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Learning Scenario
The learning scenario I provided during my discussion of behaviorism can be easily adapted to incorporate constructivism. As a refresher, the scenario involved a teacher who wanted to help their students learn how to apply the scientific method. To do so, the teacher created five simple experiments for the students to practice applying the scientific method with an emphasis on documenting their process. In order to incorporate constructivism into this scenario, students would have to take a more active role in the learning process. A popular way to do this in classrooms is through group work which relies on the concept of social constructivism. Social constructivism holds that students learn through interactions and communication. This actually works really well in this science scenario because the social constructivist strategy of lab groups could be used to encourage interactions between students. Lab groups could allow students to work with each other and learn about the scientific method together. Using lab groups could also be useful if students struggle with any of the experiments or any concepts of the scientific method because then students could help each other overcome these obstacles and learn from each other.
One skill in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) that students might encounter when learning about the scientific method is creating hypotheses that can be easily tested. Students may create hypotheses that are too vague or do not involve a concept that can be measured, and these types of hypotheses cannot be used for experimentation. To help get students through this challenge, the teacher can use a scaffolding strategy such as holding check-ins after each experiment. As part of the check-ins, students would review their hypotheses from the previous experiment. If their hypotheses worked well and they were able to get results based off of them, they would discuss what aspects of their hypotheses made them work well. If their hypotheses did not work, they would discuss what areas they needed to improve on when writing hypotheses in the future and what they will do differently in the next experiment. These discussions would all be group discussions where students would be encouraged to actively contribute and give feedback to one another.