Defines synchronous Web-based course support systems as software applications emphasizing features that allow students to meet and interact with one another in a virtual classroom at a specific time. Describes features available that help create a social constructivist learning environment. (LRW)

Describes research that used formative evaluation methods to examine synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems for online learning at the University of Hawaii. Discusses learner-centeredness, constructivism, and sociocultural theories that were used as the bases for the design of synchronous activities and recommends 10 desirable…

This study examined how deaf students construct meaning through writing during authentic science activities. Analysis of writing samples (N=228) indicated that certain process writing strategies were differentially useful including writing prompts used by teachers, focus for the writing, follow-up to the initial writing activity, the teacher's…

In this study we compared the effects of smallgroup constructivist and explicit mathematics instruction in basic multiplication on low-achieving students' performance and motivation. A total of 265 students (aged 8-11 years) from 13 general and 11 special elementary schools for students with learning and/or behavior disorders participated in the…

This article examine a new partnership with a high-needs predominantly Hispanic American elementary school and their practice as teacher educators and researchers amid the reflections of the preservice teachers (PST) and their classroom teachings. The PSTs report becoming more confident in their teaching but are concerned with classroom management…

Gender research demonstrates the important role played by the school in determining a gendered world-view and the influence of the school system on gender-role socialization. Most studies based on the constructivist school relate mainly to one of two issues: either the gender of the teachers themselves, or the gender-mapping of the curriculum…

This article argues that traditional approaches to career counselling have been rendered inadequate by postmodern developments. The postmodern condition is characterised by flux, unpredictability, uncertainty, and the social dislocation of the self. The postmodern self is multiple and polyphonic; it can take on many voices depending on the…

The role that affective states play in learning was investigated from the perspective of a constructivist learning framework. We observed six different affect states (frustration, boredom, flow, confusion, eureka and neutral) that potentially occur during the process of learning introductory computer literacy with AutoTutor, an intelligent…

There is a need to incorporate constructivist environments in the pedagogical practice. A constructivist learning environment allows students to build up their own knowledge (based on previous one) while working jointly among them in a reflexive process directed by the teacher. Wireless interconnected handhelds can introduce a space that favours…

The challenge for educators today is to overcome this barrage of media and technology and find innovative ways to help students learn. But, how can teachers compete for student attention when this is the challenge? How can they improve learning experiences and make them relevant to our students' lives? Integrating technology into the music…

With the current focus on constructivist perspectives, science demonstrations have fallen out of favor in some circles. Demonstrations are easy to do and offer many benefits and unique opportunities in the constructivist classroom. With careful use, demonstrations can be powerful teaching tools. A wonderful quality of a demonstration (or a series…

Secondary school students were asked to state their preference for an objectivist or a constructivist learning environment and consider the consequent implications for their role as a learner. They did this by identifying with the dialogue depicted in two concept cartoons. Results indicate an overwhelming preference among students for a…

Although the constructs of individualism and collectivism appear to bring explanatory power to analyses of culture and psychology, they fail to adequately account for the complexities of social interactions and the multiplicity of people's social judgments. The research considered in the chapters in this volume offers evidence for the need to go…

This article describes the instructional design theoretical foundation of a desktop virtual reality-based learning environment aimed at complementing the current novice driver education system in Malaysia. It provides an elaboration of how various components of the learning environment are designed to support this theoretical underpinning that…

This article sets out to examine the question: how do social science textbooks used in the Dominican public schools portray national identity and ethnicity to its students? This article examines how the popular contemporary Dominican perspective on "blackness" plays a fundamental role in the current Dominican social science public school…