Reflection Journal Entry #5

Description

            This week’s readings focused on constructivist approaches in learning and students working without assistance to problem solve.

Analysis

            Slavin (2015) begins this chapter with a significant statement: “One of the most important principles of educational psychology is that teachers cannot simply give students knowledge. Students must construct knowledge in their own minds” (p. 190).  This tenet, the focus of constructivism, represents the movement well.  Much of constructivism builds off Piaget and Vygotsky’s principles; Vygotsky believed that student learning had more to do with social interactions than the teacher, who facilitates the learning process in the classroom rather than being an all-knowing dispenser of knowledge.

            Constructivism values discovery learning, which has students “learn largely on their own through active involvement with concepts and principles” (Slavin, 2015, p. 193).  Teachers help guide the students, but the students themselves are solely responsible for discovering knowledge through experimentation.  One way to encourage discovery learning – and to make it more practical – is to implement scaffolding (or mediated learning), which “might include giving students more structure at the beginning of a set of lessons and gradually turning responsibility over to them to operate on their own” (Slavin, 2015, p. 194).  In essence, scaffolding builds students up to accomplish a task on their own, beginning with guidance from the teacher.  If teachers never give students time to discover on their own, students will not be able to apply the information to problems in the future.

            Naturally, constructivist approaches to learning vary from one content area to the next.  For example, with reading, Slavin (2015) recommends reciprocal teaching, which has students formulate questions for each other when reading a text (p. 194).  For writing, constructivist influence is present when students do peer reviews of each other’s papers.  When looking at a constructivist approach in a mathematics classroom, teachers should begin with “real problems for the students to solve intuitively and let students use their existing knowledge of the world to solve the problems any way they can” (Slavin, 2015, p. 199).  The use of real-world situations and examples in problems helps make learning seem more relevant to students, and their bank of existing knowledge – relying strongly on what they have learned socially – is put to use.  A science classroom can easily incorporate discovery learning through labs, as students have to work through experiments to determine whether a hypothesis was correct.

            Much of what constructivism relies on is working in groups; cooperative learning skills are very important in a constructivist classroom because students have the opportunity to build their knowledge set from each other, collaborating and discussing to reach to a conclusion.  Slavin (2015) notes that cooperative grouping is beneficial not only for comprehending a certain concept but also for general social skills, as students “are usually taught specific skills that will help them work well together, such as listening actively, giving good explanations, avoiding putdowns, and including other people” (p. 199).  Many activities that take advantage of the benefits of group work include Jigsaw, Learning Together, and Group Investigation; all of these emphasize the importance of each member of the group.  Clearly, allowing students to collaborate is beneficial; in fact, “Studies of cooperative learning methods that incorporate group goals and individual accountability show substantial positive effects on the achievement of students in grades 2 through 12 in all subjects and in all types of schools” (Slavin, 2015, p. 204).

            Ultimately, constructivism teaches that students are bound for success when they develop critical thinking skills, implement inquiry-based learning, and master problem solving.  Working through theories, particularly through collaboration with others, is an effective way to build knowledge through experience.

Reflection

            Teaching a small-group special education math class, I rely on constructivist approaches frequently in my class.  For example, I break students up into smaller groups and have them working on an assignment.  Even whole-group instruction is largely group-based, as my classroom (with few students) is highly collaborative during a lesson.  When I introduce a new concept for my students to learn, I allow them to discuss what they already know or think about it, and that allows students to build off existing knowledge, even if it comes from one of their classmates instead of themselves.  I notice that my students seem to learn some things more quickly when they work together on it than when they work independently or when I work with them individually.  Of course, it is much easier for them to simply call me over to ask for help than to work through an issue among themselves, but I see greater growth when they work together without depending on so much of my assistance.

With that said, I do, however, probably help my students more than I should.  This is a constant battle for me.  Since my students have disabilities, they often do not think that they should have to do a problem without my help, and they believe that I have abandoned them if I tell them to keep working on the problem instead of giving them the answer.  When I do give them the assistance that they want, I notice that the students did not actually work to solve a problem, so their learning is hindered.  Then, when another problem arises, they do not know how to use the information and apply what they learned previously in the unit.

Teaching in a constructivist classroom requires very much patience, as students by nature love to goof around and slack off during class.  It is understandable because few people actually like to work, and working bell-to-bell in every class can be frustrating and unnerving.  Therefore, of course they like to play around a little when they are put into groups.  Still, it is important for me as an educator to help facilitate the learning throughout the entire class period and not to allow joking detract from the task at hand.  For this reason, students take quite a while to get their work done, particularly for many of my students who have intellectual disabilities and get frustrated so easily.  This concept relates to what I mentioned previously, assisting students when they have trouble with something.

Of course, I scaffold assignments to fit the needs of my students from the beginning, helping give them a smooth transition or introduction to the lesson or activity.  Even with this, I tend to take a very hands-on approach with the students.  I recognize that I need to back up a bit more sometimes and let them struggle through a problem.  Only through pushing through the issue can students actually learn, and if a student gets it on their own, then they can help the students around them grasp it in their own words, probably better than I can sometimes.

References

Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (11th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.