Design i ng Constructivist
Learning Environments
INTRODUCTION
217
Objectivist conceptions of learning assume that knowledge can be transferred from
teachers or transmitted by technologies and acquired by learners. Objectivist conceptions
of instructional design include the analysis, representation, and
resequencing of content and tasks in order to make them more predictably and reliably
transmissible.
Constructivist conceptions of learning, on the other hand, assume that knowledge
is individually constructed and socially coconstructed by learners based on
their interpretations of experiences in the world. Since knowledge cannot be transmitted,
instruction should consist of experiences that facilitate knowledge construction.
This chapter presents a model for designing constructivist learning
environments (CLEs) that engage learners in meaning making (knowledge construction).
For an elaboration of the assumptions and beliefs on which CLEs are
based, see Duffy and Jonassen (1992); Jonassen (1991, 1995a, 1995b, 1996a);
Jonassen, Campbell, and Davidson (1994); Jonassen, Peck, and Wilson (1998); and
Savery and Duffy (1996).
While objectivism and constructivism are usually conveyed as incompatible and
mutually exclusive, that is not an assumption of this chapter. Rather, I believe that
objectivism and constructivism offer different perspectives on the learning process
from which we can make inferences about how we ought to engender learning. The
goal of my writing and teaching is not to reject or replace objectivism. To impose a
single belief or perspective is decidedly nonconstructivist. Rather, I prefer to think
of them as complementary design tools (some of the best environments use combinations
of methods) to be applied in different contexts. *
MODEL FOR DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS
The model for designing CLEs (Fig. 10.1) illustrates their essential components.
The model conceives of a problem, question, or project as the focus of the environment,
with various interpretative and intellectual support systems surrounding it.
The goal of the learner is to interpret and solve the problem or complete the project.
* This diversity of perspectives and methods is an important aspect of the new paradigm of instructional
theories. 218 JONASSEN
Related cases and information resources support understanding of the problem and
suggest possible solutions; cognitive tools help learners to interpret and manipulate
aspects of the problem; conversation/collaboration tools enable communities of
learners to negotiate and coconstruct meaning for the problem; and social/contextual
support systems help users to implement the CLE.
1. Question/Case/Problem/Project
The focus of any CLE is the question or issue, the case, the problem, or the project that
learners attempt to solve or resolve. It constitutes a learning goal that learners may accept
or adapt. The fundamental difference between CLEs and objectivist instruction
is that the problem drives the learning, rather than acting as an example of the concepts
and principles previously taught. Students learn domain content in order to
solve the problem, rather than solving the problem as an application of learning.
---,.,,..:....,.-:---,---:-_ "'~-~--I--+--I~ C. Scaffolding
FIG. 10.1. Model for designing CLEs
10. DESIGNING CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS 219
CLEs can be constructed to support question-based, issue-based, case-based, project-based,
or problem-based learning. Question- or issue-based learning begins with
a question with uncertain or controversial answers (e.g., Should welfare recipients be
required to work? Should environmental protection seek to eliminate pollution or
regulate according to location-sustainable standards?). In case-based learning, students
acquire knowledge and requisite thinking skills by studying cases (e.g., legal,
medical, social work) and preparing case summaries or diagnoses. Case learning is
anchored in authentic contexts; learners must manage complexity and think like practitioners
(Williams, 1992). Project-based learning focuses on relatively long-term,
integrated units of instruction where learners focus on complex projects consisting of
multiple cases. They debate ideas, plan and conduct experiments, and communicate
their findings (Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, & Soloway, 1994). Problem-based learning
(Barrows & Tamblyn, 1980) integrates courses at a curricular level, requiring
learners to self-direct their learning while solving numerous cases across a curriculum.
Case-, project-, and problem-based learning represent an approximate continuum
of complexity, * but all share the same assumptions about active, constructive,
and authentic learning. CLEs can be developed to support each of these, so for purposes
of this chapter, which seeks to present a generic design model, I will refer to
the focus of the CLEs generically as a problem.
Since the key to meaningful learning is ownership of the problem or learning goal,
you must provide interesting, relevant, and engaging problems to solve. ** The problem
should not be overly circumscribed. Rather, it should be ill defined or ill structured,
so that some aspects of the problem are emergent and definable by the learners.
Why? Without ownership of the problem, learners are less motivated to solve or resolve
it. Contrast ill-structured problems with mosttextbook problems, which require
practice of a limited number of skills to find the correct answer without helping to
shape or define the problem. TIl-structured problems, on the other hand:
• have unstated goals and constraints,
• possess multiple solutions, solution paths, or no solutions at all,
• possess multiple criteria for evaluating solutions,
• present uncertainty about which concepts, rules, and principles are necessary
for the solution or how they are organized,
• offer no general rules or principles for describing or predicting the outcome
of most cases, and
• require learners to make judgments about the problem and to defend their
judgments by expressing personal opinions or beliefs (Jonassen, 1997).
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