Learning Network Design (LND) is a socially oriented methodology for construction of cooperative distance learning environments. The paper advances a social constructivist approach to learning in which learning and teaching are seen as a process of active communication, interpretation, and negotiation; offers a view of information technology as a…

The unique bond between mentors and mentees is a complex dyad with unusual strength and trust. It is a relationship of special importance to African American graduate students, who have cited mentor relationships as vital to their persistence in graduate school. African American graduate students do face great difficulties in finding adequate…

The view of learning that underlies standard test theory is inconsistent with the view rapidly emerging from cognitive and educational psychology. Learners become more competent not simply by learning more facts and skills, but by reconfiguring their knowledge; by "chunking" information to reduce memory loads; and by developing…

The left side of the brain has been said to process speech along with logical, rational, convergent, objective, and sequential tasks. The right side of the brain is thought to process nonverbal, spatial, musical, and analogical information. This paper discusses the research on brain hemisphericity from the perspectives of traditional and…

Supplemental Instruction (SI) has been firmly established as a tool for helping college students succeed in beginning writing courses. The SI model is based on a Piagetian-constructivist theoretical framework, which holds that learning is an active process in which learners "construct" their own knowledge, making it an essential part of…

This paper identifies a feature of human brain neural nets that may be described as the principle of ease of processing (PEP), and that, it is argued, is the primary force guiding a learner towards a target grammar. It is suggested that the same principle lies at the heart of Optimality Theory, which characterizes the course of language…

This study was designed to investigate the effects of a dynamic instructional environment, English proficiency, and visualization level, independently and interactively, on middle school students' construction of the concepts of reflection and rotation. The effects of a dynamic instructional environment and English proficiency on students' two-…

The primary purpose of this study was to understand what happens when some aspects of the constructivist approach, namely prediction, explanation, student-centered, and teacher-centered discussions, are applied to science teaching. The study involved 363 junior high school students in Taiwan. It combined the effectiveness of four alternative…

This paper examines the notion of whether computers can provide teachers with the necessary tools to alter the constraints of the traditional classroom and allow for constructivism and independent learning. The study was carried out at Methodist Ladies' College, a girls' school in Melbourne, Australia; information was collected through teacher…

A study identified four principles, based on transfer of learning research and cognitive theory, for guiding curricular decisions, instructional development, and teaching practices in ways that support transferable learning. The principles were as follows: (1) emphasize intermediate-level knowledge in curricular decisions; (2) create in the…

This activity guide for grades K-12 reinforces the concepts of recycling, reducing, and reusing through a series of youth-oriented activities. The guide incorporates a video-based activity, multiple session classroom activities, and activities requiring group participation and student conducted research. Constructivist learning theory was…

It is argued that the debate between qualitative and quantitative research for educational researchers is actually an argument between constructivism and positivism. Positivism has been the basis for most quantitative research in education. Two different things are actually meant when constructivism is discussed (constructivism and…

The purpose of this study is to analyze the perceived thought processes of several students as they learn, and then attempt to solve problems about chemical equilibrium. Four tenth grade students in Taipei, Taiwan, were audiotaped as they individually attempted to solve problems. The problems were such that they required more than mere recall or…

In the West, science is assumed to be an integral part of Western culture. What interests Western educators and policy makers is achievement in science, particularly the comparative achievement in science among students of different Western nations plus Japan. Americans are constantly asking whether or not our students know as much science as…

In the past decade, research on students' ideas has drawn attention to underestimated problems of learning physics. This also particularly applies to Science/Technology/Society teaching. Proposed solutions are mainly inspired by a constructivist cognitive science perspective and are formulated as general teaching strategies that aim at a process…