Author K. Brennan
Biography: Karen Brennan
is an assistant professor at Harvard University in the Graduate School of Education. Her research is primarily concerned with the ways in which learning environments – in and out of school, online and face-to-face – can be designed to support young people’s development as computational creators. Her research and teaching activities focus on constructionist approaches to designing learning environments – encouraging learning through designing, personalizing, sharing, and reflecting, and maximizing learner agency. Before joining HGSE, Brennan completed her PhD in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, as well as an MA in curriculum studies, BEd in computer science and mathematics, and BSc in computer science and mathematics at the University of British Columbia.
Brennan K. (2015) Author’s Response: The Critical Context of Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs. Constructivist Foundations 10(3): 301–304. https://cepa.info/2135
Brennan K.
(
2015)
Author’s Response: The Critical Context of Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs.
Constructivist Foundations 10(3): 301–304.
Fulltext at https://cepa.info/2135
Upshot: The OPC responses aptly identified numerous factors teachers encounter that can impede changes in pedagogical practice in the classroom. Although some of these factors are external, beyond a teacher’s control, I discuss one internal factor - a teacher’s attitudes and beliefs about their role and the learners they support - that was raised in the responses.
Brennan K. (2015) Beyond Technocentrism: Supporting Constructionism in the Classroom. Constructivist Foundations 10(3): 289–296. https://cepa.info/2131
Brennan K.
(
2015)
Beyond Technocentrism: Supporting Constructionism in the Classroom.
Constructivist Foundations 10(3): 289–296.
Fulltext at https://cepa.info/2131
Context: In 2015, we are surrounded by tools and technologies for creating and making, thinking and learning. But classroom “learning” is often focused on learning about the tool/technology itself, rather than learning with or through the technology. Problem: A constructionist theory of learning offers useful ways for thinking about how technology can be included in the service of learning in K-12 classrooms. To support constructionism in the classroom, we need to focus on supporting teachers, who necessarily serve as the agents of classroom-level innovations. This article explores a central question: How can we support teachers to engage with constructionism as a way to think beyond a technocentric view in the classroom? Method: I approach this work from the perspective of a designer, using the process of supporting teachers working with the Scratch programming language in K-12 classrooms as a central example. I draw on reflections from six years of the ScratchEd project, which includes interviews with 30 teachers, and observations from teacher professional development events and an online community of educators. Results: I describe five sets of tensions that I encountered while designing the ScratchEd model of professional development: tensions between (1) tool and learning, (2) direction and discovery, (3) individual and group, (4) expert and novice, and (5) actual and aspirational. I describe how these tensions are negotiated within the elements of the PD model (an online community, participatory meetups, and an online workshop). Implications: The tensions I describe are not specific to Scratch, and can serve as a more general model for PD designers to scrutinize and critique. Constructivist content: This work contributes to ongoing conversations and questions about how to support constructivist/constructionist approaches in classrooms.
Brennan K. (2015) Objects To Think With. Constructivist Foundations 10(3): 313–314. https://cepa.info/2137
Brennan K.
(
2015)
Objects To Think With.
Constructivist Foundations 10(3): 313–314.
Fulltext at https://cepa.info/2137
Open peer commentary on the article “Designing Constructionist E-Books: New Mediations for Creative Mathematical Thinking?” by Chronis Kynigos. Upshot: Chronis Kynigos’s article invites us to explore how to make familiar objects for learning — namely, books — more constructionist. In my response, I ask questions about the affordances and potential limitations of books as central objects, particularly about the role of the learner in relation to the objects.
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