Constructivism: Artifacts and Reflections
Course : EDUC 5001G Principles of Learning
Professor: Francois Dejardins
Artifact #1: Principles of Learning Paper
Artifact Description:
This artifact is a paper that I wrote for my first course Principles of Learning with Francois Dejardins. Throughout the course we were asked to analyze different theorists and their ideas about teaching, learning and knowledge. As a final assignment we were asked to try to develop our own ideas of what teaching, learning and knowledge mean to us and what theories we would use to help us define those theories.
Professor: Francois Dejardins
Artifact #1: Principles of Learning Paper
Artifact Description:
This artifact is a paper that I wrote for my first course Principles of Learning with Francois Dejardins. Throughout the course we were asked to analyze different theorists and their ideas about teaching, learning and knowledge. As a final assignment we were asked to try to develop our own ideas of what teaching, learning and knowledge mean to us and what theories we would use to help us define those theories.
Reflection:
I chose to use this paper because it provides a good basis of my understanding of constructivist learning theory and how my own learning relates to that theory. This was my first class and although I was a teacher I never really gave much thought as to what my ideas of teaching, learning or even knowledge were. These were things that I had not thought about extensively. Taking it a step further, my experience in teachers college reinforced this idea. We learned how to teach, and did not delve to much into the theories behind different ideas of teaching. That isn't to say that we were ignorant of these ideas, they were not presented as imperative to becoming a great teacher. I am hoping that has changed, a paper like this might have been able to provide me with more direction, anchored my thoughts and guided my abilities.
This artifact provided me with a foundation for understanding my own educational theory. I see this paper as a good example of my understanding of my own educational paradigm. This has helped me to situate myself within the program and as a result I have approached each class with these ideas and thoughts in mind.
I chose to use this paper because it provides a good basis of my understanding of constructivist learning theory and how my own learning relates to that theory. This was my first class and although I was a teacher I never really gave much thought as to what my ideas of teaching, learning or even knowledge were. These were things that I had not thought about extensively. Taking it a step further, my experience in teachers college reinforced this idea. We learned how to teach, and did not delve to much into the theories behind different ideas of teaching. That isn't to say that we were ignorant of these ideas, they were not presented as imperative to becoming a great teacher. I am hoping that has changed, a paper like this might have been able to provide me with more direction, anchored my thoughts and guided my abilities.
This artifact provided me with a foundation for understanding my own educational theory. I see this paper as a good example of my understanding of my own educational paradigm. This has helped me to situate myself within the program and as a result I have approached each class with these ideas and thoughts in mind.
Course: EDUC 5002G
Professor: Dianne Thompson
Artifact #2: http://wiki.apa.uoit.ca/education/EDUC5002-JAN11/index.php/Main_Page
Class Wiki--has since been decommissioned
Reflection:
Although this wiki has been decommissioned the concept of using a Wiki is still valid. I chose to use my Research Methods class as an example because this wiki was dependent on the classes collaboration to construct knowledge. This knowledge was imperative to the class as it helped to define our research project ideas and to help us to better understand the importance of Research and all of the terms and theories that support it. The wiki provided a way in which we could better understand the materials that were being presented and to be able to use the appropriate language in our final proposals.
This was my third course and previously I had not had any real experience with understanding research. The Wiki allowed for me to be able to understand the terminology in a more cohesive way. The class provided examples when the term lended itself and in the end the wiki became a class constructed repository of knowledge. I used this knowledge to inform my final paper and found it to be invaluable. This was a good example of constructed knowledge using 21st century tools.