Imagining the constructivist student online: Actively engaged learner or vulnerable student in need?

Abstract

In recent times, arguments for moving university teaching away from a so-called ‘instructivist’, lecture-centred mode towards a more student-centred ‘constructivist’ approach have become highly influential. This chapter identifies and examines two ways in which higher education students are positioned within these arguments, drawing on a case study of an online learning initiative where constructivist ideas were a key pedagogical driver. It argues that students are imagined in these debates as both engaged constructivist learners, but also as vulnerable students in need of explicit direction and additional support. In the case study in question, institutional leaders and lecturers emphasised..