Application of the Constructivist Approach-Based Teaching Method in Secondary Schools

Introductoin:

 The main axis of constructivism is that learners actively create knowledge and meaning based on their previous experiences. Constructivist learning environments aim to create rich experiences to motivate students to learn. The current research aims to study the use of teaching methods based on the constructivist approach in the second year of secondary school, in the schools of Bostanabad city, located in East Azarbaijan province.

This research was conducted with a mixed approach. the phenomenological method in the qualitative part and the descriptive, survey method in the quantitative part were used. Teachers and students are the samples in the qualitative and quantitative parts, respectively.

The components of constructivism obtained are mutual interaction, situational learning, facilitator teacher, active student, relative knowledge, and qualitative evaluation. The findings of the qualitative section show that despite the tendency to use constructivist teaching methods, teachers still adhere to traditional methods. The findings of the questionnaire using students' perspectives show that teachers implement many components of constructivism in the classroom. Therefore, all six constructivism components had an average higher than the theoretical average. The "active student" component had the highest mean. These results show that from the students' viewpoint, their classrooms are associated with constructivist teaching methods and have constructivist teachers. However, this view was stronger among boys than among girls.

Discussion and Conclusion:

 Considering the findings and the importance and benefits of the constructivist approach in teaching and students learning, it is suggested that in order to help equalize the level and ability of teachers to implement the constructivist approach, in-service courses should be held for teachers to familiarize them with this approach and be able to implement it.