Educational Philosophy (Constructivist)

What a person knows consists of experiences, information, interpretations and skills that are connected together into an internal knowledge structure.

• Learning: Learning consists of taking new information, ideas, etc. and tying them into one’s own existing knowledge structure.
• Importance of connections: The usefulness of learned information depends on the quantity, quality, and strength of the connections in the knowledge structure.
• Resist change: Knowledge structures with faulty organization can impede learning and are not easily reorganized.
• Feedback: The student needs frequent (often informal) assessment and feedback from self, peers and instructor.
• Responsibility: Learning is, ultimately, the responsibility of the student.  The teacher plays an important roll in creating and environment that guides the student and helps him or her to develop meaningful knowledge structures in a particular area.