{"id":1527,"date":"2018-10-11T20:45:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T00:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=1527"},"modified":"2018-10-11T20:45:38","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T00:45:38","slug":"providing-intellectual-soil-and-nutrients-so-the-roots-of-the-trees-of-knowledge-will-be-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2018\/10\/providing-intellectual-soil-and-nutrients-so-the-roots-of-the-trees-of-knowledge-will-be-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"Providing Intellectual Soil and Nutrients so the Roots of the Trees of Knowledge will be Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back when I started teaching and even now, I had no idea of the importance of a thing called constructivism. I didn\u2019t even know what it meant. Now, I have an idea of what it means, but sometimes struggle in using this principle when teaching. Think of knowledge as a tree, not as simply a vessel in which information is poured. The tree is in each of your student\u2019s minds. It started out as a small seed and has the potential to grow into a mighty sycamore. You must provide basic nutrients for that tree to grow, right? You must start with the intellectual soil, the nutrients of critical thinking, and the sunlight of problem solving. You must provide them with ways to access their current knowledge, work to build upon it, and to grow. Students each come with their own background. As a teacher, you must work on this knowledge and relate new information to what is already there. In this post, I will first describe what constructivism is, then I will talk about an interesting article that I read from American Biology Teacher, then I will discuss the 5 E\u2019s of the learning cycle, and finally I will create two lesson plans where I use constructivism.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Get Started!<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is constructivism?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Constructivism, to me, is how the 21st<\/sup> century thinkers work. I have learned (the hard way at times) that we are a generation of doers, not merely listeners. Constructivism is defined, by Vytosky, as the idea that children\u2019s minds are malleable and that they are not simply vessels in which we pour knowledge. Rather, they are like trees. Children bring their own ideas, backgrounds, and past memories to each lesson we teach. They start with this. We must relate what we are trying to teach to a child\u2019s background to help them understand the information better. Instead of just telling them how to think, we must teach them how to access previous knowledge and use this to cement new knowledge into their brains. When children relate what they are learning to what they already know, this is constructivism! They create new neural connections in their brains are able to recall information. This is because this new information means something to them. Children\u2019s minds are like trees in the fact that they start out small, but with the right nutrients, you can foster them to grow exponentially!<\/p>\n

Characteristics of Constructivism:<\/p>\n