Constructivism in Mass Higher Education: a Case Study

Constructivist educational principles suggest that educational environments should provide learners with personal control, authentic learning contexts, and diverse personal interactions including collaboration. How can such constructivist values be applied to mass Higher Education? Traditional methods cannot achieve it with large student numbers but computer-based media are scaleable and may support constructivist learning. A new course for non-science undergraduates provided an opportunity for a constructivist design using the World Wide Web, email, and video. The design of the course, its implementation and evaluation are described. Authentic assessment was critical. Web forms and e-mail supported some necessary personal interactions, but collaborative work was problematical.