Function Probe is a multi-representational software for Apple Macintosh computers. It was designed to allow students to approach problems in different ways and/or use different representations. This case study describes a 16-year-old student as he creates a path among a variety of representations of transformations of functions while using the…

This volume explores the theory and practice of scaffolding, instruction that provides students with the intellectual support to function at the cutting edge of their development. Scaffolding means providing support to allow the learner to learn for himself or herself. Scaffolding is a challenging form of instruction, but as the contributors to…

When social science students try to solve statistics problems, the two major problems that they often face are how to get "the machine" to give them results they want and problem identification. The goal of this project at Michigan State University was to provide a supplementary educational tool for political science classes through the…

This study investigates the relationships between student beliefs about the nature of science, student attitudes, and conceptual change about the nature of forces in a traditional high school physics classroom. Students (N=28) in the study were junior-level high school honors students in an introductory physics class. The physics instruction was…

Constructivism is the theory that people learn by constructing meaning through interpretive interactions with the social environment. Constructivist perspectives are a growing influence among educators seeking to help students connect learning with life experiences, making constructivism highly relevant to vocational and career educators. This…

This book presents a case for the development of classrooms based on constructivist pedagogy, which seeks to: (1) pose problems of emerging relevance to learners; (2) structure learning around "big ideas" or primary concepts; (3) seek and value students' points of view; (4) adapt curriculum to address students' suppositions; and (5) assess student…

The goal of this paper is to relate liberation and the teaching of thinking. By looking at the great liberators throughout history, teachers can learn about their own craft. The goal of teaching thinking ought to be to develop individuals who can think for themselves. Such people have some measure of control over the meaning they make of their…

This theoretical paper utilizes cybernetic-­based approaches (Bopry, 1999; Wiener, 1954) and communications theory (Habermas, 1984, 1990; Krippendorff, 1994) to advance knowledge of constructivist learning. I argue that past educational research literature on constructivist learning is partly responsible for limiting how educational designers…

Four epistemological belief and two teaching/learning conception dimensions were identified from a questionnaire study of a sample of Hong Kong preservice teacher education students. The epistemological belief dimensions were labelled Innate/Fixed Ability, Learning Effort/Process, Authority/Expert Knowledge and Certainty Knowledge. The somewhat…

This paper reports on a qualitative research study exploring the socialisation experiences of immigrant secondary mathematics teachers practising in Australia. Teacher perception of differences in the ways their respective home and the Australian (host) cultures value aspects of mathematics teaching and learning was observed to lead to dissonance.…

The traditional approach to education in zoo settings operated under the premise that meaningful learning and improved attitudes toward environmental education would occur by simply exposing children to wild animals. This study was a preliminary evaluation of an innovative environmental education program at a medium-sized Florida zoo. The study…

This study revised the Teacher Beliefs Survey (S. Wooley and A. Wooley, 1999; TBS), an instrument to assess teachers beliefs related to constructivist and behaviorist theories of learning, and then studied the validity of the revised TBS. Drawing on a literature review, researchers added items for the existing constructs of the TBS and added a new…

This paper provides a framework for thinking about origami construction and constructivism. In an attempt to understand the conceptual and theoretical framework supporting the field of inclusive teaching strategies in relationship to origami, I have prepared a model for origami which represents six types of constructive learning: (1) Hands-on…

On the way to enter the European educational space, the Croatian higher educational system attempts to come to terms with the conclusions of the Bologna Declaration and undertake the reform of the higher education of the Republic of Croatia and introduce the ECTS points- system. Intensive activities in connection with the making of the new…

The objective of this paper is to give indications to a curriculum designed to prepare teachers for the next decade, the results presented here were based on a research project entitled "The Teacher and the Cultural Dimensions of School Knowledge" and aiming at analyzing teachers' conceptions about the diversity in group planning and its…