This article reviews and explores the links between Chet Bowers' recent book on constructivist theories of learning and the paper by Gormas, Koole, and Vryhof on learning for reconciliation published in this journal (Spring 2006). The reviewer holds that Bowers' critique of constructivism has merit, but that his emphasis on eco-justice leaves gaps…

"Art practice as research" casts artmaking as inquiry--as a particularly experiential and constructivist process of learning in which imaginative synthesis and creative image making are ways of constructing knowledge. This article explores how artmaking functions as research through the creation of visual images, especially images that picture…

The purpose of this study was to describe international perspectives concerning terms, definitions, and meanings of adapted physical activity (APA) as (a) activities or service delivery, (b) a profession, and (c) an academic field of study. Gergen's social constructionism, our theory, guided analysis of multiple sources of data via qualitative…

Interaction is an essential ingredient in any learning process. However, every interaction does not lead to increased learning. When interaction has a direct influence on learners' intellectual growth, we can say the interaction is meaningful. The precise meaning of meaningful interaction is strongly related to the learning theories underlying the…

Trends in higher education have contributed to the need for more coordination and collaboration among different constituencies involved in instructional design and delivery. As researchers and educational technologists working in a large public research university, our research focuses on understanding the interactions among various stakeholder…

Influenced by Myles Horton's vision and leadership, the Highlander Folk School became an adult education program centered on social change via the labor and civil rights movements. In this article, I examine the pedagogy and practice of Myles Horton and the Highlander Folk School and identify the key themes that guided their educational approach…

The overall intention of this project is to establish a learning community consisting of student teachers, their supervisors in day care institutions and the university teachers in preschool teacher education. In this article we focus on the Educational Forums established to develop a local base of common knowledge in the field of early childhood…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of a primary teacher in order to illuminate the nature of primary teaching. Using qualitative methods, five university researchers spent nine months during the course of one school year with a second grade teacher and her students. This inquiry took a multiple lens…

This study of middle-school students in California focused on the effectiveness of using innovative teaching strategies for enhancing the classroom environment, students' attitudes and conceptual development. A sample of 661 students from 22 classrooms in four inner city schools completed modified forms of the Constructivist Learning Environment…

Objective: To explore and evaluate the use of two methods (1) experiential learning workshops and (2) reflective practice within post-graduate health promotion education, with a view to providing a foundation in professional practice based on health promotion principles and critical thinking. Design: This is an empirical study exploring the…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) poses constructivist ideas in its "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000). NCTM supports mathematics instruction that takes a developmental perspective; starts and builds on what children know; and leads children to construct relational understanding, problem-solving…

This paper is a comparison of three major elementary mathematics textbooks. Although the scope of this investigation is not directly related to college level mathematics, it does address a portion of the oft asked college level question, "How have my students been taught in public school?" The study looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the…

Background: Research about sport pedagogy has recently emerged as a significant interest in student reflective practice within the PE teaching/learning system. This learning process is considered as a type of knowledge of co-construction in action. This epistemological assumption postulates that the "knowledge-in-action" is the result of an active…

The research presented in this paper consisted of an investigation of the effectiveness of a four-step constructivist-based teaching activity on student understanding of how pressure and temperature influence the dissolution of a gas in a liquid. Some 44 Grade 9 students (18 boys and 26 girls) selected purposively from two school classes in the…

Listening to students in productive ways seems to be at the core of teaching practices aligned with the basic tenets of the constructivist world view. We present a definition for productive ways of listening, discuss the challenges involved in implementing it, and propose a way to support the "decentering" needed to learning to listen for teacher…