Provides two examples of the use of the guided-experience approach to teach the U.S. Civil War to eighth-grade students and a life-science unit to third-graders. Describes four key competencies teachers must master to successfully use this approach: Develop community, use materials creatively, question effectively, and master the subject. (PKP)

Teacher dialogs are a powerful staff development tool, involving a few teachers who meet during school hours on a regular basis to discuss instructional issues using a constructivist approach. The article examines ways to schedule time to maximize teacher learning and presents a model of staff development based on constructivist thinking. (SM)

This article addresses the importance of academic instruction in addition to traditional social and behavioral interventions with students having emotional and behavioral disorders. Literacy instruction is discussed from the constructivist view and literacy assessment and intervention are compared and contrasted with constructivist and behavioral…

Describes the difference between mediation and "mediatisation." Suggests the need for a paradigm shift away from the computational model of knowledge as pure information processing and task-centered problem solving to a more contextualist, sociointeractional, constructivist, user-centered model of cognition. (Author/AEF)

Examines 52 fifth graders' written and oral responses to determine the impact of a scientific demonstration on their understanding of air pressure. For one-third of the children, the demonstration reinforced previous understanding. Recommendations for using demonstrations to promote children's scientific understanding are presented. (ZWH)

Describes Southern Connecticut State University's Center of Constructivist Teaching/Teacher Preparation Project, a theoretically consistent teacher education program grounded in constructivism. The program encourages extensive questioning, reflecting, and constructing as preservice teachers confront traditional beliefs, study children's…

Reviews the historical and current theoretical contexts that have contributed to the concept of readiness, especially reading readiness. Discusses connectionist, emergent, social constructivist, and critical theories of early literacy. Ends with a discussion of the future of research, debate, and practice in the area of early literacy. (DR)

The literature on novice-expert shifts in teacher knowledge is examined from the perspective of constructivist learning theory with a view to identifying lessons for teacher educators. Limitations in teacher knowledge are explored, and three requirements are outlined for a research agenda on teacher's learning. (SLD)

Special education research is entering a multiparadigmatic stage, with four major models: (1) critical constructivism, (2) critical functionalism, (3) constructivism, and 4) functionalism. These lie in the four quadrants of a matrix, with axes going from conflict to consensus and from subjectivity to objectivity. Applications to student…

Discusses constructivist teaching, students' prior knowledge, teachers' construction of models of students' mathematics, and the need to make the role of the mathematics teacher problematic. (three references) (MKR)

Argues that mathematical learning should be viewed as a process of active individual construction and a process of enculturation into the mathematical practices of wider society. It further argues that the sociocultural perspective theorizes the conditions for the possibility of learning, whereas constructivist perspectives focus on what students…

Discusses the link between the theoretical principles of constructivism, the practice of instructional design, and the practice of teaching. Defines constructivism, lists three primary principles of learning and understanding, identifies eight instructional principles needed for the design of constructivist learning environments, and presents a…

Introduces epistemic game theory as a framework for thinking about the design of "constructivist" learning environments, and offers examples and suggestions for epistemic games in classrooms. Discusses epistemic complexity, epistemic game theory, the development of epistemic fluency, and the role of technology in the development of…

Outlines constraints facing teacher educators of environmental education. In light of these constraints, it is argued that the provision of separate environmental education curriculum units in teacher education courses is a better alternative then attempting to infuse the approach across a number of discipline areas. (LZ)

Examines three ways that constructivism is aligned with multicultural education in formal educational environments: (1) learners organize ideas in unique ways; (2) learners' self-awareness and self-concept influence learning; and (3) a learner's personal history filters new information. (GR)