Core assumptions
Whereas objectivism treats knowledge as a fixed external reality to be transmitted, constructivism sees knowledge as built by individuals within experience and context, and as provisional. Learners are active meaning-makers; teachers are facilitators.
Cognitive constructivism (Piaget)
Learners construct knowledge through assimilation into existing schemes and accommodation of those schemes, reaching equilibration. Cognitive conflict triggers learning.
Social constructivism (Vygotsky)
Knowledge is first constructed in social interaction and language and then internalised. Scaffolding by teachers or more capable peers within the zone of proximal development is central.
Instructional principles
- Authentic, ill-structured tasks
- Situated learning: participation in communities of practice (Lave & Wenger)
- Cognitive apprenticeship: modelling, coaching, scaffolding, fading (Collins et al.)
- Problem-based learning (Barrows)
- Collaboration, reflection and process assessment
Critiques
Critics argue that minimally guided instruction overloads novices' working memory (Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006) and that it can be inefficient for systematic knowledge and hard to assess.
References
- Piaget, J. (1970). Genetic Epistemology. Columbia University Press.
- Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. Harvard University Press.
- Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press.
- Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.