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Constructivist learning
This is a student-driven process whereby the learners come up with their own way of understand information as they get to know the various concepts and as they think upon their own processes. Instead of getting information from sources and taking them as the right answers, the learners will integrate their own experiences that they get from the outside and from the other students (Glenda, 1996). As the theory puts more emphasis on the learner getting their own information from the outside, it also assumes that the learner will sort this information so that each individual student will have a slightly different concept than the other students. This is so because of the fact that the student will have the information basing on his or her own understanding (Duffy, & Jonassen, 1992).
In the instructor-driven theory, the learning takes place as the student gets the information from the outside world while in student-driven theory, learning takes place as the student integrates knowledge from the outside world; in this regard, they use the preexisting schemas of knowledge so that they get their own understanding (Collay, Gagnon, & Schmuck, 2006). In this theory, control of learning is accorded to the learner by allowing their curiosity to take toll and experiment on the ideas learned; this is not like the instruction-driven theory where the instructor is give control over the learning process by allowing them to use lesson plans (Grennon-Brooks, & Brooks, 1999). This theory does not, however, mean that the students are left free-for-all without the teacher having any control over the lesson, the teacher is considered to have the role of guiding the process. They have a role to play in this case as they are tasked with guiding the learning process.
Reading activities
The reading activities that are done in this theory include reading out load, also known as whisper reading, silent reading, reading so as to answer questions or provide information, discussing difficult words reading comprehension.
Explicit teaching
In this theory, the instructor is responsible for transmitting information from an external understanding to the learner; it is then the responsibility of the learner to process the information that has already been pre-determined (Olson, 2003). Unlike constructivist where the learner is taken to adapt external information into their own understanding, in explicit teaching, the learner is expected to adapt to their own internal schema of understanding to be in tandem with the information from the external environment (Duffy, & Jonassen, 1992). This theory is described by Ellis (2005) as highly organized, task-oriented, and teacher-directed and is structure. There are some specific steps, which must be followed when communicating information to the learners, and these steps are pre-determined and specific to both eth content and the content.
Reading activities
Synthetic phonics instruction, word recognition and spelling, and vocabulary.
Comparison chart
Theory
Characteristics
Principles/Steps
Advantages
Disadvantages
Constructivist learning
It is student-driven
The learner is left to come up with his or her own understanding and comprehension of the information.
There is ton of instruction, which is seen to be adapted by the learners as they handle information.
There is active engagement
It is found to be constructive
It is complex
It is contextual
It is collaborative
It is found to use lost of conversations
Reflective
Students come up with their understanding of information
The knowledge that is gained can be transferred to other applications.
It is hard to assess the level of understanding of the learner
The instructor may provide too little guidance or too much in the process of learning
The instructors are required to commit much of their time and energy.
Explicit teaching
Led by instructors
It follows efficient and transferable of information
The instruct models the thinking process of the students.
The learner is comprehensively assessed through questions and feedback.
There is tons of information as the instructors give the information t the students.
There is emphasis on orientation
Practice which is structured
Presentation
Practice which is guided
Practice which is independent
The use of instructors to model gives examples of expectations
Well-defined goals and steps give clear task objectives.
Students feel that they get “talked-at” during the learning process and they therefore do not feel engaged in the learning process
The information that is gained can have low rate of transferability to other application.
References
Collay, M., Gagnon, G., & Schmuck, R. (2006). Constructivist learning design: Key questions for teaching to standards. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Duffy, T., & Jonassen, D. (1992). Constructivism and the technology of instruction: a conversation. Philadelphia, PA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Ellis, A. (2005). Research on educational innovations. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education, Inc.
Glenda, (1996). Active learning in a constructivist framework. Educational Studies in Mathematics. 31 (4). 349- 369.
Grennon-Brooks, J., & Brooks, M. (1999). Becoming a constructivist teacher. In Arthur L. Costa (Ed.), Developing minds: A resource book for teaching thinking. (p. 150-157).
Olson, D. (2003). Psychological theory and educational reform: how school remakes mind and society. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
