Introduction
Over the years various learning theories on adult
education have been proposed, studied, and applied into practice, such as,
behaviorism, cognitivism, humanism, and constructivism (Merriam & Brockett, 2007) . These theoretical frameworks
explain how knowledge and information are delivered, processed and retained in
the long term. They provide tremendous resources for educators to design and
reflect on their instructions.
The author focuses on constructivism (constructivist theories)
in which, learning is considered as a constructive process based on learner’s
existing intelligence and experience. Self-directed learning is a vital
component in constructivism (Candy, 1991) .
Constructivism also emphasizes “the combined characteristics of active inquiry,
independence, and individuality in a learning task” (Merriam & Brockett, 2007) . After the roles of
learners and instructors are being discussed, three classroom examples are given
to further state how constructivist theory can be applied in freshman level
chemistry laboratory teaching practice.
Theory Highlights
Constructivists believe that learners acquire new
knowledge and concept through accommodation and assimilation of their prior
experience and knowledge-base (Merriam & Brockett, 2007) . Because the
learning process is driven by the learners, it occurs most efficiently when
learners are actively engaged. It has also been pointed out that, the primary
goal of education is not merely the acquisition of knowledge, but also, how
much sense the learners make and how they can apply the new knowledge in the
new context.
It is difficult to present constructivism as a unified
theory (Merriam & Brockett, 2007) . There are two main
strands in the theory, cognitive constructivism and social constructivism.
Cognitive constructivism features on individual’s internal constructions of
knowledge. This perspective has its root in Piaget’s theory, with an emphasis
on individual knowledge construction stimulated by internal cognitive process
as learners strive to solve mental disequilibrium while accepting acquiring new
knowledge (Piaget, 1977) . Information cannot be understood and
used immediately after learning. Instead, learners must construct their own
knowledge-base through experience. Social constructivism views that knowledge
construction is initiated and developed by the social interactions within the learning
community. These learning-related interactions may involve sharing the
knowledge and opinions, comparing, debating, collaborating and mentoring. The
learners refine new concept and help each other to acquire new insights (Merriam & Brockett, 2007) .
Despite the differences between the focus of individual
learning and group learning, most constructivists agree that (1) learners are
the center and the driving force of the learning process; (2) learners’ prior
knowledge and experience determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the
learning process; (3) it is crucial for the instructors to select the topics related
to the real world context (4) necessary guidance from the instructor should be
given under the self-directed environment.
Why Constructivism Theory is selected
Constructivism is very applicable in science teaching. Most
of the science subjects are relevant to everyday life, which makes them easier
to connect to their own experience. Learners are encouraged to utilize the
knowledge they learn to solve real-life problems and to explain and understand
everyday phenomena.
In university level science courses, although a decent amount
of time and effort are devoted to lab experience, most of the credit is
allocated to the lecture component during which knowledge is transferred from
the instructor to the students. In the meantime, the students are evaluated
based on how close their answers are to the answer key in their exams. However,
constructivist theories are based on the idea of learner-centered. Learning
occurs in the mind of the learner and within learner groups.
This theory matches my teaching philosophy closely in lab
teaching. First of all, laboratory is an open environment, where the learners feel
more comfortable to exchange ideas, ask questions, and take initiatives.
Secondly, students decide on in which order, in which way they should complete
the hands-on lab activities, and how they collaborate in the group. There is space
for them to be creative, and to apply their existing knowledge to explore under
instructor’s guidance. The content
itself is more alike many open-end questions for the learners to answer. The
existing knowledge can be acquired very recently. I see the process as an
observing-thinking-deciding-learning cycle, where the learners apply their
newly acquired information (observations) after thinking, and plan the next
step of action. In the long term, this is the skill that they are expected to
retain in their career as a professional chemist.
The fundamental challenge of constructivism is to switch
learning from teacher-centered to learner-centered and also to place the topics
in a real-world context for this constructive process to occur. These
challenges will be further addressed in classroom examples.
Roles of the Learner
Learners are the center of the learning process. They form
some memory of their former experience and associate the existing knowledge to
the new concept. They also organize and apply newly acquired the knowledge. Constructivists
also believe that the learner is the one who acts on topics within his/her
internal environment and further derive the meaning into future questions under
new context. The learners also assimilate new information to simple,
pre-existing notions and modify their understanding. Critical insights are
formed, shared within the group, and applied to deal with new phenomena.
Roles of the Instructor
The constructivist instructor is a facilitator who encourages
students to discover, to relate and construct knowledge within a provided
framework or structure. They also assist the students to build the connection
with prior knowledge, and keep them engaged. One of the major concerns is the students’
cognitive process. Learning disabled students process information less
effectively and the teachers must become aware of the difference. Along the
same line, because this is a learner-centered environment, the instructor
should select the topics, and design the instructional framework based on the
leaners’ academic background and, more in depth, their learning styles.
Classroom Examples
Example 1: Visualization of Intercalation As believed by
constructivist, learners are the center of the learning-teaching process. It is
acknowledged that each student does not learn in the same way, implementing a
variety of learning styles throughout the course allows all the students will
have the chance to learn in at least one way that matches their learning styles.
While reading is a very important learning mode, some students respond better
to visual and audio stimuli or by participating in the activities.
Intercalation is a difficult concept in solid acid titration lab. In the event
of intercalation (Figure 1), protons
in zirconium phosphate solid are replaced by sodium ions, thus the distance
between two layers (the solid strips on the top and on the bottom) expands to a
certain degree which is related to the radius difference of sodium ion and proton.
Example 2: Copper Mining Project As stated in constructivism
theories, learning occurs when the students relate the prior knowledge to the
current scenario. The instructor should encourage the students to take the
ownership of their learning, and facilitate extrapolation and promote the
knowledge beyond the current context. Copper Mining Project is a great example
that is recently designed to practice the theory. The lab context is designed
on exploring the chemical properties of copper mine. Typical chemistry techniques
are being introduced in this lab activities. Students are placed in a real
world scenarios – technologist, recorder, safety officer, and lab manager who
work for a copper mine company. Their job is to find out information on four
different mining sites in Mexico, China, Zambia and Arizona, and evaluate the
investment advantages/disadvantage of each mining site. Students are encouraged
to apply their knowledge in economy, geography, environmental science, and in
chemistry. They would consider the local labor price, the transportation cost,
environmental regulations and so on, to rank the order. Each week the students
rotate in different roles, recorder (documentation skills), safety officer
(responsibility and sense of safety), and team leader (leadership skills).
Because many of them have worked one or two similar jobs in the real life, it
is the place where they come to utilize the existing skills and develop new
skills by learning from each other. In this activity, instructor is a facilitator
and organizer, who organizes presentations, and assign the jobs, and facilitate
group discussions.
Example 3 Switching Lab Partners As stated in social
constructivism, the social interactions are the trigger of knowledge
acquisition. These social interactions may include sharing, comparing,
collaborating and debating in the group. Because most of the lab activities are
group work. How the group functions will really affect the final outcome. In
the past, students keep in the same group through the semester, and the problem
is that the high performing students turn to gather in a group while the
low-performing students gathering together. As in the class, often times,
students don’t know other students in other groups and have no comfort to
discuss or ask for help. To increase the social interactions in the class, so
to improve the learning outcome, the lab groups will be re-formed every few
weeks. The instructor would evaluate each student’s performance and
personality, to rearrange the group. Since it “forces” the students to know
more people with each other, they share contact information, study together
after the class for group work, and help each other to clarify the confusions.
Especially for the low-performing students, it is obvious that their
performance is improved after paring with a high-performing students through
the mentoring and collaboration process. On the other hand, it is greatly acknowledged
that, each learner has different skill sets. A new skill can be acquired by
collaboration and observation with a new group partner. And this example very
closely applied the concept of social constructivism into classroom practice
and received very positive results.
Conclusion
Laboratory activities can be
modified based on constructivism theory to create a more learner-centered learning
environment with higher level of learner engagement (Shiland,
1999) .
After a brief introduction of constructivism theory, and discussion of
learner’s and instructor’s roles, the author outlines three examples of how
this theory can be applied in the teaching practice: Example 1 – provide
various teaching styles for different learning styles especially having the
learners participate into the activity to understand the concept; Example 2
–facilitate learner-centered learning, and encourage students to explore,
discover and build new knowledge on the top of existing knowledge; Example 3 –
improve class-wide interactions by having the students partner with different
people, based on social constructivism. The constructivism theory matches my
teaching philosophy and provides a theoretical framework, based on which
decisions (of modifications) can be made to shape my future teaching practice.
References
Candy,
P. (1991). Self-direction for lifelong learning: A comprehensive guide
to theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Merriam, S. B., & Brockett, R. G. (2007). The
Profession and Practice of Adult Education: An Introduction. San
Francisco, CA: John Wiley&Sons, Inc.
Piaget, J. (1977). The equilibration of
cognitive structures. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Shiland, T. W. (1999). Constructivism: The
Implications for Laboratory Work. Journal of Chemical Education,
107.
