Reexamining Assessment in an Age of AI: The Vital Role of Constructivist Models
"If a lion could speak, we could not understand him," observed philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, pondering the inaccessibility of subjective inner experience. When Wittgenstein postulated his view on our ability to understand a hypothetical lion being able to speak, he wasn’t merely presenting an intriguing thought experiment, but probing the very core of communication and comprehension. Applying this philosophical nugget to the realm of education and assessment unveils a landscape rife with interpretive challenges and epistemological nuances. How, then, do educators traverse this multifaceted terrain? Could this maxim illuminate key tensions in educational assessment? When we attempt to gauge student learning, what are we truly measuring? Can test scores ever capture the intricacies of conceptual comprehension unfolding in one’s mind? Such assessments provide but a keyhole view, sampling mere shadows of understanding. Traditional tests and assessments, already facing criticism for their narrow scope and potential misinterpretations, might be further challenged by AI-driven methodologies. Can these new technologies harmonize with the age-old practices, or will they necessitate a complete reimagining of how we perceive and evaluate learning?
Probing Wittgenstein’s Lion
Within the confines of Wittgenstein's lion allegory lies a profundity that bears significance for education. To truly grasp its essence, one must understand that the underlying message is not about language alone, but the intertwining of language with a shared existence or form of life. Even if a lion, by some miracle, acquired human speech, its experiences - influenced by its instincts, surroundings, and lion-ness - would be so distinct from ours that comprehension would remain elusive.
The same challenge arises when educators seek to assess the learning journeys of students. Their intricate intellectual and emotional landscapes, formed through personal experiences, backgrounds, and contexts, are as intricate and inaccessible as a speaking lion’s psyche. Traditional assessment tools, despite their intent, capture just a fraction of this vastness. They are but snapshots, unable to encapsulate the rich tapestry of a student's learning journey. This understanding must reshape our approach to assessment, making us critically aware of its inherent limitations: in assessing learning, we face the perpetual puzzle of accessing the mastery within another’s private intellectual world. Even if a lion could phonetically form words, the subjective insights and intentions behind its utterances would remain opaque. Without common grounding in a collective linguistic culture, its vocalizations would be disembodied noise. Wittgenstein’s view was that language and meaning are inextricably tied to shared forms of life.
This limitation structures educational assessment. Tests and grading rubrics sample observable outputs – texts, computations, gestures – attempting to infer internal mindsets. Yet the student’s lived experience of comprehension likely differs from what we glean externally. Their inner world of understanding exceeds the behavioral data points available. As Wittgenstein noted, without inhabiting another’s consciousness, the significance they ascribe to knowledge remains partially veiled.
Troublingly, traditional assessments often make assumptions instead of holding space for ambiguity. Multiple choice items reduce complexity, seeking single static answers. But mastery manifests multifariously. Understanding ebbs and flows, influenced by context and emotion. Yet our quest for quantitative data compresses cognition’s dynamism into rigid metrics. In so doing, we risk misrepresenting the knowledge students construct, ignoring shades of meaning.
Part 2: The Socio-Constructivist Lens
Socio-constructivist models offer an alternative paradigm more aligned to Wittgenstein’s insight. As theorists like Vygotsky and Bruner argue, authentic learning is not passive transmission, but active meaning-making built on individuals’ existing mental frameworks. Knowledge is constructed, not consumed. Learners integrate new information through hands-on engagement with concrete situations requiring conceptual application – what pioneering French educator Guy Brousseau (2) called “fundamental situations.” Brousseau designed scaffolded scenarios that compel students to independently formulate and test strategies, revising their models through trial and error. Learning lives in the intentional testing of ideas against reality, not pre-configured content. The teacher serves as flexible guide in this discovery, not as absolute authority. Unlike traditional models that often extrapolate from limited data, the socio-constructivist paradigm immerses itself in the throes of active learning. Through this lens, students are not mere vessels to be filled but active constructors of knowledge. They engage in "fundamental situations", real-world contexts that demand application, synthesis, and innovation. Here, the assessment is not a passive examination of outcomes, but an active observation of processes. Every interaction, mistake, and correction provides valuable insights into students’ cognitive realms, bridging, to some extent, the gap Wittgenstein alluded to.
Part 3: Re-Envisioning Education in an AI Era: The Necessity of Constructivist Models
This constructivist orientation fosters precisely the higher-order competencies needed as AI transforms education: the transformative power of AI in the education domain, particularly when viewed through a socio-constructivist lens, cannot be understated. Guy Brousseau’s pioneering work offers pivotal insights. In Brousseau’s vision, learners are thrust into interactive environments where they don't just acquire facts but actively mold their conceptual frameworks. The modern student, with AI's vast reservoir of information at their fingertips, is no longer just a passive receiver. The socio-constructivist model, supercharged by AI, transforms them into knowledge architects. Yet, the educator’s role doesn’t diminish; it metamorphoses. They become facilitators, guiding students through the maze of knowledge, ensuring that the journey is as significant as the destination. As machine learning matures, rote knowledge acquisition loses primacy. Computational tutors can scaffold facts and procedures on-demand. But activities requiring complex communication, critical analysis, creative ideation and empathetic teamwork remain pinnacles of human development. Thus, project-based, collaborative learning must take center stage. Here too Brousseau’s “fundamental situations” prove appropriate, reimagined for our era. Just as mathematicians construct understandings of ratios through baking, learners can build 21st century skills by tackling design challenges combining engineering, computer science, social science and the arts. Knowledge integration in context eclipses isolated content.
Part 4: Wittgenstein Revisited: Assessment Dynamics in an AI era
Crucially, constructivist methods also inform assessment. Well-designed standards outline competencies in situated contexts, not static facts. Detailed rubrics map learners’ evolving strategies to evidence of ascending conceptual grasp. Consider two fourth graders, Noah and Emma, tasked with designing a habitat diorama for the endangered mountain gorilla species:
Noah follows the textbook guidelines, making a basic model with some trees, cardboard rocks and plastic gorilla figurines. When the tree cardboard falls over, he starts over with fresh materials rather than problem-solving. His habitat lacks authentic detail on gorillas' social groupings, habitat range, or the effects of deforestation. Noah's approach focuses on replicating sample dioramas rather than applying integrated knowledge.
Emma researches mountain gorilla behaviors and habitat needs before designing her model. She intentionally tests materials and layouts to represent the biodiversity of gorillaforest ecosystems. When her papier-mâché volcano crumbles, Emma uses this as data to rework her model, incorporating stronger materials. She adds thoughtful details on climate change and human impacts on gorilla survival. Emma's work displays resilient transfer of interdisciplinary learning.
The open-ended habitat project assesses applicative learning, not just memorized facts. Noah's surface approach misses opportunities to synthesize research, test hypotheses and adapt creatively. In contrast, Emma's iterative refinements, attention to accuracy, and integrated application of knowledge across science and social studies disciplines demonstrates deeper learning. Her conceptual proficiency exceeds the assignment’s defined parameters.
Standards and rubrics elucidate such qualitative differences. Of course, subjectivity persists. Standards are not absolute codifiers. But their transparency supports developmental continuity and consistent evaluation, helping illuminate the complex weave of competencies comprising genuine mastery. Wittgenstein was right: inner experience defies perfect external measurement. But when grounded in constructivist pedagogy, standards provide guideposts to better appreciate students’ conceptual horizons. They uphold clarity of purpose – what learning is for – while allowing flexible pathways in achieving goals.
As artificial intelligence progresses, so too must assessment – toward methods integrating human knowledge pursuits with human characters such as Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, and Reflective. This demands learning environments centered on constructing not consuming knowledge. For it is in contexts eliciting learners’ active conceptual engagement that the deep learning most essential to human flourishing is cultivated. Our historic educational structures have not always reflected this reality. Too often we are lion tamers, seeking to control and constrain knowledge within defined cages. But, as Wittgenstein realized, understanding overflows these bars when given space to roam.
In the era of AI, we no longer have the luxury of choice. With machine learning rapidly assuming rote instructional tasks, schools must shift towards the constructivist approaches pioneered by educators like Brousseau. We must have the courage to cede control to learners, creating thriving educational ecosystems where conceptual knowledge converges with human values of creativity, ethics and empathy. AI will free up space for that which makes us most human – contextual problem-solving, critical reasoning, imaginative expression. Moving forward, we must have the courage to entrust learners to construct their own futures, guided by compassion. The technological tools are in place to make this possible. What remains is our will to realize a new vision of education where understanding overflows defined limits into something richer and more humane.
Conclusion: The Odyssey Ahead
The confluence of philosophy, pedagogy, and technology presents both challenges and opportunities. As members of the international education community, the mantle of leadership in this transformative era falls upon us. We must meld the wisdom of philosophers like Wittgenstein with the boundless potential of AI, always keeping the ethical compass pointed towards true north. In doing so, we embark on a journey to redefine what it means to learn, teach, and assess in the modern age. And just like Wittgenstein’s lion, our students echo the roars of their unique experiences and perceptions in this technologically-augmented learning landscape. It is imperative that we, as educators and facilitators, learn to comprehend these diverse roars, to design and redefine learning experiences that are in harmony with their distinctive insights and needs in this AI-infused reality.
The journey ahead mandates us to acknowledge and rise above our existing practices and paradigms, to challenge, innovate, and integrate, realizing a symphony of learning that resonates with the echoes of our students’ voices and the revolutionary cadences of AI. This relentless pursuit of excellence, innovation, and introspection will propel us out of our comfort zones, but such a venture is essential, and it is one that a community ingrained with learner-centric and forward-thinking values must ardently embrace. Progressive schools have long championed constructivist models of teaching and learning. This dedication to active, experiential knowledge-building lays the groundwork for the integration and flourishing of new, transformative technologies. Within ethical and intentional frameworks, AI can become a paramount tool in these progressive institutions, paving the way for unprecedented expansions of human knowledge horizons.
Yet even with these strengths, significant effort will be required to realize this vision. We must have the humility to acknowledge that our current best practices are not sufficient to prepare students for an AI world. To truly equip learners, we must challenge ourselves to dive deeper into competency-based assessment, design thoroughly integrated transdisciplinary curriculum, and open our pedagogical assumptions to critical examination.
With thoughtful intention, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to ethical values, there lies the potential to redefine education, envisioning it as a realm where technology serves not just the acquisition of skills, but the holistic development of character. The success and fulfillment of students hinge on the willingness of educational communities to embrace change and evolution collectively.
By championing this ethos of openness and collective growth, forward-thinking educational institutions can continue to carve paths of enlightenment and innovation, prioritizing the well-being and development of learners. The pursuit is not just about meeting standards; it's about inspiring a lifelong journey of learning and adaptability in a world in constant flux. As educator William Arthur Ward insightfully noted, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” In this essence, every educational community striving for progress and holistic development must continually seek innovative and inspiring ways to foster lifelong learning in an ever-evolving world.
Pascal Vallet - September 2023 - In intellectual partnership with OpenAI's GPT engine to enhance knowledge depth, rhetorical polish, and conceptual clarity within a humanistic framework.