by Mark Mylod

Created on: August 14, 2008

Constructivist Approaches: Connections in Learning

The hardest task for every human being is the ability to think and the hardest task for all teachers is teaching thinking. For many years, students have been geared toward test-taking strategies, memorization and the regurgitation of facts and figures with little or no emphasis on expanding cognitive development in other areas. Teachers must find and manifest their student's maximum potential through exploratory means. Educators have been developing different learning theories to effectively use in the classroom environment for years based on psychological research. These scientifically sets of principles present explanations of the phenomena of learning referring to the effects of experience, whether it is direct or symbolic on subsequent behavior (Berelson & Steiner, 1964). Constructivist theory provides new and informative methods in teaching practices. The implementation of a constructivist approach will enhance student-learning pertaining to the elasticity of the United States Constitution.

Jerome Bruner has done extensive research on constructivist theory and maintains that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current and past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypothesizes, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure in order to facilitate this process. The cognitive structure consists of schemas or mental models. He contends that the cognitive structure provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go beyond the information given". Constructivism represents a paradigm shift from education based on behaviorism to education based on cognitive theory (Gagnon & Collay, 1995).
Constructivist teachers create and utilize instructional methods conducive to the learning environment of the students in sound and innovative ways that complement the curriculum. There is plenty of room for criticism as to what teaching methods and strategies are "best suited" for students. The constructivist approach offers alternative, exploratory and enlightening instructional paths for growth in education. The following is a sample unit plan that asks the essential question: How is the Constitution a flexible document?
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Unit Plan
Grade Level- 9, 10

Unit Objectives:

Essential Question: How is the Constitution a flexible document?

Desired Student Behaviors Object of

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