Curriculum design is at the center of developing student ability to construct understanding. Without appropriately designed curriculum, instruction can be ineffective at scaffolding understanding. Often students with disabilities need more explicit instruction or guidance in applying their schema to new information. Thus, instruction must not only…

This study examines the relationship between computer self-efficacy and intended uses of technology of student teachers (N=1094) at a teacher training institute in Singapore. Self-efficacy was assessed by three factors: Basic Teaching Skills (BTS), Advanced Teaching Skills (ATS), and Technology for Pedagogy (TP), and intended use of technology was…

The teaching of science, especially at pre-college and teacher education levels has undergone tremendous transformation over the years: from teacher-centred transmission to student-centred approaches rooted in constructivism. Whereas constructivism has been charged with all manner of shortfalls, it still can be of benefit to the way physics…

The purpose of this paper is to present the rationale and principles that guided the design and development of PARENTS, a multimedia case-based environment. Following a development research approach, the tenets of constructivist learning, and the advantages of case-based instruction, we developed a multimedia program in which we utilized and…

This article reports the findings of a pilot research project that investigated the perceived educational value of sharing narrative practice amongst graduate students from the School of Education and the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Tasmania. During a semester the graduate students reflected upon and wrote about a…

This study explores the parameter-related misconceptions of two college students enrolled in a Pascal programming course. Findings indicate that both students appeared to conceive a direct procedure-to-procedure linkage, with the connection being made by identically named formal parameters. Both students were able, by making seemingly innocuous…

This response to criticism of an earlier article on situated critical pedagogy discusses social construction versus narcissism; student empowerment; perceptions of learning and teaching; situated cognition versus relationalism; knowledge and action; and the nature of theory. (eight references) (LRW)

Critiques the linear model that some managers use for appointing work groups, committees, and task forces; and discusses constructivist-based approaches as more effective ways to promote positive consensus, cohesion, and cooperation among nursing work groups. (Author)

Development of knowledge occurs through participation in social practices throughout life. Knowledge is constructed through engagement in problem solving; knowledge has conceptual, procedural, and dispositional dimensions; and the nature of the problem and different social practices influence the type of knowledge that is constructed. (SK)

Mathematics, albeit a socio-cultural creation that is mutable and fallible, is a body of knowledge, the objectivity of which is independent of origin or social acceptance. The inclusion of logical necessity in an attempt to elaborate on the objectivity of mathematics is a U-turn. (SAH)

Develops a constructivist view of evaluation as learning, arguing for a more complex and variegated understanding of use. Elaborates the notion of evaluation serving an educative purpose and suggests that the evaluator is a partner in the construction of knowledge. Illustrates the critical inquiry process that fosters knowledge construction.…

Reviews cognitive science models of learning and transfer, especially representations, structures standing for something else. Presents examples of how representations support or hinder problem solving and communication. Discuses paradoxes involved in attempting to teach critical thinking. (Contains 33 references.) (SK)

There is a continuing perception that current educational arrangements for technology education in modern liberal democracies are at odds with its actual delivery in the classroom (Dakers & Doherty 2003). The "techne versus poiesis" tension (explained later) is one major contributor to this perception. Equally, the practice of "transmission versus…

This article reviews the concept of "affordance", a term widely used in the literature on learning and technology to try and explain the properties technologies have. It is argued that the concept has drifted so far from its origins that it is now too ambiguous to be analytically valuable. In addition, it is suggested that its origins in…

The role of children's literature in helping children make sense of themselves, their experiences and their worlds either in a classroom setting or in a more therapeutic context has been well documented. What has not been researched as far as we know is the use of children's literature in the college classroom as a means of enabling students to…