Is instructor presence important in an online distance education class? Yes, said the students of this mixed methods research study. Students (n=241) enrolled in 31 Web-based sections of classes at four Midwestern post-secondary institutions in two different states were surveyed. The survey instrument included both the Rovai Classroom Community…

Curriculum design is at the center of developing student ability to construct understanding. Without appropriately designed curriculum, instruction can be ineffective at scaffolding understanding. Often students with disabilities need more explicit instruction or guidance in applying their schema to new information. Thus, instruction must not only…

This study examines the relationship between computer self-efficacy and intended uses of technology of student teachers (N=1094) at a teacher training institute in Singapore. Self-efficacy was assessed by three factors: Basic Teaching Skills (BTS), Advanced Teaching Skills (ATS), and Technology for Pedagogy (TP), and intended use of technology was…

The teaching of science, especially at pre-college and teacher education levels has undergone tremendous transformation over the years: from teacher-centred transmission to student-centred approaches rooted in constructivism. Whereas constructivism has been charged with all manner of shortfalls, it still can be of benefit to the way physics…

The purpose of this paper is to present the rationale and principles that guided the design and development of PARENTS, a multimedia case-based environment. Following a development research approach, the tenets of constructivist learning, and the advantages of case-based instruction, we developed a multimedia program in which we utilized and…

This article reports the findings of a pilot research project that investigated the perceived educational value of sharing narrative practice amongst graduate students from the School of Education and the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Tasmania. During a semester the graduate students reflected upon and wrote about a…

The role of children's literature in helping children make sense of themselves, their experiences and their worlds either in a classroom setting or in a more therapeutic context has been well documented. What has not been researched as far as we know is the use of children's literature in the college classroom as a means of enabling students to…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of task based writing instruction (TBwI) on English language acquisition and differentiated instruction for minority language students during the Independent Work Time instructional component of the Open Court Reading program. One teacher and 10 third grade students (8-9 years old)…

Social constructivism provides the framework for exploring communities of practice and storytelling at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in this applied theory paper. A brief overview of traditional learning and development efforts as well as the current knowledge sharing initiative is offered. In addition, a conceptual plan…

This article presents work in progress exploring social constructivism within Mode Neutral, and how various conditions impact upon the student experience. Mode Neutral's three dimensions--curriculum design, the role of the tutor and communication for learning--are affected by the conditions that can vary in any given context. The authors realise…

Different approaches have demonstrated that learning improves when implemented in a constructivist and social way. In addition, electronic games and simulations are perceived to have high educational value because of their motivational and emotional factors. This potential value can be developed by defining appropriate scenarios in which players…

Teachers at the Freeburg Early Childhood Program know that experimentation with physical science is of great interest to young children, and can begin as early as the age of 3. The constructivist teachers at this experimental school at the University of Northern Iowa worked for six years to develop a center-based approach to physical science with…

This study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the GK-12: Lowcountry Partners for Inquiry program that included an emphasis on constructivist teaching methods for science teachers and science graduate students. The goal was to monitor middle school teachers' use of constructivist practices in their classrooms two years after their last…

This article provides detailed analysis, from a radical constructivist perspective, of a sequence of letter-writing exchanges between a preservice secondary mathematics teacher and a high school student. This analysis shows the ways in which the preservice teacher gained understanding of the high school student's mathematics and attempted to pose…

This study attempts to analyze and synthesize the knowledge collected in the area of conceptual models used in teaching and learning during inquiry-based projects, and to propose a new frame for organizing the classroom interactions within a constructivist approach. The IMSTRA model consists in three general phases: Immersion, Structuring,…