The essence of constructivist theory is the idea that learners must individually discover and transform complex information if they are to make it their own. Because of the emphasis on students as active learners, constructivist strategies are often called student-centered instruction. In a student-centered classroom the teacher becomes the "guide on the side" instead of the "sage on the stage," helping students to discover their own meaning instead of lecturing and controlling all classroom activities.

The constructivist revolution has deep roots in the history of education. It draws heavily on the work of Piaget and Vygotsky (recall Chapter 2), both of whom emphasized that cognitive change takes place only when previous conceptions go through a process of disequilibration in light of new information. Piaget and Vygotsky also emphasized the social nature of learning, and both suggested the use of mixed-ability learning groups to promote conceptual change. Four key principles derived from Vygotsky's ideas have played an important role: Social Learning, the Zone of Proximal Development, Cognitive Apprenticeship, and Mediated Learning. Along with these key principles, constructivist approaches to teaching include such concepts as: top-down processing, cooperative learning, discovery learning, self-regulated learning, scaffolding, APA's Learner-Centered Psychological Principles. In the content areas, constructivism supports approaches such as reciprocal teaching in reading, questioning the author, the writing process models, early math instruction approaches where students work together in groups and offer alternative strategies, and finally in the sciences where students work in discovery groups.

Some of the most widely used concepts of constructivism are discovery learning, the idea of self regulated learners and cooperative learning. Planned objectives are set to include these components. These three concepts alone offer a plethora of possibilities for the classroom.

First of all, discovery learning is an important component of modern constructivist approaches that has a long history in education innovation. In discovery learning, students are encouraged to learn largely on their own through active involvement with concepts and principles, and teachers encourage students to have experiences and conduct experiments that permit them to discover principles for themselves.

Another key concept of constructivist theories of learning is a vision of the ideal student as a self-regulated learner. Self-regulated learners are ones who have knowledge of effective learning strategies and how and when to use them. For example, they know how to break complex problems into simpler steps or to test out alternative solutions; they know how and when to skim and how and when to read for deep understanding; and they know how to write to persuade and how to write to inform. In practical terms, scaffolding might include giving students more structure at the beginning of a set of lessons and gradually turning responsibility over to them to operate on their own.

How is cooperative learning used in instruction? In cooperative learning instructional methods, students work together in small groups to help each other learn. Many quite different approaches to cooperative learning exist. Most involve students in four-member, mixed-ability groups, but some methods use dyads and some use varying group sizes. Typically, students are assigned to cooperative groups and stay together as a group for many weeks or months. They are usually taught specific skills that will help them work well together, such as active listening, giving good explanations, avoiding putdowns, and including other people.

Studies of cooperative learning methods that incorporate group goals and individual accountability show substantial positive effects on the achievement of students in grades 2 through 12 in all subjects and in all types of schools. Effects are similar for all grade levels and for all types of content, from basic skills to problem solving.

One of the oldest dreams in education is that there might be some way to make students smarter-not just more knowledgeable or skillful but actually better able to learn new information of all kinds. That is why it is important for teachers to actually teach the processes of problem solving and the thinking skills including critical thinking as well as creative thinking. It has been said that one key objective of schooling is enhancing students' abilities to think critically, to make rational decisions about what to do or what to believe. Examples of critical thinking include identifying misleading advertisements, weighing competing evidence, and identifying assumptions or fallacies in arguments. Effective teaching of critical thinking depends on setting a classroom tone that encourages the acceptance of divergent perspectives and free discussion. Therefore, as in the constructivist perspective, knowing is an active, ongoing process, not just a constant or fact to know or memorize.