Discusses Emirates preservice (n=31) and in-service (n=224) teachers' views about the nature of science. Finds that Emirates teachers' views are mixed where traditional views of science are attributed to history and the educational system, and constructivist views are attributed to religious beliefs. Argues that the traditional view of science…

Examines, in a five-year ethnographic study in secondary schools, issues of how literature learning shapes thinking. Follows 10 students from their English classes into their academic classes over their high school careers. Analyzes literacy events in their literature and content-area classes, including how literacy events functioned and what they…

Presents a developmentally appropriate framework reflecting the constructivist orientation of early childhood education to guide development of IEP goals and objectives for young children with disabilities. Discusses problems teachers encounter with IEPs, including defining skills too narrowly, not considering the time factor, and isolating the…

Surveyed mothers and children at four constructivist and ten Montessori preschool classrooms. Found a near significant trend suggesting that temperamentally active boys were more likely to be perceived as behavior problems in Montessori settings, which are characterized by working quietly for long periods of time. No similar trends were revealed…

Describes the validation and use of English and Chinese versions of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) in a study of high school science classrooms in Australia (n=1081) and Taiwan (n=1879). Data analysis supported each scale's internal consistency reliability, factor structure, and ability to differentiate between classrooms,…

Discusses the growing gap between people and communities who have access to information technology and those who do not, known as the digital divide. Considers issues concerning access, in schools and in homes; content; literacy; pedagogy, including constructivist practices and teachers' professional development; and community. (LRW)

Describes a professional development program that involved the use of a multimedia package called "Birds of Antarctica" to develop teachers' understanding of a constructivist epistemology in science education. Argues that teachers who engage themselves as learners in a professional development program have greater opportunities to…

Discusses how biologists use evolutionary theory and provides examples of how evolutionary biologists test hypotheses on specific modes of selection and evolution. Presents an example of the successful predictive power of one evolutionary hypothesis. Contains 38 references. (DDR)

Analyzes the interpretations of equality and the equal symbol of third grade children who participated in a year-long, whole-class socio-constructivist teaching experiment. Concludes that children expanded their conceptualizations of equality due to an active role in class discussions and the arithmetical tasks that took into account children's…

Provides a historical perspective of the classroom-management context, noting that certain classroom-management principles are applicable to the range of possible instructional strategies and concluding that management systems should support instructional systems and student roles should be clearly articulated in the planning process for…

Offers a critical examination of some of the basic claims of studies that employ ideas from social constructivism and the sociology of scientific knowledge. Argues that social constructivism cannot explain some of the most characteristic features of the physical sciences. Contains 26 references. (DDR)

Describes the way in which a new applied-physics course introduced in British Columbia as part of a program in applied academics can be seen to construct different networks in different contexts. Employs actor network theory (ANT). Contains 20 references. (DDR)

Suggests that considerable insight into effective teaching strategies may be gained through the analysis of a small section of classroom interaction using multiple perspectives. Provides an example of using discourse analysis to explore interactions. Contains 40 references. (DDR)

Discusses the conceptions of constructivist teaching within the context of debates on constructivist research in science classrooms. Argues that critical constructivism should replace constructivist teaching. Contains 39 references. (DDR)

Teachers using a constructivist approach to learning are not invisible, as Lawrence Baines and Gregory Stanley suggest in a December 2000 "Kappan" article. Rather, they are an integral part of an active, student-centered learning process. Assisted by teachers, learners select and transform information, construct hypotheses, and make decisions.…