Constructivist Pedagogy

Richardson, Virginia

doi:10.1046/j.1467-9620.2003.00303.x

Cited by 399 publications

(287 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…According to theories of social constructivism, learning is fundamentally a social process and knowledge is developed through interaction (Vygotsky, 1978). New understandings and knowledge emerge when learners negotiate meaning by redefining their own ideas while considering the ideas of others (Richardson, 2003). Such processes can be encouraged in online courses through the development of a course-wide learning community (Song & McNary, 2011), where community members are responsible for sharing knowledge, co-developing ideas, and supporting one another.…”

Section: Student Actions and Community In Online Courses: The Roles Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Actions and Community in Online Courses: The Roles Played By Course Length and Facilitation Method

Epp

Phirangee

Hewitt

2017

OLJ

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Fostering a strong sense of community among students within online courses is essential to supporting their learning experience. However, there is little consensus about how different facilitation methods influence students' sense of community or behaviors. This lack of understanding means instructors do not have the information they need to select an appropriate facilitation method when teaching online. This challenge is further complicated by a poor sense of how community building is influenced by the length of an online course. To better understand the relationship between these factors, we explored students' sense of community across four graduate-level online courses. Two of these courses employed an instructor-led form of facilitation and two employed a peer-led form of facilitation. For each facilitation method, one course lasted an entire term (12 weeks) and the other lasted half a term (6 weeks). This two-by-two betweensubjects design is augmented with interview data. This design enabled the study of both variables and possible interaction effects. The findings revealed students in instructor-facilitated courses experienced a stronger sense of community. Longer courses were also associated with a stronger sense of community, although the relationship was weaker than that of facilitation. No interaction effects were detected between facilitation method and course length. Follow-up analyses examined the relationship between facilitation style, course length, and a set of twelve student behaviors (e.g., note writing, note reading, and replying). The results revealed that both facilitation style and course length were associated with differences in students' note attributes including note length, the Flesch-Kincaid grade level of the text, and the frequency of their replies. Collectively, these findings offer evidence that both facilitation style and course length are related to students' sense of community and the behaviors they exhibit online.

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Section: Student Actions and Community In Online Courses: The Roles Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Actions and Community in Online Courses: The Roles Played By Course Length and Facilitation Method

Epp

Phirangee

Hewitt

2017

OLJ

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“…Constructivist pedagogy approaches perceive learning as a process of constructing knowledge by students themselves as opposed to the passive teacher-student pedagogy [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Constructivist approaches became popular in reforms of engineering education [9,10].…”

Section: Introduction Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Problem-centric Process for Research-based Learning

Shaban

Abdulwahed²,

Younes³

2015

Int. J. Eng. Ped.

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Abstract-Research-based Learning (RbL) extends Inquiry and Project-based Learning by facilitating an early stage exposure and training for future scientists through authentic research activities. In this paper, an iterative problemcentric RbL process is introduced, and its activities and management aspects are described. The process helps implement course-integrated research systematically and practically. Furthermore, the novel process follows constructivist methods in incorporating inquiry, scaffolding, open-ended projects, as well as a goal oriented learning approach. The RbL process is adopted in two advanced computing courses, at two different universities: a leading comprehensive Western university and a new university in a developing country. The paper summarizes new lessons learned in these rewarding experiences. In particular, the instructor should help students start their projects, by providing them with previous work or data and pre-approving the papers to review by students. He should also maintain a continuous feedback to and from students to keep the students motivated and help the instructor refine and adapt the RBL process. We note that research collaborators can help students in identifying the research topics early. The paper also shows how to alleviate difficulties that may be encountered by students who find the novel approach demanding, and consequently it also helps the instructors better manage the course contents.

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“…The summary includes among others the following aspects: 1) learning involves the active construction of meaning by the learner, 2) individuals are likely to learn more when they learn with others than when they learn alone, 3) meaningful learning is facilitated by articulating explanations, whether to one's self, peers, or teachers. Furthermore, working in a group is said to activate learning because the group dialogue develops pupils' meta-awareness of their own understanding and learning process (Richardson, 2003). According to Lavonen (2002) discussing is especially important for familiarising pupils with a new domain of the natural sciences, when its role is to recognise phenomena and their properties.…”

Section: Social Constructivism and Active Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active and spontaneous learning in a small group – a case of learning DC-circuit phenomena in the 3rd grade

Kallunki

2013

NorDiNa

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In this study, the learning of DC-circuit phenomena in a small group in the 3rd grade (9-year-olds) of a comprehensive school is scrutinised. The focus of the study is on the progressive nature of learning sciences, and especially on its active and spontaneous components. Learning in a small group is examined from the standpoint of pupil's talk. The article explores the small group's learning process for the basic components of DC-circuits, especially bulbs. This process is treated from the standpoint of developing the conception of "the brightness of the bulbs". In this study it is shown that even in the case of abstract subject matter, a small group can be a fruitful learning environment, where active and spontaneous learning can take place.

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Constructivist Pedagogy

Cited by 399 publications

References 24 publications

Student Actions and Community in Online Courses: The Roles Played By Course Length and Facilitation Method

Student Actions and Community in Online Courses: The Roles Played By Course Length and Facilitation Method

Problem-centric Process for Research-based Learning

Active and spontaneous learning in a small group – a case of learning DC-circuit phenomena in the 3rd grade

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