Typically, guidelines for design of interactive multimedia systems have been based on intuitive beliefs of designers rather than being founded on relevant research and theory. As advances in technology create new opportunities for education, it is important to use a range of theoretical perspectives to optimize use of new technology in teaching…

The purpose of this article is to assist health educators and students to integrate theory with practice by examining four major learning theories for their implications for motivating healthy behavior change. Using a prototypical case example based on the authors' experiences with farm families through community health screenings, the learning…

Reform in the fields of adolescent and content area literacy have focused on broadening a definition of literacy beyond the ability to read and write. In a broader definition the language processes of reading, writing, speaking and listening become literacy tools to engage students in the learning of concepts and afford the learner ways to…

Distance education is rapidly becoming the global trend for lifelong learning. This book emphasizes the importance of conceptual understanding of online distance learning and focuses on theoretical and practical challenges of online teaching and learning. It illustrates lifelong learning strategies and how technology can support the course…

An increasing number of online graduate study programs require students to participate in collaborative work projects. And yet, educational research examining instructional strategies that facilitate learning in small groups online is limited. This article describes findings from a qualitative research project that investigated instructor…

In designing materials for use in a contructivist learning environment, instructional designers still have a role in selecting the situations that may provide a stimulus for knowledge construction and providing features that support students and teachers in using these materials. This paper describes the process of designing a series of case-based…

This paper presents the theoretical framework for a new course for teacher education. It describes how computers have been used in education and identifies factors that contribute to the unrealized potential of technology use in schools. This new course is consistent with a constructivist view of learning, new educational goals, and a view of the…

Virtual reality is an immersive, interactive medium that manipulates the senses in order provide users with simulated experiences in computer-generated worlds. The visual design of virtual reality is an important issue, but literature has tended to stress the medium's instructional potential rather than setting forth a protocol for designing…

This project sought to focus on elements of critical thinking and reflective judgement specific to the college classroom experience using the Reflective Judgment (RJ) Model developed by P. M. King and K. M. Strohm-Kitchener. The project included an exploration of college instructors' assumptions and beliefs about college students, and an…

Educational research has documented that technology can enhance student acquisition of discrete skills through drill and practice. This document presents case-study profiles from a study that examined whether technology could provide significant support for constructivist, project-based, teaching and learning approaches. The study also identified…

Few studies have investigated the knowledge and beliefs that undergrids science teachers' assessment practice. This study was conducted to investigate the perspectives of science teachers on classroom assessment, considering the constructs that inform teachers of their classroom assessment practice. The study was grounded in a socioconstructivist…

Preliminary research on virtual reality (VR) suggests that this technology could be a powerful tool for education based on its immersive and dynamic attributes. The Virtual Reality Roving Vehicles (VRRV) Project at the University of Washington is exploring these possibilities by taking VR equipment into elementary and secondary schools for…

This book reports on the findings of a 3-year research project, Learning in Science, carried out in New Zealand. It documents the teacher development process for a group of science teachers as they used new teaching activities to take into account students' thinking, constructivist views of learning, and alternative conceptions. The professional…

This paper reports preliminary findings from an ongoing longitudinal study of preservice teachers mathematical knowledge and confidence. The subgroup for this study consists of 11 preservice teachers from a group of 60 students enrolled in the 2-year teacher education pilot program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Toronto…

This paper reports on part of a cross-national study of science classroom environments in Taiwan and Australia. It focuses on teachers' beliefs about science and science teaching and the effects these beliefs have on the learning environment in the science classroom. Better understanding of this relationship between teacher beliefs and learning…