Constructivism in Practice

Constructionist theory provides the students with the power to make choices in tackling a problem or creating a project. After digesting several articles in video on the constructionist/Constructivist theory in education, I found that some of what I do in the classroom could be classified as such. Unfortunately, much of that was not done properly. I have used PowerPoint for instruction, and I have had my students generate PowerPoint presentations, but have failed to have them construct them around Problem Based Instruction but used them somewhat as Project Based. I say that loosely because I failed to have a complete understanding of what to have the students create aside from a set of notes. I happen to be a proponent of PBL and PBI because it seems to be the easiest way to make material relevant to the students. We all like to face a challenge, one that is clear and within our realm of accomplishment. Therefore I plan to have my students work on a project to promote an item at a Suq (marketplace) by using software to create a thirty second commercial. Of course I will have to organize the project, provide necessary resources, both challenges that I have been properly trained for, but a particular problem I will have to address, and it will take some practice on my part (back to behaviorism) is being able to utilize and facilitate the use of the software that edits video. It is one of the natural barriers for teachers like me who are “digital immigrants.” I have to learn how to use the resource first, or at least well enough to work with the students. There are times when the students show me shortcuts to technology, but the majority of the students may find it just alien as I do. So if it is new to the majority, then I have to have some understanding of it. But the bottom line, and this is what I really like about this approach, it is highly rewarding because students really like to work on something malleable. As I spent time reading about Problem Based Instruction, I thought of another project to pose to my students in order to convey hardships faced by many African nations. How can we find a way to provide clean water to villages that have no resource other than manpower or a few cattle? I began thinking about the problem and recognized the need for some type of pump that could run without electricity. After searching for a bit on the net, I noticed many devices that still exist that implement the use of manual pumps. Then I ran across an individual who beat all the engineers because he came up with a way to do so by using common playground devices, a merry-go-round and the teeter totter. He established a non-profit company that provides the equipment to be used but implemented pumps that pull water from shallow wells to fill large water towers. The children play on the equipment and it fills the towers with fresh water. I want to pose the problem to my students and hope they can brainstorm a workable solution. Then introduce them as a reflection to that gentleman. I think they can have fun working the problem, sort of reverse engineering a problem, and also learn about some of the issues faced by modern African villagers. If not for a more clear understanding of this theory, I do not think I would have concentrated on that issue.