++ Question 6

How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website?

The term ‘Constructivism’ refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves or in short, we can say the term refers to self-learning whereby each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning - as he or she learns. The process of constructing meaning is also considered as learning. There are two basic concept of Constructivism in learning which are;

1) We have to focus on the learner in thinking about learning (not on the subject/lesson to be taught):

2) There is no knowledge independent of the meaning attributed to experience (constructed) by the learner, or community of learners.

George E. Hein (1991) mentioned that Constructivism involves both how people learn, and the nature of knowledge. Based on that and the terminology explained earlier, we can say that this application applied the constructivist theory in the teaching and learning process via website. The application offers the students a set of specific task-based materials in order to promote active learning. The presence of Constructivism in this application can be felt as the activity meant for students are prepared to develop critical thinking skills as well as required Higher Order thinking skill (HOTS). As constructivism promotes independent learning, we can say that teacher does not play an important role in the teaching and learning process. This is because the teacher only facilitates teaching and learning process to take place in a meaningful and contextualized setting, enhance reinforcement as well as motivate the students to be goal oriented. For instance, we can say that the effort of the application developer to come out with a glossary section should be acknowledged. This section enables the students to learn independently and there is a possibility that the students’ tendency to ask everything to the teacher will decrease.