This document describes some of the prominent beliefs about how students construct knowledge. These beliefs are guiding principles that teachers can use to implement instructional strategies that facilitate learning. Instructional examples in mathematics and science follow each principle to help the reader envision how the principle promotes…

This book explores the construction of subjectivity and advances a theoretical account of the processes through which subjectivities are constituted in the context of a two-fold study of black subjectivity. The first three chapters are devoted to the deconstruction of the black subject construed by scientific psychology, and the remainder is…

Students often hold personal explanations for natural phenomena that are intuitive, alternative to current scientific explanations, and extremely tenacious. This research effort attempted to document and interpret if and how exposure to conceptual change instructional techniques influenced one experienced teacher's conceptions of teaching science…

The California Freshwater Shrimp Project is an example of a student-initiated, eco-action project. Students, from a fourth grade class in the Ross Valley School District in San Rafael, California, were linked to their community and environment through their work in rehabilitating habitat and educating the public. The paper gives an overview of a…

Evaluation is discussed as knowledge construction. Examinations are considered as tests of knowledge or as tests of students and then as selection tools or as the construction of knowledge in themselves. Examinations involve the power to define what is common knowledge in a discipline and in a culture, and the examination discourse contributes to…

This study explored possible relationships between teacher efficacy, the use of instructional practices, and context variables. It sought to determine what instructional practices were used by 7th- and 8th-grade science teachers, the extent to which these practices were used, and the relationship between teacher efficacy and the use of specific…

This essay emphasizes a need for broad-minded constructivism which posits that individuals have coherent ways of understanding their world and that these understandings are structured and hierarchically organized. The meaning behind the term "co-construction," used in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines, is…

Classroom with a View (CView) is an interactive multimedia environment designed to provide students with opportunities to observe, discuss, and analyze classroom practice in a mediated environment in which students work in pairs exploring a database of videotaped mathematics and science lessons. CView was designed using a description of the…

The number of students failing in school has risen drastically in the past few years. Because of this, many educators are revisiting traditional practices and infusing effective tools that can enhance and promote literacy skills for all students. This process requires not only that teachers integrate content, but also that they elucidate the…

A study explored the implications of a rhetorical approach to professional education in business--specifically, how a social constructivist view of language might change how students learn concepts and theories of business. It focused on undergraduate education in management, with data drawn from a case study of a student in a pilot version of an…

Two key concepts in the Vygotskian perspective, social interaction and scaffolding, have implications for emergent literacy. Children develop literacy as a result of trying to communicate with others in the environment. Vygotsky focused on literacy as purely social, influenced by a community of learners, including children, peers, and adults.…

This paper considers different forms of classroom interaction, focusing particularly on cooperation, the different forms of cooperation, and the functionality of these forms with regard to learning opportunities. The form of student cooperation evaluated is defined as help. The research context is Gotz Krummheuer's project on the reconstruction of…

A 12-hour curriculum/methods block designed to lead elementary education teacher candidates through a constructivist, integrated model of teaching and learning is outlined. This block is part of a graduate level program that leads to licensure and a master's of Curriculum and Instruction in Curriculum and Instruction called Initial Teacher…

Constructivist classroom environments are characterized by student engagement in science processes and manipulating experimental materials with experiential teaching of specific science concepts. Constructivist classrooms are where teachers build models of students' science knowledge, students participate actively in determining the viability of…

Because change in mathematics teachers' instructional practices is fundamental to the vision of school mathematics education embodied in the NCTM Standards documents, it is critical that mathematics teacher educators develop a thorough understanding of the process of change in teaching practice. To date, the process of change has remained somewhat…