Since information and communication technologies were introduced into education, the number of courses delivered in an online or blended learning (OBL) format has increased significantly. However, not all teachers are experienced in teaching in this new digital environment. While various teacher professional development (TPD) models exist, few…

Instructional management focuses on planning, execution and evaluation of learning experiences. For teachers in pre-secondary schools to plan, execute and evaluate learning experiences effectively, they need to have good understanding of the process of cognitive development in children. Piaget has postulated that children progress through a series…

This article discusses how teachers in child care and elementary schools learn to work with Reggio-inspired pedagogical documentation. While teachers grasp the value of such documentation theoretically, it is most challenging but exciting to use in practical settings. Documentation illuminates teacher theories about children's understanding:…

Intellectual (cognitive) development, the emergence of increasingly sophisticated forms or levels of understanding, reasoning, and rationality is an ongoing process of reflection, coordination, and social interaction that begins in early childhood and continues, at least in some cases, long into adulthood (Moshman, 2003). In this process, language…

One aspect of Jean Piaget's theory of intellectual development is presented and its implications for designing and using homework problems is discussed. Suggested is a way in which homework problems can be used to provide students an opportunity for self-regulation. Also discussed are the deficiencies of typical homework problems and examples are…

A four-prong instructional model for intellectual-skills development is described. The four prongs are: familiarization, intra-group problem solving, inter-group problem solving, and individual problem solving. A psychological model of what is to be taught, the triarchic theory of human intelligence, provides the underpinning of the instructional…

Examines key psychological principles in contemporary theories of learning (constructivism) and highlights conceptual connections between them and aspects of critical thinking and epistemological maturity described by the reflective judgment model of adult intellectual development. Also describes an undergraduate psychology lesson that bridges…

Describes a project undertaken to create survey items that will identify the dominant learning stages of community college students. Utilizes the first three stages of Baxter-Magolda's (1992) four-stage model, focusing on ways of knowing likely to be found among students in the first half of undergraduate bachelor's degree programs. (VWC)

Developments in the field of brain research that focus on how humans learn is beginning to influence the way schools are being built and renovated. This report discusses how the brain learns, explores how this knowledge can be used to inform learning theory, and describes what instruction would be like in a brain-based learning environment as well…

The growth model of intelligence; i.e. intelligence is the product of genetics plus environment (I.Q.=G+E), is discussed and questioned. If the growth model is discarded, formulating the problem of the development of intelligence in different ways and thinking of different possible technologies for changing intelligence can begin. The child…

The progress of groups of junior high school students working together was measured by the developmental theories of Bloom, Piaget, and Kohlberg. Each group was assigned the task of designing a coat-of-arms representing their neighborhood. This project involved not only physically producing a shield (designing, drawing, choosing colors) but also…

We discuss the development of an instructional design model, WisCom (Wisdom Communities), based on socio-constructivist and sociocultural learning philosophies and distance education principles for the development of online wisdom communities, and the application and evaluation of the model in an online graduate course in the USA. The WisCom model…

Methods that have been employed in McGill University's (Montreal, Quebec) program of research into the nature of learning are described. The methods illustrate four phases of inquiry: conceptualization or model-building; data gathering techniques; data representation; and data analysis. For the university's learning task project, the development…

Written in 1973, the document describes the application of Jean Piaget's pedagogical principles to an elementary and secondary social studies curriculum: Social Encounter and Research Curriculum for Humanization (SEARCH). In Part I, it is stressed that SEARCH is the first innovative curricular program that strives to teach the major concepts of…

Describes criteria for authentic intellectual achievement in social studies, as well as the assessment and instruction tasks necessary to achieve these criteria. Emphasizes the importance of the construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and the development of qualities of reasoning that have value outside school. (MJP)