Week 7: Constructionism in the classroom

The impact of Piaget shaped Papert’s (1980) paradigm of constructionism, highlighting that learning is reconstructing from new knowledge when people are engaged in constructing personally meaningful products. Constructionism lives on today through the makers movement and makerspaces which refers to a space of production, blending digital and physical technologies and sharing processes and products to explore, learn and create (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014)

(Source: Zoe Lennon)

Constructionism brings creativity, exploring, building and presentation to the forefront of the learning process (Donaldson, 2014). By providing students with tools and resources, teachers encourage experimentation, promote collaboration, and allow for personalised learning, all of which aid in creating a learning environment that nurtures creativity and innovation (Blum-Ross, Kumpulainen & Marsh, 2020). A way of promoting this within a classroom is by using the technology Micro:bit. The Micro:bit is a tiny, programmable computer designed to be easy to use and accessible for students beginning to explore and code electronics (Micro:bit, 2023).

(Micro:bit Educational Foundation, 2021)

Micro:bit can be used creatively in a Stage 3 classroom by allowing students to design and produce an automatic watering system, integrating the use of a Micro:bit. Satisfying the outcome ST3-2DP-T (NESA, 2017), the activity enables a transformation of students from being passive receivers of knowledge to real-world makers, empowered to design, build, (Source: Zoe Lennon)

and share their own amazing creations

(Martinez & Stager, 2014). Allowing students to have an active role in their learning effectively promotes meaningful connections to be made (Silva, Farias & Mesquita, 2021). Further, it provides the basis for students' curiosity and imagination to flourish, developing their skill sets, specifically collaboration, digital literacy, problem-solving and innovation (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014). Constructing a makerspace within the classroom allows students to guide, challenge and learn from each other, enabling new ideas to be explored (Martinez & Stager, 2014).

Using Micro:bit in the EDUC3620 tutorial (Source: Zoe Lennon)

Implementing Micro:bit and makerspaces into a classroom may arise challenges (Wu et al., 2021). Students may experience technical challenges with the connectivity and programming processes of Micro:bit, which can be difficult for inexperienced learners, leading to decreased engagement and loss of valuable learning time (Chen & Fragomeni, 2020). Furthermore, whilst Micro:bit provides an effective introduction to coding, it is limited and students may need additional tools to foster their creativity and explore features that are outside Micro:bit’s capabilities. Educators should be aware of these and become experienced with the technology to minimise challenges and ensure productive and meaningful learning outcomes for students.

References

Blum-Ross, A., Kumpulainen, K. & Marsh, J. (2020). Enhancing digital literacy and creativity: Makerspaces in the early years. Routledge.

Chen, J. & Fragomeni, G. (2020). Augmented reality and microbit for project-based learning. Springer International Publishing AG.

Donaldson, J. (2014). The maker movement and the rebirth of constructionism. Hybrid Pedagogy.

Halverson, J. & Sheridan, K. M. (2014). The Maker Movement in Education. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 495–505.

Martinez, S. & Stager, G. (2014). The maker movement: A learning revolution. Learning & Leading with Technology, 41(7), 12–17.

Micro:bit. (2023). BBC micro:bit. https://microbit.org/

Micro:bit Educational Foundation. (2021). Introduction to the BBC micro:bit. Youtube. https://youtu.be/u2u7UJSRuko

NSW Education Standards Authority [NESA]. (2017). Science and technology, K-6 syllabus.

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers and powerful ideas. Basic books.

Silva, R., Farias, C. & Mesquita, I. (2021). Cooperative learning contribution to student social learning and active role in the class. Sustainability, 13(15).

Wu, Y., Lu, C., Yan, J., Chu, X., Wu, M. & Yang, Z. (2021). Rounded or angular? How the physical work environment in makerspaces influences makers’ creativity. Journal of Environmental Psychology.