Reflection Journal 8

What are the five E's in Constructivism
This week I am researching how to evaluate or assess the learning in a constructivist classroom. Once source I ran across has some really good information on how to assess this type of learning. The Miami Museum of Science published a webpage called "Constructivism and the five E's." The E's consists of engaging, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. Each E is a different stage. The first E engage is the part of learning where the student identifies past learning and makes connections present learning objectives. The second E explore is done by getting students to participate in hands on learning. Students may do this stage in small groups of teams. The third E explain is when students develop their ideas based on the learning experiences done while they were exploring. The fourth E elaborate means the students will expand what they have learned and try to apply it to real world experiences. The final E evaluate is done when students fill out their own assessments over what they learned from a particular lesson. Teachers will also conduct an assessment such as a rubric or a checklist to determine the students learning.
After reading about the five E's I realized this method is something we are taught in school on how to really help students learn the curriculum. Even though constructivism seemed like a new subject to me i am starting to realize how close to my classroom it is. I use the five E's when teaching many of my classroom objectives.

Resource Logs 22-26

I have found a few different websites that have quality information about using assessment in a constructivist classroom.

Resource 22: THE INTERNET ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY

Neimeyer, R. A., & Levitt, H. (2004, February 15). Constructivist Assessment. In The Internet Encyclopaedia of Personal Constuct Psycology. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://www.pcp-net.org/encyclopaedia/assess.html

Resource 23: Assessment in a Constructivist Classroom

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (1993). Assessment in a Constructivist Classroom. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Learning Point Associates Web site: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/ areas/issues/methods/assment/as7const.htm

Resource 24: Evaluation of COnstructivist Learning

University of Saskatchewan College of Education. (1995). Evaluation of Constructivist Learning. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/ c802papers/Skaalideval.html

Resource 25: Constructivism and the five E's

Miami Museum of Science. (2001). Constructivism and the Five E's. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://www.miamisci.org/ph/lpintro5e.html

Resource 26: GUIDELINES AND CHECKLIST FOR CONSTRUCTIVIST EVALUATION

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2001, November). Guidlines and Checklist for COnstructivist Evaluation. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Western Michigan University Web site: http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/checklists/constructivisteval.htm#2