Case study chapter 7/8

1. Describe two similarities between the traditional lesson and the constructivist one.
a-In both lessons the teacher used some sort of object the kids where interested to measure.
b-In both lessons the teacher asked the kids for input as to how long they felt an item was.

2. What are two benefits and two drawbacks of the constructivist approach? Why? In your opinion, are the benefits worth the costs? Explain your response.
Benefits- The constructivist approach got the children thinking about size in relation to measurements. Also the students understood the need for a standardized metric system by having problem within their own classroom with standard measurements.
Drawbacks- a lot of time was spent on a concept that should have taken at the most. Another problem with this type of lesson is the more social children get to direct the direction of the class even if the shy student has a good idea this is an uncomfortable forum for them.

3. How does the constructivist lesson promote critical thinking? Give specific examples of critical thinking from the case study to support your response.
Constructivist promotes critical thinking because the class was able to conduct trial and error experiments. They had to try to solve the problem of various measuring tools to come up with a size.

4. Would the constructivist activity be considered an authentic activity? Why or why not?
Yes this would be considered an authentic activity because in real life these student are going to have to figure out how to solve a problem they may not totally understand but through trial and error be able to solve. On a more practical note the students will understand how to measure something and why we need to use standardized measurements.