Constructivist spiral: an active learning methodology

Based on the social-interactionist education theory and on the pedagogical practices in Western societies, this paper presents the constructivist spiral as an active teaching-learning methodology. It discusses the origins and utilization of active methodologies in higher education and focuses on problem-based learning, problematization methodology, the scientific method, and the use of narratives, simulations or role-playing in real practice scenarios. The exploration of the constructivist spiral, according to the movements “identifying problems”; “formulating explanations”; “developing questions”; building new meanings” and “evaluating processes and products”, highlights similarities and differences in relation to the active methodologies approached in the paper. The educational intentionality behind the utilization of the constructivist spiral is revealed by the nature of the learning triggers that are used and by the transformative sense of reality derived from a critical and reflective posture in the interaction of “subject” and “object”.

Methodology; Teaching; Active learning; Higher education