Week 7: Constructionism and the Maker Movement

Placing students in a constructivist learning environment can foster creativity since it demands students to construct knowledge through hands-on experience and activities (Jonassen & Rohrer-Murphy, 1999). Constructivist pedagogy refers to a 'theory of instruction' where students learn abstract concepts through individual experience (Top Hat, n.d., para. 2). Some examples of constructivist pedagogies used in classrooms include, group collaboration, problem-solving, and project building. The benefit of utilising constructionism in teaching is that it encourages students to be more experiential and autonomous with their learning; rather than developing knowledge through reading textbooks and in-class discussions, students take an active role and build knowledge through interaction, activities, and experiments (Blackburn & Hewitt, 2020).

This concept was demonstrated in my EDUC3620 tutorial whereby students had to work collaboratively in groups to achieve a set objective. The set objective was to balance six needles on one, single needle (see below).

In this activity, each student was given a set of different instructions and for the students to achieve the objective, they had to work collaboratively as a group to correctly sequence the instructions. In activities such as this, the role of the teacher shifts from an instructor to a facilitator, whilst the students take the reins to direct their own learning. By promoting student exploration and problem-solving, constructivist pedagogy assists students in creating meaningful learning experiences and knowledge (Blackburn & Hewitt, 2020).

Photo: Constructionism activity. Taken by Evelyn Chan

Constructivist learning can also be incorporated into online resources and technology, such as Microbit. For example, in the EDUC3620 tutorial, we were assigned to construct a device that could tip out water whenever it senses that the soil is dry. To execute this task, we had to first design the skeletons of the device, then use the Microbit to set an appropriate code to operate the device. Through this experience, students not only built their coding and design-thinking skills but also developed their problem-solving skills, especially when the device was not functioning the way the students had imagined. This form of constructivist pedagogy provided opportunities for students to engage in technology and construct new knowledge to creatively overcome obstacles in learning. It is important to note that in advanced activities such as this, teachers must take on the role as the facilitator and help guide and mentor students through their tasks (Blackburn & Hewitt, 2020). Without the assistance of the teacher, it can cause students to become overwhelmed by the task and consequently disengage themselves from the activity.

Videos: Microbit Activity. Taken by Evelyn Chan.

Reference List

Blackburn, A., & Hewitt, D. (2020). Fostering creativity and collaboration in a fully online tertiary music program. International Journal on Innovations in Online Education, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.1615/IntJInnovOnlineEdu.2020035099

Jonassen D, H, & Rohrer-Murphy R. (1999). Activity theory as a framework for designing constructivist learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(1), 61–79.

Top Hat. (n.d.). Constructivist Pedagogy. https://tophat.com/glossary/c/constructivist-pedagogy/#:~:text=Constructivist%20pedagogy%20is%20where%20instructors,lessons%20and%20self%2Dguided%20learning.