Constructivism and Learning

Constructivism is a term that should be used with care. It is widely used in many disciplines, and even in the more limited area of education, it is obvious that the term is used with very different meanings. This article focuses on constructivism in science education. It takes a historical perspective, based on the influence of Jean Piaget and traces its development from the early emphasis on his stages of development to the more recent stress on children’s construction of concepts (and misconceptions). The epistemological and individual/personal nature of Piaget’s research program has later been widened, and now embraces more social and cultural perspectives on learning. The article argues that these different versions of constructivism share basic core ideas, and that constructivism is currently the dominant research perspective in the field of teaching and learning in science.

[1]  M. R. Matthews.  Constructivism and empiricism: An incomplete divorce , 1992 .

[2]  R. Driver,et al.  The Pupil as Scientist , 1983 .

[3]  Jean Piaget,et al.  Psychogenesis and the History of Science , 1988 .

[4]  Michael Shayer,et al.  Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students , 1990 .

[5]  D. C. Phillips.  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism , 1995 .

[6]  J. Piaget,et al.  The Child's Conception of the World , 1971 .

[7]  D. Treagust,et al.  Learning in Science — From Behaviourism Towards Social Constructivism and Beyond , 1998 .

[8]  Joan Solomon,et al.  The Rise and Fall of Constructivism , 1994 .

[9]  I. Lakatos.  Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes , 1976 .

[10]  Kenneth Tobin.  Constructivism and education: Sociocultural perspectives on the teaching and learning of science , 1998 .

[11]  G. Kelly.  The Psychology of Personal Constructs , 2020 .

[12]  M. R. Matthews.  Constructivism in science education : a philosophical examination , 1998 .

[13]  P. Boghossian.  Fear of Knowledge: Against Relativism and Constructivism , 2006 .

[14]  R. Driver,et al.  A Constructivist Approach to Curriculum Development in Science , 1986 .

[15]  T. Kuhn.  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. , 1964 .

[16]  P. Scott,et al.  Constructing Scientific Knowledge in the Classroom , 1994 .

[17]  Keith S. Taber,et al.  Beyond Constructivism: the Progressive Research Programme into Learning Science , 2006 .

[18]  P. Berger,et al.  Social Construction of Reality , 1991, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society.

[19]  E. Glasersfeld.  An Introduction to Radical Constructivism , 1981 .

[20]  Kenneth Tobin,et al.  The Practice of constructivism in science education , 1993 .

[21]  J. Piaget.  La construction du réel chez l'enfant , 1973 .

[22]  M. R. Matthews,et al.  Discontent With Constructivism , 1994 .

[23]  Alberto J. Rodriguez.  Strategies for Counterresistance: Toward Sociotransformative Constructivism and Learning To Teach Science for Diversity and for Understanding. , 1998 .

[24]  R. Driver,et al.  Pupils and Paradigms: a Review of Literature Related to Concept Development in Adolescent Science Students , 1978 .

[25]  Peter J. Fensham,et al.  The Content Of Science: A Constructive Approach To Its Teaching And Learning , 1994 .

[26]  Michael Shayer,et al.  Towards a science of science teaching , 1981 .

[27]  M. Shayer,et al.  Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students III: Testing the permanency of effects , 1992 .

[28]  J. Piaget,et al.  The Growth Of Logical Thinking From Childhood To Adolescence: An Essay On The Construction Of Formal Operational Structures , 1958 .