Page 7 - Mini-Module 12
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The constructivist approach of learning and instruction
LEARNING
The constructivist approach elucidates a shift from learning as response
acquisition and knowledge acquisition to learning as knowledge
construction. The learner is thus expected to change from a passive
recipient to a sense maker. It is based on the idea that students use their
prior knowledge or daily experiences to construct a personally meaningful
understanding of new content or experiences. During an issue enquiry in
Liberal Studies, students see issues and information from
multi-perspectives, and evaluate different viewpoints that represent
different values and interests. In these processes, students learn to
master relevant facts, understand the phenomena, clarify key concepts,
and analyze the differences and conflicts involved.
TEACHING
The role of the Liberal Studies teachers is to draw on their students’ state of
understanding, provide the most appropriate intervention or input to extend
or to ‘scaffold’ it to take their students beyond their cognitive state, such that
students have the capacities to make reflection, evaluation and judgment
about the issues.
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