Examines the constructivist educational philosophy. Highlights include the significance of written materials, the aims of education, the subjective base of constructivism, the need for more understanding of social and cognitive processes, the limitation of consciousness to the present, the need for constructs and constructs of objects,…

Considers ways to reform social studies education, beginning with preservice teacher education. Topics include constructivism, appropriate use of technology, modeling, reflecting, active student involvement, developing a community of learners, and student attitudes regarding preservice teacher education. (LRW)

Describes the use of concept maps as a metacognitive tool to help chemistry teachers and learners improve teaching and learning. Concept maps were used in response to changes in the conceptions of the nature of scientific knowledge and in how learning occurs. Concept maps are valuable in documenting and exploring the restructuring of conceptual…

Provides details of a study that examined interactions and questioning patterns in the electronic communication exchanges of students (N=21) enrolled in a course designed to provide direction in using an electronic network as an instructional medium. Contains 16 references. (DDR)

Examines technopositivism as a marketed ideology and follows the marketing strategies that appropriate and redefine educational goals and problems, exploring the alleged link between constructivism and technology, considering how teacher education and standard-setting bodies perpetuate this contestable association, and suggesting some deliberately…

Tested the effects of prior knowledge and two instructional models--structured problem solving and guided generation (GG)--on mathematical problem solving and transfer to an analogous task. Data on students with high and low prior knowledge highlighted significant main effects for prior knowledge, significant differences on transfer to analogous…

Discusses the need to initiate intrinsic motivation in Japanese students in online higher education. Presents an overview of the online education process with constructivist learning theory, including various learning interactions; and describes sub-types of personal intrinsic motivation including challenge, fantasy, and curiosity. (Contains 62…

This overview of articles in this special issue introduces the constructivist approach to educating students with learning disabilities. Catalysts for constructivism, the constructivist philosophy, and the whole language approach are discussed. The need for coherent integrated instruction in learning communities that is educationally purposeful,…

Presents salient features of workshop discussion examining good educational practice related to creative thinking and problem solving. Describes constructivist teaching, incorporating examples of classroom learning opportunities that use different forms of scaffolding and vignettes that illustrate constructive educational interactions. Explores…

Discusses appropriate methodologies for investigating how learning occurs in the laboratory. Presents two techniques, concept mapping and V-diagramming, which can be effective research tools in probing students' understanding of chemical principles. These techniques can also be effective instructional tools that help students integrate lecture…

Examines and identifies students' mental models of an abstract mathematical concept regarding intuition. Observes how students think reflectively on their mental models in a whole-class discussion in terms of logical thinking. (DDR)

In 1996, the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum set out principles for effective science education focused on the overall goal of "scientific capability." Five aspects of capability (scientific curiosity, competence, understanding, creativity, and sensitivity) are examined from theoretical and empirical perspectives,…

Examines one teacher's constructivist practice in a preservice teacher education mathematics class in order to unearth a deeper understanding of "constructing meaning" within the context of power-laden discourse. Examines how the teacher undertook an inquiry into poststructuralist theory of knowledge, asserting that it may provide new…

Supports the thesis that constructivism and self controlled learning in adult education should be considered reactions to imperatives of modernization. Recognizes that concepts of self-directed learning are accompanied by a change in the forms of organization as well as the logic and structure of action in adult education. (CAJ)

Describes an experimental study of preservice teachers who developed an instructional plan for a case study within the Multiple Intelligent Mentors Instructing Collaboratively (MIMIC) computer-based environment. Discusses systematic instructional planning (instructivist agent); constructivist agent; metacognitive awareness; attitude; and…