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Importance of constructivism theory to teachers
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Learners have shown that the acquisition of knowledge is a two-input contribution were an individual must strive to make sense of fresh information by actively implementing prior knowledge to be able to understand a new subject. The reason why no certainty can be entirely drawn from imagination or intuition is because both ways of knowing base off their processing of information in the same way; with the help of previous knowledge the mind has already acquired somewhere else. Therefore ideas and thoughts that claim to be born out of imagination and intuition turn out to be a mere hybrid interpretation of previously processed ideas. Intuition and imagination provide juxtaposition because even though they're supposed to be ideals defined by creativity …show more content…
Vygotsky's idea is the starting point for a theory of understanding which claims people construct their knowledge basing new information in the already existent hypotheses and ideas of the environment and memories of experiences that the treasure. This theory called "Constructivism" focuses in the way and the tools which people use to help themselves learn. The proposal states how knowledge is built, rather than sporadically materialized. Unless an individual has previously learned, even a little, about something, it would be impossible for them to come up with similar ideas entirely on their own without any of that known background. It helps explain one of the reasons as to why no concrete certainties come solely from imagination or intuition, because they are two ways of knowing that help an individual acquire experience and knowledge on …show more content…
The study of history is sometimes regarded as both an art and a science because it uses crude facts and pairs them up, on most cases, with intuition to create and accurate description of the past. In history, collection and verification of evidence must be approached with scientific foundations, or arguments that prove to be facts. When historians gain this shared knowledge, they move on to observe and use deductive reasoning by means of intuition, and thus gaining the ability to create knowledge claims in the field and explain patterns of historical behavior. Historians use a mix of science with their own interpretation to create a historical method that produces a reliable conclusion that helps explain the history of the world. Without intuition, imagination, or interpretation, historians would be left with little to no room to interpret the cold, hard and elusive facts of the distant past. On the other hand with no facts whatsoever, history would be nothing more than a made up story. Historians must test their personal knowledge, and recently acquired shared knowledge; to evaluate, validity, credibility, reliability, cultures, individuals, certainty, and
The study of past events have been a common practice of mankind since the verbal telling of stories by our ancestors. William Cronon, in his article “Why the Past Matters,” asserts that the remembrance of the past “keeps us in place.” Our individual memories and experiences shape how we act in our daily lives. In addition to influencing us at an individual level, our collective history binds us together as a society. Without knowing where we have been or what we have experienced, it is nearly impossible to judge progress or know which courses of action to pursue. The goal of the historian is to analyze and explain past events, of which they rarely have firsthand memory of, and apply the gained knowledge to make connections with current and future events.
To study history, the facts and information must be passed down. To do so, historians record the information in textbooks and other nonfiction works. Whether or not the historians retell facts or construct their own version of history is debatable. History can be percieved as being “constructed” by the historians due to their bias, elimination of controversy, strive for entertainment, and neglect to update the information.
First, both theories believe that a person mentally develops overtime rather than being born with everything they need to know (2012). Secondly, both theorists believe that in order for a person to develop, he or she must be regularly partake in the actions that simulate development (e.g. Piaget states a person must continually test their theories and expand their mental network in order to grow) (2012). Thirdly, both theorists believe a person must act in order to continue developing (2012). In other words, a person will learn nothing if they simply stand by and do nothing as the world passes them by. Finally, rather than focusing on the amount of information learned, both Piaget and Vygotsky focus on the quality of the content learned
A contemporary of Piaget from the 1930’s, Lev Vygotsky ( a Russian psychologist and philosopher) was generally connected with the social constructivist theory. He underscores the impact of cultural and social settings in learning and supports a discovery model of learning. This kind of model places the educator in a dynamic role while the students' mental capacities naturally develop through multiple paths of discovery (Lev Vytgosky, n.d.).
A beginning group of historians to take a closer look at is the empiricists. The empiricists have a very strictly factual and logical view on history and how to examine it. They believe that past is both “observable and verifiable” and that through adherence to three strict principles, the past can be represented objectively and accurately. (Green, Troup 3) The three aforementioned principles can be summed up as: meticulously examining historical evidence and verifying the evidence with references, making sure the research is completely impartial and free of biases and prejudices, and using an inductive, or observational, method of reasoning. (Green, Troup 3) The empiricists seek to find universal historical truths through objective research and sticking to the facts.
Gredler, M. (2012). Understanding Vygotsky for the Classroom: Is It Too Late?. Educational Psychology Review, 24(1), 113-131. doi:10.
John Lewis Gaddis, in his book, The Landscape of History, generates a strong argument for the historical method by bringing together the multiple standpoints in viewing history and the sciences. The issue of objective truth in history is addressed throughout Gaddis’s work. In general, historians learn to select the various events that they believe to be valid. Historians must face the fact that there is an “accurate” interpretation of the past ceases to exist because interpretation itself is based on the experience of the historian, in which people cannot observe directly (Gaddis 10). Historians can only view the past in a limited perspective, which generates subjectivity and bias, and claiming a piece of history to be “objective” is simplistic. Seeing the world in a multidimensiona...
Leo Vygotsky was born in 1896 and died at the young age of 37, so a lot of his theories are incomplete simply because he hadn’t had the time to do the research. His theory is a cultural- historical theory, the main focal point of the theory is the role of culture and social interactions the child has with others which able him/her to develop. The first main assumption of Vygotsky’s theory is that when a child communicates with an adult, the adult is able to channel how their culture thinks and feels about the world on to the child. An example of this from my own experience is that with no conversation with any adult, me being a child had no idea about food and how food differs from country to county until it was explained to me. As a child my parents would often explain what types of food belong to our country and what different types of food belong to other countries as well as where the specific foods came from. From having types of food explained to me from an adult, only then I began to understand our food culture. Vygotsky would explain this by me developing an understanding of food because of knowledge that someone else is reflecting on to
...ment. This phrase is true. Learning acts as a way of developing. Development, according to Vygotsky, is completely social, and the way a society, culture, or environment develops is through learning from others.
There are five ways in which Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development. The very first way that teachers can use these theories to teach constructively is by providing scaffolded instruction within the ZPD for their students (292). In other words, a teacher must be able to assist children in achieving a goal that may be slightly too difficult for them to reach alone. An example of this would be if a teacher had decided that her class should do an experiment on how well plants grow based on the amount of water they receive, she could challenge her students to make a hypothesis about what they think will happen. This teacher could allow her students to individually plant their seeds and then guiding her students to predict or hypothesize what they believe will happen if one plant gets more water than another. This example directly correlates with Vygotsky’s idea of ZPD because
Lastly, there is a zone of proximity that Vygotsky believes in. This goes along with his group aspect of learning. He believes that one learns better through life interactions. (Woolfolk, 2004) Similarities in Piaget and Vygotsky In the article we were supposed to read for class this week it says “there are seven similarities: 1) a genetic, i.e., developmental, perspective; 2) a dialectical approach; 3) a non-reductionist view; 4) anon-dualistic thesis; 5) an emphasis on action; 6) a primacy of processes over external contents or outcomes; and 7) a focus on the qualitative changes over the quantitative ones.”
When children reach a certain age in their life, their mental thought process shifts into a more logical or adult form. "Beginning with the adolescent period, however, children become increasingly less dependent upon the availability of concrete-empirical experience in meaningfully relating complex abstract propositions to cognitive structure." (Ausebel, 1966) The way in which they learn is shifted also.
Jean Piaget was a swiss expert whose theories on the nature of children’s thinking and learning have been extremely influential since the 1960s. In his theory, there are five key stages in relation to children of a young age. The first key stage was the ‘Stages of development’. Piaget argued that there was a natural path in which the development of thought, of a child, would follow. This was known as ‘genetic epistemology’. A child would have to be at certain stages of the development to learn new ideas and information. Therefore, Piaget identified four stages within this process. These stages of development were split into four sections; the Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, and Formal operations stages. The Sensorimotor stage was all about a child’s first two years of life. This is where a child would a toddler’s knowledge mainly came from physical action, from their senses. The toddler would become aware of object permanence. The Preoperational stage included children from the ages two to seven. In this stage, the child would learn to manipulate the environment around them and begin to identify different objects were words. The Concrete operational stage includes children from the ages of seven to eleven, this is whereby logical thoughts start to develop. They’re able to
It was a difficult choice to make but I think I found the theorist I feel the most strongly aligned with. I considered Locke’s “Blank Slate Theory” because I have observed that what we teach children is often mimicked by them. I also agree with Piaget’s “Cognitive Development Theory” in the sense that children learn through play. I could even see myself agreeing with Rousseau’s “Nobel Savages Theory”. A child’s mind is pure and innocent; I too believe that it could be harmed by adult training. In the end I have to say it’s Vygotsky’s “Sociocultural Theory” is the one I feel most strongly aligned with. I agree with “The Zone of Proximal Development” as well as the scaffolding method. I will use the following paragraphs to explain my alignment
In this essay, I aim to discuss the issue whether imagination is more important than knowledge. “For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand” (Albert Einstein).