Teaching is a profession where aspiring practitioners enter the field with preconceived beliefs and conceptions about teaching and learning acquired during the 12 years or more they spent within the educational system. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of an educational reform environment on the development and retention of…

One of the most pressing issues in education is the importance of creating learning contexts and communities that are based on children's thinking in science and enhancing their understanding of pertinent concepts. In this research study, fifth grade students (N=20) were asked to design a game teaching younger students about the ocean environment.…

This paper reports on a pilot study that is designed to become an element of a larger research endeavor. The larger study will explore relationships between how teachers teach in the classroom, those teachers' perceptions of their own pedagogical practice, and the beliefs of those teachers about the roles of the student and the teacher in the…

Although counselors have implicitly understood and used a number of its tenets, an action-theoretical approach is a relatively recent development in career counseling. This digest analyzes the tenets of this approach. An action approach to career counseling sees clients as agents who steer and direct their activities. It represents an integration…

This computer software is a tool designed to help teachers help children in grades 1 through 7 construct their own knowledge of whole numbers and fractions. This software is the first in a series of new, dynamic computer microworlds that allow teachers to interact with students and students to interact with each other as they engage in…

The awakening of public interest in curriculum has come at a time when, within the education profession, the conventional wisdom about teaching and learning has itself undergone a major transformation. New Constructivist theories of knowing have emphasized the social nature of the construction of knowledge: students learn by "putting it into…

In recent years there has been a rapid growth of interest in the sociological study of childhood. Drawing on a large body of contemporary sociological and anthropological research, this book develops key links between the study of childhood and social theory, exploring its historical, political, and cultural dimensions. Through a consideration of…

This paper argues that in teaching educational psychology, different experts often compartmentalize theories in substantially different ways, and there is considerable disagreement within the field regarding the dividing lines that separate various "isms." The four main "isms" (behaviorism, information processing theory, constructivism, and social…

Constructivism is a theory about knowledge, whereas reflective practice is a professional development strategy with roots in the constructivist paradigm. A way to integrate these two conceptual frameworks within the context of professional development for prospective administrators is offered here. Constructivism and reflective practice share…

In 1988, a school district implemented a reform which was promoted as originating both in research and in the practice of teaching. The reform policy was designed to improve the teaching of young children by mandating a constructivist, child-centered, and developmentally appropriate approach. Since the philosophy and practices mandated in the…

This use of the term "student's misconceptions" reflects a knowledge transmission view of teaching rather than a constructivist view. Among science educators there has been an undue emphasis on changing student views into views accepted by the scientific community. This overemphasis mirrors the preoccupation with transmitting the "right answer"…

Specific mechanisms of classroom interactions by which teachers and students conjecture, criticize, explain, test, and refine ideas and procedures is what is referred to as "negotiation of meaning in the mathematics classroom." Elaboration of the form these mechanisms take in practice, and hence investigation of classroom constructions…

This paper is about one of the central dilemmas of e-Learning: can we separate content and context, and how should we manage the relationship between the two? Or to put it another way, are Learning Objects just commoditised learning? With the growth of e-Learning over the past few years, learning objects have come into their own. They are the…

The implementation of inquiry-based teaching is a major theme in national science education reform documents such as "Project 2061: Science for All Americans" (Rutherford & Alhgren, 1990) and the "National Science Education Standards" (NRC, 1996). These reports argue that inquiry needs to be a central strategy of all…

The rapid growth of instructional technologies has provided college faculty with a vast array of educational resources and learning opportunities (Grasha, 2000; Kagima & Hausafus, 2001). As described in the relevant literature addressing this issue, there are several potential advantages in utilizing instructional technologies to enrich the…