The Meaning and Mechanism of the ‘Construction’ in the Operational Constructivism and the Social Constructivism

조작적 구성주의와 사회적 구성주의에서 구성의 의미와 과정

In this study, we have investigated the meaning and mechanism of the ‘construction’ in the operational constructivism and the social constructivism. According to Piaget, a mathematical concept is the operational schème, which is constructed through the reflective abstraction from a general coordination of activities and operations. The process of the reflective abstraction consists of ‘réfléchissement’ and ‘réflexion’. The réfléchissement starting from ‘intériorisation’ concludes with ‘thématisation’, and the réflexion consists in the ‘équilibration’ of the result of réfléchissement. The ‘construction’ in the social constructivism includes two process. One is the process from the individual, subjective knowledge of mathematics to the social, objective knowledge of mathematics, and the other is vice versa. The emphasis is placed on the ‘social interaction’ and the ‘representation’ in this two processes. In this context, if we want to apply the social constructivism, we should clarify the meaning of ‘society’, and consider the difference between the society of mathematicians and the society of students.