For all students, the ability to write, to use a word-processing program, and to unite the two skills in a synergistic blend of form and content has become a key factor in achieving academic success. This book presents teachers with a framework for helping them help students achieve this success. Divided into two parts, the book provides teachers…

The author of this paper submits that humans have a natural inquisitiveness; hence, mathematicians (as well as other humans) must be active in learning. Thus, we must commit to conjecture and prove or disprove said conjecture. Ergo, the purpose of the paper is to submit the thesis that learning requires doing; only through inquiry is learning…

Seventeen papers that relate to the use of cooperative learning activities in undergraduate mathematics courses are contained within this collection. Papers were selected by the staff of Project CLUME (Cooperative Learning in Undergraduate Mathematics Education) and organized into categories pertaining to constructivism and the teachers' role,…

A traditional introductory college astronomy course was restructured along constructivist lines to better foster a key component of science literacy: critical thinking about problems in science. The restructured course was lecture-free, problem-centered, and collaborative in structure. The Reflective Judgment Framework was used to better…

At the University of Central Florida student portfolios have been required in the College of Education for many years. Student journals are reviewed and graded by faculty. All departments require students to submit portfolios before their senior teaching internship. The portfolios illustrate who the student is now and how he or she wants to be as…

This research report identifies conditions and methods that focus on the daily classroom events of experienced teachers whose equity pedagogy results in effective teaching of students from diverse racial, ethnic, and social class groups. The research suggests that such methods elicit the kinds of dialogue that enrich the knowledge of all those who…

Principals can better learn to support an instructional reform when classes for professional development use the new instructional method, giving them a first hand understanding of its effectiveness. Constructivist teaching is supported by the National Research Council's "How People Learn" and the Students at the Center initiative.…

Although many children change schools during the course of a school year, itinerant fruit pickers' children in Australia often move residences as well as schools on a regular basis, generally attending at least two schools per year. Although research has argued that time missed at school and change of schools is often disruptive to children's…

The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how Constructivism in education has failed to address criticisms by re-directing or misdirecting the focus of the debate over whether or not Constructivism is able to give support to a viable theory of instruction. In response, support is given to Constructivism by drawing on rational, moral, and…

In constructivist learning environments, assessment becomes part of the pedagogical process rather than remaining isolated from instruction, thus enhancing learning. Teachers express concern about being too subjective when implementing performance assessments in their classrooms and need specific training to modify traditional beliefs. Social…

Teachers who use a dialogic approach to teaching and responding to student writing view their comments as a conversation with the students. They view writing in relation to the larger context of writing--the type of writing, the audience and purpose, and the conventions of the writer's community. When responding to student writing, a teacher's…

This book describes and analyzes the teaching that has evolved in mathematics classrooms of teachers who have been forerunners in the effort to implement the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards in Elementary Mathematics. Research and insights from psychology, mathematics, and sociology are presented. Chapters include: (1)…

Elementary teachers collaborated on a research project that investigated how a constructivist approach to gifted and talented integrated curriculum strategies and techniques could be developed and implemented. The collaborative group action research cycle involved planning, collecting baseline data, intervening strategies/modifying interventions,…

This book consists of a collection of critiques by educators who fault the teaching methods and curricular ideas of their field and suggest how the field can be reformed. Following a "Foreword" (Chester E. Finn, Jr.) and an "Introduction" (James S. Leming; Lucien Ellington), there are seven articles in the book: (1) "A…

This publication presents a compilation of information about technologies used for distance education and web-based training for practitioners in adult, career, and vocational education. It focuses on the use of technology in the following ways: (1) as an instructional tool that expands classroom walls and enables the delivery of specialized…