Jay Trusty

Constructivism Reflection

As I read the article Poor Scholars Soliloquy I found several problems with how the

author was being taught. By using the methods described, the teacher limited what learning could

actually take place in this school.

Problem 1: The student wasnt allowed to use his real-life experiences and knowledge to

learn new things. One example of this was the fact that his geography lesson was on imports and

exports of Chile, and he struggled with that. A constructivist teacher would have guided him to

research his experience at the Chicago market, studying where that livestock was being exported

to as a geographical lesson. Also, when his uncle had him figure out the map they would follow

to get the livestock to market, that was a geographical lesson as well. He learned about economics

when figuring out the depreciation of his truck.

Problem 2: The assignments given by the teacher were not relevant, so he struggled to

complete what was expected of him. An example of this was when he had to write a theme paper

on What a Daffodil Thinks of Spring. A constructivist teacher would make the writing

assignment relevant and authentic to him, such as by having him write about his experiences at the

stockyards.

Problem 3: There wasnt opportunity for group-based cooperative learning. One example

of this was when the student was made to stay after school to try to learn the Articles of

Confederation. If he had been first given the opportunity to work together in a group to do

something that showed good citizenship, such as cleaning up the lot to make a playground, the

teacher could have then let the group research the Articles of Confederation and apply that to
the playground project. A constructivist teacher would turn the subject of citizenship into a

cooperative learning by a group, where they shared ideas and explored together what it takes to be

a good citizen.

Problem 4: Higher level skills werent presented to the students, so they werent given

opportunity to think critically and creatively and solve problems. This was evident when the

teacher taught them about air pressure through an experiment. A constructivist teacher would

introduce the Big Idea of air pressure through the experiment, but then give the students the

opportunity to find out more, through critical and creative thinking, about examples of air pressure,

such as the Diesel the student wanted to tell her about in class. Divergent thinking is allowed in

a constructivist teachers classroom.

Problem 5: There were times that the teacher needed to adapt the curriculum to the

students needs, but this didnt happen. From reading the article, it sounds like the student

struggled with memorization. A constructivist teacher would allow the student to just learn a

fraction of the presidents, or learn groups of inventors as they became relevant in what was being

studied.

Problem 6: This student wasnt assessed on what he actually learned. Throughout the

article, the student mentioned several higher level skills he had mastered, but the teacher wasnt

accepting what he knew as mastery of her expectations. He mentioned that he had to stay after

school at various times to work on mastery of memorization of presidents, learning the Articles

of Confederation, yet memorizing those things show no mastery of the higher level thinking that

were what actually needed to be assessed. A constructivist teacher would find assessment methods

such as group projects, rubrics, and individual creative projects to assess whether the desired skills

have been mastered. For example, a report on the trip to the market would serve as a writing
assignment, and could be assessed for mastery of writing skills, and the group project on the

construction of the playground could be assessed for mastery of knowledge of the meaning of the

Articles of Confederation.

If the student in this article had been taught by a constructivist teacher, he most likely

would not have had to repeat a grade, and could have been more successful in completing his

education.