Over the past few years, a major debate has been raging about the very basis of teaching and learning. Historically, teachers have used Objectivist methods where students are presented information which they repeat back to the teacher. The underlying model of Objectivism is Behavioral Psychology. The current trend in education appears to be Constructivism which is based in Cognitive Psychology. Under this model, students are viewed as active processors of information.
Constructivism is similar to active learning, adult learning and self-directed learning.
Interestingly, most web pages about online education begin by extolling the virtues of Constructivism and attacking Objectivism. Calling it a war may be a misnomer, I get the sense that the battles have been fought and Constructivism has emerged victorious. Table 1 illustrates some of the differences between the two schools of thought. Emphasis on internal mental states Considers perspective and knowledge of student. Specifically, Constructivists feel students should be able to independently explore an information space to obtain content, higher level concepts and learn how to learn.