The Development Of Mathematics Changes And Grows Continually

According to Anthony & Walshaw, (2009) within a constructivist view, it is a teacher’s role to facilitate the learning of a child by providing a resource rich environment from which they guide a students learning. A student within a constructivist-learning environment must become engaged in the learning process by becoming a researcher, identifying a problem, collecting and analysing data and formulating a conclusion. This process of engagement provides a student with endless opportunity to develop his or her own understanding and knowledge. An educators ability to understand this learning theory as a process of construction and development provides a conceptual framework from which to build a teaching practice.

Constructivism is defined by ( (Marsh, 2007) as a theory of how the learner constructs knowledge from experience, which is unique to each individual. The theories of constructivism require qualitative change evidence within conceptual content(Carey, Zaitchik, & Bascandziev, 2015). Also, there’s a difference between cognitive constructivism and social constructivism. Cognitive Constructivism is when individuals construct ideas based off of personal process, whereas social constructivism believes that ideas are constructed through student and teacher interaction(Powell & Kalina, 2009) Many people give credit to Lev Vygotsky for his constructivist theory but Jean Piaget is the patriarch of the theory.

Constructivism is reflecting on the experiences we have had in order to create our own understanding of the environment me live in. For instance, lets say I had and old sewing machine that I used all the time but now broke. I visit a sewing machine shop in order to buy a new one. The only machines available are newer models of the machine I owned, with different buttons and features. My previous experience with my machine will guide me into using the new machine. By simply learning a few extra steps, I would now be able to use the new model thanks to by previous experience, this is considered constructivism.

Constructivism and explicit teaching styles almost appear to be opposites of one another, especially when used in the contexts of the classroom. The more I read about these two styles the more I thought that if a teacher could use both styles in a harmonious balance the students would have the greatest benefit. Not many students want to sit and listen to the droning lecture of a teacher. Memorizing facts, reading chapter after chapter with no connection to how it will be used outside of school. This old fashion way of teaching typically does not assist students in retaining information. Nor does this help with motivating students to continue reading. I also believe

I am going to discuss and focus on Lee Vygotsky and his theory of Constructivism. One of Lee Vygotsky main theories was in fact constructivism; it is interesting to read about Lee Vygotsky view on constructivism as it is about how people learn and is based on a scientific study. One of the main meanings behind constructivism is “Constructivism is people who construct their own understanding and

The great challenge for constructivism is that the world in which students and teachers interact is not utopian. Students come to class with predetermined ideas about a course, or with personal needs that distract from attention from the classroom experience. Some students are not willing or able to interact with peers due to emotional issues, thus

According to Bryman (2012), a constructivism approach is an ontological position that asserts that social actors are continually accomplishing social phenomena and their meanings. This approach assists the researcher to present a particular version of social reality, rather than one that can be regarded as definitive.

Teachers following Piaget's theory of constructivism must challenge the student by making them effective critical thinkers and not being merely a "teacher" but also a mentor, a consultant, and a coach. Some strategies for teacher include having students working together and aiding to answer one another's questions. Another strategy includes designating one student as the "expert" on a subject and having them teach the class. Finally, allowing students to work in groups or pairs and research controversial topics which they must then present to the

Constructivism is where students are learning more by having their own active involvement then just listening and observing during instruction. Although there is a teacher present in the classroom, they take a step back and observe how students are learning. This is not an easy job for a teacher though. The teacher should know their classroom, the subject matter, and above all, their students. Each student is unique. In an article about student-centered classrooms entitled, Student-Centered Instruction: Involving Students in Their Own Education, the author writes, “Put simply, student-centered instruction is when the planning, teaching, and assessment revolve around the needs and abilities of the

Constructivism is learning through experiences in our environment. Using this method we are essentially teaching ourselves through occurrences in our environment. This method of learning is demonstrated In a early childhood classroom by teachers providing guided opportunities that allow for children to explore their environment in various ways. At the end of these activities the teacher typically initiates a class discussion on the information learning through an activity. An example of an activity you may see in a classroom could be a scavenger hunt where the students find an object to match every color; this could take place inside or

Constructivism is a coherent theory of learning that emerged as a prevailing paradigm in the last part of the twentieth century. Constructivism is a theory which brings cogitation to pedagogy (Bruner, 1966). Constructivism capitalizes on the ways in which human beings create their own personal construct of reality by understanding and experiencing the world. The main underlying assumption of constructivism is that individuals are actively involved right from the birth in constructing personal meaning.

In reality, no one can teach mathematics. Effective teachers are those who can stimulate students to learn mathematics. Educational research offers compelling evidence that students learn mathematics well only when they construct their own mathematical understanding (MSEB and National Research Council 1989, 58). The constructivist theory first began making its way into the teaching style of math in the later 20th century (although ideas of constructivism have existed prior to the 20th century - Dewey, Piaget,

Constructivism is connected to the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget believed that cognitive development occurred in four stages that have distinct developmental characteristics.  He theorised that all information is organised into ‘schemas’, and this refers to the manner in which a child organisesand stores information and knowledge received. As new information is received, it is either incorporated into existing schemas (assimilation) or new schemas (accommodation) are created (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010).  Vygotsky’s theories compliment those of Piaget and place a greater importance on social interaction as he considered cognitive development predominately was achievedthrough social interaction.  Vygotsky believed that learning could be accelerated with the assistance of a more advanced peer or teacher.  This concept is referred to as the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and works in conjunction with the theory of ‘scaffolding’, where a teacher provides support to student and as proficiency increases the scaffolding is decreased (Marsh, 2008). Evidence of scaffolding is seen throughout the Maths video as Ms Poole provides an outline of the lesson and the goals to allow students to establish a focus.

There are five identified central tenets of constructivism as a teaching philosophy: Constructivist teachers seek and value students’ points of view. This concept is similar to the reflective action process we call withitness, in which teachers attempt to perceive students’ needs and respond to them appropriately; Constructivist teachers challenge students to see different points of view and thereby construct new knowledge. Learning occurs when teachers ask students what they think they know about a subject and why they think they know it; Constructivist teachers recognize that curricula must have meaning for students. When students see the relevance of curricula, their interest in learning grows; Constructivist teachers create lessons that tackle big ideas, not small bits of information. By seeing the whole first, students are able to determine how the parts fit together; Constructivist teachers assess student learning in daily classroom activities, not through the use of separate testing or evaluation events. Students

Constructivism is the theory that humans construct knowledge and meaning from their experiences. This idea that people learn from experience and not just from hearing lectures was revolutionary and gave birth to the experimental learning approach that is more powerful than lectures and worksheets. By directing their own learning processes, students understand concepts better. In essence constructivism is the theory of how we learn.