The Nature of Constructionist Learning

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Readings. All students are expected to do the readings, and to participate in discussions of the readings in class. Copies of readings for each meeting will be provided a week in advance. The following books will be the source for many of the readings in the first half of the course:

• Gruber, H.E. & Voneche, J.J., eds. Piaget, J. (1977). The Essential Piaget. New York: Basic Books.
• Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Collier Books.
• Wertsch, J.T. (1985). Vygotsky and the Social Formation of Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard.
• Illich, I. (1970) Deschooling Society. (Chapters 2 and 6). New York, NY: World Perspectives, Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.
• Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
• Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Levi-Strauss, C. (1966). The Savage Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Gilligan, C. (1982). In a Different Voice (Introduction and Chapter 3). Harvard University Press.
• Keller, E.F. (1985). Reflections on Gender and Science (Chapter 8)
• Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. New York: Basic Books.
• Papert, S. (1993). The Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer. New York: Basic Books.
• Harel, I. & Papert, S., eds. (1991). Constructionism. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
• Kafai, Y., & Resnick, M., eds. (1996). Constructionism in Practice: Designing, Thinking, and Learning in a Digital World. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Resnick, M. (1994). Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams: Explorations in Massively Parallel Microworlds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Dissertations written by members of the Epistemology and Learning group; for example, Aaron Falbel, Alan Shaw, Paula Hooper, Fred Martin, and Mitchel Resnick
  

On a number of occasions, we will invite a few of the leading experts on constructionist learning (Professor Papert, Professor Resnick, Dr. Cavallo, Dr. Ackermann, and many others) to share and discuss their perspectives on the various readings with us.

Active particiapation. It is strongly recommended that you discuss the readings with other students outside of class. Class discussion give us an important opportunity to present the different perspectives and interpretations of the readings, and in the process come to a shared understanding of some of the central questions and issues. You are encouraged to share the questions or issues that you found particularly provocative in the reading with the rest of the class through the course mailing list.

A short paper. Each student will write a short paper (4-5 pages) analyzing a research project in learning and education from the constructionist perspective. As the term progresses, part of each class or a couple of additional sessions will be devoted to students' presentation of the projects that they wish to study and critique. This paper is due right after the spring break.

Class presentation. There are many additional suggested readings on the class schedule. In small groups or individually, students should make a short presentation about at least one of these readings to the whole group. The readings will be selected in consultation with Bakhtiar.