DDD-E Model and Constructivism

Hi everyone! 

This week i have another interesting topic for you. Constructivism and DDD-E model.
 DDD-E model - each letter stands for a specific definition.

Decide - Design - Develop - Evaluate 

The Decide stage focuses on the determination of program objectives and materials through analysis of PBL development needs. Design stage shows the design structure of the program. And the Development stage includes production and media programming. While in the Evaluate stage see the whole process that occurs in the development of multimedia proved by the validator. 

Educators should assess students’ works after each step of the Design phase to make sure they are meeting the requirements of the lesson. For example, before students are allowed to progress to the flowchart and storyboard stage, teachers should review students’ content outlines to confirm they are meeting the lesson’s objectives. Teachers also review students’ flowcharts and storyboards prior to letting students start their work on the computer. The Decide and Design phases of multimedia development are invaluable for helping students plan and organize their work. It isn’t until the third phase, Develop, that students actually begin constructing their projects on the computer. Evaluation is ongoing throughout the entire process. Teachers ensure that students are meeting the instructional goals by assessing students’ work during each phase of the DDD-E model.  

Constructivism is a theory  about how people learn. It has to do with the way people use and construct their knowledge through experiencing things. For example, when you encounter something new or see someone or something, you try to connect it with previous experiences. So, in any case, we are creators of our own knowledge, we decide which information is useful to us and which is not. We do this through exploring. 

Constructivism can be used in different teaching practices as well. Mostly it is used to encourage students to use active techniques to develop their knowledge and than to reflect on and talk about how their understanding is changing. Students in the constructivist classroom can easily become “expert learners” by questioning themselves and their strategies. So basically, with a well-planned classroom, students learn HOW TO LEARN. 

Constructivism’s central idea is that human learning is constructed, that learners build new knowledge upon the foundation of previous learning. This prior knowledge influences what new or modified knowledge an individual will construct from new learning experiences. Benefits to constructivist design: 

• It’s active
• It promotes student agency 
• It develops advanced skills such as critical thinking, analysis, evaluation and creation.
• It promotes diverse viewpoints.
• It encourages students to reflect, evaluate their work, and identify intermediary skills to acquire based on their needs.
• It reflects our modern world’s vast access to content.                

Learning is a social activity- it is something we do together, in interaction with each other, rather than an abstract concept. For example, Vygotsky, believed that community plays a central role in the process if “making meaning”. For Vygotsky, the environment in which children grow up will influence how they think and what they think about.

But what is the role of the teacher in a constructivist classroom?

The primary responsibility of the teacher is to create a collaborative problem-solving environment where students become active participants in their own learning. From this perspective, a teacher should act as a facilitator of learning rather than an instructor. The teacher makes sure he/she understands the students’ preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them. Scaffolding is a key feature of effective teaching, where the adult continually adjusts the level of his or her help in response to the learner’ level of performance. In the classroom, scaffolding can include modeling a skill, providing hints or cues, and adapting material or activity. Thus, all teaching and learning is a matter of sharing and negotiating socially constituted knowledge. 

So the two methods mentioned above are very important in teaching process. They both can be very productive and interesting at the same time. Also learning is interactive, building on what  the student already knows. So, what are you waiting for? Start your teaching process in the best way possible! 🙂

Thank you for your time and see you next week! 

Till then, stay safe, stay positive! :)