In the late 1980s, various educators within mathematics education began to experiment with “constructionist” teaching methods. The earliest of these pioneers were influenced by Jean Piaget (1896-1980), Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) and Seymour Papert (1928-2012). (Piaget, Vygotsky and Papert are three of the most important giants in developmental psychology and education. Find out about their theories or what they did).
Piaget believed that children learn best by actively interacting with the world around them. He also theorized that children build their mental structures through four stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational.
Vygotsky thought that learning is a social process made up of two components: the activity of an individual and the activity of a group. He believed that children learn by interacting with their environment and other people. In other words, children learn by doing things with other people. He believed that children develop through a series of social stages, beginning with simple imitation and ending in creative problem solving.
Papert was a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) who co-founded MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab and developed Logo, an educational programming language used to teach children how to program computers. He also thought that children should not only learn by doing but also by playing with technology. Papert was also interested in the role of technology in education. He believed that computers could be used to help children learn mathematics, science and other subjects by making learning more fun and interactive. In the 1980s and 1990s, Papert developed a philosophy of technology called Constructionism. He argued that children learn best when they build things themselves, rather than simply reading instructions or listening to teachers talk about how something works. Papert believed that children who learned by doing and playing with technology would be more likely to become computer scientists and engineers. He also argued that children need to learn how computers work so they can make informed decisions about how to use them responsibly.