Constructivism

Overview

Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner and is influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The active construction the learner engages in takes the form of interpretation. The learner is exposed to something and interprets, often unconsciously, what this new information means. They also interpret how it relate to what they already know. These interpretations are informed by the learners past experience and beliefs. So each interpretation can be more or less valid.

One of the concepts that illuminates this interpretation and integration phenomenon is what Zygotsky called the Zone of Proximal Development. This is the area where the learner is being exposed to something that they don’t know but is within their grasp with some assistance, either by the structure and content of the learning scenario or directly from another person. The assistance (called scaffolding) is ultimately provided by a “more knowledgeable other (MKO).

Problem solving is major activity in a constructivist’s toolbox. Instructors act as role models and facilitators. Peer interaction and teacher facilitation are two ways in which learning is facilitated.

Application of Constructivist Theory

In the previous Behaviorism application example, I used a Learning Objective that matched, in my opinion, nicely to what Behaviorism is good at: "teaching folks to remember things by repetition and reinforcement by reward or punishment. Previous learning objective: You will be able to name, in time sequenced order, the first three steps for improving your emotional intelligence.

Background

This Learning Objective is from a larger course on "Emotional Intelligence". This Learning Objective is presented here for the purposes of applying Constructivism in this course. For this application of Constructionism =, I've added a new more relevant learning objective.

Learning Objective: "You will be able to debate whether Emotional Intelligence is or is not important to successful working relationships".

The assumption here is that students have taken previous modules and at this point in the course can understand and explain what emotional intelligence is and can contrast it from intellectual intelligence. In our definition, emotional intelligence includes:

The ability to identify, understand and work with your own emotions
The ability to identify positive and negative emotions in others and effectively engage with those folks

Additionally, they will be able to name 5 common human emotions and explain what those emotions can mean

Notes related to applying Constructivism to this Learning Objective.

1. Students will have varying levels of emotional intelligence, various experiences with their own and others emotional intelligence and differing information about emotional intelligence. This will allow some students to lead others and for all to contribute.

2. The teacher will have an opportunity to provide additional guidance during and after the synthesis of learner ideas and perspectives.

3. Side note: in a later iteration, I would like to develop a questionnaire that either measures actual emotional intelligence or that allows each learner to understand their view of their own emotional intelligence. This info would be confidential to the individual learner.

Constructionism - Application Module

Title: Is Emotional Intelligence Important?

Learning Objective: "You will be able to debate whether Emotional Intelligence is or is not important to successful working relationships".

The skills and knowledge in the Zone of Proximal Development:

Identify the benefits of emotional intelligence
Sort out the challenges from the benefits
Deciding that developing emotional intelligence is worthwhile or not
Evaluate how emotional intelligence has impacted their lives and the lives of others

Scaffolding Strategy: The Instructors discussion questions proposed in Step 2. These address the skills and knowledge in the ZPD

The Social Constructivist Strategy: The interaction between the students in the discussion in Step 2 where they can explore other’s perspectives as a way of sorting out the issues and learning from others.

The learning experience will be structured as follows:

Step 1. The Learners will read some articles on Emotional Intelligence prior to a group discussion. See the Pre-discussion Readings at the end of this outline.

Step 2. The instructor will initiate a discussion between the students in a live-in-person workshop. The learners will be put into 4 groups of 3-5 people discuss:

What are your positive and negative personal experiences with emotional intelligence?
What will be the benefits of emotional intelligence training?
What will be the downsides of emotional intelligence training?
What emotional intelligence skills do you think will be most valuable to potential students? Why?

Step 3. In your small group decide and report back to the class and instructor:

The top 3-5 reasons for becoming more emotionally intelligent
The top 3-5 reasons for others to become more emotionally intelligent
What skills would you teach?

Step 4. The instructor/facilitator then reconvenes the larger groups and asks for a spokesman from each group to present their group ideas:

The top 3-5 reasons for becoming more emotionally intelligent
The top 3-5 reasons for others to become more emotionally intelligent
What skills would you teach?

Step 5. Then the facilitator works a process (tbd) to synthesize and prioritize the ideas

Step 6. The facilitator asks for feedback on the finalized list.

Step 7. The facilitator uses the learner materials to further deepen their understanding of the benefits and value of emotional intelligence.

Pre-discussion Readings:

7 Reasons Why Emotional Intelligence Is One Of The Fastest-Growing Job Skills

https://www.fastcompany.com/3059481/7-reasons-why-emotional-intelligence-is-one-of-the-fastest-growing-job-skills

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

https://appliedpsychologydegree.usc.edu/blog/emotional-intelligence-in-the-workplace/

Emotional Intelligence Is Overrated - Huffpost - Adam Grant

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-grant/emotional-intelligence-is_b_5915758.html

Ignore emotional intelligence at your own risk

https://hbr.org/2014/10/ignore-emotional-intelligence-at-you-own-risk

References

Jennings, D. (2015, August 31) Educational Theory: Constructivism and Social Constructivism in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Constructivism_in_the_Classroom

Teaching Guide for GSI's: Social Constructivism. Retrieved from https://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/social-constructivism/

McLeod, S.(Updated 2018) Lev Zygotsky. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html