Uses components of Habermas' life-world concept to identify the processes through which communities of practice create intellectual capital as members co-construct knowledge. Concludes that organizations should find ways to enhance communicative collaboration in order to develop intellectual capital. (Contains 30 references.) (SK)

Distinguishes between two traditions--conceptual change theory and radical constructivism--based on ontology, epistemological commitments, view of learners, and authority of received ideas. Uses conceptual change theory as a foil to raise questions about the philosophical merits of radical constructivism. Contains 81 references. (Author/JRH)

Examines the process that one instructor of undergraduate introductory science underwent when she attempted to execute constructivist teaching into practice. Three critical variables were identified that affected the implementation process: (1) the university context; (2) the instructor's emotional response; and (3) the mentoring relationship.…

Four theoretical streams--contexualism/ecology, systems theory, realism/constructivism, and chaos theory--contributed to a theory of individuals as complex, unique, nonlinear, adaptive chaotic and open systems. Individuals use purposive action to construct careers but can make maladaptive and inappropriate choices. (Contains 42 references.) (SK)

Describes some reflections on culture and the historical development of school mathematics in a contemporary Pakistani context. (KHR)

Presents a theoretical mechanism for learning and a methodological approach for analyzing meaning making in classroom talk and action. Examines the potential of the approach for illuminating learning on a discourse level; i.e., how discourses change and how individuals become participants of new practices. Involves a high-resolution analysis of…

Because school psychologists may be asked to work in a constructivist framework, this article describes the essential characteristics and difficult issues associated with implementing this approach for classroom practice. Included are goals, assumptions about learners, essential teacher skills, and research concerns. Highlights currently…

Discusses the old claim in philosophy that attempts to undermine any realist account of truth and thus knowledge in science and elsewhere. Explains that the constructivists take this to heart and look for accounts of knowledge that are anti-realist and/or constructivist in which the role of the external world in knowledge is downplayed or…

Examines how feminist evaluation principles and practices look from the perspectives of five different frameworks, each offering different criteria for judging evaluations. These frameworks are: (1) traditional scientific research criteria; (2) social construction and constructivist criteria; (3) artistic and evocative criteria; (4) pragmatic and…

Discusses problems that have arisen between science educators concerning the topic of constructivism. Suggests that knowledge transmission should be viewed as one legitimate and recommendable type of science education in the 21st century. (MVL)

Examines constructivism in a seventh-grade civics project, involving a variety of literacy practices. Suggests that those interested in changing binaries in classroom relational structures must contemplate the degree to which relationships have been produced historically, in materials, curricula, and literacy practices at specific school sites.…

This article revisions the relationship between person and social environment through the lens of critical theory. Emphasizing distinctively human characteristics, arguments define human actors as coconstructors of their social environments. Although human behavior is shaped by society and its structures, those very structures are recursively…

Offers a personal narrative about integrating the Christian faith into the teaching and learning process, providing a theoretical framework that served as a context for the personal narrative, describing the methodology guiding the author as he wrote the narrative, presenting insights into the tensions he experienced when initially attempting to…

Examines ways in which students collaborate to construct, use, and revise conceptual and strategic knowledge as they solve complex genetics problems. Concludes that students used three types of knowledge during model revision: knowledge of genetics, knowledge of the process of model revision, and knowledge of their own problem-solving strategies…

Proposes an uncertainty principle for information seeking based on the results of a series of studies that investigated the user's perspective of the information search process. Constructivist theory is discussed as a conceptual framework for studying the user's perspective, and areas for further research are suggested. (Contains 44 references.)…