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CONSTRUCTIVIST ACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FROM THE STUDENTSВ’ PERSPECTIVE

Senka Gazibara

Abstract

Active learning, as an inevitable construct of contemporary teaching, is the basis of every studentВ’s integral growth and development. It is based on the constructivism and socio-constructivism where the emphasis is on students as constructors and co-constructors of their own knowledge. Here, the process of learning includes the studentsВ’ experiences and interests, pre-knowledge, and the creation of their own interpretations. The constructivist active learning environment is directed to students ? they take the active role in learning, evolve into autonomous individuals who think critically about the real world, develop their own potentials, and take the responsibility for their own actions. Students are included in planning, performing, and evaluating the learning process, through which the student-teacher partnership is cultivated, as well as the partnership between students. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to examine the constructivist active learning environment from the studentsВ’ perspective. The research included 951 primary and grammar school students. The constructivist active learning environment was operationalized through the following determinants: the studentВ’s autonomy, the student participation, the pre-knowledge, the student centeredness, and the metacognition and co-construction of knowledge, i.e. individual and social aspects of active learning. The results of this research have shown that the constructivist active learning environment is not sufficiently presented in educational practice. It was assessed more positively by elementary school than grammar school students. This implies a discontinuity in educational practice, as well as the dominance of traditional teaching. The results have also shown that the constructivist active learning environment is linked to the studentВ’s age, the school type, and an academic success. Finally, it can be concluded that students need greater support to be able to learn actively, which would also make the abovementioned determinants of the constructivist active learning environment more presented and recognizable in the practice of teaching.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2018/3.4/S13.023

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