Classroom Constructivism Inventory: Informing Teaching Practices

Abstract

This study addresses the need to assess critical thinking in P-12 teaching by developing the Classroom Constructivism Inventory (CCI), a tool designed to assess constructivist teaching practices. Constructivism, which emphasizes active student involvement and the construction of knowledge, has been linked to positive educational outcomes. Despite its benefits, the diverse implementation of constructivism complicates its evaluation. The CCI was created to provide a construct-valid and user-friendly instrument for assessing the presence and effectiveness of constructivist elements in classrooms. Grounded in the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, the CCI measures adherence to constructivist principles, such as student-centered activities, democracy in classroom interactions, professionalism, and the development of inquiry skills. The instrument was tested with two groups of teachers: one trained in constructivist methods and a control group with traditional training. Results demonstrated the CCI’s subscales’ reliabilities (pretest Cronbach’s αs = .79 - .83), good test-retest reliability (rExperimental = .53; rControl = .70), and its ability to distinguish between the teaching practices of the two groups. Teachers trained in constructivist methods led more student-centered activities and encouraged greater use of inquiry skills. The findings support that the CCI can validly measure constructivist teaching in real classroom settings, providing educators with a practical tool to enhance and evaluate constructivist teaching practices. Further validation with a broader range of school faculty is recommended.