Constructivist and Situated Learning Theories

Constructivist and Situated Learning Theories groups accounts holding that a learner builds understanding actively, through direct hands-on engagement with material or a real problem, rather than receiving it processed and transmitted. Belongs here: Discovery Learning, in which a learner arrives at principles through exploration rather than direct instruction; Constructionism (education), Seymour Papert's extension of constructivism emphasizing learning through building a tangible external artifact; Learning by Doing, the general experiential-education principle that direct action embeds understanding; and Social Constructivism, which holds that knowledge construction happens through and is shaped by social interaction and cultural context. Does not belong here: an account of learning as internal information processing with no requirement of hands-on construction, grouped under Behaviorist and Cognitive Processing Theories, and an account centered specifically on apprenticeship, community membership or observational modeling rather than individual hands-on building, grouped under Social and Sociocultural Learning Theories, even where the two families overlap in emphasizing activity over passive reception.