Describes how teaching a lesson on the discovery of a crater in the Yucatan Peninsula and the rock strata deep in the ocean can help students explain the demise of dinosaurs. Discusses the impact theory and the core model. (DDR)

Presents a lesson plan that uses a constructivist approach for developing and challenging students' different thinking strengths. In the context of musical and bodily-kinesthetic thinking, elementary school students interpret the sounds and movements the dinosaurs made as they negotiated their primitive environments. (CR)

Discusses knowledge gained from The Computer Discovery Project in Two Cultures, a series of seminars focused on integrating computers into a constructivist early childhood curriculum. Topics discussed include (1) building a foundation for innovation; (2) representing learning in multiple ways; (3) creating a multimedia vision; and (4)…

Discusses research concerning the four reciprocal teaching (RT) strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing as they relate to fifth-grade teachers who had exposure to constructivist thinking conducted as part of the normal school day. Finds that when teachers consistently and clearly modeled all four RT strategies, students…

Defines activity theory as a socio-cultural and socio-historical lens through which the interaction of human activity and consciousness within its relevant environmental context can be analyzed. Describes how activity theory can be used as a framework for analyzing activities and settings for the purpose of designing constructivist learning…

The reflective practices of four student teachers in a Canadian suburb were studied as they undertook an extended practicum. The experiences of one of these students illustrate an alternative way of thinking about the nature of knowledge construction. Central to this alternative is the difference between an incidental and a thematic rendering of…

Presents conversations from series of lessons in which the power of mathematical conversations was epitomized and fourth-grade students were encouraged to make conjectures to their classmates. Describes how each conversation offered insights into the ways in which students had constructed mathematics. (ASK)

Investigates whether and how collaborative learning at the computer fosters conceptual change. Employs a suite of computer-simulation programs developed to confront students' alternative conceptions in mechanics. Contains 46 references. (DDR)

Defines instructional design as a manifestation of specific educational theories that are founded on understandings about the nature of the learning process and of knowledge. Analyzes the specific background, main characteristics, and feasible prospects of worldwide changes in instructional design resulting from revolutionary changes in learning…

Summarizes results from a cross-cultural online project for eight graduate students in educational leadership in Canada, six in New Zealand, and five international students. Proposes an online learning model that includes construction of meaning, a discussion forum, generative learning, and other components. (SLD)

Parrot math (memorization) seeks to control children through external rewards and punishments, rather than harness their intelligence and curiosity. Recent standardized test results document parrot math's failure. Activities-based approaches, supported by a constructivist philosophy (involving classifying, inferring, generalizing, and…

Discusses the positive effects of the ATLAS (Authentic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment of all Students) seminars on helping partner organizations understand certain shared underpinnings in their work on curriculum, reviewing a series of articles on the subject and noting that the partners share the belief that democratic dialog fosters the…

Eighty-five preservice-education students observed a science experiment concerning either buoyancy or the forces acting on a stationary object, then wrote a series of explanations. Results suggest that students' use of rhetorical structures (explanation, comparison, argumentation, and summarization) stimulated construction of new knowledge, but…

Discussion of ICAE (Intelligent Computer Aided Education) systems focuses on Magix, a prototype ICAE system for use in problem-based learning in linear mathematics for 10- to 12-year olds. The system integrates the principles of constructivism, user-driven interaction, knowledge-based systems, and metacognition. (Author/LRW)

Randomly selected high school students (n=13) who studied an ecology unit were interviewed, and narrative data analyzed for changes in knowledge schema. Data support the current theory that the amount and quality of prior knowledge substantially influence gains in new knowledge and are closely linked to a capacity to apply higher-order cognitive…