Due to this emphasis, teachers then struggle between “the desire to cover a lot of material and the
necessity of using more time-consuming methods that allow students to construct meaning from their
lessons,” stated Jay McTighe, an education consultant and cocreator of the Understand by Design program
(Franklin, 2001, p. 2). Teachers often believe it better to expose students to a little bit of everything than to
not get to an objective at all. The problem with this method is the material we teach students does not have
any meaning to the students and although we “cover” a lot of information,students have trouble retaining it.
Constructivism is a method of teaching that emphasizes the importance of building on students’ prior
knowledge and allowing the student toconstruct their own understanding.