Constructionism in Practice: Designing, Thinking, and Learning in A Digital World

by Yasmin B. Kafai (Editor)

The digital revolution necessitates, but also makes possible, radical changes in how and what we learn. This book describes a set of innovative educational research projects at the MIT Media Laboratory, illustrating how new computational technologies can transform our conceptions of learning, education, and knowledge. The book draws on real-world education experiments conducted in formal and informal from inner-city schools and university labs to neighborhoods and after-school clubhouses. The papers in this book are divided in four interrelated sections as

* Perspectives in Constructionism further develops the intellectual underpinnings of constructionist theory. This section looks closely at the role of perspective-taking in learning and discusses how both cognitive and affective processes play a central role in building connections between old and new knowledge.

* Learning through Design analyzes the relationship between designing and learning, and discusses ways that design activities can provide personally meaningful contexts for learning. This section investigates how and why children can learn through the processes of constructing artifacts such as games, textile patterns, robots and interactive devices.

* Learning in Communities focuses on the social aspects of constructionist learning, recognizing that how people learn is deeply influenced by the communities and cultures with which they interact. It examines the nature of learning in classroom, inner-city, and virtual communities.

* Learning about Systems examines how students make sense of biological, technological, and mathematical systems. This section explores the conceptual and epistemological barriers to learning about feedback, self-organization, and probability, and it discusses new technological tools and activities that can help people develop new ways of thinking about these phenomena.

Genres: Education

360 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Yasmin B. Kafai, Ph.D., is a Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, past president of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS), and an executive editor of the Journal of the Learning Sciences.

Reviews

[Gary McCallister · Rating 3 out of 5]

IN the latter years of my science career I dove into the developing technological world of computers. As a biologist it was a bit of a stretch so I moved into the subject mostly as a way to study life by creating instead of dissecting. I spent several summers at MIT and became familiar with the author and others there doping this work. This book applies computers and programming mostly to learning, not in the sense of how to program but how to learn. I found it fascinating but unless one is a liuttle familar with Marvin Minsky and Seymour Papert you may not follow the significance too wee.

[Eduardo Hoppenstedt · Rating 5 out of 5]

For educators wanting to better understand how to apply constructionist strategies, this book is a must.
For researchers, this book also provides some insight into how the MIT Media Lab researchers have approached researching into constructionism after Papert.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I say I liked it, I mean I liked Seymour Papert. That's really the only chapter I read, it's why I got the book, and I did like it.

[Bill Seitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

unreadable