This article describes the redesign of a project-based course on soft and biological materials to include computational modeling. Including the construction of computational models in the course is described as a shift from constructivism--a theory that characterizes the development of formal reasoning, to constructionism--a theory that focuses on…

Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training has introduced educational reforms that require Vietnamese teachers to acquire new understanding and skills using information communication technology (ICT) to support teaching. However, there was little literature to guide Vietnamese teachers on how to achieve these goals. The research goals were to…

Scientific argumentation is an important learning objective in science education. It is also an effective instructional approach to constructivist science learning. The implementation of argumentation in school settings requires science teachers, who are pivotal agents of transforming classroom practices, to develop sophisticated knowledge of…

This study reports the effect of teachers' professional development in a two-year MEd program of High School Science Education, held from October 2010 until March 2012. Twelve out of the 33 teachers enrolled in the program participated in the study. The main research questions were: what are the teachers' perceptions of their own work and teaching…

Critically analyzes the core ideas of chaos theory to determine whether they are worth teaching and explores the accessibility of these ideas for students. The studies are embedded in a Model of Educational Reconstruction which seeks to bring science content structure concerns and educational concerns into balance and interaction with one another.…

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)

Presents results from empirical studies of physics learning for different age groups using a situated cognition perspective to construct detailed understandings of how individual learning processes unfold. Contains 35 references. (PVD)

This monograph presents a collection of papers that focus on excellence in teacher education and examine questions which are critical to the reform of curriculum and pedagogy. The 10 chapters are: (1) "Using a Multi-Dimensional Web Site for Physics Instruction" (James P. Downing and Ruwang Sung); (2) "College Algebra Reform:…