Chapter 15: Constructivism—Constructivist Learning Theory

Constructivism is a learning theory that posits that learners actively construct knowledge and make meaning, based on their experiences, individually or socially. Confrey (1990, p. 108) describes constructivism as a belief that all knowledge is necessarily a product of our own cognitive acts. The active role the learner takes in constructivist learning sharply contrasts with one in which learning is the passive transmission of information from one individual to another (Brooks & Brooks, 1993, Duffy & Cunningham, 1996). Constructivism is a theory that posits knowledge must be constructed by a person, not just transmitted to the person. Two simple but important ideas highlight the notion of constructed knowledge: (a) prior knowledge always influences the formation of new knowledge and (b) learning is an active process (Hoover, 1996). Learners are not blank slates, they bring prior cultural knowledge and/or experiences to learning situations that impact the new knowledge they will construct or modify (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999). If the new knowledge emerging is not in agreement with their current schema, the learner can evaluate both and modify their knowledge and schema. Hence meaning making is interpretive and dependent on the learner’s experiences and understanding (Jonassen, 1992). People construct knowledge by taking new information and integrating it with their own preexisting knowledge (Cooper, 2007; Woolfolk, 2007).