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Constructivism

Much of the following discussion on what constitutes helpful grading is influenced by the vogue pedagogical philosophy of constructivism[2], a theory of understanding introduced by Jerome Bruner[10]. The constructivist view of education is that learning is primarily a search for meaning that is accomplished by building upon existing understanding and mental models. In order for learning to occur, a student must find a way to integrate the material that is presented with their existing mental model, or make changes to their model as needed to support the new information. As this is very much an intuitive process for instructors to participate in, as it requires empathy and understanding of a student's viewpoint, teaching and assessment cannot be completely automated in the best case. Human feedback is necessary to examine a student's submission and make the necessary comments required to adjust their understanding to be more in line with the accepted or correct model.



Titus Winters 2005-02-17