Constructionism

Constructionism is an overloaded term. It has meanings in politics, in philosophy, in education, and in other areas. Here, we're specifically talking about the learning theory posed by Seymour Papert. Additionally, constructionism is often conflated with constructivism. The difference between the two is subtle: constructivism is a theory of how people learn, while constructionism is a theory of how we should teach.

• Constructionism vs. Instructionism, by Seymour Papert of MIT Media Lab

• Constructivism and Social Constructivism in the Classroom, from University College Dublin

• Seymour Papert’s Legacy: Thinking About Learning, and Learning About Thinking, by Paulo Blikstein of Stanford University

• Constructionism, from the EduTech Wiki

• Eight Big Ideas Behind the Constructionist Learning Lab, by Seymour Papert of MIT Media Lab

• Constructionism, Learning by Design, and Project Based Learning, from the University of Georgia

• Constructivism vs. Constructivism vs. Constructionism, by Mark Guzdial of Georgia Tech

• Constructivism, from the University of Oregon

• Seeing the wood from the trees: constructionism and constructivism for outdoor and experiential education, by Mark Leather of the University of Edinburgh

• Constructionism (learning theory), from Wikipedia

Additional Readings

• The MediaMOO Project: Constructionism and Professional Community, by Amy Bruckman and Mitchel Resnick of MIT Media Lab

• Towards a Pedagogy of Online Constructionist Learning, by Gary Stager of the University of Melbourne

• Piaget's Constructivism, Papert's Constructionism: What's the difference?, by Edith Ackermann of MIT

• Monitoring constructivist classroom learning environments, by Peter Taylor of Murdock University

• Bridging the Digital Divide: Sociocultural Constructionism and an Asset-Based Approach to Community Technology and Community Building, by Randal Pinkett of MIT Media Lab

• Community Support for Constructionist Learning, by Amy Bruckman of Georgia Tech

• Robotics & constructivism in education: The TERECoP project, by Dimitris Alimisis, Michele Moro, Javier Ariegui, Alfredo Pina, Stassini frangou, and Kyparissia Papanikolaou

• Constructivism in Computer Science Education, by Mordechai Ben-Ari of the Weizmann Institute of Science

• It Looks Like Fun, but Are They Learning?, by Mike Petrich, Karen Wilkinson, and Bronwyn Bevan of the Exploratorium

• Beyond active learning: a constructivist approach to learning, from Susan Cooperstein of the Loyola/Notre Dame Library and Elizabeth Kocevar-Weidinger of the Longwood University Library

Research Groups

• The Center for Connected Learning (CCL) and Computer-Based Modeling at Northwestern University

• MIT Media Lab at MIT

• Creativity Labs, from Indiana University

• Lighthouse Creativity Lab, from Lighthouse Community Charter School

The following are just a few of the ongoing projects in constructionism:

• Scratch, from Lifelong Kindergarten at the MIT Media Lab

• MelodyMorph, from Lifelong Kindergarten at the MIT Media Lab

• Computer Clubhouse, from Lifelong Kindergarten at the MIT Media Lab

• PIE (Playful Invention and Exploration), from the MIT Media Lab

• Raspberry Pi, a technology often used in constructionist lesson plans in computing

• Sparkfun Inventor's Kit, a project on learning electronics by developing electronics

• Arduino, a similar project on learning electronics by developing electronics

• LearnToMod, a project teaching students through the construction of virtual worlds in Minecraft

The following are some of the more visible media articles, video reports, and blog posts about constructionism in action.

• No-Tech Board Games That Teach Coding Skills to Young Children, from MindShift

• Teaching Machines: Learning from the Intersection of Education and Technology, by Bill Ferster of Times Higher Education

• Computing in the Classroom, by Sophia Nguyen of Harvard Magazine

• Constructionism for Adults, by Mark Guzdial of Georgia Tech from the Computing Education Blog

• Creating CS Meetups for Constructionist Adult Education, by Mark Guzdial of Georgia Tech from the Computing Education Blog

• Seymour Papert in 1983 (Video)

• Learning by Making: An Introduction to Constructionism, from Educator Innovator

Books

• Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas, by Seymour Papert

• Constructionism in Practice: Designing, Thinking, and Learning in a Digital World, by Yasmin Kafai and Mitchel Resnick

• Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams: Explorations in Massively Parallel Microworlds, by Mitchel Resnick

• Constructionist Learning: A 5th Anniversary Collection of Papers Reflecting Research Reports, Projects in Progress, and Essays by the Epistemology & Learning Group, by Idit Harel of MIT Media Lab

• Learning to Design, Designing to Learn: Using Technology to Transform the Curriculum, by Diane Balestri, Stephen Ehrmann, and David Ferguson

• Constructionism: research reports and essays, 1985-1990, by Idit Harel and Seymour Papert of MIT Media Lab

The following are a few available online courses, textbooks, and other resources on constructionism.

• The Nature of Constructionist Learning, from MIT OpenCourseWare

• Tinkering Fundamentals: A Constructionist Approach to STEM Learning, from Mike Petrick, Karen Wilkinson, and Luigi Anzivino of the Exploratorium

• Learning Creative Learning Reading List, from MIT OpenCourseWare

• Globaloria, a constructionist-based MOOC platform