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Oleo de José Tola
From: Nabila EL ATERI
T1: ELATERIN@alpha.montclair.edu
Date: 5/12/98
Time: 8:21:31 PM
Remote Name: 130.68.51.57
CONSTRUCTIVISM
In MATHEMATICS, the rejection of the proof of propositions and objects by reductio ad absurdum (i.e., by the demonstration that its negation would lead to contradictions) and instead the acceptance of the condition that objects be constructable from known elements by a FINITE number of explicit procedures, e.g., by an ALGORITHM. One consequence of this is the denial of the universal validity of the LAW OF THE EXCLUDED MIDDLE and the position of a third truth-value for classes of objects that are not so constructable: undecidable.
In cognitive psychology, constructivism is a reaction against the Gibsonian view that knowledge and PERCEPTION are the result of sensation and maintains that (a) the nervous system, in order to be adaptive, must process available INFORMATION actively and CONSTRUCT an internal world and that (b) these processes be describable in a computer LANGUAGE and acceptable for SIMULATION by a COMPUTER. CYBERNETICS prominently participates in this movement by insisting that (1) all knowledge is created, invented and constructed by an observer, using his finite resources, that (2) the COGNITIVE SYSTEM is organized or organizes itself so as to compute a stable reality (von Foerster) which implies that the constructs that do survive the circular process involving an observer and his environment are those that remain unaffected by disturbances in the form of DATA which may enter the cycle involuntarily, and that (3) constructs, being descriptions (not necessarily of something else), may be communicated among observers who may include each other in their observations, (see PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY) thus constituting an autonomous ORGANIZATION involving a community of observers (Maturana) (see COMMUNICATION, CONSTITUTION, AUTOPOIESIS, SOCIAL SYSTEM). (Krippendorff)
CONSTRUCTIVISM according the American Heritage dictionary is a movement in modern art in which glass, sheet metal and other industrial materials are used to create nonrepresentational, often geometric objects.
Therefore, according to these definitions, the conclusion to withdraw is that constructivism encourages self-dependence on personal cognitive abilities to understand, perceive and create. Constructivism was developed during the 1980s and it is based on the philosophy that knowledge comes from the coordination of careful observation and mental action, or logical thinking according to Janet Taylor. According to her "it consists of new understandings about knowledge and how knowledge is acquired… It's a theory of interaction between the ability of the mind to act on the environment as well as the environment to act on the mind". She adds "Constructivism brings that theory to the practice of teaching so that we encourage the kind of curriculum that fosters the thinking of children and sees children as active constructors of their own knowledge."
For example, rather than teaching mathematics using traditional algorithms (skills such as "carrying" and "borrowing"), a constructivist would teach using actual examples that build on what the children already know -- such as X pieces of candy to be shared among X number of children. The student is asked to think and reason out the distribution, said Taylor. "Students solve the problem using their own ability to think," she said. "They learn to trust their ability to think rather than simply follow a formula given to them by someone else."
Taylor, whose expertise is in language and literacy, said the constructivist approach to teaching in these areas builds on their earlier semiotic functioning -- drawing, symbolic play and dramatic play. Young students who have not yet learned to write at the alphabetical level use letters to represent syllables and words.
"We look at how children come to understand the system of written language," Taylor said. "Children are involved in story developing and sharing, and in recording stories in their journals using whatever forms they know. Social interaction in these activities plays an important part in the learning process.
"Students are constructing the knowledge about how their system of written language works. The student moves beyond the syllabic to the alphabetic level."
Schools are slowly accepting the constructivist philosophy, according to Taylor.
"We don't know all that we need to know yet," Taylor said. "But educators are beginning to recognize the thinking and reasoning value of this approach to teaching young children."
Applied to ESLteaching, constructivism could be very difficult to achieve because the students, especially second language beginners, do not have the basic language knowledge that they need to reach that creative level required by the constructivist approach, especially in writing and speech. ESL students have first to acquire enough material that put them at the same level as first language learners and only then can we talk about constructivism in ESL. I am not suggesting that an ESL learner is unable of creativity relying on his own mental capacities, but what I would like to stress is the fact that this cognitive creativity can not be easily achieved or conveyed in the same way a first language learner would because of the language barrier. An ESL student, even if offered a constructivist teaching approach will not perform as well as he would in his own language. It is like offering the material to create a piece of art to someone who does not have the right tools.
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I found PHD thesis on the web entitled "Constructivism in practice: the case for meaning-making in the virtual world" by Kimberly M. Osberg. http://www.hitl.washington.edu/publications/r-97-47/
Other Interesting Addresses:
Constructivism and Students with Special Needs: http://www.erlbaum.com/2458.htm Classics of Constructivism: http://mofet.macam98.ac.il/~izak//edd/a/0693.html Constructivism in the Computer Age: http://www.erlbaum.com/716.htm
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASC/CONSTRUCTIV.html http://www.auburn.edu/administration/univrel/news/11_96news/11_96education.html