Which of the following depicts a situation where children are constructing…
2023
Which of the following depicts a situation where children are constructing knowledge on their own ?
- A.
The best student in the class reads aloud the multiplication tables and rest of the students repeat after him/her.
- B.
Children are reciting multiplication tables in a chorus.
- C.
Children are given manipulatives like number grids, tokens arranged in rectangular arrays and they are exploring multiplication patterns using them.
- D.
Teacher has written incomplete multiplication tables on blackboard and children are completing the tables by writing them on blackboard.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: Constructivism (the view associated with Piaget and later constructivist pedagogy) holds that children construct their own knowledge when they actively explore, manipulate, and experiment with materials and experiences, discovering patterns and relationships for themselves, rather than having knowledge transmitted to them through telling, imitation, or rote repetition.
Application: Applying this to a multiplication-tables classroom: a situation where children are handed manipulatives, number grids and tokens arranged in rectangular arrays, and use them to explore multiplication patterns on their own involves direct, self-directed manipulation of concrete material to discover a mathematical pattern. That is exactly how constructivist knowledge-building happens.
Cross-check (contrast with the other situations):
Reading aloud and repeating after the best student is imitation-based reproduction of information supplied by a peer, with no manipulation of material by the learner.
Reciting tables together in chorus is group memorization through repetition, with no concrete material and no independent discovery involved.
Completing a teacher-written table on the blackboard has learners filling gaps in a structure the teacher already defined, a guided completion task rather than open exploration.
None of these three involve the learner exploring concrete material independently, so the manipulative-exploration situation is the one that depicts children constructing knowledge on their own. This matches the official CTET August 2023 Paper I answer key.