The implementation of Taiwan's nationwide constructivist-approach elementary mathematics curriculum has been ongoing for 5 years. From the perspective of systems thinking, Taiwan elementary educational system's mindset as a whole is troubled, and is unable to coordinate with the surrounding community in order to better educational standards. The…

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…

This paper urges special educators to be wary of borrowing fashionable rhetoric of postmodernism to justify constructivism in the reform of instruction and curriculum without disentangling accompanying constructs and values. There are higher stakes for special education, particularly in national curriculum and testing reform, that accompany…

A study identified four principles, based on transfer of learning research and cognitive theory, for guiding curricular decisions, instructional development, and teaching practices in ways that support transferable learning. The principles were as follows: (1) emphasize intermediate-level knowledge in curricular decisions; (2) create in the…

This article discusses the effects of the Regional Technology Assistance Program (RETA) on the teaching practices and collegial behaviors of its participants and instructors. It presents findings that suggest that, as a result of their involvement in RETA's ongoing, peer-directed, constructivist-based professional development workshops, teacher…

An approach to college-level instructional design that incorporates the principles of constructivism, termed "constructive alignment," is described. The process is then illustrated with reference to a professional development unit in educational psychology for teachers, but the model is viewed as generalizable to most units or programs in higher…

This paper presents a social reconstructionist model of supervision. The model connects schools and society, and considers the vital role teachers, students, staff, and others play in developing, designing, and implementing reforms in school and society. The model is based on the philosophy of social reconstructionism, which views schools as…

This guide provides suggestions for using technology (i.e., computers and anything that attaches to computers) as instructional tools in environments that support learning. Chapter 1 offers an overview of learning principles based on constructivist theory, including what constructivism offers the classroom, the role of the student, the role of the…

This document presents the proceedings of the 23rd annual National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) (Denver, Colorado, 2000). For the first time, the Proceedings are published in two volumes. The first volume contains papers dealing primarily with research and development topics. Papers dealing…