CONSTRUCTIVISM

Constructivist learning is based on students' active participation in problem-solving and critical thinking regarding a learning activity which they find relevant and engaging. They are "constructing" their own knowledge by testing ideas and approaches based on their prior knowledge and experience, applying these to a new situation, and integrating the new knowledge gained with pre-existing intellectual constructs.

Constructivism is an educational philosophy which holds that learners ultimately construct their own knowledge that then resides within them, so that each person's knowledge is as unique as they are. Among its key precepts are: 

1. situated or anchored learning, which presumes that most learning is context-dependent, so that cognitive experiences situated in authentic activities such as project-based learning;
2.     cognitive apprenticeships, or case-based learning environments result in richer and more meaningful learning experiences; 
3.   social negotiation of knowledge, a process by which learners form and test their constructs in a dialogue with other individuals and with the larger society [15]. collaboration as a principal focus of learning activities so that negotiation and testing of knowledge can occur.

Relevance: Constructivism is one of the hot topics in educational philosophy right now. It potentially has profound implications for how current `traditional' instruction is structured, since it fits with several highly touted educational trends, for example:

•   the transition of the teacher's role from "sage on the stage" (fount/transmitter of knowledge) to "guide on the side" (facilitator, coach); 
•    teaching "higher order" skills such as problem-solving, reasoning, and reflection (for example, see also generative learning); 
•    enabling learners to learn how to learn; 
•   more open-ended evaluation of learning outcomes; 
•   and, of course, cooperative and collaborative learning skills. 

Piaget's Developmental Theory: Cognitive Constructivism

Jean Piaget is a Swiss psychologist who began to study human development in the 1920s. His proposed a development theory has been widely discussed in both psychology and education fields. To learn, Piaget stressed the holistic approach. A child constructs understanding through many channels: reading, listening, exploring and experiencing his or her environment.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Approximate Age	Stage	Major Developments
Birth to 2 years	Sensorimotor	Infants use sensory and motor capabilities to explore and gain understanding of their environments.
2 to 7 years	Preoperational	Children begin to use symbols. They respond to objects and events according to how they appear to be.
7 to 11 years	Concrete operations	Children begin to think logically.
11 years and beyond	Formal operations	They begin to think about thinking. Thought is systematic and abstract.

A child will develop through each of these stages until he or she can reason logically. The learner is advanced through three mechanisms.

1. Assimilation - fitting a new experience into an existing mental structure (schema)
2. Accommodation - revising an existing schema because of a new experience
3. Equilibrium - seeking cognitive stability through assimilation and accommodation.

Reference:
http://otec.uoregon.edu/learning_theory.htm