Constructivist Learning Design: Key Questions for Teaching to Standards

"Very practical and user-friendly . . ." --Linda R. Kroll, Professor Department of Education, Mills College Build student-centered learning into your standards-based curriculum and lesson plans! Educators expect learners to solve problems, think critically, communicate effectively, and collaborate well. These complex processes require young learners to engage in active learning and to understand that their own experience is the foundation for new learning. They also require teachers to move from the traditional role of "sage on the stage" to the new role of "guide on the side." Constructivist Learning Design offers teachers a six-step framework for lesson planning and assessment: Situation: develop goals, tasks, and curriculum standards Grouping: group students and materials, and use cooperative learning Bridge: recall prior knowledge using students' cognitive maps, skills, values, motivation, and expectations Task: use higher-level thinking skills and problem-based learning Exhibit: arrange student portfolios and work samples Reflection: synthesize critical thinking and knowledge With clear classroom applications and ready-to-use planning templates, this research-based resource guides teachers through the complex process of aligning constructivist learning events with standards-based curriculum. Engage students in tasks, help them think for themselves, and support them in making meaning of their learning!

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors Introduction: Learning Design Situation Section: Constructivist Learning Design Groups Section: Learning Considerations Bridge Section: What Is Learning? Task Section: Learning Characteristics Exhibit: Fairy Tales Learning Episodes Reflection Section: Precedents for Constructivist Learning Design Concluding Remarks: Where Do We Stand? Chapter 1: Designing Situations Situation Section: Defining Guiding Questions Groups Section: Co-constructing the CLD Bridge Section: Questions for Analyzing Situations Task Section: Revising a Situation Element Exhibit Section: Example Situation Elements Reflection Section: Precedents for a Situation Element Concluding Remarks: Thoughts on Designing Situations Chapter 2: Organizing Groups Situation Section: Deciding on Groups Groups Section: The Power of Collaborative Thinking Bridge Section: Questions for Forming Groups Task Section: Revising a Groups Element Exhibit Section: Example Groups Elements Reflection Section: Precedents for a Groups Element Concluding Remarks: Thoughts on Arranging Groups Chapter 3: Building Bridges Situation Section: Surfacing Prior Knowledge Groups Section: Connecting With Students’ Thinking Bridge Section: Questions for Structuring Bridges Task Section: Revising a Bridge Element Exhibit Section: Example Bridge Elements Reflection Section: Precedents for a Bridge Element Concluding Remarks: Thoughts on Building Bridges Chapter 4: Crafting Tasks Situation Section: Crafting a Task Groups Section: Thinking Together to Make Meaning Bridge Section: Questions for Framing Tasks Task Section: Revising a Task Element Exhibit Section: Example Task Elements Reflection Section: Precedents for a Task element Concluding Remarks: Thoughts on Crafting Tasks Chapter 5: Arranging Exhibits Situation Section: Defining the Nature of an Exhibit Groups Section: The Power of Students Presenting their Thinking Bridge Section: Questions for Encouraging Exhibits Task Section: Revising an Exhibit Element Exhibit Section: Example Exhibit Elements Reflection Section: Precedents for an Exhibit Element Concluding Remarks: Thoughts on Arranging Exhibits Chapter 6: Leading Reflections Situation Section: Leading Reflection on Thinking Groups Section: Reflecting on Making Meaning Bridge Section: Questions for Inviting Reflections Task Section: Revising a Reflection Element Exhibit Section: Example Reflection Elements Reflection Section: Precedents for a Reflection Element Concluding Remarks: Thoughts on Leading Reflections Chapter 7: Teaching Designs Dancing a Design Pacing, Rhythm, and Footwork Choosing Music for the Dance Rehearsing the Dance A Tale of Three Dancers Dancing Together Inviting Administrators to the Dance Inviting Others to the Dance Resources References Index

About the Author :
George W. Gagnon, Jr. is the Director of K-12 Partnerships in the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He works with teacher and parent partners to support students who would be the first generation in their family to be engineers or scientists. George uses Math Models he has designed to support students in developing a conceptual understanding of mathematics. George has studied learning for thirty years as a teacher, principal, and teacher educator. Now he applies his research on constructivist learning design, appropriate assessment, and learning communities to encourage educational equity in urban public schools. George and Michelle live in Oakland, California, and are actively involved with the neighborhood public schools their children attend. Michelle Collay is a School Coach for the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) in Oakland, California, a private non-profit organization supporting urban small school initiatives.  She supports school leader development and coordinates classroom-based teacher inquiry for the purposes of improving student achievement. Previously, she worked as a faculty member and administrator in teacher preparation and graduate teacher education in public and private universities.  Collay conducts seminars and workshops about professional learning communities, constructivist learning design, and portfolio development. Before completing doctoral studies in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Oregon, she taught music and mathematics in elementary and junior high school and continues to play the bassoon in local ensembles. She and her husband, George Gagnon, write, teach, and parent together and are parent leaders in their children’s neighborhood school in Oakland.

Review :
"A very useful contribution to the field. . . . Provides a model that even the newest of teachers can use."  "Provides a structured format for helping teachers design constructivist learning opportunities. . . There are a lot of useful strategies here for teachers and good examples throughout."  "Provides sound advice on many matters, including how to establish a teaching "situation," how and why to group students, how to "hook" students and draw on their interests and past experiences, and how to promote authentic exhibits of their learning." "Very practical and user-friendly. ..This book presents a very clear set of directions and plans for instituting a new way to think about teaching and learning on a very detailed and moment-to-moment basis. The ideas are also grounded in theory and the connections between theory and practice are made explicit." "This book should be read by neophyte and seasoned teachers, by teacher educators in colleges of education, and by trainees in preservice programs.  It should also be read by school administrators for insights into how to improve teacher supervision and staff development, by open-minded behaviorists looking for alternatives to direct instruction, by liberal arts professors who want to learn how to teach so that their students want to keep on learning, and by parents with children in school or with children they are schooling at home.  For that matter, everyone concerned with formal education should read this book unless, of course, they already have signed the Faustian pact to search only after the qualities and techniques of authoritarian, direct instruction. I invite you now to do as I have done.  Read this fine book three times.  Read it first for a general understanding of its concepts.  Read it again and reflect on your own practice.  Read it a third time to engage its ideas as you would engage dance partners.  Then keep the book at your side for reference to its many action ideas."   "The authors make it clear that this is not your ordinary lesson planning book. This is an interactive workbook in which Gagnon and Collay encourage us as readers to work through the design process by applying the model to our own subject matter, preferrably with a partner or as part of a group so ideas can be shared and collectively reflected upon."