Constructivism

We've read many articles on different pedagogical approaches and I must say that I am rather enthralled with constructivism. Using one's prior knowledge, experience, and understanding of the world to construct new knowledge is fascinating. It's fascinating because I've never thought of learning in this manner. In my opinion, regardless of what pedagogical approach an instructor utilizes, all students tend to bring with them their own perceptions of the world and those perceptions shape any new information presented.

Of course, as with any theory, there are criticisms of constructivism. Some of the readings have presented compelling arguments against the effectiveness of constructivism but I think the good far outweigh the bad. In this day and age, the average adult learner who actively seeks knowledge (i.e. furthering their education) needs to have control over their learning and constructivism allows this. Not only constructivism but distance education classes as well since they tend to promote independence (but that's an entirely different topic). Adult learners are no longer in the phase of learning what the teacher wants them to learn by rote memorization. Instead, adult learners make an active choice to seek knowledge and therefore should be more in control of what they learn.

As an adult learner I'm quickly beginning to understand that, huge thanks in part to me being an MDE student. With any pedagogical approach I think the underlying process involves tyring to understand how students learn and how they learn best. Of course constructivism may not apply to all students (i.e. those coming from a limited background possessing little knowledge and experiences) but I'm a fan of constructivism.

And it's funny because when I first began reading about constructivism I honestly could not stand it! Now look at me.