Constructivism

Constructivist pedagogy is a paradigm that perceives learning as a process of constructing knowledge by individuals themselves rather than passively pouring information in their minds by the teacher (Brown et al 1989; Steffe et al 1995). In constructivism, learning is a continuous journey of meanings searching and knowledge construction. Since constructivism emphasizes the individual’s important role in knowledge construction, its strategies in teaching are often called student-centered instruction. The psychological works of Piaget left a significant contribution to the constructivist pedagogy, he asserted that learning takes place by active construction of knowledge rather than passive reception of knowledge (Piaget 1978). The main pillar of constructivist pedagogy methods is self experience of learning. The role of experience in learning has been investigated by many and has been found to have a dramatic impact. Farrell and Hesketh suggest that students typically recall about 20% of what they hear, while if they hear and see something done, they may recall closer to 50% of the experience, if they actually do something, such as conducting an experiment or solving analytical problem, they are likely to recall as much as 90% (Farrell et al 2000). Experiential learning (EL) has gained increasing interest in the education field during the last thirty years, especially in the United States. This period has witnessed the birth of many experiential learning models. One of the most important experiential learning model was proposed by David Kolb mid 1980s (Kolb 1984).

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model

Kolb, in his 6000+ times cited book (Kolb 1984) has built on Dewey’s theory of education (Dewey 1938) and Lewin’s field theory in social psychology (Lewin 1942). These works had lead Kolb to develop a four stages learning model in which learning should involve the following phases: “Concrete Experience;” “Reflective Observation”; “Abstract Conceptualization”; and “Active Experimentation”. The model is generically called Kolb’s experiential learning cycle.Kolb suggested that learners must be able to immerse in new experiences (CE), they should have reflective skills and multiple views of observation (RO), they must be able to conceptualize the observations and the experiences by integrating them into theories (AC), and finally they must be able to use these theories for making decisions and solving problems (AE). Hence, effective learners should have four types of abilities; Concrete Experience Ability (CE); Reflective Observation Ability (RO); Abstract Conceptualization Ability (AC); Active Experimentation Ability (AE). The optimal learning takes place when an adequate balance of these four characters is carried out. The combination of the previous four stages is called the Kolb cycle of experiential learning and is shown schematically in Figure 1.

Kolb proposed that these are the stages of creating knowledge by transformation into abstracts through experience. Learning requires that individuals first should detect, depict, or grasp knowledge, and then a phase of construction should take place to complete the learning process. This construction is a transformation of the grasped knowledge into the mental model through experiencing this knowledge.

The vertical axis in Kolb’s cycle represents the knowledge grasping dimension, or prehension dimension, by which knowledge can be grasped through Apprehension (the concrete experience extreme) or by Comprehension (the abstract conceptualization extreme), or by mix of both. The horizontal axis represents the knowledge transformation or knowledge construction dimension. The construction can be done via Intention (the reflective observation extreme), or via Extension (Active Experimentation). Kolb’s hypothesis of the two dimensional nature of knowledge building, the prehension dimension and the transformation dimension, was drawn from convergent evidences from philosophy, psychology, and physiology. Literature prior to this hypothesis, did not distinguish between grasping and transformation, combining them in one axis. Hybrid combination of the previous elementary modes in the learning process would produces higher and deeper learning levels.

References:

Brown S, Collins A, Duguid P 1989. “Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning”. Educational Research 18, 32-42.

Farrell S, Hesketh, R P 2000. An Inductive Approach to Teaching Heat and Mass Transfer. Proceedings of the 2000 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition.

Kolb DA 1984. Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall.

Lewin K 1951, Field Theory in Social Sciences. New York: Harper & Row.

Piaget J 1978. The Development of Thought: Equilibration of Cognitive Structures. Blackwell.

Steffe LP, Gale JE 1995. Constructivism in Education. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.