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Constructionism: Theory of Learning or Theory of Design?

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Selected Regular Lectures from the 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education

Abstract

Constructionism has established itself as an epistemological paradigm, a learning theory and a design framework, harnessing digital technologies as expressive media for students’ generation of mathematical meanings individually and collaboratively. It was firstly elaborated in conjunction with the advent of digital media designed to be used for engagement with mathematics. Constructionist theory has since then been continually evolving dynamically and has extended its functionality from a structural set of lens to explanation and guidance for action. As a learning theory, the constructionist paradigm is unique in its attention to the ways in which meanings are generated during individual and collective bricolage with digital artefacts, influenced by negotiated changes students make to these artefacts and giving emphasis to ownership and production. The artefacts themselves constitute expressions of mathematical meanings and at the same time students continually express meanings by modulating them. As a design theory it has lent itself to a range of contexts such as the design of constructionist-minded interventions in schooling, the design of new constructionist media involving different kinds of expertise and the design of artifacts and activity plans by teachers as a means of professional development individually and in collective reflection contexts. It has also been used as a lens to study learning as a process of design. This paper will discuss some of the constructs which have or are emerging from the evolution of the theory and others which were seen as particularly useful in this process. Amongst them are the constructs of meaning generation through situated abstractions, re-structurations, half-baked microworlds, and the design and use of artifacts as boundary objects designed to facilitate crossings across community norms. It will provide examples from research in which I have been involved where the operationalization of these constructs enabled design and analysis of the data. It will further attempt to forge some connections with constructs which emerged from other theoretical frameworks in mathematics education and have not been used extensively in constructionist research, such as didactical design and guidance as seen through the lens of Anthropological Theory from the French school and the Theory of Instrumental Genesis.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Metafora project is co-funded by the European Union under the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) theme of the 7th Framework Programme for R&D (FP7), Contract No. 257872.

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  1. Educational Technology Lab, Department of Education, School of Philosophy, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Chronis Kynigos

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  1. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

    Sung Je Cho

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Kynigos, C. (2015). Constructionism: Theory of Learning or Theory of Design?. In: Cho, S. (eds) Selected Regular Lectures from the 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17187-6_24

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