discussion and replies 2 3

8. Some educational psychologists suggest that constructivism is more a principle than a theory. Explain why you either agree or disagree with that assertion.

reply 1 :

Cognitive and social constructivism are similar learning strategies, but there is also quite a bit of differences as well. First, cognitive constructivism, ideas are constructed in individuals through a personal process and social constructivism emphasizes that the roles of teacher/student interactions helps to develop ideas. Cognitive strategy states that students realize their thinking is weak. Whereas social constructivism is based around collaboration of cultural and social context. Learning is constructed, not acquired in regards to cognitive learning and learning is social constructivism is when learners are integrated in a community of knowledge.

An example of Cognitive Constructivism is assimilation and accommodation. This means assimilation occurs when we modify or change new information to fit into what we already know. Accomodation is when we modify what we already know so that new information can fit in better.

An example of Social Constructivism is the Zone of Proximal Development. ZPD is when learning occurs when a student is helped when learning a concept in the classroom.

reply 2:

Constructivism is a view of learning that says learners don’t acquire knowledge from others; but they construct it for themselves. This means that a child can come up with a solution by themselves because of the different things that makes sense to them. Cognitive constructivism is emphasizes this because it’s the effort to make sense of their experiences as they interact with environment. And eventually the children will test these interactions to better their understanding. This highlights Piaget’s theory because the child is using their own experiences to better understand the solution to a problem. There is also social constructivism, this is when children first construct knowledge in a social context and individually internalize it. This is when children work together to find a solution to a problem. This highlights Vygotsky’s theory because it allows children to come up with answer because of their social learning. meaning being able to interact with other and comparing ideas to find an answer.