When required to interpret works of art, students arrive at a broad-based, well-grounded understanding of the nature, value, and meaning of art in their lives. Teachers should offer art works, like those of Amalia Mesa-Bains, Joseph Stella, and Beverly Buchanan, whose narratives are complex and challenging, but not conceptually dense or…

Providing opportunities for students to generate their own curriculum requires courage. Student interests are unpredictable. Teachers should garner support, start small, use library resources, eschew curriculum guides, develop assessment tools, allow for noise, schedule record keeping, allow a routine to emerge, be learners, communicate…

Considers the idea of "intentional knowledge" and the difference in nature between "knowledge" as a construct of society, and 'knowing' as construct of an individual. Discusses how the theory of didactical situations differs from other constructivist theories with regard to the notion of "intentional knowledge." Uses two cases to illustrate the…

Children's informal and invented mathematics contains on an implicit level many of the mathematical ideas that teachers want to promote on a formal and explicit level. Elaborates on how teachers can use these ideas as a foundation on which to construct a significant portion of classroom pedagogy. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/ASK)

Reports on elementary school teachers' ideas on the integration of science and literacy and its effects on teachers' instructional practices. (YDS)

This paper examines recent movements in the early childhood education literature that have began to relate sociocultural explanations for human development to the early childhood curriculum. The paper reports the findings from an investigation conducted to determine early childhood educators' conceptions of the curriculum and their understandings…

This essay considers the way and manner in which a musician and music educator approaches his or her work. It is suggested that anthropomorphic conceptions of music have endured in music education practice in the West. It is proposed that our view of the "processes" of music making, music reception and music learning can be challenged and…

In this paper, we explore Peirce's work for insights into a theory of learning and cognition for education. Our focus for this exploration is Peirce's paper The "Fixation of Belief" (FOB), originally published in 1877 in "Popular Science Monthly". We begin by examining Peirce's assertion that the study of logic is essential for understanding…

When the author first heard that Italy wants to adopt the American model of education, his immediate reaction was, "Why would you want to do that?" American schools can scarcely teach students to read and write. American students are abysmally ignorant about history, geography, and world affairs. In international assessments of…

This paper addresses the discussion regarding whether or not cooperative learning methods are good for gifted students by considering the processes of task-related interaction within different cooperative structures. Differences and similarities in the nature and type of task-related interactions that are promoted by different cooperative learning…

This case study, based on social constructivist learning theory, investigated the communication patterns and the knowledge construction process of students who used a computer bulletin board system (BBS) to discuss course-related content. Collected data included the outline of BBS postings and transcripts of the BBS messages from three selected…

Digital games have typically been considered a male leisure activity; however, recent statistics indicate that increasing numbers of females are now playing games. The purpose of this review is to investigate how the influx of girl gamers and the emergence of female-oriented game design can inform instructional design for the construction of…

In an era of unprecedented challenges and rapid change, community colleges need effective leadership that brings out the best in people, organizations, and communities. This qualitative study was based on interpretive research using appreciative inquiry (AI). AI is based on social constructivist theory and is a collaborative and highly…

This article presents a case study of the use of digital video technology with a new pedagogical approach under a constructivist framework in an elementary school foreign language methods course. Data were collected through interviews with the methods course instructor, field notes, analytical notes from videotaped student presentations of their…

Employing Calvin O. Schrag's response to postmodernismtransversal rationality engaged through praxial critiquethe constructive side of postmodern theories can be highlighted in higher education while at the same time answering the pundits who see little to no constructive side to postmodern theories. Using praxial critique through media literacy…