Constructivism proposes that knowledge is constructed in each person by receiving information in the context of existing knowledge, gained through interaction with the environment. What is learned in each experience depends on what was learned before, with each person's foundation being unique.
Constructive teaching is based on the belief that students learn best when they gain knowledge through exploration and active learning. Hands-on materials are used instead of textbooks, and students are encouraged to think and explain their reasoning instead of memorizing and reciting facts."
(McBrien & Brandt, 1997)
While constructivism is connected to differentiated instruction indirectly, they both honor the individualism of learners and the need to have several pathways to the learning process.
Brain research uses technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans to see what happens in the brain as we feel, think, and solve problems.
The theory of brain-based learning is strongly linked to the field of education. "Teaching without an awareness of how the brain learns is like designing a glove with no sense of what a hand looks like: it's shape, how it moves. If classrooms are to be places of learning, then the organ of learning, the brain, must be understood and accommodated" (Chipongian, n.d., p. 2).
This view discourages standardization of materials, instruction, and practices and encourages individually specific learning where new learning is relevant and meaningful.
Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences validates the need to tap into a broader range of instructional methods to reach a diversity of student intelligences.
When focusing instruction solely on the intelligences that fit into the academic realm (primarily 'word smart' and 'logic smart'), only the 'logic smart' and 'word smart' students would experience success, whereas the students whose intelligences were not stimulated would not learn as well.
Many teachers base both teaching strategies and assessment on the model of multiple intelligences. Often teachers develop student profiles to help identify and support different kinds of intelligences.