This paper reports on a pilot study that examined the use of a science and technology curriculum based on robotics to increase the achievement scores of youth ages 9-11 in an after school program. The study examined and compared the pretest and posttest scores of youth in the robotics intervention with youth in a control group. The results…

Built on the foundation of four years of research and implementation of mobile learning projects (m-learning), this paper provides an overview of the potential of the integration of mobile Web 2.0 tools (based around smartphones) to facilitate social constructivist pedagogies and engage students in tertiary education. Pedagogical affordances of…

This work presents a unique education resource for both process engineering students and the industry workforce. The learning environment is based around spherical imagery of real operating plants coupled with interactive embedded activities and content. This Virtual Reality (VR) learning tool has been developed by applying aspects of relevant…

The educational problem that this paper addresses is how to summarize the constructivist framework reflected in student-centered learning approaches, in a way that provides educators with manageable guidelines for transforming classrooms into computer-supported learning environments. Fourteen values that summarize the constructivist framework are…

The major purposes of this study are: (1) to investigate and compare the effectiveness of two instructional strategies, modeling and coaching on helping students to articulate and support their decisions in a case-based learning environment; (2) to compare the effectiveness of modeling and coaching on helping students address essential criteria in…

This document describes some of the prominent beliefs about how students construct knowledge. These beliefs are guiding principles that teachers can use to implement instructional strategies that facilitate learning. Instructional examples in mathematics and science follow each principle to help the reader envision how the principle promotes…

This book explores the construction of subjectivity and advances a theoretical account of the processes through which subjectivities are constituted in the context of a two-fold study of black subjectivity. The first three chapters are devoted to the deconstruction of the black subject construed by scientific psychology, and the remainder is…

Students often hold personal explanations for natural phenomena that are intuitive, alternative to current scientific explanations, and extremely tenacious. This research effort attempted to document and interpret if and how exposure to conceptual change instructional techniques influenced one experienced teacher's conceptions of teaching science…

The California Freshwater Shrimp Project is an example of a student-initiated, eco-action project. Students, from a fourth grade class in the Ross Valley School District in San Rafael, California, were linked to their community and environment through their work in rehabilitating habitat and educating the public. The paper gives an overview of a…

Evaluation is discussed as knowledge construction. Examinations are considered as tests of knowledge or as tests of students and then as selection tools or as the construction of knowledge in themselves. Examinations involve the power to define what is common knowledge in a discipline and in a culture, and the examination discourse contributes to…

This study explored possible relationships between teacher efficacy, the use of instructional practices, and context variables. It sought to determine what instructional practices were used by 7th- and 8th-grade science teachers, the extent to which these practices were used, and the relationship between teacher efficacy and the use of specific…

This essay emphasizes a need for broad-minded constructivism which posits that individuals have coherent ways of understanding their world and that these understandings are structured and hierarchically organized. The meaning behind the term "co-construction," used in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines, is…

Classroom with a View (CView) is an interactive multimedia environment designed to provide students with opportunities to observe, discuss, and analyze classroom practice in a mediated environment in which students work in pairs exploring a database of videotaped mathematics and science lessons. CView was designed using a description of the…

The number of students failing in school has risen drastically in the past few years. Because of this, many educators are revisiting traditional practices and infusing effective tools that can enhance and promote literacy skills for all students. This process requires not only that teachers integrate content, but also that they elucidate the…

A study explored the implications of a rhetorical approach to professional education in business--specifically, how a social constructivist view of language might change how students learn concepts and theories of business. It focused on undergraduate education in management, with data drawn from a case study of a student in a pilot version of an…