Do you think that actively interacting with materials and peers is important to learning? If your answer is yes, your primary theoretical orientation to learning may be constructivism.
Constructivism posits that learning is an active process, and the learner is a constructor of knowledge. Learners construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. Scaffolding, reciprocal teaching, and guided instruction are key teaching strategies used in the constructivism learning theory.
The constructivist instructor provides tools, plans problem-based learning activities, so that learners can construct ideas, make inferences, draw conclusions and inferences, and discuss their knowledge in a collaboartive learning environment. Instruction and assessment is student-centered and collaborative, and customized to learners’ prior knowledge. Assessments range from a variety of authentic, portfolios, contextual, and case-based projects.
To practically apply the constructivism learning theory to distance education, the faciliator takes a proactive approach to the construction of the class. The teacher sets the students up for independent learning activities in which they can collaborate with their peers to gain better insight into the topics being discussed. Additionally, the teacher can provide many different ways to assess student knowledge and understanding through portfolios and case-based projects instead of the standardized testing options.
Eden Brazeal 