Conventional vs. Constructivist : Perceptions of Millennial Learners

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

At present, teachers are handling 21st-century students, the Millennial, the new generation of students saturated to modern technologies with vast understanding in using the internet and social media. They are not limited by the information available on theirbooks instead they make use of the internet. The researchers conducted this study to identify which of the two sets of teachers in this school, conventional and constructivist, is more appealing to millennial pupils that may lead to a better understandingof the lesson and bridge the gap of experienced teachers and novice when it comes to strategies and use of new technology in teaching.

METHODS

The researcher used 80 respondents from grade 6 of Coliat Elementary School. The descriptive method of researchwas used in this study.The design of this research followed three phases namely the input, process, and output. The profile of the respondents concerning age, gender, interest, and skills were included in the input as well as the perception of the respondents to the strategies of their teachers. The research questionnaires were used to gather the data needed in the process phase. Finally, the proposed approaches in handling millennial pupils based on the findings of this research summarized the output phase. In treating the data gathered, the researcher used frequency distribution, weighted mean and Z-Test.

RESULTS

The findings showed that millennial pupils were not much interested in painting, drawing, and writing because they were more interested in computer related activities. This implied that millennial pupils were fun of music, and the following results were drawn: Watching Audio Visual Presentation arouses pupils' interest. The conventional strategies like textbooks and paper-pencil tests are still effective devices. Constructivist strategies are effective tools. There is a significant difference between conventional and constructivist strategies of the teachers to the perception of the millennial pupils.

DISCUSSIONS

The identified pupils' perceptions of conventional strategies of the teacher proved that millennial pupils were fun of being part of a team. They loved more challenging activities in which they can share their ideas with their members. They looked on more manipulative activities to applytheir skills. From these findings, teachers can use a combination of conventional and constructivist strategies and should be aware of different constructivist strategies to adapt to a new set of learners.