Based on constructivism, how have curricula changed to achieve students-centre

Using constructivism as guidance to redesign curricula is useful to establish students-center. That is not only because the idea of students-center is involved in constructivism, but also constructivism has a positive contribution to improve curricula that provide traditional teachers with more guidance to improve the class. This is because nowadays students are facing multicultural and transdisciplinary learning surroundings, constructivism encourages students to use what they already know to discover their principles and internalize the information that can help students deal with a new environment (Woolfolk et al., 2015). Thus, it is necessary to discuss ways to improve curricula to assist teachers to meet the students-center.

First of all, the design of task and learning atmosphere need to meet students interest and have a connection with them which can enhance class engagement. In other words, making students be active learner that promotes their motivation for learning. According to the American Psychological Association (1997), this better performance could contribute to effective thinking skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking.

Besides, the curricula need to involve situated learning based on diverse contexts in the real world. Knowledge needs to be embedded with the experience to create new cognition because knowledge is always changing. Furthermore, learners do not transfer knowledge from the external world to their memories, while they build personal interpretations of the world based on personal experiences and interactions. Thus, in order to make the lesson plan to promote individual learning, it is crucial to establish situated learning that can provide a positive influence on learning and stimulate learning autonomy of students (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

Apart from that, the activities in the lesson plan need to meet reciprocal learning, such as group work or debate. The encouraging team working and collaboration is a way to promote students development. To be more specific, in the interaction, more expert peers can stimulate the usage of Vygotsky’s theory about the zone of proximal development, and in this process, students will occur assimilation and accommodation which is Piaget’s theory about learning. Those phenomena express the benefit of students-center learning which could help students acquire vital skills for learning and success in the future life (Woolfolk et al., 2015).

Reference:

American Psychological Association. (1995). Learner-centered psychological principles: A framework for school redesign and reform. ERIC Clearinghouse.

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance improvement quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.

Woolfolk, A., Winne, P. H., & Perry, N. E. (2015). Educational Psychology (6th Canadian Edition). Newmarket, Ontario: Pearson Education Canada.