SMU Distinguished Lecture Series: Constructivism in Gifted Classrooms

Southern Methodist University is proud to support the Gifted Students Institute as an integral part of the University. The Institute’s goals draw on our strengths and challenge us to assist educators, parents, and students and to contribute to ongoing research in giftedness.

Upcoming class:

With the new focus on STEM education, inquiry-based approaches that rest on the Constructivist learning theory have become very popular. But Constructivism is not easy to apply in a classroom setting. This seminar will discuss the basic tenets of Constructivism as a learning theory, its benefits to learning for students, and difficulties that are often encountered in implementing Constructivism in the classroom. Participants will walk away with example lessons of how to apply a Constructivist approach to several content areas, including Math, Science, Literature and Social Studies.

Ann Batenburg, Ph.D., serves as a clinical assistant professor in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Dr. Batenburg earned her doctorate in Teaching and Learning with a focus in Gifted Education from the University of Iowa in 2011. She also holds two master’s degrees: one in Special Education from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and one in Teacher Leadership from North Park College in Chicago. She teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate teacher education courses with a focus on gifted education.

Dr. Batenburg has several years of elementary teaching experience in the Chicago area. She taught fifth grade for nine years and students with special needs for five years. At the college level, she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Iowa, Cornell College, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Salem College. Her passion is working with children who are gifted and talented, as they are often the children who are left without services in our schools. Her research interests center on examining factors that contribute to talent development, other issues in the education of the gifted, and Constructivist philosophy and teaching methods

6 hours Creativity and Instructional Strategies
FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Gifted Students Institute
PO Box 750383
Dallas, TX 75275-0383
Phone: 214-768-4383
Fax: 214-768-3147
gifted@smu.edu