Constructivism TIPR

1. Describe how the teacher uses modern constructivist techniques/complex learning environments (e.g., spiral curriculum, discovery learning, inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, etc.) to promote student learning. How is the teacher implementing the 4 tenets of constructivism and the 3 modes of processing?

The teacher that I am observing uses some modern constructivist techniques in his teaching. In the weights training 2 class that I observe, I notice that he often uses discovery learning (Bruner). This is part of inquiry based learning. He uses this when he relates to the students in what they have learned in Weights 1. In order to be in Weights 2, all students must first take Weights 1. Both of these classes are elective classes. The teacher is constantly reminding the students of various exercises and techniques that they learned during weights 1. Here, the teacher is drawing knowledge from the students' past experiences. In Weights 2, he often will take what the students learned from weights 1, and elaborate on it. They will also perform various exercise experiments such as seeing if lifting weights every day will help you get stronger. At the beginning of the semester, the students fill out a 1 max rep sheet. At the end of the semester, they fill it out again to see their improvements. The first tenent of constructivism that the teacher implements is that the students are actually doing the workouts and are completing them physically in order to see a differernce. Here, the students are activing cognizing.