The Constructivism Approach

Day 3----- The Constructivism Approach

Today  was a rather hooked day for me. The parameters of learning were surrounded by the constructivism approach to learning.  One of the topics that this lesson was used to teach was correlation based on Spearman’s Rank.  This was excited for me as raw data were manipulated  to construct relationships. It is only fair to say that our curiosities have been nurtured by Dr Emily

This  activity was quite easy for me as I enjoy plotting graphs and determining gradient. Similarly in Electrical Technology the relationship between voltage and current is said to be directly proportional based on their characteristics.  If you increase one quantity, you also increase in the other quantity. On the contrary the relationship between current and resistance is said to be inversely proportional based on their characteristics. Meaning if you increase one quantity, you decrease the other quantity. As a corollary, I could relate to the activity.

Even though I understood the concepts perfectly, I founded it difficult to predict situations in which I would determine the value of r and use it in a practical case. Notwithstanding, I am not ruling out possibilities. The greatest thing is such information on correlation has been concretized.  “The only learning that really sticks is that which is self discovered”(Carl Rodgers). So even if such doctoral opportunities presents itself, I guess I am armed with the requisite knowledge.

Based on the information received, I have taught using the constructivism method. This approach was used to teach student how to calculate the resistance of a colour coded resistor. The resistor is colour coded and each colour has a resistive value and the end band has a tolerance value that is dependent on the colour. Students  are generally informed of the colours and their resistive value. The colours must be remembered in sequence, hence  a mnemonic is used to  memorize that sequence.

Each student is organized around the work table and given five resistors. No child has five of the same resistors so it is not possible for them to cheat with their neighbor. All learners will be required to calculate the resistive value of their resistor band by band until the summative value is reached. This activity will be guided by the facilitator for the first resistor for each learner so that discrepancies can be clarified. Following this learner will work somewhat independently to determine the resistive value of the following resistors.  As the answers are objective, its generally easy for me to evaluate and to determine at which stage students went wrong.

The constructivism approach is stimulating and makes use of active learning.  I am starting to realize that this is more of an approach to a strategy rather than a teaching strategy. It is my hope that from here on, I will experiment with the constructivism pedagogy that will be reflected in my lesson planning, instruction and assessment .