially important, since in the theater workshop, the students will be learning two very different sets of skills. The first set of skills is highly quantifiable, like vocabulary and blocking. The logic behind basic blocking techniques is relatively simple, and the students working together should enable them to discover the reasons and patterns. The second set of skills, however, is much more abstract. For students to learn how to convey emotions or to portray dialogue, I have set up groups that will be supervised but not directed. Instead, students will learn by watching each other and then engaging in the same activities, so that they can understand their own methods and how it translates to a performance.
For example, in the second session, I have planned an improvisational activity that will focus on dialogue in scripts. In pairs, one student will be given an identity that they are not aware of, and the other student will have to act in a way so as to get their partner and the class to guess what that identity is. The discussion will revolve around the choices they make in their improv scene. The goal of this activity is for the students to realize the motivation of characters, so that they understand dialogue as a means for characters to accomplish something or to fulfill a desire. Ideally, the students will be able to relate this new information to preexisting information: that the language they use in everyday life is to get what they want, and this is true for dramatic characters as well. If that happens, then they will be able to assimilate new information with the information they already have, and solidify the concept.
Constructivism is the idea that people learn more through experiential learning than through academic recitation in dealing with particular subjects. It emphasizes an attitude of "learn by doing" rather than "learn by listening," requiring instructors to act more like facilitators than like lecturers.
ReplyDeleteThis theory is related to the summer program in that the students will be learning in an environment that welcomes their interpretation of the subject matter. The environment will have broad parameters and ideas which the students will work with, such as music being created by coins and cups rather than a traditional teaching of music with a trumpet. The instructor's role is to facilitate this environment by advising ideas and promoting creativity.
During the FOCUS program I will provide an environment of minimal lecture by promoting a wide exchange of ideas through discussion and (on FOCUS Friday) debate. By posing questions and moderating a discussion among the students on various philosophical topics (good v. bad, real v. unreal, etc.) I will have enacted the constructivist learning environment because of the no-holds-barred approach to greater wisdom. The students will learn philosophy by posing their own ideas and questions on these topics and gain a greater understanding of the worth of examination.
Constructivism is a learning theory that centers on the individual. Learning is a social as well as active process, and therefore must be tailored to each individual that is being taught. I see constructivism as a hands-on approach to learning. Students learn by doing - when they are involved with a concept, it is easier to understand it. This is why constructivism is almost the antithesis of lecture-based learning. If the learning process does not hold a student's interest, he simply will not learn.
ReplyDeleteThese ideas relate to FOCUS, because FOCUS is a hands-on program! The students will be getting involved, and also having fun. Certainly, enjoying one's self improves the learning process.
As a FOCUS seminar leader, I will most certainly implement constructivist learning practices, as most of my curriculum centers around making music, instead of just learning about it. We'll be learning while we make it. I think I can focus on what the students already like, and then use this to open them up to new ideas. It's important that knowledge is discovered, not simply told. I will share my knowledge with the students, but I will do so in a way where all of us, including myself, learn.
Most important of all, I must focus on the students, more than my curriculum or what I feel like doing. What they find interesting...I'll incorporate in some way into my lesson plan.
Constructivism enables students to have a first hand experience of the learning environment in order to rationalize and accept the learning that is taking place. It has nothing to do with memorizing or practicing different problem solving techniques. The aim of constructivism is to make an environment that causes students to be self aware and come to new realizations about the things they already know, and then use that as a foundation for new knowledge and growth.
ReplyDeleteMy goal for the FOCUS program is first and foremost make the students comfortable being there. It's really hard to learn by doing if you don't want to do anything. As a group leader, I think it's especially important for me to try to form relationships with the students. Having meaningful relationships will make the whole experience more fun, and everyone will be more open to having an enriching experience. It's also important to try to gauge how everyone is responding to how the program is taking place. If we don't make allow for deviating from our normal plans to accomodate for a constructivist environment, then I think we may be a little bit unsuccessful.
As a workshop leader, I want to be able to teach, but I also want to be able to learn how to teach. I think it will be exciting to be a learner and a teacher and have cooperative growth with the FOCUS participants. I'm hoping that they'll be interested in what we are going to be doing. Learning by doing is especially important in science where it's not uncommon for people to be unable to care less about what is going on.
Constructivism is a theory about learning. With constructivist teaching, the student learns and constructs an idea about a subject through one’s own experience and reflection on that experience. Constructivist teachers are not those who instruct the class and expect the students to reproduce the same information that was previously given to them. Constructivist teachers do not look for the “correct answer.” They allow the students to inquire, problem-solve, and draw conclusions; finding several ways to solve a problem instead of handing a student the correct answer without the student having any previous thought on how this answer is obtained.
ReplyDeleteDuring FOCUS, I will be teaching a cooking seminar. Nowadays with households that have two parents who work, having a home-cooked meal every night is becoming less common. For those children whose usual dinner is a frozen dinner or take-out meal, it is not apparent where food comes from or how it is made. I think we can incorporate constructivism by letting the students inquire where the food comes from, how it is made, and the time that goes into preparing and cooking a meal. We can then show them how to make a meal after they have drawn their own conclusions. I also think it is important to allow room for creativity. Everyone person has different tastes and likes, and we will have meals that allow each student to add their own personal touch to a recipe.
As a group leader I can also incorporate constructivism by encouraging the students to be curious about how things function and relate to their everyday lives. We can reflect with the students to figure out what helped or didn’t help them learn or understand a concept. When reflecting on each seminar, I think we should encourage them to think about what else they can do with the information they learned and what information did they already know that helped them understand a concept.
Constructivism is a theory on how to learn that starts with the concept that everyone already has information in their brain and a desire to add more. By allowing students to have hands on experience and relating that to previous experiences, a student will retain information.
ReplyDeleteTeachers (and hopefully myself) will constantly work towards retention of knowledge, and not memorization of information. Teachers do this by encouraging experiential learning through active participation, not passive listening as in a lecture, and then reviewing how these activities have taught them new concepts and connect these concepts with previous knowledge through demonstration of interrelation or building.
This summer, while what I am teaching is currently up in the air, I hope to make this the goal of my classes. As a teacher of naturally hands on activities, art or dance, it should not be hard to allow the students to be actively involved. For me, the hard part will be ensuring that they all walk away with an appreciation for what art is and how it is made.
This require retention of actual knowledge, not just repeated drills in color mixing, drawing techniques, and how to hold a pencil, but examples in the experience. These basic experiences will be added to throughout the summer so that the students can see the application, not just remember the tools.
I will focus on painting this summer. First we will start with painting our own color wheels. Color wheels are crucial to understanding how colors mix, how to pick colors for a painting, and how colors are interrelated. This can be taken home, and used time and time again.
Then we will use this color wheel, pick three colors, and make a painting using these three colors. This will show them that one has to use varying values (white to dark) along with colors to make a painting.
The knowledge will build on each other through experiences.
Constructivism is a theory of education that involves engaging the learner. It is based on the idea that every person has their own constructs based on their previous experiences that they must put new information into in order to learn it properly and remember it. Basically, being told information does not lead to long-term retention of information. The only way to truly “learn” something is to experience it and make it personal to each person.
ReplyDeleteFor this summer, I will be teaching the Science workshop, so the material I will be teaching unfortunately has many big words that can be intimidating. Therefore, it is crucial that I engage the students so that they can learn something useful instead of being bombarded with confusing terminology for an hour and a half. I hope to do this by asking the students a lot of questions. I will try to make the questions interesting so the students are required to think critically. I will try to avoid as much of the boring information as I can, but I know that I have to use some in order to perform any experiment. When I do use new terminology, I will try to break it down to simpler forms that the students can recognize and can fit into their constructs. Since everyone has different learning styles and varying levels of knowledge about the subjects I will be using, it will be very difficult to get everyone to understand everything that I teach. However, I think that the best way to fix this is to simplify everything as much as possible without making it lose its meaning. Then, the simplified information will be able to fit into the widest range of constructs. Hopefully, once the students are not so intimidated by the information, they will be even more engaged and want to learn even more.
I strongly believe in the idea that each student learns in a unique way, so I know it is crucial to appeal to every student’s learning methods. I also realize that this is an incredibly difficult task, but hopefully using the ideas of constructivism will help me do the best I possibly can.
Constructivism is a learning process in which students learn by experiencing things first hand. Students use their environment to learn things for themselves, and therefore they know the information better since they experienced it themselves.
ReplyDeleteDuring the FOCUS summer program, I am doing the nutrition workshop. Nutrition is a topic that has a ton of information, and everything really builds on itself. I do not even know much about nutrition myself, so I see how it is challenging to teach others. I also know that in high school, we learned about nutrition but I do not even remember it. I think if I would have learned more hands on, I would know more about the subject. The only thing I remember was watching Super Size Me, which was the most hands on thing we did. I want to make sure that the students in the summer program can walk away from the experience knowing how to be a healthier person. I will try to make the activities we do all hands on, and even if we have to lecture for a few minutes, I still want them to be able to ask questions and make comments. I think participation is key to helping others learn. The students can learn a lot from their peers. I am excited to work with the students and show them that being healthier does not have to be a huge life changing thing. They will learn that small, simple changes can truly make a difference.
Constructivism is an engaging form of education, in which students participate and influence their learning. Instead of a typical classroom setting where a teacher stands at the front of the room and lectures, a constructivist classroom involves the students in everything. This can be through hands-on activities to explain mathematic concepts or even something as simple as turning a lecture into a discussion. Any way a student can be involved makes the lesson more real and helps the students to learn better.
ReplyDeleteSince my workshop is poetry, it would be hard not to get the students involved. I guess there always is the lecture option (I could just tell the FOCUS students about the different types of poetry) – but that doesn’t sound remotely interesting to me, let alone for the students. It wasn’t even an option that either I or my workshop co-leader (Megan) considered. Instead, to keep the classroom interactive, we will guide the students through writing and discussing their own poetry. I realize this is the basic idea of a poetry workshop, but to me it just goes to show how inherently constructivist a poetry workshop actually is.
Constructivism simply stated, is a learning process which allows a student to experience an environment first-hand, thereby, giving the student reliable, trust-worthy knowledge. This is critical because the learner will have faith in the process which usually results in better learning and better classrooms.
ReplyDeleteAny student who has ever had the opportunity to participate in a class like this can speak on how interesting, engaging, and challenging they are. My 8th grade social studies teacher believed in this type of student input and I can honestly say it is still the most productive class I have ever been a part of. Having the chance to direct your learning should be a vital part of any students educational experience ideally before college.
The FOCUS program is inherently a constructivism environment. Our students will play as much, if not more, of a role in shaping what they get out of FOCUS. This is a voluntary program so part of it is a duty to allow students who want to better themselves to do that in whatever way they feel is best. But it's also a great tool to show that we as Group Leaders care about how this experience will shape the rest of their lives. It’s a test of maturity on behalf of the learner and the teacher to do something non-traditional, but highly effective.