Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

Cycling and the Environment:

A Constructivist Lesson Plan for ETEC 530
John Oswald
University of British Columbia

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

Introduction
This assignment presents an online lesson plan for learners based on constructivist learning
design principals. It is the culmination of a collection of experiences in ETEC 530 Constructivism
Strategies for E-Learning in the University of British Columbia's Masters of Educational Technology
program that includes course readings, online discussions and research cafes and individual study.
Much thought and effort has gone into aligning theory and practice for these online learning activities.
Four concepts from the course that strongly influenced the design of this lesson were: 1) a working
definition of knowledge, 2) simple criteria for designing constructivist lessons, 3) giving and receiving
feedback and 4) having students verbalize and reflect on the contradictions and misconceptions they
encountered in their learning.
What is Knowledge?
The course text began with an epistemological study of what it means to know. After all that I
decided I was comfortable with justified, true belief (Pritchard, 2013) as a definition of knowing and I
hope to bring that definition to my learners, starting with this lesson. At the end of the lesson I would
like the learners to have a better understanding of the environmental impacts of cycling (both positive
and negative) and how they came to 'know' them. #knowing
What Makes a Lesson Constructivist?
As we moved through ETEC 530, we worked on the research cafes and we were instructed to
use Baviskar et al as our measure of constructivism. Despite encountering other models for
constructivist learning (Fosnot, 2005; Sunnal, n.d.) I found myself continually seeing their
constructions through Baviskar et al.'s lens. Their four simple constructivist criteria: access prior
knowledge, create cognitive dissonance, apply new knowledge with feedback and reflecting on the
learning on learning are a flexible set of guidelines that are perfect for teachers like myself who teach

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

in many domaines (PE/French/Junior Science). I came to realize this when I was asked if I thought
teachers needed more subject specific guidelines for constructivist teaching. The lesson plan below is
formatted according to Baviskar et al's criteria. Additionally, my understanding of how other author's
learning cycles compare and contrast is summarized in a chart below.
Giving and Receiving Feedback
In the research cafe that I moderated, I asked the participants what methods they used to get
student feedback and they suggested google surveys and other online tools. I remembered this when I
was looking for a way to take inventory of the learners' prior knowledge and to get them considering
their current knowledge constructions. Since most of the work in the course I am designing will be
online, I will also provide be providing feedback on direct student submissions and will occasionally
offer feedback to student submissions and questions in the in discussion forumseither in the
discussion or with an email. #digitalfeedback
Dealing with Contradictions and Cognitive Dissonance
As we continued to explore constructivism in Modules B and C of the course, three readings
stood out for me: Fosnot's Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice (2005), Constructivist
Teaching in Science (So, 2002), about the training and performance of constructivist teachers and The
Learning Cycle: A Comparison of Models of Strategies for Conceptual Reconstruction summarized by
Sunnal (n.d.). From these readings I began to see the value of the contradictions and disequilibrium
(Fosnot, Ch2) in learning and the value of pupils in explaining their misconceptions and
contradictions (So, 2002). I believe that if students are challenged to explain and reflect on their
misconceptions once they have developed a new construction, they will have more than just that hard
earned knowledge, they will also have a better understanding of how they learn and why they now
believe what they do. The lesson plan on cycling and the environment has multiple opportunities for

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

students to discuss contradictions and misconceptions.

Other Models of the Learning Cycle
During ETEC 530, we also encountered other models of the learning cycle besides Baviskar et
al's four criteria. Since the lesson I have developed touches on scientific concepts (greenhouse gas
emissions), it was useful to consider how some of the science learning cycles we studied compare to
Baviskar et al's model. As I read, I found a lot of common ground and it was easy to see how different
authors were using a variety of terms to describe the same things we had encountered in the Baviskar
and Fosnot readings earlier in the course. (Figure 1, below)
When asked to redesign a lesson using one of the learning cycles in Sunnal's summary of
models of conceptual reconstruction, I chose Renner's three stage learning cycle (1982, as presented in
Sunnal, n.d.) to reconfigure how the students would learn about gravitational concepts. Renner's 3
stages are: Experiences (learners construct what is to be learned before the teacher tells them),
Interpretation (teacher introduces terminology to summarize the newly constructed knowledge),
Exploration (learners use the new constructions) and they seem to dovetail nicely with Baviskar's work.
I particularly liked Renner's Interpretation step which seems to be an effective bridge between
Baviskar's Cognitive Dissonance and Application with Feedback elements. I presented this lesson in
the ETEC 530 discussion forum in Week 11 and I am using it this week in class. These values and ideas
made it into my revised statement of education and are reflected in the lesson plan to follow.
Since this lesson is designed to meet learning objectives for BC Secondary PE 11/12, a search
for research papers on constructivism in PE was in order. Most of the literature is on Teaching Games
for Understanding and I found this a bit lacking as my lesson is focussed on 'minimizing the
environmental impact of exercise' not games. I did find a proposal for '5E Learning Cycle' with sample
lesson plans for PE (Senturk & Camliyer, 2016). The five E's are Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate,

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

Evaluate and they correspond nicely with Baviskar et al's Four Criteria. In fact, the addition of 'Explain'
allows for the teacher to provide direction when necessary and explain terminology to help learners
deal with some of their disequilibrium and misconceptions before they begin to apply their new
constructions in the Elaborate phase of the 5E cycle.
Although I will continue building and evaluating my lesson plans using Baviskar et al.'s criteria,
I recognize the common ground it shares with other models for the constructivist learning cycle. My
view of the common steps is summarized in the table below:

Figure 1. A comparison of terminology associated with different learning cycle models

Baviskar et al (2009)

Renner (1982)

5E PE (Senturk &
Camliyer, 2016)

Fosnot (2005)
(ordered by myself
order not prescribed by
author)

Access prior knowledge Experiences

Engage

Generate questions

Cognitive Dissonance

Explore

Disequilibrium

Explain

Dialogue

Application w/feedback Exploration

Elaborate

Generation of Big Ideas

Reflection

Evaluate

Reflection

Interpretation

This table was inspired by a similar chart on Sunnal's (n.d.) web summary of science learning
cycles. It summarizes my understanding of the common aspects of the authors' approaches to
constructivist learning. I have tried to place the stages vertically according to my conception of the
similarities between the stages. For example, Accessing prior knowledge and stimulating cognitive
dissonance (Baviskar et al.) has a lot in common with the Experiences aspect of Renner's cycle and
the Engage step of 5E Learning. Throughout the lesson plan I will apply colour-coded tags to the
various learning activities to indicate the stages of the different learning cycles so that readers can get

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

an idea of my thought process and can follow along depending on which model they are most
comfortable with.
Lesson Plan Summary
This lesson has been developed within the school's Moodle LMS. I am in the process of
designing a course called Community Cycling (Fig 2) in which members of the school's bike club will
be able to meet the outcomes for BC PE 11 or 12. The course design is based on British Columbia's
1997 Prescribed Learning Outcomes for PE 11 and is subject to change as the Ministry of Education is
updating the K-12 curriculum.

Figure 2: Course home page:

The course layout in Moodle is a tabs format where clicking on the Cycling and the
Environment tab will provide a drop down menu of this lesson (Fig 3). There are five activities in the

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

lesson and they have been selected and developed with Baviskar et al.'s (2009) Essential Criteria to
Characterize Constructivist Teaching in mind. Completion of an activity allows access to the next
activity so they are completed in order to ensure adequate scaffolding for students to achieve success
on the subsequent step.

Figure 3: Cycling and the Environment drop down menu

The lesson plan outline and its associated British Columbia Ministry of Education's Prescribed
Learning Outcomes is presented below (Fig. 4). Colour-coded hash tags indicate where ideas from the
course readings, discussions and research cafes have been put into practice. Baviskar et al's Essential
Elements for Constructivist Learning are in blue and were the primary guide in designing the lesson.
The other hashtags refer to the three other aspects of the course that most influenced the lesson design
as mentioned in the introduction.

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

Fig 4: Cycling and the Environment: Lesson plan outline

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

BC PE 11 Active Living #4: Adapt physical activities to minimize environmental impact

BC PE 11 Personal and Social Responsibility #5: Identify and use appropriate technology
when solving problems involving physical activity
Essential Elements of Constructivism:

1. #PriorKnowledge, #Experiences, #Engage

i. Google Survey (Figs. 5, 6) for learners' knowledge/attitudes inventory
ii. Learners see the survey results in chart and graphic form #digitalfeedback
iii. Learners may generate questions about what was and was not included in the survey
2. #CognitiveDissonance, #Experiences, #Interpretation, #Explore, #Explain, #Questions,
#Disequilibrium
i. Teacher presents a lawmaker's contention that cycling is bad for the environment (Fig. 7)
ii. Learners discuss possible contradictions to their prior beliefs in a discussion forum
iii. Learners are directed to a credible study that compares the CO2 output of various forms of
transport (Fig. 8)
iv. Teacher will clarify and introduce terminology if necessary
v. Learners compare their new constructs in a discussion forum #Dialogue, #Big Ideas,
#knowing
3. #Application #Feedback, #Exploration, #Elaborate, #Dialogue, #Big Ideas
i. Learners research cycling and build credible infographics to encourage participation in
Bike to School Week (Figs. 9, 10)
ii. Teacher provides feedback on the inforgraphic using a rubric with written comments (Fig.
11) based on: visual appeal, legibility, graphic visualization, credibility of data with respect
to the claim being made and referencing of the data source #digitalfeedback
4. #Reflection, #Evaluate, #Dialogue, #Big Ideas
i. Learners reflect on an aspect of their learning (credibility of data, use of data for promoting
one's ideas, responding to people in power with accurate claims, suitability of provided
tools for the task) that they find important #knowing
ii. Learners can re-examine the survey results from the beginning of the lesson and consider
how they would answer the questions now and how the survey could be improved

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

Moodle Lesson Screens

The following lessons screens are provided for visual reference to the reader and as evidence of
learning in the event that the submitted course backup file does not open.
Figure 5: Accessing Prior Knowledge

Figure 6: Google Forms survey

Running Head: CONSTRUCTIVIST LESSON PLAN

Figure 7: Cognitive Dissonance Activities I

Figure 8: Cognitive Dissonance Activity II

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Figure 9: Application with Feedback Activity (top half)

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Figure 10: Application with feedback activity (bottom half)

Figure 11: Infographic feedback rubric

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Figure 12: Suggested learning reflection activities

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Conclusion
The intent of this assignment was to create a lesson using what I have learned in ETEC 530:
Constructivism Strategies for E-Learning. I decided to use Baviskar et al's essential criteria for
constructivist teaching to design a lesson for a PE 11 equivalency course called Community Cycling. In
this lesson prior knowledge will be accessed using a Google Forms survey on the students' knowledge
and attitudes regarding cycling and the environment. The learners' assumptions are then challenged
with some cognitive dissonance when a conflicting view (cycling is bad for the environment) is
presented. Motivated by this dissonance, students then have to ask questions, research their answers
online and form new constructions. Students will then apply their new constructions to promote a
cycling event at their school with feedback from myself. After completing this application of their new
knowledge the students will reflect in writing on what they have learned and how they have learned it.
Like all lessons, this one will not run exactly as it was laid out in print. There will be
substitutions, additions and deletions before it is given the first time and in response to how the
students respond to its learning activities. My design skills with Moodle and the software could also
improve. For example, I would like to become more familiar with the piktochart app so that I can
present the survey findings on an inforgraphic in the Moodle course page in real time as the responses
come in (apparently this possibility exists). All in all, this plan offers a good start for meeting the
course objectives as well as acting as a great summary of my learning in ETEC 530.

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15

Works Cited
Baviskar 1, S. N., Hartle, R. T., & Whitney, T. (2009). Essential Criteria to Characterize Constructivist
Teaching: Derived from a review of the literature and applied to five constructivistteaching
method articles. International Journal of Science Education, 31(4), 541-550.
Government of British Columbia. (1997). Physical Education 11 and 12: Integrated Resource Package
1997. Ministry of Education, Skills and Training, Province of British Columbia. Retrieved 10
April 2016, from https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/physical_education/1997pe1112.pdf
Fosnot, C. T. (2013). Constructivism: Theory, perspectives, and practice. Teachers College Press.
Pritchard, D. (2013). What is this thing called knowledge?. Routledge.
So, W. W. M. (2002). Constructivist teaching in science. AsiaPacific Forum on Science
Learning and Teaching 3, (1).
Senturk, H. E., & Camliyer, H. (2016). A New Learning Model on Physical Education: 5E Learning
Cycle.Universal Journal of Educational Research 4(1), 26-29, Retrieved 10 April 2016, from
http://www.hrpub.org/download/20151231/UJER4-19504553.pdf
Sunnal, D. W (n.d.) The Learning Cycle: A Comparison of Models of Strategies for Conceptual
Reconstruction: A Review of the Literature. Retrieved October 9, 2010, from
http://astlc.ua.edu/ScienceInElem&MiddleSchool/565LearningCycleComparingModels.htm