APP4: Constructivism in Practice

Almost all of the instructional strategies discussed in this week’s resources can be directly correlated with the principles of constructionism. The main idea of constructionism is to have students create an artifact of some kind. The hope is that students will make a connection with that artifact and have a better time recalling what they learned at a later time. Most of the strategies discussed in Chapter 11 “Generating and Testing Hypotheses” have students creating some type of artifact.

By collecting data, using the Internet and applying your findings to an excel spreadsheet you have almost unlimited opportunities for the types of objects you can produce. Not only can you enter your data to make a basic spreadsheet, but from there you can create a variety of charts, do various calculations and compare/contrast your findings. Using a program like excel when you are generating and testing hypotheses can help keep students focused, interested and on task. As the text states, using technology”…allows students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data.” This is so true. With one click of a button, you can an amazingly accurate bar graph. However, without technology, you may have to create that graph on your own, which would take a great deal of time and allow for human error.

Using technology not only allows students to create these artifacts, but it allows them to manipulate them as well. If students are looking at the data they collected, they could change some numbers around to immediately see the effects it would have on the outcome. This will also help students to make a connection to what they are learning and hopefully retain the information longer.

Resources
•Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
•Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.