Muhammad Betz (mbetz@sosu.edu)
Tue, 1 Jun 1999 11:52:42 -0500
From: "Muhammad Betz" <mbetz@sosu.edu> Subject: constructivism Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 11:52:42 -0500
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IEFTS'ers:
Q: Where did the concept of Constructivism originate?
A: (and please correct me if I am mistaken) At the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology with S. Papert at or around 1960. Some of the original papers
can be tracked down at the Epistemology and Learning Group at M.I.T. My
point is that "constructivism" was originally intended to admonish
instructors of engineering so that they would not rely exclusively on
textbooks, chalk and talk. These engineering instructors were encouraged to
include "hands-on" components, including the "construction" of
paper/cardboard/whatever models to authenticate the textbook/classroom
learning. Papert, who was a student of Piaget, expanded the notion of
"constructivism" to include young children as beneficiaries. That expansion
is understandable, given the work of Piaget and Montessori.
After what we might call humble beginnings, the great leap was made to make
"Constructivism" an all-encompassing methodology that changes in meaning and
context on almost a daily and individual basis. Constructivism is now a
catch-all term, whose proponents claim as the antidote to the passive
knowledge reception that has purportedly stood for learning in the
educational past. The term also has been configured to replace the concepts
of curricula driven by student inquiry and/or student interests. Then today
I read that Constructivism "means" to replace the concept of an instructor
taking the role of a "sage on a stage" with the role of a "guide on the
side," yet this is an old adage that has been used extensively outside the
theory of "Constructivism."
I say all this to side with a more traditional viewpoint, as that espoused
by T. Lovelace, who advocates a set curriculum and traditional (but not
dull) teaching methods. I am only looking for some "spin control," on this
topic.
Regards,
Muhammad Betz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Educational Instruction & Leadership
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
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