Activity 3.4: Bart the Genius: Constructivism Applied?

            I think O’Donnell would have mixed feelings about the learning environment in which Bart is placed.  I think she would approve in that the students seemed to be assisting in their own learning environment, and choosing what they thought they could learn more from.  The students also seemed to be responsible for their own work and sharing their knowledge with the group.   I don’t think she’d approve because it did not seem that consideration was taken about Bart’s zone of proximal development.  Thus, I don’t think this is an example of constructivism.  I didn’t seem to see any scaffolding going on; that is, the teacher seemed to just be supervising, not guiding the students to further learning.  This may have been due to the fact that everyone assumed that Bart’s abilities were at the same level of the rest of the gifted class, which as we know were not.