The focus of this study is to begin to answer the question of how sociology majors come to learn their discipline. In this article, I report on the findings from the first study in a multi-method project on this topic. I conducted a group interview with honors sociology majors from around the United States. Students discussed several questions…

Self-efficacy and perseverance of mid- to late-life adults committed to extraordinary involvement in challenging new pursuits was the subject of dissertation research conducted as a constructivist grounded theory. Eight participants over age 50 were purposefully selected for homogenous criteria. Findings disconfirmed perseverance as a contributor…

Preservice teachers studied texts about three fundamentally important science concepts. They read versions with no analogy, versions with a simple analogy, and versions with an elaborate analogy. An elaborate analogy is one that consists of text and pictorial components in which similarities between the analog and the target concept are made…

Web-based collaborative Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environments have great potential for learner improvement in solving ill-structured problems in practical situations. Web-based environments, however, offer learners relatively few chances to solve problems through face-to-face interactions compared to traditional classrooms, thereby making it…

The technology information age mandates that teacher education programs integrate technology into the curriculum. Yet, as the demand for technology use in K-12 classrooms increases nationwide, many teachers feel unprepared for this task (Sprague, Kopfman, & Dorsey, 1998). Traditional face-to-face teacher education and professional development…

Human nature is a very complex phenomenon. In physical therapy this complexity is enhanced by the need to understand the intersection between the art and science of human behavior and patient care. A paradigm is a set of basic beliefs that represent a worldview, defines the nature of the world and the individual's place in it, and helps to…

This article discusses the role of criticality in action learning and in Master's level management education; examines approaches to developing criticality through social constructionist approaches to learning and illustrates how a heightened consciousness of language use by managers can be used to develop critical reflection. Examines critical…

Purpose--The aim of this paper is to describe a study of online, asynchronous dialogues between tutors and nine work-based postgraduate learners on learning through work (LtW) programmes. Design/methodology/approach-- Adopting a constructivist perspective and using a qualitative approach, 670 messages were segmented into semantic units and…

This article describes how a qualitative data analysis package, NVivo, was used in a study of authentic and constructivist learning and teaching in the classroom. The paper starts with a summary of the research study in which NVivo was used to analyze the data and overviews the methodology that was adopted in this study. It, then, describes how…

This article describes the adaptation and validation of the Constructivist OnLine Learning Environment Survey (COLLES) for use in the transnational higher education context. As higher education becomes a more global phenomenon, "borderless" education, either online or by distance education, is becoming a reality and there is a need for…

Because junior tennis players have to enforce the rules of the game against each other, cheating to give a player an unfair advantage is common. While this deviant behavior is found to be commonplace in the sport, there is little research to investigate its cause or influences. Results indicated that junior players felt that personal and parental…

This article focuses on the use of constructivist approaches by career counsellors. A three phase solution-focused model is presented that will enable career counselling practitioners to use brief, positively oriented strategies in an integrated manner with their clients. In addition, possible ways counsellors might integrate systems thinking in…

Evidence from several media illustrates the ways children attempt to fit their observations into their own, known constructs. The contrast is drawn between adult concepts and children's misconceptions and the argument made that children would have more control over their learning with a "bottom-up" approach to teaching rather than the…

In the course of exploring critiques of globalisation, this essay will focus on two postures--each with its range of arguments--that have emerged as alternatives to globalisation, namely, the delinking position and the subverting position. The first argues for standing "outside" of globalisation and its educational cultures and apparatuses. It…

Relatively few studies have attempted to understand the beliefs young pupils have about the mind and learning. This collaborative action research study set out to explore the impact of a thinking skills pedagogy upon a sample of primary school children's learning and beliefs about learning over a period of 18 months. It was found that young…