Muhammad Betz (mbetz@sosu.edu)
Fri, 2 Apr 1999 14:42:54 -0600
From: "Muhammad Betz" <mbetz@sosu.edu> Subject: Constructivism Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 14:42:54 -0600
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Fellow Educators:
It is trendy and easy to say that the "old transmission" model of teaching
and learning should be abandoned for the "social constructivist" model. But
that type of assertion leaves many questions, not the least of which, For
whom is the instruction/teaching/learning intended? If we are discussing a
public school classroom in the state of Texas, where teachers and school
administrators are held to a rigorous standard on yearly achievement tests,
which primarily measure knowledge and skills related to that knowledge,
social constructivism just might get you fired. On the other hand, if we
are talking about a different area of the curriculum in a non-traditional
setting with a different set of students with unique characteristics, social
constructivism may make for superior pedagogy. The setting, the people, and
the constraints of the proximal bureaucracy: all these concerns should be
influence the model of pedagogy.
I personally still find the Information Processing model of teaching and
learning based on Robert Gagne's model that I learned as a graduate student
efficacious in my teaching endeavors. Yes, I have composed my own
application of the "Events of Instruction," but the model could still be
classified as Direct Instruction. Students are oriented to the prescribed
learning challenge, informed of its specifics, guided through an initial
exposure, and then required to independently practice and/or apply their
learning in any of several different formats. The independent practice is
evaluated and the revised learning tasks are supplemented in, again, any of
several different formats.
It seems to me that the question of traditional v. social constructivist
learning is not quite the given that many infer it to be.
Muhammad Betz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
mbetz@sosu.edu
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