Essay on Constructivism Evaluation

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Essay on Constructivism Evaluation

Introduction

Constructivism is a known as a learning theory that is based on the idea that people earn knowledge through their interaction with the outside world, their experiences and their thoughts about the world around them. The theory of constructivism got wide spread appreciation and acknowledgment through the Jean Piaget's work in the early 20th century. Thus, he is recognized as the founder of Constructivism. (Fosnot, 1996)

Discussion

Major Aspects of Constructivism

The four major aspects of constructivism are:

Behaviorist Orientation:

Founded by John B. Watson, Behaviorism was the earliest formulation of the coherent theory of learning. From the behaviorist perception, three suppositions are held to be correct. First, the observable behavior was the focus rather than internal cognitive procedures. If learning has taken place, then some kind of observable external behavior is noticeable. Second, the environment is one of the precision tools of learning and behavior, not individual characteristics. And third, the reinforcement and contiguity principles are vital to explaining and analyzing the learning procedure. The behaviorist orientation is essential for present educational practice, counting adult education as well.

Cognitive Orientation  The Cognitive theories of learning deal with procedures that take place inside the nervous system and brain as an individual learns. They share the viewpoint that people keenly process information and hence, learning occurs through the efforts of the learner. Inputting, organizing, accumulating, retrieving and searching for relationships between information are included in the internal mental processes. New information is connected to the old knowledge, scripts and schema. 

Humanist Orientation  The Humanistic theories transfer the emphasis to the probable for individual development in the learner. They convey the affective performance of the human into the field of learning. The psychoanalytic approach of Freud to behavior was a dominant influence on the theorists of humanistic learning. Several Freud's concepts like anxiety, subconscious mind, repression, transference and defense mechanisms commenced their approach into the humanistic learning theories. Social Learning Orientation  Social learning theories mainly focus on interactions between people as the most important mechanism of learning. Learning is acquired through observation of others in a social setting. The social learning theories in the early period i.e. in 1940's depicted a lot from behaviorism, signifying that derivative responses, when boosted, allow the behavioral changes and observed learning. 

Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of constructivism in general

Strengths Of Constructivism:

The theory of constructivism is very useful in the sense that students learn more since the learning turn into personal. They must give feedback and not just sit down and pay attention. The main focus is on understanding and thinking, not only memorizing. It creates a moving institution that will be advantageous throughout the lifetime learning procedure. Students are able to track their growth and progress like portfolios and journals with the activities provided, which also let the students enhance their personal views and creativity. As, constructivism gives confidence to the students to raise questions, this motivates their own interest which lets them to take hold of their own understanding of the ...