Constructionism in the Classroom

As I read through this week’s resources about constructionism, I immediately got excited about a lesson I have wanted to teach for years but have struggled with a way to teach it. Now I have a few good ideas.

Authors Han and Bhattacharya from the University of Georgia said, “A classroom based on constructionism has many elements that promote a learner-oriented learning environment.” (Han, S. and Bhattacharya, K., 2001) In simple terms, every classroom should be a learner-oriented environment. However, many classrooms today are still spoon feeding students information and asking them to spit it back out on the test at the end of the unit. While this method may have worked in years past, it does not work well today. The book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works gives multiple examples of how technology and constructionism can work together. (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K, 2007)

One example from the book suggests using Microsoft Excel to teach math principles and technology is used to manipulate investment variables. I really appreciated how the source gave examples on how to use the technology without having to spend extra time on how to teach the technology. For me, that has always been a big frustration. What makes this lesson work so well with constructionism is the basic idea that students are researching data and creating a finished product demonstrating their data. Students are creating evidence through their learning. In simple terms, this lesson revolves around building stuff, giving students first hand experience and getting involved. (Laureate, 2008)

As I said earlier, the reading this week gave me an idea. A few years ago I had the opportunity to participate in a Dangerous Decibels workshop. (Decibels are the unit of measurement for sound.) As a musician, I understand how precious hearing is and appreciate even more how hard it is when your hearing is gone. It bothers me when I hear my students’ iPods when they are still 20 feet away. This workshop provided a wealth of science on how humans hear and how we loose our hearing. One way of using constructionism with this lesson will be having students develop a hypothesis on the decibel ratings of a variety of sounds and environments, then test those levels and create a graph in Microsoft Excel comparing the two streams of data. Later, this data can even be posted on the class blog or the school web site. This will be a great way to get their hands on data that can affect their life immediately. I can’t wait to use it!

Han, S., and Bhattacharya, K. (2001). Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based Learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved May 25, 2009, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt

Laureate Education Inc. (2008). “Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories.” Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.