When von Glasserfeld uses the term "constructing knowledge" because, as he points out, each person's life consists of different experiences and different views on life. As one experiences a specific moment of "knowing" they can add that to their former knowledge and either change or build upon their previous thoughts or experiences with that subject or concept. This is why von Glasserfeld calls it contructing rather than aquiring--sometimes previous experiences may have led one astray in their "knowledge" and so when a knew experience occurs, they can break down their former knowledge and make the necessary changes (reconstructions) so their new knowledge now coincides with every one of their previous experiences. Because experiences play such a crucial role in constructing knowlege, then, since no one has had every experience possible, knowledge is relative and more of a theory than a pool of facts.
Understanding that knowledge is constucted is important to teach mathematics. With this understanding, I, as an educator, can teach one concept in many different methods rather than just expecting every student to understand from one method. Different methods will fit into different experiences students have had with a concepts. Also, I can try to see where or why a student's knowledge may be scewed or needs "reconstructing" according to what concept I am teaching and the method I am using to teach it. If I apply this idea of "constructing" knowledge, I will be able to communicate more clearly and accurately to my students.
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That is a good point about using different methods of teaching to try to relate to different experiences your students have had. Being able to relate to something that one of my teacher's has said has definitely helped melearn more easily. I didn't think of that when I thought about how constructivism would affect teaching math. You have a very clear thesis that explains your idea very concisely. I think it's a very valid point that some reconstructing may be necessary, but I was wondering how you could go about doing so. How could a student's knowledge become "un-skewed"?
ReplyDeleteHey Kelli, I thought this was a great post. I thought you did a good job of giving your post a scholarly tone and your points were well made. I'm having trouble thinking of what you can improve on: I think you could give an example or expound on how you would implement how you would help students whos ideas needed "reconstructing". However, I think that you gave ample explanation given that your setting is a blog post.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about being able to teach a student with many methods and not expecting every student to understand the same way. You are clear in how this relates to constructing knowlege.I wonder whether or not though if this creates complication in the sense that if you as an instructor are teaching multiple astudents at the same time, time limits may not be able to allow you to go over many different methods.
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