Constructivism - Worldview Journal/Blog

 

The worldview with which I most identify is the constructivist approach. It fits well with my approach to science teaching and learning, as well as to the work I do in teacher professional learning. As a subject area, science fits well with the constructivist approach as well. Inquiry science in particular meshes with this worldview.

In The 5 E’s of inquiry based science (Chitman-Booker, Kopp, 2013) the authors have based their approach on the constructivist model. “Constructivism is a learning strategy that builds on students’ prior knowledge, ideas, and skill sets,” they say. Engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate make up the 5 E’s. The constructivist model would run through all of these steps in inquiry based science instruction.

My research bases itself in work that I have been doing for many years with outdoor classrooms, outdoor learning, and bringing natural materials from outdoors into the regular science classroom (Rich, 2010). During the pilot for my study, students will have a learning experience outdoors following pre-tests on both content and attitude toward learning outdoors. The constructivist approach to teaching will form the basis for the structure of the instruction. Students will be asked to explore a science topic outdoors potentially constructing their own meaning about how plants and animals fit into their natural world. As such, they will likely be influenced by prior experience. This will however fit with the constructivist notion that they would be actively continuing to build their understanding.

The study will have posttests for attitude and content. These may shed light on the degree to which students constructed their own meaning. Anecdotal evidence may be helpful in written responses from the teachers involved. Perhaps this would give evidence of where the teachers are in constructing their own meanings around science content.

Social constructivism and constructivism are sometimes used interchangeably in academic literature. Whichever term dominates, constructivism is most typically an approach to qualitative research (Creswell, 2014). The research that I have proposed will indeed be quantitative, but will have an element of qualitative, as one of the surveys/tests will be attitudinal in nature. While the quantitative data from this will be the focus, further research might consider the ideas expressed in additional qualitative analysis.  It is however, the science content and setting that will be very closely tied to the constructivist views of teaching and learning. One of the aspects of the journey that may prove interesting is considering what knowledge based is constructed through the outdoor experience that students will have. While one hopes others will value the results of the research, it is true that this researcher looks forward to the results, what they mean, and how they relate to the constructivist approach that is so often successful in science education.

 

Chitman-Booker, L., Kopp, K. (2013). The 5 E’s of inquiry-based science. Huntington Beach, CA. Shell Education.

Creswell, J., (2014). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications, Inc.

Rich, S. (2010). Outdoor science: a practical guide. Washington, D.C. NSTA Press.