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Along with 510, the second semester of my UBC MET program (January 2009) found me in Monaco, ETEC 530: Constructivism Strategies for e-Learning! After touring through France, we took a short trip to Monaco. Monaco provided many exciting learning experiences just as 530 did as well! Just as the name of the course mentions, I learned many different constructivist strategies to be used in the classroom including the design and delivery of constructivist teaching with Driver & Oldham’s (1986) 5 stages of constructivist teaching model (Matthews, 1994). More importantly, I learned how to recognize when constructivist methods would be appropriate to use in my classroom (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996).
Driver and Bell’s (1986) views of constructivist learning as: Learning involves the construction of meanings. Meanings constructed by students from what they see or hear may not be those intended. Construction of meaning is influenced to a large extent by our existing knowledge (Matthews, 1994, p.144). The high school math curriculum with an enormous amount of rigorous content to cover has a very strict timeline and does not lend itself easily to constructivism so I was impressed that this course helped me identify when I could implement some elements of constructivism in these curricular restrained courses. As a former French as a Second Language teacher and a current high school Math teacher, I have used scaffolding techniques and group learning throughout my career but I didn’t have the theoretical foundation to really know why it worked. I had no idea that they were elements of the constructivist philosophy. "Constructivism does not claim to have made earth-shaking inventions in the area of education; it merely claims to provide a solid conceptual basis for some of the things that, until now, inspired teachers had to do without theoretical foundation" (Von Glaserfeld, 1995, p.3).
The countryside, the architecture and the exquisitely manicured landscape were a perfect lure to bring me to Monaco. It was after this course, 530, and visiting Monaco, that I figured out that ‘Less is More’ and that great things can come in smaller packages and /or spaces! The palace, glitz and glamour, the casinos, the Grand Prix raceway and formula one cars, the sports cars, the houses (mansions), the boats and yachts, and the décor and being reminded of the wealth in the world, I truly enjoyed Monaco. We were able to visit on a budget and see most of the sights! Coincidentally, Monaco is still an amazing little treasure full of many amazing memories that I hold dearly. It’s a place that I can’t wait to return to visit and a place that I will never forget!
Similarly, I will never forget my introduction to Constructivism and CMaps in ETEC 530! This course enriched my practices and deepened my understanding of constructivist philosophy by providing a variety of engaging constructivist activities such as discovery learning, group collaboration and the opportunity to create relevant projects that related directly to my classrooms. Collaboration, peer feedback and ongoing discourse with my community of practice (CoP) supported my learning as I expanded my knowledge of constructivism (Duffy & Cunningham, 1996).
As I have four favourite places in Monaco that I visited: the Palace, the Casino, the Grand Prix Raceway and Marina, I have selected four artifacts from this course: one visual CMap and three text documents: short paper (constructivism & student engagement), final paper (lesson plan) and a group lesson plan project. Links below!
Artifacts:
1. The Casino - My CMaps Version 1 Version 2
2. The Palace - Final Paper Lesson Plan
4. The Marina - Group Lesson Plan Project – Grade 12 Math: Probability Lesson
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