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the activities: from a priority given to sensory-motor and conceptual activities of individualstudents to the development of knowledge by a group or community of learners.Figure 3.3: Topography of approaches to active learning (Horvath et al, 2004)A distinction can be made between models predicated on constructivist and situated cognitivist(eg apprenticeship) frameworks. Although both approaches share characteristics (suchas learning occurs within a context of use, learning is frequently collaborative, learning asauthentic, learning as inquiry-based not transmission-based), they also embody many importantdifferences, both theoretically and practically. It should be noted that constructivismhas become an umbrella term that encompasses many different types of learning environments(eg see Duffy and Jonassen (1992)), even when they are predicated on vastly differenttheoretical assumptions (Barab and Duffy, 1999).Constructivist learning is a theoretical framework based on the work of Papert (1980). Constructionismbuilds on constructivism in that it distinguishes itself from more traditionalinstruction, in part, by the degree of active learner engagement as well as the assumptionthat learners have the ability to create meaning, understanding, and knowledge. Studentsare not passive receptacles of the knowledge that teachers impart – learners develop theirown reasoned interpretations of their interactions with the world. Perhaps more important,constructionist learning environments allow learners to share and collaboratively reflect onthese cognitive artifacts.Friedman (2001) indicates that experiences of the pioneers show that learning by doing,problem-based learning and project-based learning are the methods that offer the largest134