Myths about Constructivism

With the great debate on the relevance of constructivism there have been many questions raised and many myths formulated. The following are some of the myths about constructivism according to Douglas H. Clements in his Article “Constructing Constructivism”:

1.) Students should always be actively and reflectively constructing.
Clements states:
-"Our minds actively construct ideas without our “working at it” or even being conscious of it.
-There is a time for many different types of constructing:
- Time for “experiencing”
- For “intuitive” learning.
- For learning by listening.
- For practice.
- And for conscious, reflective thinking.
*We need to Balance these times to meet our students goals."*
2.) Manipulatives make learners active.
"Clements states that manipulatives are helpful unless teachers use manipulatives to impose prescribed procedures for routine problem types, causing them to learn to use manipulatiaves only in a rote manner."
3.) Constructivist are lonely learners.
Clements notes that learners do not build their ideas in “isolation.”
4.) Cooperative learning is constructivist.
“ The way students think and interact is more important than the size of the group in which they work. Just using cooperative groups does not necessarily make teaching more “constructivist” (Clements, Pg. 2).
5.) Everybody’s right.
“Everybody’s effort can be respected without abandoning the notion that some solutions are better than others and that some just do not make sense” (Clements, pg.2).

All information has been retrieved from Douglas H. Clements article “Constructing Constructivism”
http://investigations.terc.edu/relevant/MisConstructing.html

Here's a funny perspective on just how "right" some students may think they are. It's just a reminder that sometimes students' work may be logical, but still incorrect!