PHYSICS AND CONSTRUCTIVISM: AN ALLIANCE FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The fundamental purpose of this essay is to analyze how constructivism represents an ally in the teaching of physics as a science in order to achieve meaningful learning through it, based on the fact that traditional teaching is characterized by leading the student population to take a passive role in which they only receive information and memorize formulas without really understanding the physical phenomena of the universe, which makes this form of teaching ineffective. Therefore, the use of constructivist principles is proposed as a pedagogical support that allows this obsolete teaching pattern to be transformed into an active and truly profound learning practice, through a dynamic process in which students build on their own ideas with guided help from the teacher in their role as facilitator, generating cognitive conflict that makes students reflect and restructure their ideas. Through interaction and collaboration, they contextualize and highlight the relevance of concepts by connecting them with theory. In turn, visualization through experimentation will undoubtedly make learning meaningful, and even more than that, students will feel motivated and empowered by knowledge, thus allowing the development of scientific skills that will lead to logical reasoning and, therefore, critical thinking. It should be noted that constructivism is not only an alternative but a necessity that promotes conceptual understanding in teaching.