Constructivism and Higher-order Thinking Case Study Analysis

1. Describe two similarities between the traditional lesson and the constructivist one as described above. What are two differences?
One similarity was that they were both learning about measurements. Another similarity was that the students were confused in both lessons plans at one point or another. In the traditional lesson plan the students were confused at the end of the lesson and in the constructivist lesson the students were confused throughout the process. Some differences are that the constructivist theory required the students to figure out all of the measurements without the teachers help, whereas the traditional lesson plan had the teacher there and helping at all times. Another difference is that the constructivist lesson took much longer than the traditional lesson plan.

2. What are two benefits and two drawbacks of the constructivist approach as described above? Why? In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Explain your response.
One benefit is that the students are relating to the lesson much more. They are experiencing the lesson hands on and having experience with it so that they will remember it more deeply. Another benefit is that the students are creating their own way of learning and teaching themselves how to learn in the future. They are reasoning their way through a problem which is helping them to practice doing this in the future. One drawback of this approach is that it takes a very long time and you may not know going into it how long it is going to take. The students may catch on quickly or they might not, so you never know how to plan for this type of lesson. Another problem with this idea is that students often times will get frustrated and just choose to give up. They will not be receiving help from the teacher and just think that they are never going to get the answer and give up! In my opinion the benefits are not worth the costs. I feel like we would lose too many students in the process of finding the answer and some subjects could not be covered because of the amount of time this lesson will take. I think there are better ways of helping the student relate to the material.

3. How does the constructivist lesson described above promote critical thinking? Give specific examples of critical thinking from the case study and include a definition of critical thinking to support your response.
The definition of critical thinking is the process of systematically examining available information and coming up with conclusions that are based on evidence. Critical thinking is encouraged in this type of lesson because students are learning it on their own and thinking of several different solution to a problem. They are using their environment and available resources such as students bodies, hands, feet and etc. in order to come up with an answer to their problem. The students are working their way through the problem by looking at it from a variety of different ways with a variety of different solutions.

4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Why or why not?
This is an authentic activity because it is measuring the students success by whether they come up with a solution or not. They are relevant to life outside of school as well because it is teaching students how to measure items as well as how to solve problems on their own. The students are learning what to do when they are faced with a dilemma and have to outside sources of help except for their environment and the resources given to them.