Key Features and Description
The topic that was of interest to me was the relationship between constructivism and motivation, and whether having a constructivist learning environment (CLE) would increase student motivation. What made a learning experience constructivist in nature was whether cognitive processing took place, and that could happen with or without free exploration of materials. When one replaced active learning with mere active instruction, Mayer (2009) called this the constructivist fallacy (p. 187). A teacher could still be constructivist when lecturing, provided that active cognitive processes were happening.
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![]() Bringing this back to the research cafe, the study that I selected for discussion revealed that a CLE actually decreased student motivation in science classrooms. Students' self-efficacy—which was tied to intrinsic motivation and persistence, as suggested by Bandura (1997)--was also negatively affected by CLEs. However, when students perceived that what they were learning was personally relevant, motivation increased. The findings of this study made for good discussion and sharing of personal experiences for those who attended my cafe.
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Dimensions of a constructivist learning environment: personal relevance in their studies, shared control over their learning, feel free to express concerns about their learning, interaction with each other to improve their learning, scientific knowledge is viewed as ever changing. |
Based on self-determination theory proposed by Ryan and Deci (2000) three fundamental and universal needs of people are the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness; and satisfaction of these needs provides the nutriments for motivation. Therefore, social environments that support these needs may enhance the development of motivation |
The students’ perceptions of learning environment and motivation to learn science did not differed by gender or grade level; only the success on science was effective variable that made difference on the students’ perceptions of learning environment and motivation to learn science. |
Next, research cafe participants created their own constructivist learning environment that was attentive to the results of the study as well as hit as many dimensions of the CLES as possible. The feedback from this activity was positive: peers enjoyed piecing together an environment that was either very different from what they taught, or one that mirrored their current experiences. There was an overall agreement amongst cafe participants that personal relevance was the most important factor when it came to teaching.