Constructivism Pedagogy Drives Redevelopment of CAD Course: A Case Study: Rather Than Feeding Information to the Student through Direct Instruction, the Teacher Is Maintaining the Role of Facilitator in the Learning Process

Introduction Teacher and student roles continue to change as computers continue to influence the design curriculum (Kaplan, 1997). Educators and administrators continue to grapple with the best ways to teach, implement, and maintain current technology. Yet the struggle is worthwhile. Few technology teachers would argue that computers, software, and hardware found in technology laboratories fascinate most students. Almost all technology laboratories have computers dedicated to specialized software or hardware such as CAD, CNS, design and desktop publishing, or video editing (Deal, 2004). To respond to increased demands for technological literacy (Pearson and Young, 2002), more demand is placed on the use of computer labs. In response, secondary and post-secondary institutions are requiring better teaching efficiencies, larger class sizes, and less support in their technology-driven classes. This article discusses the modification of a college CAD course to accommodate the new demands. This semester-long course was modified to accommodate twice the number of students in the same section--a shift from 20 students to 44 students. As a result, new goals and objectives for the course needed to be developed. New teaching methodologies and classroom management techniques had to be identified. New assignments had to be developed, and grading issues had to be resolved. How could the demand of 44 students be met in one resident-instructed course? Was there a certain teaching pedagogy that would be more effective than others when teaching computer technology skills? The 1990s method of teaching CAD would no longer suffice. Constructivism, as a pedagogy and teaching philosophy, was one of the driving models of learning during the redevelopment of the course. Constructivism is defined as a process of presenting a global concept of emerging relevance to the student learner and assisting them in posing and directing their own questions to investigate the subject material (Brooks 8 Brooks, 1993). A subject or concept is presented, and the student evaluates what questions and direction he/she wishes to take in the process of investigation. Constructivism offered a solution for teaching technology in a new way. Constructivism: Theory and Pedagogy Many educational theories and teaching techniques have been used in K-12 classrooms today (Joyce and Weil, 1996). One method that has been hailed and modeled by many K-12 teachers is known as constructivism. While it is a common pedagogy in K12, this theory is less frequently discussed or consciously implemented in higher education. Constructivism is primarily a theory of human development that in recent years has been applied to learning (Schunk, 2004), though some argue it is not a theory but an epistemology or philosophical explanation about the nature of learning (Simpson, 2002). Constructivists do not view knowledge as truth; rather knowledge is a working hypothesis since, in their view, knowledge is not imposed from outside people but rather formed inside them (Schunk, 2004). It is a psychological and philosophical perspective contending that individuals form or construct much of what they learn and understand (Bruning, Schraw, and Ronning, 1999). Constructivism is based on Piaget's theory of dynamic equilibrium, with Kuhn's work on paradigms supporting the theory (Brooks 8 Brooks, 1993). According to Piaget, a person needs to reach equilibrium when faced with contradicting information. Kuhn advocates that every person views their own world from their own framework, creating individual realities. Combining these two concepts, constructivism asserts that every individual has a concept of their own world and must construct a personal understanding based on new information (Brooks 8 Brooks, 1993). The basic premise is that people are active learners and must construct knowledge for themselves (Geary, 1995). Another constructivist premise is that teachers should not teach in the traditional sense of delivering instruction to a group of students. …