THE FOUNDATIONS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING AND LEARNING

AND

THE 5E LESSON PLAN

Cosmic Connections Workshop - SDSUbyJudy Vondruska

What works in helping students learn?

Lesson Plan Development

Foundation of Constructivism Has been around for over 100 years Based on research/ideas of

John Dewey knowledge emerges only from situations in which learners

have to draw them out of meaningful experiences (see Democracy and Education, 1916 and Experience and Education, 1938)

Jean Piaget ‘To understand is to discover, or reconstruct by rediscovery,

and such conditions must be complied with if in the future individuals are to be formed who are capable of production and creativity and not simply repetition’ (To Understand is to Invent, J. Piaget, 1973)

Jerome Bruner learning is a social process, whereby students construct new

concepts based on current knowledge. (spiral curriculum idea)

Lev. S Vygotsky Learning and development is a social, collaborative activity

Five Characteristics of Constructivist Teaching

1. Posing problems of emerging relevance to learners

2. Seeking and valuing students' points of view

3. Structuring learning around primary concepts

4. Adapting curriculum to address students' suppositions

5. Assessing student learning in the context of teaching

In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms by Martin and Jacqueline Brooks' 1993 An ASCD publication (ISBN: 0871202115)

5E’s of Constructivism

Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Evaluate

Adapted from http://www.miamisci.org/ph/lpintro5e.html

5E’s of Constructivism

Engage make connections between past and present

learning experiences students becomes mentally engaged in the

concept, process, or skill to be learned.

Teacher Action (Conservation of Energy lesson plan) Example: How many of you have every

been on a roller coaster? When and where? What was it like? Show videoclip of being on a rollercoaster.

Top Thrill Dragster

420 ft tall0-120 mph in 4 sdrop speed = 120 mph

http://tinyurl.com/ttdragster

5E’s of Constructivism

Explore students actively explore their environment or

manipulate materials. provides students with common base of experiences students identify and develop concepts, processes, and

skills

Teacher Action (Conservation of Energy lesson plan) exploratory lab activities to develop a feel for

relationships (limited data collection, if any); web searches, tours, etc.

PRISMS and CRYSTALS curriculums had a lot of exploratory labs Example: PhET Skate Park activity or Funderstanding

Coaster

Looped Rollercoasters

http://www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/

5E’s of Constructivism

Explain learner begins to verbalize their conceptual

understanding or to demonstrate new skills or behaviors

teacher introduces formal terms, definitions, and explanations for concepts, processes, skills, or behaviors. help students make connnections

Teacher Action (Conservation of Energy lesson plan) Using exploration activity to define and expand use of

terminology – ask students to relate what they saw and connections betweens types of energy

Have student groups provide another example of each type of energy

Introduce equations

Steel Dragon 2000 in Mie, Japan 306 ft drop (convert to meters) Calculate speed at bottom of drop

Total Energy at Top = Total Energy at Bottom

PEtop + KEtop = PEbottom + KEbottom PEtop = KEbottom

mgh = 1/2 mv2

v = 42.6 m/s = 95.4 mph!!!!!

Work done by motor to raise you up the lift hill. Provides all the energy at the top of the hill.

Etop= PEtop + KEtop

Ebottom = PEbottom + KEbottom

Why doesn’t mass matter?

Point 1= highest point

Point 2= bottom of hill

5E’s of Constructivism

Elaborate students expand on the concepts they have learned,

make connections to other related concepts, and apply their understandings to the world around them

these connections often lead to further inquiry and new understandings

Teacher Action (Conservation of Energy lesson plan) Hot wheels car lab with loop. Calculate theoretical

height needed for car to make the loop. Determine the actual height and account for the difference. From the actual height, calculate the speed of the car at the bottom of the ramp.

5E’s of Constructivism

Evaluate encourage learners to assess their understanding

and abilities allows the teacher to determine if the learner has

attained understanding of concepts and skills evidences of learning serves to guide the teacher

in further lesson planning and may signal the need for modification and change of direction

Teacher Action (Conservation of Energy lesson plan) Student’s calculate initial speed needed for

successful pole-vault attempt

Women’s Pole Vault Record

Yelena Isinbayeva - Russia - 4.89 meters Summer 2004

World Record in Feet? 16.14 feet (4.89 m)

How fast did she have to run to achieve this record assuming she had a velocity of 1.0 m/s over the bar? (Assume W = 130 lbs)

What was her KE as she began her vault? Note: pole stores elastic energy

About 50% of the KE generated in the run

Pole vault

Max. KE

PE + KE

Math & Constructivism

…constructivism focuses our attention on how people learn. It suggests that math knowledge results from people forming models in response to the questions and challenges that come from actively engaging math problems and environments - not from simply taking in information, nor as merely the blossoming of an innate gift.

The challenge in teaching is to create experiences that engage the student and support his or her own explanation, evaluation, communication, and application of the mathematical models needed to make sense of these experiences.

Goodwin College of Professional Studies, - Math Forum Drexel University

Considerations from brain research

Another viewpoint…

The brain is...

a pattern-making machine.

Patterns

The brain is always trying to make sense of its surroundings

The brain is always looking for patterns, – trying to fit new learning in with previous learning– trying to connect concepts with each other– trying to resolve conflicts between inputs

The brain is working to build upon existing neural networks, connecting with new information and ideas

Memorize the following….

You have 6 seconds!!!

A =

B =

C =

D =

E =

F =

G =

H =

I =

Got it? Okay…..

Spell the word BEACH in symbols.

Did you get it????

A =

B =

C =

D =

E =

F =

G =

H =

I =

Does this help?

A B C

D E F

G H I

In addition to searching for patterns…

the brain has a limit to the amount of information it can process at one time

helping to group (pattern) or connect information together allows for larger amounts of information to be taken in

Memorize these…

2598713 5184632948

LS DTVF BIJ FKU SA?

? ?

2598713 5184632948Did you get them right?

LSD TV FBI JFK USAWould it help to reorganize the letters like this?

M-Space & Chunking

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Nu

mb

er o

f M

-sp

aces

5 7 9 11 13 15

Mental Age

Remember chunking as a means of helping students learn material

– group material into smaller coherent patterns

Research has shown the use of chunking and using patterns in our working memory has a significant impact on our memory and our learning potential.

Short-term memory has limits and students need time to process information

Example: a phone number

Area code is one chunk, second three digits are another, and the last four numbers are each a chunk resulting in six total chunks.

Use mind-mapping for patterning

Assists in organization by connecting new learning to the learner's personal experience.

Use of mind maps allow learners to tap intotheir unique neural organization.

Have students use mindmaps to introduce themselves, as a means of review at the beginning of class or prior to an exam

– Include words, color, pictures– Establishes multiple pathways in the brain for later retrieval

http://www.st-ansgar.k12.ia.us/SCHWIESOW/portfolio/reflections/sciencemap.jpg

Practice Mind-mapping

Create a mind-map to introduce yourself.– Post in break room.