A teacher educator describes his teaching experience in China and his finding that the Western behaviorist, alphabetic, linear mode of thinking has been widely adopted in education in that traditionally ideographic culture. The contrasting relationships of language, thought and behavior in the American and Chinese cultures is examined, and it is…

The demise of the behaviorist paradigm and the rise of the social, cognitive, and interactionist models of second language acquisition (SLA) have led to the understanding that constructivist mechanisms are part of the process. Given the variety of empirical findings and understandings research in the field has yielded, this study attempts to offer…

Reviews "Soviet Studies in Mathematics Education: Volume 2. Types of Generalization in Instruction" (V. V. Davydov, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1990), which is useful for educational researchers because its major theory of dialectical materialism offers a view of knowledge with a significant role for activities that…

Presents a meta-model of instructional design (ID) that integrates content covered in instructional technology graduate programs and explores the impact of an instructional designer's perspective on designs. Discusses the theoretical background; instructional strategies; educational philosophies; paradigm shifts; behaviorist, constructivist, and…

The case is made that advances in chaos and complexity theories and self-organizing systems have important implications for the field of learning disabilities. Problems with behaviorism are discussed and the properties of self-organizing systems are explained. The concepts of continuous, nonlinear development and motivation and volition are…

The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant evidence concerning the relationship between knowledge and its effect on learning, with an end to answering the questions: (1) How important is knowledge to learning? and (2) How does the relative importance of knowledge change with development? The paper is divided into three main sections:…

In this article, the author presents Fox (2005) argument on functional contextualism and his assessment of the current conceptual frameworks in the field of instructional design and technology. The often unquestioning espousal of constructivism in the field of instructional design and technology has caused problems for a number of reasons. Fox…

Presents guidelines for developing computer-assisted instructional materials that are based on theoretical instructional theories, including behaviorism; neobehaviorism (imitation and modeling); information processing; cognitive psychology; and learning styles. Guidelines highlight feedback and reinforcement, practice opportunities, sequencing,…

This evaluative case study examines the learning experiences of graduate students studying effective multimedia authoring. Continuum-based instructional design, behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, collaboration, the role of a matrix, transfer of training, and qualitative and quantitative results are discussed. (LRW)

Students in higher education are faced with rapidly changing societal conditions. As the nature and structure of the workplace and the family have changed, the specific knowledge and skills people need for the future have become less predictable. Teachers can address these changing conditions by applying cognitive theory to learning and…

Presents a constructivist view of mathematics, mathematics teaching, and mathematics achievement, and differentiates this view as an alternative to the typical traditional perspective of these terms. Discusses the roots of this approach in contemporary information-processing psychology. (TW)

Explores the cognitive assessment of classroom learning and emphasizes applications in urban settings for at-risk students. It is argued that cognitive assessment by the classroom teacher is essential to fostering the achievement of cognitive and metacognitive learning that is called for in national reports. (SLD)

This paper explores the significance of experiential learning in promoting scholarship from a constructivist point of view. Chapter 1 examines the historical perspectives and educational theories that form the basis to experiential education. Chapter 2 explores the work of Jean Piaget, giving a description and explanation of his theories and how…