Constructivism Essay, Research Paper
Students need to be able to learn how to become effective problem solvers.
They should be able to identify problems, evaluate those problems and then
decipher a way to transfer their learning to those problems in a way that will
bring about a solution. If a student is able to perform in a problem solving
situation a meaningful learning should then occur because he has constructed
an interpretation of how things work using preexisting structured. This is the
theory behind Constructivism. By creating a personal interpretation of
external ideas and experiances, constructivism allows students the ability to
understand how ideas can relate to each other and preexisting knowledge. A
teacher must then recognize the importance of the cognative and social
approaches for learning and teaching so that she may aid the students’
development in constructivist learning. Both approaches are valuable because
one will emphasize the role of cognative processes and the other will
emphasize culture and social interaction in the role of meaningful learning.
One, however, may wonder how to go about enforcing these approaches.
One method is through scaffolding, providing a student with sufficient
information to be able to complete a task on his own or, to present a gradual
decrease in the amount of help availible allowing the student the capacity to
work independantly. Situated learning will present the student with a set of
learning tasks placed in realistic contexts. This will include the abilities to use
knowledge in a functioning learning approach and acquiring inert knowledge
based on the learning of isolated facts in limited conditions. Lastly, students
should, through the use of multiple perspectives, be able to view problems
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of problem solving. There are three most common types of problems, the first
being well-structured problems. Well-structured problems are ones clearly
stated with known solution procedures and evaluation standards; an example
being a mathamatical process. Another type of problem are those that are
ill-structured; they are stated vaguely, have unclear solution procedures, and
vague standards of evalalution. The third type, issue problems, are
ill-structured problems that will arrouse srtong feelings in the students. The
first step in helping students become adaquate problems solvers is assuring
they realize that a problem does exist. Once a problem is identifiedm students
should be expected to understand the nature of the problem. The next logical
step would then be for those students to compile all relevant information to
their problem allowing them to formulate and carry out a solution. Lastly, the
students would then be required to evaluate their solutions working out the
imperfections, clarifying the results. Problem solving is a very necessary abilty
for a student which will, in a way, garuntee his future abilty to transfer
knowledge. The student needs a firm base understanding of the problem
solving concepts to induce a positive transfer of his later ideas. He should be
able to recognize the need for different problem solving techniques and how
to relate and separate theories in his knowledge. The teacher should be able
to present the starting grounds to enable her students a method of producing
the solutions to their problems.
Bibliography
Snowman, J., & Biehler, R. (2000). Psychology Applied to Teaching (9th
edition) Boston, MA: Houghton Miflin Company.