Misconceptions and Misuses of Constructivism

Constructivist teaching and learning has been implemented into classrooms for several years. However, misconceptions and misuses of the constructivist practice do exist. Hence, we try to list some of the misconceptions and misuses for teachers and educators to clarify the concepts and philosophy of constructivism. The misconceptions discussed in this article included: constructivism is the only effective method of teaching and learning; the use of constructivism equals discovery learning; and constructivism necessarily improves students test scores. The misuses of constructivism include: the use of one codified way for implementing constructivist teaching; group work or cooperative learning is always necessary for constructivist teaching; and technology is always required for constructivist teaching.