ABSTRACT
Chapter 12 describes the need for students to engage in generative learning in which they are asked to take action deliberately to create meaning from what they are studying (Wittrock, 1974, 1978). Students, instead of having knowledge transferred to them, are engaged in a continuous and collaborative process of building and reshaping mental structures as a natural consequence of their experience and interaction with the world (Forman & Pufall, 1988; Fosnot, 1989; Goodman, 1984). In this chapter, we build upon generative learning and emphasize the importance of making knowledge building visible or overt. Most of what successful learners — learners who are able to engage in complex problemsolving and higher-level thinking activities — do is hidden. One of the main goals of the following guidelines is to make the knowledge construction process overt. Additionally, the guidelines reflect the current emphasis in learning theory — constructivism.
