Based on the studies of Jean Piaget and later expanded by Lev Vygotsky, the concept of constructivism focuses on students building upon previous knowledge and beliefs by interacting with their environment. The concept of social constructivism takes the learning theory further, stating the importance of learning through the interaction of peers. Seymour Papert's constructionist theory builds upon the constructivist base by focusing on specific techniques used in the classroom that allow students to actively construct products that illustrate their learning.
Learning by design allows students to create an artifact or product that illustrates their knowledge and can be shared with others. In this process, the teacher clearly identifies the expectations and how students will be evaluated. Students brainstorm ideas and formulate a plan for their product. The instructor motivates and keeps students on the correct path providing questions to incite without influencing their creativity. Ultimately, the students share their artifact and are given feedback from both the instructor and peers. For example, a student illustrates knowledge of advertising tactics by creating a commercial using video editing software and shares it with the class.
Project-based learning requires an in-depth process of both developing knowledge and creating an artifact to share the knowledge or expertise. Teachers act as facilitators by providing resources and milestones for completing the project. Students conduct research, develop a strategy or hypothesis, plan, manage time and ultimately create a final product illustrating their findings. This strategy is time-consuming and requires extensive feedback and assessment to keep students on track. This type of learning is very challenging, requiring students to inquire, create and process data and information in order to assimilate the knowledge and concepts. For example, students discover the different types of advertising tactics by observing, researching and collaborating with peers. The students then create an advertising campaign illustrating the advertising tactics they discovered in their research.
While testing is necessary in most classrooms, a constructionist classroom focuses on assessing the process of learning in addition to the final product. Teachers use a variety of assessment tools to gauge the level of student knowledge throughout the learning process. For example, throughout the project-based learning process, students may record their findings in reflective journals and conduct team and self-evaluations. In addition, the use of online tools, such as email and blogs, keep track of student learning and collaboration. Teachers will use rubrics to help guide student focus and to assess the product produced in a learning by design activity.