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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Considers effective dialogue between teacher and student essential for promoting meaningful learning in the classroom. Effective dialogue enables teachers and students to be active in the construction of shared understanding by making explicit the overlap between the perspectives held by students and teachers. Suggests that concept maps provide a…

Integrating ICT and primary science appears to be a "tall order." Imposing it, or merely suggesting it to teachers as an approach to teaching science in school, can induce feelings of apprehension, reluctance or, indeed, doubt. In this article, the author describes an innovative approach that may dispel some of these fears, and suggests a…