Are your learners bored? You may recognize the signs:
- Big promises about what they’ll learn
- Overload of information
- Rote questioning
- Expectation to regurgitate info
- Dismissal from memory
Creating learning through a constructivist lens can reduce boredom.
Constructivism, or constructivist learning, is rooted in the research and theories developed by innovative educators and psychologists like John Dewey and Jean Piaget. It’s theory that the instructor (or the instructional designer) should focus on facilitating the construction of learning and not on directly instructing learners. The underlying idea is that people build knowledge and interpret meaning through their experiences. It puts the learners in charge of synthesizing and creating artifacts of their own learning experience, building upon prior knowledge.
Check out the Biological Science Curriculum Studies 5E Instructional Model, more commonly called the “5Es,” which was developed in the late 1980s by BSCS. It’s used in science curriculum development, but we found inspiration in this model for adult learning:
- Engage: Personally involve learners in the experience. Ask them a question or present an object to stimulate their curiosity. Facilitate connections between what the learners already know and are able to do.
- Explore: Learners directly interact with content/materials and start to build their own understanding.
- Explain: Learners communicate what they’ve learned and determine what it means to them. New concepts/skills are introduced.
- Elaborate: Learners apply new concepts in context. They build and extend their understanding.
- Evaluate: Learners assess their skills, knowledge, and abilities, and work on activities that reinforce their learning.