In the Constructivist theory the emphasis is placed on the learner or the student rather than the teacher or the instructor. It is the learner who interacts with objects and events and thereby gains an understanding of the features held by such objects or events. Learner autonomy and initiative is accepted and encouraged. Constructivists view learning as the result of mental construction. Students learn by fitting new information together with what they already know.
People learn best when they activle construct their own understanding.
In constructivist thinking learning is also affected by the context and the beliefs and attitudes of the learner. Learners are encouraged to invent their own solutions and to try out dieas and hypotheses. They are given the opportunity to build on prior knowledge. There are many different schools of thought within this theory, all of which fall within the same basic assumption about learning. The main two are social constructivism and cognitive constructivism.