The Constructivist Perspective

Lever-Duffy and McDonald (2007) stated, for constructivists, knowledge is a constructed element resulting from the learning process. Further, knowledge is unique to the individual who construct it" (pp 16). I believe the key to that statement is that knowledge is unique to the individual. There are so many things that we learn how to do in our life, but if we were asked to explained how we learned them we each would have an unique answer. How one person learns a new skill or a piece of information may not work for another person who is trying to learn that same skill. An example of that is when someone ask another person how to teach them to do a certain task. The person teaching gets frustrated at the person who is trying to learn the task because they are not getting it and the learner is frustrated at the teacher because they do not understand. It is because knowledge is unique to the individual who constructs it.

That is why project based learning and or problem based learning is so essential for our students. It gives them the opportunity to show off what they know in an unique way. A student may not be able to explain how they know something but given a chance to show you, may blow you as the teacher away. I do think that students need guidance during this process to ensure that they stay focused on the skill that you are assessing them on. I think that rubrics are the perfect match for these project based learning assignments. They provided both the structure and the freedom that is required for both parties to get what they require. I know that I loved problem based learning, especially when I can to work on the computer for the entire thing. Our kids are getting burned out of learning at an early age it seems like now a days, one way to get students excited about learning again is to use the resources provided to us and the technology that we have access to, to provide students with these problem/project based learning opportunities.