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Article Reviewed:

Kim, J.S. (2005). The effects of a constructivist teaching approach on student academic achievement,
self-concept, and learning strategies. Asia Pacific Education Review, 6(1), 7-19. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03024963

The article, “The effects of a constructivist teaching approach on student academic

achievement, self-concept, and learning strategies” was written by Jong Suk Kim in 2005.
This research was conducted with the purpose of determining the effectiveness of
constructivist teaching approach in Mathematics of 76 six graders in Korea. The researcher
had the idea to conduct this research due to few problems that occurred in Korea. In this
article, he clearly highlighted the challenges faced by the public schools in preparing their
leaners in line with the demands of the industrial society. Concerning one of the issues that
had been highlighted by the researcher, teachers in Korea taught their students using the
traditional approach. This issue is similar in Malaysia context whereby there are still some
teachers who are practising traditional method to teach students in school. But living in the
21st century demands students to have the ability to perform creative thinking as well as
problem solving tasks. Unfortunately, traditional teaching approach is teacher-centred rather
than student-centred and teachers provide all information directly to students, thus inhibit the
production of active learners who have high-order thinking skills (Ayaz & Sekerci, 2015).

In order to comprehend the terms used in this research, the researcher also explained
explicitly the principles of constructivist and traditional teaching approach. In addition, he
managed to characterize the differences of classroom environment between both teaching
approaches using a table. Through that table, the reader or other researcher manages to get
the gist of each teaching approach without having confusion.

In this article, all the instruments were adequately described. The researcher used
academic achievement test, self-concept inventory, learning strategies inventory made by
Claire et al and the classroom environment survey on constructivist teaching made by Kim.
He also explained about the methods used for measuring the results. All of them were well-
explained in Chapter 3.

Apart from that, Jong Suk Kim constructed four research questions in order to
validate the relation of constructivist teaching approach towards students’ academic
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achievement, self-concept and learning strategies among students. Below are the research
questions that were formulated by him:

1. Are there any differences in academic achievement between a teacher oriented

classroom and constructivist classroom?
2. Are there any differences in student self-concept between the two classrooms?
3. Are there any differences in learning strategies between the two classrooms?
4. What is the focus of student feedback in relation to constructivist teaching?

The research questions were clearly written in this article and the major findings were
presented using tables. Based on the results given, firstly, it shows that constructivist teaching
is more effective in terms of academic achievement of students. Secondly, constructivist
teaching is not effective in terms of student self-concept enhancement and student learning
strategy changes in general, but have some effect upon motivation to learn academic learning
process and self-monitoring in terms of learning for tests. Finally, the students have some
preference for a constructivist teaching classroom environment. In Chapter 4, the researcher
discussed the results of each element in details and he managed to relate the obtained results
with the research questions.

In Chapter 5, the researcher mentioned again the purpose of the study, the research
methodology, and the results of the research. On the other hand, the researcher did not
mention about the limitations, recommendations or suggestions for further research. This
information should be included in the article because they can help other researchers who are
intended to replicate or do a similar research to improve or consider about other
elements/issues before they start doing their research.

Overall, the idea of the research is applicable in Malaysia context as our country is
also incorporating the constructivist teaching approach in classrooms. This is supported with
the idea that has been put forward in the Malaysia Education Blueprint. In the blueprint,
under student aspirations, the Ministry of Education (2013) highlights:

“Every child will learn how to continue acquiring knowledge throughout their
lives (instilling a love for inquiry and lifelong learning), to be able to connect
different pieces of knowledge, and, most importantly in a knowledge-based
economy, to create new knowledge. Every child will master a range of
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important cognitive skills, including problem-solving, reasoning, creative

thinking, and innovation.”

The above statement shows that in order for a student to acquire higher order thinking skills,
he or she should be able to connect and construct new knowledge with their previous
knowledge or experiences. This will only happen if constructivist teaching approach is used
in the classrooms whereby teachers give the opportunity and authority to students to explore
the lesson that will be taught to them. In addition, Nayak (2007) also urges that nowadays, in
terms of pedagogy, teachers should emphasize student involvement in their learning, so that
the process of knowledge construction will occur rather than knowledge transformation.

In Malaysia, we are using new curriculum standards in preparing students for the
challenges of the 21st century. The new curriculum standards are known as Kurikulum
Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) and Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM). In
the new curriculum, constructivist teaching approach is one of the approaches used in order
to improve students’ higher order thinking skills. In the new syllabus, students are exposed to
activities that require students to work in groups and there are plenty project-based activities.
Therefore, with the new transformation made to Malaysian curriculum standard, it is hope
that better citizens are born and are capable of meeting the needs of this challenging era.
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REFERENCES

Ayaz, M. F., & Sekerci, H. (2015). The effects of the constructivist learning approach on student's
academic achievement: A meta-analysis study. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-
TOJET, 14(4), 143-156. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1077612

Kim, J.S. (2005). The effects of a constructivist teaching approach on student academic achievement,
self-concept, and learning strategies. Asia Pacific Education Review, 6(1), 7-19. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03024963

Blueprint, M. E. (2016). Blueprint 2013-2025.(2013). Ministry of Education, Malaysia.

Nayak, D. K. (2007). A study on effect of constructivist pedagogy on students’ achievement in

mathematics at elementary level. National Institute of Open Schooling, MHRD, Noida. Retrieved
from http://www.ncert.nic.in/pdf_files/Rajendra%20Kumar%20Nayak.pdf