Reforming the traditional teaching mode and practicing a student-centered interactive teaching mode is the trend of development of the university. Interactive teaching can not only inspire the students' enthusiasm to learn and make them obtain better results on study, but also improve their analytical ability, practical ability and creative…

The main purpose of this article is to introduce a critical curriculum design approach for bringing curriculum change for Blended Learning in higher education. Furthermore, the strategies, principles and challenges of this approach are also presented. This paper provides a perspective on such serious concerns as whether curriculum change should…

Andragogy is the art and science of adult education that focuses on real-life application and problem-solving capacity (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 1998). This approach emphasizes that training effectiveness is enhanced through trainees' actual performance of the task. Workers learn better when they perceive that learning will help them perform…

In this article, the authors comment on Eric Fox's description of functional contextualism which makes several contributions to instructional design and technology (IDT). They agree that functional contextualism does indeed provide some "theoretical clarity and philosophical cohesion," not just for constructivism, but also for understanding…

Students examine the bacterial expansion pattern and attempt to relate what they discover to expanding powers of two. They also relate what they see and discover to increasing living space requirements in a world of infinite space and finite space to discover that living space decreases as a function of one over expanding powers of two. The…

Harris and Koenig make a compelling case for the importance of adult "testimony" and its influence on children's developing conceptions of topics in science and religion. This commentary considers how their analysis relates to constructivist and sociocultural theories and discusses several ways in which Harris and Koenig's arguments help to debunk…

In recent years much emphasis has been placed, both by researchers and by policy-makers, on the role that subject knowledge plays in the classroom practice of primary teachers. Within UK research on primary science education, this emphasis is often linked with constructivist ideas about effective teaching. In this article, I explore the…

Exemplary teaching is directed to the essences of a lesson theme and provides possibilities for successfully implementing the essential conditions for educative and formative tasks. A particular example is not chosen to serve as a first learning step but because the essence of a greater whole is reflected in it. This gives teaching a depth where…

Teaching via distance requires inventive instructional strategies to facilitate an optimum learning experience. This qualitative research study evaluated the effect of one unique online teaching strategy called "photovoice" [Wang, C., & Burris, M. (1997). "Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment." "Health…

Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of one-off short continuing adult education courses for expanding the penetration of sustainable development education beyond current tertiary students. Design/methodology/approach: Pre- and post-course questionnaires are used to evaluate the effectiveness of a series of short training courses on…

It is time for new ideas and models for art education. Current developments in contemporary art, learning theory and in art education itself demand new approaches and provide inspiration and guidance for change. Each area brings particular components to the table but they all have one primary element in common: a call for art education that is…

In a repeated measures design (pretest, posttest, 1-year follow-up) with 161 3rd-grade students, the authors compared 2 curricula on floating and sinking within constructivist learning environments, varying in instructional support. The 2 curricula differed in the sequencing of content and the teacher's cognitively structuring statements. At the…

Lead teachers were a major part of a staff-development program first offered in 1983 for science teachers in Iowa. Later, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) reform project called Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) involved 20 school districts and worked annually with new teachers involved during the 7-year funding period,…

It is over 25 years since Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976, "Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry," 17, 89-100) introduced the idea of "scaffolding" to represent the way children's learning can be supported. Despite problems, this metaphor has enduring attraction in the way it emphasises the intent to support a sound foundation with increasing…

The Internet and the Web offer academic institutions solutions for covering the massive demand for education and transition towards student-centered, social constructivist educational models, in accordance with the demands of the knowledge-based society. This article reports on an investigation aimed at presenting a synthesis of recent research on…