This empirical study explores the nature of and profiles in primary teachers' educational beliefs in the Chinese educational settings. A survey of 820 primary school teachers was conducted using a questionnaire focusing on teachers' traditional and constructivist beliefs about teaching and learning. Analysis of variance and cluster analysis were…

Discussions of one urban middle school group of students who were investigating scientific phenomena were analyzed; this study was conducted to discern if and how peer interaction contributes to learning. Through a social constructivist lens, case study methodology, we examined conceptual change among group members. Data about science talk was…

The focus of this paper is to present the major qualitative findings from a one year, mixed methods study that explores a cohort of preservice teachers' process of learning to teach with information and communication technology (ICT) across their teacher preparation program in Singapore. This study suggests a variation in the preservice teachers'…

By integrating and infusing computer learning technologies wisely into student-centered or social constructivist art learning environments, art educators can improve student learning and at the same time provide a creative, substantive model for how schools can and should be reformed. By doing this, art educators have an opportunity to demonstrate…

This article draws attention to the power of shared responsibility in the secondary art classroom. While the conceptual framework the author used is grounded in constructivism, readers may also find intersections with other instructional approaches, especially those that value student-centered learning over academic or quantitative political…

Before leaders in technology education are able to identify a theoretical framework upon which a curriculum is to stand, they must first grapple with two opposing views of the purpose of technology education--education for all learners or career/technical education. Dakers (2006) identifies two opposing philosophies that can serve as a framework…

This article presents the argument that combining visual methods with other qualitative research methods enhances the inherent strengths of each methodology and allows new understandings to emerge. These would otherwise remain hidden if only one method were used in isolation. In a qualitative inquiry of an elementary teacher's constructivist…

Incorporating technology into the early childhood classroom to enhance traditional teaching methods is not a new idea. Yet the use of technology as an instructional tool in curriculum is still often considered an innovative way to engage young children in learning. Since "computers serve as catalysts for social interaction", the use of technology…

Owing to national emphasis on accountability, teacher education programs are under close scrutiny by federal and state-level entities to justify their purpose and usefulness in preparing future teachers. Accrediting agencies have set high standards, which ask for systematic assessment of teacher education programs and their candidates. The purpose…

Since the construct of "possible selves" was first introduced over two decades ago by Markus and Nurius (1986), a substantial body of research has explored the content, valence, origins, and motivational dynamics of possible selves in a variety of domains, including academic achievement, lifespan development, and health-related behaviors, among…

This article reflects on an effort to incorporate constructivist pedagogies (learner-centered, inquiry-guided, problem-based models of teaching) into an introductory class on Christian Ethics in an M.Div. curriculum. Although some students preferred more traditional pedagogies, the majority found that constructivist pedagogies better accommodated…

Viva voce (viva) or oral examinations are widely used in medical education, clinical examinations, and doctoral defenses, yet the assessment method is seldom adopted by university marketing departments. Correspondingly, the marketing education literature makes no reference to vivas as an alternative academic assessment technique. This research…

Most teachers only dream of their students spending the amount of motivation, attention, passion, and critical thinking on their classes that some students do playing videogames. This investigation examines the success, pitfalls, and lessons learned from incorporating videogame-like components into an educational technology class. For example,…

In this paper, the development of an innovative Virtual Manipulatives and Whiteboard (VMW) system is described. The VMW system allowed users to manipulate virtual objects in 3D space and find clues to solve geometry problems. To assist with multi-representation transformation, translucent multimedia whiteboards were used to provide a virtual 3D…

Creating a design theory for Constructivist Gaming Learning Environment necessitates, among other things, the establishment of design principles. These principles have the potential to help designers produce games, where users achieve higher levels of learning. This paper focuses on twelve design principles: Probing, Distributed, Multiple Routes,…