A student in a US History classroom hears the term “stock market” for the first time and a number of things go through their head before the teacher even has time to explain the definition to them. First, they think about how whenever they hear the word “stock”, it usually has something to do with businesses, money, and the economy. Then they think about what a market is, how it is a place someone might buy something they want or need. Now, before the teacher has even gotten to explain the definition to the student, the student has made a number of connections to things they already know or think they know.

This process by which a person generates knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and ideas is known as “constructivism” (Rob, 2018). However, it is when the student takes these connections/thoughts and shares them with peers or uses them to make a creation or product that “Constructionism” takes place (Rob, 2018).

These two ideas, constructivism and constructionism, both hinge on the idea that a student's ability to achieve meaningful learning relies on the student making connections to the material learned in class based on prior experiences. But in the modern day, where students can use A.I. (Automated Intelligence) to do their work for them or write an essay when they do not want to, how do we encourage students to make their own connections and create their own work while still using the new technology to potentially help support their creations or learning? 

As a teacher who works exclusively with students who often struggle to motivate themselves to learn or struggle with the concepts of ELA as a whole, I find myself thinking about how to best facilitate student growth in the subject. With A.I. in mind, particularly ChatGPT, a popular A.I. that is sometimes used by students to write papers or answer questions merely by putting the prompt or questions into a chat box, I am beginning to think of ways to use it in the classroom. First, I tried to get this A.I. to create flawed essays for my students to proofread, but that did not exactly turn out well, as the program would still produce solid enough material that it would not be useful for my students. Then I began thinking about constructivism and constructionism. 

The thing that really stood out to me about the essays that ChatGPT produced is that they all sounded hollow and robotic. None of them had any character or personality to them. The thing I really love about teaching ELA is that I can see how each student thinks and feels through their writings. Each person has their own writing style and feel to them, and so when the program gave these essays back, I just found them boring. Reflecting on this, my next steps will be using ChatGPT to produce these informationally correct but otherwise uninteresting pieces and have my students interact with them by trying to “recreate” the general piece but add their own twist, wording, or even anecdote to produce more realistic creations. 

When students make connections from their lives or experiences to the material they are learning in class, they tend to make stronger connections and achieve more meaningful learning (Bradsford, 2004). That is the idea behind constructivism and constructionism and I am hoping that by using A.I. to show my students how their own experiences and thoughts can create more appealing and engaging work than the factually correct work the A.I. makes, they can begin making these connections themselves and begin to become more engaged in their learning and schooling as a whole.

References:

Bransford, J. D. (2004). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. National Acad. Press.

NightCafe Studios (2023). Gandalf Doing an Ollie. by NightCafe Studios, 2023 (https://creator.nightcafe.studio/) 

OpenAI. (2022, November 30). ChatGPT. https://openai.com/chatgpt

Rob, M., & Rob, F. (2018). Dilemma between constructivism and constructionism. Journal of International Education in Business, 11(2), 273–290. https://doi.org/10.1108/jieb-01-2018-0002