Faculty members at St. Mary's University of Minnesota have been engaged in a process to develop a more student-centered curriculum. Administration and faculty taking the lead in this endeavor have begun to embrace much of the literature in the area of constructivism as a philosophical foundation for guiding this change. The result is the near…

The purpose of this study is to first develop an 8-week college teaching module based on root competition literature. The split-root technique is adapted for the teaching laboratory, and the Sugar Ann English pea (Pisum sativum var. Sugar Ann English) is selected as the species of interest prior to designing experiments, either original or…

Students often hold personal explanations for natural phenomena that are intuitive, alternative to current scientific explanations, and extremely tenacious. This research effort attempted to document and interpret if and how exposure to conceptual change instructional techniques influenced one experienced teacher's conceptions of teaching science…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the ways elementary teachers use computer technology for instructional purposes and the factors that influence their use of computers. The population consisted of recent graduates from the elementary teacher preparation program at a mid-Atlantic university. Data were gathered using a survey…

The knowledge teachers in an elementary school had of constructivist principles in the context of standards-based teaching and assessment was investigated and then addressed through a graduate-level course developed by the researcher. The knowledge level of the teachers was studied through interviews, classroom observations, and responses of 46…

An instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of constructivist teaching methods, the Constructivist Teaching Inventory (CTI), was developed and assessed, the assessment focusing on the validity and reliability of the instrument. A pool of items measuring the presence of identified elements of constructivist teaching was developed; items were…

This paper examines the decisions, benefits, and difficulties in teaching educational psychology through a constructivist case study approach. Recent interest in and inquiry into constructivism, pedagogical content knowledge, and case study methodology are influencing the content and goals of educational psychology in teacher preparation. The…

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,…

On the way to enter the European educational space, the Croatian higher educational system attempts to come to terms with the conclusions of the Bologna Declaration and undertake the reform of the higher education of the Republic of Croatia and introduce the ECTS points- system. Intensive activities in connection with the making of the new…

The purpose of this applied dissertation was to examine the effects of constructivist pedagogy when addressing the issues associated with below proficiency scores in basic skills in mathematics on the state exit exam. Scores of thirty-four 11th and 12th grade students who did not perform at the state-mandated levels of proficiency in basic skills…

During the summer and fall of 2006, approximately 260 students enrolled in an educational foundations course were responsible for writing their own textbook using the Wikibooks protocol. These students were surveyed in order to determine their perceptions of the process, how the process impacted their involvement in the course and its content, and…

This paper presents the background procedure and outcomes of a study of two Year 1 classrooms, one in Seattle, Washington, and the other in Sydney, Australia, that engaged in the constructivist learning experiences of a social studies unit, "Families in Their Neighborhoods" (McGuire, 1997). The unit employed the "Storypath" planning and teaching…

This study, part of ongoing research to establish the construct validity of a science attitude assessment instrument, evaluated the instrument with 72 elementary school science teachers. The measure, "Assessment of Attitude Toward Science and Science Teaching," contains 27 statements to which the respondent expresses degrees of agreement. This…

This study investigated the effectiveness of experiential learning in promoting student understanding and achievement, as compared to traditional expository instruction. Twenty third-grade students from central Virginia were divided into two heterogeneous groups and taught a single lesson on air using identical content objectives. The control…

In this applied research project, the tendency for Youth Workers to treat admissions as a sudden procedural event was problematic at a treatment program. Literature from (brief) constructivist therapies, youth care work, and interviews with administrators, youth workers, and youths at a treatment program were used to solve the problem. The Context…