Week 9 Things to Write

Week 9 Things to Write
Citation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory))
1. It has been awhile since I’ve researched and studied learning theories. I had to familiarize and refresh my knowledge of what Construcitivism views are. Piaget’s theory of constructivist learning has had a huge impact on learning theories and teaching methods. According to Piaget, play is important for cognitive deveolpment. I agree, students need hands-on approaches to learning. The constuctivist view believes that students learn through experience. I believe this too, partially. Students are always accumulating new information to add to their experiences. Some of the ways they learn are through the things they have had experiences with, such as field trips, projects, investigations and so on. Every learner is unique and learns in many different ways. “Social constructivism encourages the learner to arrive at his or her version of the truth, influenced by his or her background, culture, or embedded worldview.” I do think that the learner has the responsibility to apply and collect information. Having the learner be in control of learning content, advocates them to take ownvership of learning.

2. Is Constructivism a theory or religion, why?
This is a tough question for me to answer. I feel that it is a theory and a religion at times. The learner is motivated from within to apply themselves. According to Vygotsky, sustaining motivation to learn is strongly dependent on the learner’s confidence in his or her potential for learning. The theory holds true that, learning is an active experience and we should be challenged continually to reach our optimal development of growth. We are inspired from our religious stance, which drives the way we perform. The constructivism theory is just a theory, but it does correlate with one’s religion.

3. What do we KNOW about teaching and learning theories? How do we know?
We know about teaching and learning theories through our experiences. I have accumulated my knowledge of teaching and learning theories through research, discussion with other educators, and applications of lesson plans/other activities. We know as much information about learning, as we choose to know. I feel that if you want to be informed and aware of teaching strategies and learning theories you must be a lifelong learner. If you are not, you will not grow as an educator. You have to put forth the time and energy to study and research new ideas in education to modify ways that you teach.