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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Many Faces of Constructivism
Abstract
Across the broad fields of educational theory and research, constructivism has become something akin to a secular religion. In her book Evolution as a Religion (1985), Mary Midgley wrote that the theory of evolution is not just an inert piece of theoretical science. It is, and cannot help being, also a folk-tale about human origins. Any such narrative must have symbolic force (1985, p. 1). She might well have written the same about constructivism, which is, whatever else it may be, a powerful folktale about the origins of human knowledge. As in all living religions, constructivism has many sects-each of which harbors some distrust of its rivals. This descent into
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“Emergent strategies are based on constructivist concepts, which highlight the importance of the repeated interaction between the learner and the object of learning, and the importance of others in the process of knowledge construction [6].”
From The virtual patient as a learning tool: a mixed quantitative qualitative study (2018) · cites this paper as [6]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Phillips, D. C.
- Corresponding author
- Phillips, D. C.
- Venue
- Educational Researcher
- Published
- 1995-10
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 5-12
- ISSN
- 0013-189X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-102X
- OpenAlex
- W2096126412
- Cited by
- 1,330
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 48 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 172.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational Researcher (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational theories and practices
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Leadership and Administration
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies
- Keywords
- constructivism, educational theory, origin of knowledge, Mary Midgley, philosophy of education, critique of constructivism
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