Case Study 7/8

1. Describe two similarities between the traditional lesson and the constructivist one as described above.
-In both lessons, the teacher was trying to teach the students about measurements. Also, the students needed to use measurement tools to find the measurement of either the whale or the ship.

2. What are two benefits and two drawbacks of the constructivist approach as described above? Why? In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Explain your response.
-Benefits: It allows children to really think and find solutions to problems. It also allows for much discussion to take place so all are included in the learning.
-Drawbacks: It takes up a lot of time waiting for students to come up with the solutions. Also, you risk the students coming up with a wrong solution, and them thinking it is right.

3. How does the constructivist lesson described above promote critical thinking? Give specific examples of critical thinking from the case study to support your response.
-It promotes critical thinking by allowing students to have time to come up with solutions that work. The children in the case study came up with many different solutions before coming up with one that worked. This proves they were able to think about many aspects, discuss with one another, and then find a solution that finally worked.

4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Why or why not?
- I believe it would be considered an authentic activity because in the real world, people need to know measurements of certain things. Maybe not boats, and the king won't need to know, but measurements come up in different areas of everyday life.