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Infusing Constructivist Learning in Fisheries Education
Author(s) -
Habron Geoffrey
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(2005)30[21:iclife]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - constructivist teaching methods , mathematics education , class (philosophy) , flexibility (engineering) , constructivism (international relations) , psychology , pedagogy , teaching method , computer science , political science , management , international relations , artificial intelligence , politics , law , economics
Academics increasingly advocate constructivist learning, which encourages student control of their learning. Constructivist approaches were used in four of six offerings of an introductory fisheries and wildlife class at Michigan State University from 2001–2004 involving 292 students. Student choices, student grades, and student evaluations were used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Student ratings of the course dipped during the first semester of constructivist learning implementation. They returned to pre‐implementation levels for most categories, and improved for other categories. The average percentage of students exceeding grades of 3.5/4.0 increased from 12% to 21% in the semesters after full implementation. Adopting a constructivist approach led to improved grades and good student‐instructor interaction. Constructivist learning creatively empowered students, but exceeded student expectations for responsibility and self direction. Embrace of the constructivist approach requires persistence, flexibility, care, and monitoring.