Understanding constructivism through a marble ramp activity

By Briana Nussbaum
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
November, 2010

Today in class we started out by doing the “Marble Ramp” activity. Professor Boyanton divided the class up into groups of five or six students. Once we were in our group, we were given one piece of newspaper, tape, scissors, a ruler and a marble. Using these few items we had ten minutes to construct a ramp for the marble. The ramp had to be at least twenty five centimeters high and had to change directions once, with a stopper at the end. My group started working as soon as we could. We cut the sheet of newspaper into a few pieces and began to construct our ramp. We rolled one big piece as the support beam, and made two tubes for the ramp. At first, when we connected the two tubes the marble got stuck on the tape joining the pieces together. After realizing this approach was not going to work, we cut an angle on each end of the tubes, so they would create an elbow for the marble to pass through. We then attached a stopper at the end of the ramp. We were so excited when the marble went fully through!

This ramp activity was successful because it enabled students to work together to come up with a solution. The idea of constructivism was displayed throughout this activity. This is true because we all worked and shared ideas based on our experiences. Each student’s idea came from prior knowledge. Trial and error was used in my group to make our ramp work successfully. I think it is important for teachers to give their students challenges that will enable them to think creatively. This is something that I will definitely be sure to do when I am a teacher. Since I am studying to be an art teacher, it will be fun for me to give my students unique assignments and projects that push their talent and creativity. The “Marble Ramp” activity truly showed how we can all think creatively and learn from our experiences.