Knowledge Construction: Chapter Seven

Knowledge Construction
Chapter Seven
Educational Psychology: Developing Learners 6th edition
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Constructive Processes
 Learning involves constructing one’s own knowledge from

one’s experiences.
 Our current knowledge influences what we learned, what

we expect to learn, what we can store, and what we can
retrieve.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Educational Psychology: Developing Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Learners, sixth edition All rights reserved.
Constructive Processes
 Meaning of new knowledge is constructed with prior
knowledge.
 It can be an independent venture (individual constructivism)
or a social process.
 Different people can construct different meanings from the
same stimuli or events.
 Even our memory is constructive
 Reconstructive error is an error in which a student constructs
a logical but “incorrect” memory.

Social Constructivism
 Socially constructed knowledge: knowledge jointly

constructed by two or more people
 Often leads to a better understanding of the subject matter
 E.g., two students working together to better understand a homework
assignment
 May be constructed by an entire culture
 Literature, music, fine arts

Social Constructivism
 Learners engage in distributed cognition.
 Students work together to share ideas and draw conclusions or develop
solutions.
 There are many positives associated with distributed cognition,

including:
 Greater understanding and increased use of elaboration
 Exposure to others’ ideas and greater respect for diversity
 Identification of flaws and inconsistencies in thinking
 Higher-level thinking
 More effective interpersonal skills

Organizing Knowledge
 Knowledge organization occurs via concepts, schemas,

scripts, and theories.
 Concepts: mental grouping of similar events, objects, ideas,

or people which consist of attributes or distinctive features
 E.g., bird: feathers, beak, has a nest

Organizing Knowledge
 Concepts
 Overgeneralization and undergeneralization are common
occurrences.
 Overgeneralization: Including objects or events that aren’t true
members of the category
 Undergeneralization: Too narrow a view about which objects or events
the concept includes
 Concepts are interconnected.

The Nature of Concepts
 Concepts can be learned as a feature list, prototype, or set
of examples.
 Defining features: Characteristics that must be present in all
positive instances of a concept
 Prototypes: Mental representations of a “typical” positive
instance
 Exemplars: Specific examples that are part of a learner’s
general knowledge and understanding of a concept

Teaching Concepts
 Present examples and non-examples before discussing

attributes and definitions
 Show a wide variety of examples to avoid

undergeneralization or overgeneralization
 Have students use the concept

Teaching Concepts
 Identify concrete and observable characteristics
 Show students how various concepts are related to one

another

Schemas & Scripts
 Schema
 Organized body of knowledge about a specific topic
 E.g., what is typically true about an object?
 Script
 Schema that involves a predictable sequence of events related
to a common activity
 E.g., what happens when you go to the doctor?
 Culturally influenced

Theories
 Students already have beliefs about how the world operates

before formal schooling begins.
 Theory: Integrated set of concepts and principles developed to
explain a particular phenomenon
 Naïve theories: Early and often incorrect theory developed by
a child, based on limited knowledge and understanding

Promoting Effective Knowledge
Construction
 Provide opportunities for experimentation
 Present ideas of others and encourage discussion
 Emphasize conceptual understanding, knowledge acquired in an
integrated and meaningful fashion
 Challenge naïve theories
 Be organized
 Relate new information to previously learned information
 Show how isolated facts are part of greater whole
 Encourage peer tutoring
 Use authentic activities
 Activities similar to ones that students are apt to encounter in the outside
world
 Create a learning community

What Is a Learning Community?
 Teachers and students consistently work to help one another
learn.
 Students are active participants in classroom activities.
 Discussion and collaboration are necessary parts in learning.
 Diversity is respected.
 Learning is emphasized more than grades.
 Both students and teachers provide guidance and direction for
classroom activities.
 Everyone is a potential resource.

Conceptual Change
 Teachers present new information expecting it to replace

any erroneous beliefs.
 Students will often hold on to misconceptions even when

faced with contradictory information.

Promoting Conceptual Change
 Teachers should:
 Identify existing misconceptions before instruction begins
 Convince students that their existing beliefs are inadequate
 Motivate students to learn correct explanations
 Preserve students’ self-esteem and not ridicule them for
misunderstandings
 Continue to monitor students for persistent misconceptions

Considering Diversity in Constructive
Processes
 Cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds impact knowledge

base.
 A community of learners values diversity and utilizes everyone’s
individual backgrounds, cultural perspectives, and unique
abilities to enhance the class.
 Teachers can increase multicultural awareness by:
 Promoting multiple constructions of the same situation
 Being watchful of language usage


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Knowledge Construction

 Learning involves constructing one’s own knowledge from

 Our current knowledge influences what we learned, what

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Socially constructed knowledge: knowledge jointly

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 There are many positives associated with distributed cognition,

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Knowledge organization occurs via concepts, schemas,

 Concepts: mental grouping of similar events, objects, ideas,

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Concepts are interconnected.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Present examples and non-examples before discussing

 Show a wide variety of examples to avoid

 Have students use the concept

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Identify concrete and observable characteristics

 Show students how various concepts are related to one

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Students already have beliefs about how the world operates

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Teachers present new information expecting it to replace

 Students will often hold on to misconceptions even when

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

 Cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds impact knowledge

Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.

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