Demonstrates how to use the concept of phlogiston to teach oxidation and reduction reactions. Discusses the project as an exemplar for integrating the history, philosophy, and sociology of science to teach basic scientific concepts. Contains 70 references. (DDR)

Provides a brief overview of historical trends in classroom instructional practices and explains the emergence of constructivist theory. Describes two instructional practices at the secondary level: curriculum integration and teaming. Reports findings of a case study examining one high school faculty's teaching practices while engaged in…

Describes a collaborative instructional design project in a university course using constructivist theory, exploratory and resource-based learning, electronic communities, and integrated information technology immersion. Discusses collaboration between teaching and library faculty, learning outcomes for students and faculty, and future…

This article presents case studies of middle school science and social studies teachers who used three different curricular cultures to teach units in their subject areas. The teachers participating in the study are aptly described as hard working and successful in terms of satisfactory performance of their students on state assessments over time…

A socio-constructivist account of learning and emotions stresses the situatedness of every learning activity and points to the close interactions between cognitive, conative and affective factors in students' learning and problem solving. Emotions are perceived as being constituted by the dynamic interplay of cognitive, physiological, and…

This study aimed to use a course management system (CMS) based on the open source software Claroline within a blended mode course, incorporating social constructivist approaches to learning, and to investigate its strengths and the challenges faced by the students and the instructor. Participants were 72 students and their instructor. Research…

This study takes a holistic perspective towards inquiry teaching by examining the alignment among teacher intentions, teaching practices, and student perceptions of teaching practices. The first part of the study examines the alignment between teacher intentions for instruction and classroom teaching practices. The second part of the study…

This conference paper describes methodological tools being used to examine teachers' cognitive lives and to describe the meaning that teachers make of teaching, learning, and students in classrooms. Methodological difficulties with the "subsequent recall" approach and the "stimulation of current thought" approach are discussed. A set of techniques…

Presents the use of a seven-stage peer assessment process and peer learning in an online, constructivist, higher education distance learning context to develop desired skills and capabilities. Authentic assessments included case studies, projects, critique and portfolio of evidence. Discusses assessment in a system of constructive alignment…

School science students can benefit greatly from participation in student-directed, open-ended scientific inquiry projects. For various possible reasons, however, students tend not to be engaged in such inquiries. Among factors that may limit their opportunities to engage in open-ended inquiries of their design are teachers' conceptions about…

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the ways in which creating and sustaining authentic inclusion requires significant alterations to more than the programmatic regularities that characterize schools (Sarason, 1996). Data from ethnographic case studies of inclusive schools in the United States, United Kingdom and Portugal are drawn upon to…

This paper presents a positivist quantitative case study of four rural Queensland schools implementing the Queensland Studies Authority's outcomes based education curriculum. Queensland's school-based management system means that these schools are operating at distinctly different points along their implementation phase. This research shows how…

This paper examines the notion of whether computers can provide teachers with the necessary tools to alter the constraints of the traditional classroom and allow for constructivism and independent learning. The study was carried out at Methodist Ladies' College, a girls' school in Melbourne, Australia; information was collected through teacher…

This study aims to report the effort on teaching vector algebra using free open source software (FOSS). Recent studies showed that students have difficulties in learning basic physics concepts. Constructivist learning theories suggest the use of visual and hands-on activities in learning. We will report on the software used for this purpose. The…

This paper aims to identify and to understand the role of the logical, the affective and the ethical dimensions of knowledge in the online interactions of post-secondary teachers and students. By understanding how these dimensions are interwoven, I intend to demonstrate that the instructor?s course design and teaching strategies must take them…