What is more, by providing opportunities for independent thinking, constructivism allows students to take responsibility for their own learning, by framing questions and then analyzing them. Having expatiated upon the main tenets of constructivism, let us now content ourselves with juxtaposing constructivism with other theories, objectivist theories that is, and, more specifically, contiguity theory. Objectivist View Constructivist View Knowledge exists outside of individuals and can be transferred from teachers to students. Knowledge has personal meaning. It is created by individual students.
Students learn what they hear and what they read.
If a teacher explains abstract concepts well, students will learn those concepts. Learning is successful when students can repeat what was taught. Learning is successful when students can demonstrate conceptual understanding. Amongst the din of shifting paradigms, a theory that used to dominate the field but is not well-known is contiguity theory, an exponent of which is E. Guthrie. Guthrie used a glass box which allowed him to photograph the movements of cats.