What is
Constructivist Pedagogy
Constructivist pedagogy is where instructors encourage students to construct their own knowledge through experiences and activities versus being lectured on abstract concepts. Educators who teach using a constructivist pedagogy promote skills and subject mastery through hands-on lessons and self-guided learning. Students are asked to form their own conclusions about a topic through their own discoveries.
Constructivist pedagogy refers to a theory of instruction where students are asked to absorb and understand course concepts through rich exploration. Constructivist pedagogy supports experiential learning, where students learn through doing. Put to practice, a non-constructivist approach may involve students reading a textbook chapter and answering discussion questions. A teacher using the constructivist method may ask students to complete a simulation conveying the stages of mitosis to engage students further. Ultimately, the constructivist pedagogy supports the idea that knowledge can’t be passively absorbed and instead is constructed, or modified, through individual experiences.