Constructivist Learning Model Research Articles

Tele-education on Leprosy: Evaluation of an Educational Strategy

The purpose of this research was to evaluate educational strategies applied to a tele-education leprosy course. The curriculum was for members of the Brazilian Family Health Team and was made available through the Sao Paulo Telehealth Portal. The course educational strategy was based on a constructivist learning model where interactivity was emphasized. Authors assessed motivational aspects of the course using the WebMAC Professional tool. Forty-eight healthcare professionals answered the evaluation questionnaire. Adequate internal consistency was achieved (Cronbach's alpha = 0.79). More than 95% of queried items received good evaluations. Multidimensional analysis according to motivational groups of questions (STIMULATING, MEANINGFUL, ORGANIZED, EASY-TO-USE) showed high agreement. According to WebMAC's criteria, it was considered an "awesome course." The tele-educational strategies implemented for leprosy disclosed high motivational scores.

Learning by viewing versus learning by doing: Evidence-based guidelines for principled learning environments

A learner-centered approach is a central feature of instruction based on a constructivist learning model. However, there is some confusion regarding the requirement for behavioral activity as a prerequisite for a learner-centered environment. We offer evidence in this article that some types of behavioral activity can interfere with cognitive learning processes. We recommend that instructional professionals focus on cognitive activity and summarize evidence-based methods that support appropriate cognitive activity in behaviorally passive and active learning environments.

Guides and climbers: development of an online resource for thesis writers and supervisors

The supervisory relationship has been identified as a key feature of the research degree process. Notwithstanding its broadly acknowledged importance, there is often little formal institutional provision to support supervisors and candidates to establish effective educational relationships. In responding to the identified needs of students and supervisors, an online resource has been developed at Monash University, Australia. Informed by the literature on academic writing skills instruction, genre studies and disciplinary discourse, it seeks to provide students with accessible educational content to enhance and support each stage of the process. The article focuses primarily on the components of the site which relate to the issues arising from the scoping study. It outlines the development within a framework of adult learning theory, as well as social interactionist and constructivist learning models, and highlights the stages of the construction of the project, as informed by content evaluation and usability tests.

Between Constructivism and Connectedness

Parker Palmer is correct in his claims that good teaching depends more on the capacity for connectedness than on technique and that helping teacher candidates cultivate a strong sense of personal identity is crucial. However, to what extent are Palmer's claims compatible with the various constructivist models of learning that are now prevalent in many colleges of education? Moreover, how are the goals of Palmer's approach integrated with those of constructivism? This essay responds to these questions and negotiates between constructivism and Palmer's educational approach. First the author lays out a predominant constructivist model of teaching and learning. Next, he explores some potential limitations facing constructivism and argues that Palmer's notion of connectedness can help mitigate against some of the shortcomings of constructivism. Finally, the author examines a specific example from an English methods course that represents an attempt to integrate the virtues of Palmer's approach with those of constructivism.

The Lessons of Entrepreneurial Experience: Toward Identifying Critical Development Lessons

This paper uses insights from cognitive developmental psychology, constructivism and social neuroscience to move beyond entrepreneurial intentions to explore deeply-held beliefs associated with entrepreneurial thinking. From those insights, we propose identifying those developmental experiences ( lessons ) that are the sources of those critical deep beliefs that are intrinsic to our mental models regarding entrepreneurship: How we construct opportunities and, perhaps more important, how we learn to perceive ourselves as entrepreneurs. This paper addresses the nature of beliefs from a social neuroscience perspective, the constructivist learning model, theory and recent evidence from cognitive developmental psychology, and a look at a key phenomenon that reflects deep entrepreneurial beliefs, entrepreneurial role identity.

Employing constructivist-based principles in an <i>Applied Language Studies in English</i> course with a focus on ideology and the media

In line with outcomes-based education (OBE), language practitioners in South Africa have shifted their focus from a predominantly transmission-based, instructionist approach to language teaching to a more cognitive approach, which no longer treats learners as passive recipients of knowledge. In keeping with this shift, several linguists and applied linguists in the field of language teaching have focused on constructivist approaches to learning (e.g. Blyth, 1997; Collentine, 2000; Kaufman, 2004). This article reports on how a constructivist model of learning, combined with a discourse-based approach to analysing newspaper language, was employed in an Applied Language Studies in English module currently offered at third-year level at a South African tertiary institution. The constructivist principles underlying the course are identified, the aim being to show how a discourse-based, constructivist approach may be used to (i) heighten learners' awareness of how global metaphors establish ideology in newspaper editorials and (ii) guide learners in the writing of their own editorials in which they generate metaphors that reflect specific ideological perspectives. At the same time, a common misconception that constructivist learning does not involve direct instruction from the teacher is countered. In this regard, the notion of pedagogical scaffolding is considered.

Constructivist Learning During Software Development

This article explores the non-monotonic nature of the programmer learning that takes place during incremental program development. It uses a constructivist learning model that consists of four fundamental cognitive activities: absorption that adds new facts to the knowledge, denial that rejects facts that do not fit in, reorganization that reorganizes the knowledge, and expulsion that rejects obsolete knowledge. A case study of an incremental program development illustrates the application of the model and demonstrates that it can explain the learning process with episodes of both increase and decrease in the knowledge. Implications for the documentation systems are discussed in the conclusions.

The Impact of Faculty Interaction on E-Learning at U21Global – Some Preliminary Evidence

The last decade has witnessed e-learning evolving as a major force in higher education. The role of faculty in e-learning is often debated. This paper reports the findings of a pilot study about the role of faculty interaction in a pedagogically rich environment, grounded in a constructivist model of learning. The findings of this study suggest that faculty interaction adds value to learner satisfaction, reduces student withdrawals in the first few weeks of a section, and finally, may also positively impact actual learning outcomes, particularly in qualitative subjects.

Learning With Weblogs: Enhancing Cognitive and Social Knowledge Construction

This study investigated the impact of weblog use on individual learning in the context of university senior-level business education. As an emergent form of personal communication, weblogs enable people to publish their thoughts as webpages, and to share information and knowledge. Recognizing the potential impact of weblogs on knowledge expression and sharing, this research sought to empirically examine whether the continuous use of weblogs as online learning logs would affect student learning performance. The assumption was that effective use of weblogs promoted the constructivist models of learning by supporting both cognitive and social knowledge construction, and by reinforcing individual accountability in learning. Results from an Information Systems undergraduate course with 31 participants indicated that the performance of students' weblogs was a significant predictor of the learning outcome (while traditional coursework was not). Moreover, individuals' cognitive construction effort to build their own mental models and social construction effort to further enrich/expand knowledge resources appeared to be two key aspects of the constructivist learning with weblogs. Our results imply the potential benefit of using weblogs as a knowledge construction tool and a social learning medium

A ‘Hands on’ Strategy for Teaching Genetic Algorithms to Undergraduates

Genetic algorithms (GAs) are a problem solving stra tegy that uses stochastic search. Since their introduction (Holland, 1975), GAs have proven to be particularly useful for solving problems that are ‘intractable’ using classical methods. The la nguage of genetic algorithms (GAs) is heavily laced with biological metaphors from evolutionary literature, such as population, chromosome, crossover, cloning, mutation, genes and generati ons. For beginners studying genetic algorithms, there is quite an overhead in gaining comfort w ith these terms and an understanding of their par- allel meanings in the unfamiliar computing milieu of an evolutionary algorithm. This paper describes a ‘hands on’ strategy to introduce and teach gene tic algorithms to under- graduate computing students. By borrowing an analogical model from senior biology classes, poppet beads are used to represent individuals in a population (Harrison, 2001). Described are several introductory exercises that transport stude nts from an illustration of natural selection in Biston betula moths, onto the representation and solution of differing mathematical and comput- ing problems. Through student manipulation and interactions with poppet beads, the exercises cover terms such as population, generation, chro mosome, gene, mutation and crossover in both their biological and computing contexts. Importantly, the tasks underline the two key design is- sues of genetic algorithms: the choice of an appr opriate chromosome representation, and a suit- able fitness function for each specific instance. Finally, students are introduced to the notion of schema upon which genetic algorithms operate. The constructivist model of learning advocates the us e of such contextual problems to create an environment where students become active partic ipants in their own learning (Ben-Ari, 1998; Greening, 2000; Kolb, 1984). In itial student feedback about these “hands on” exercises has been enthusiastic. As well, several st udents have made reference to the lessons learnt as the basis for GA coding in subsequent open-e nded assignments. It seems that once the hurdle of becoming familiar with GA terminology has been surmounted , students find genetic algorithms to be par- ticularly intriguing for their uncanny ability to solve incredibly complex problems quickly and proficiently (Moore, 2001).

Creating policy analysis skills in postgraduate engineering for sustainable development

A new sustainable development module for a taught postgraduate engineering course provided an opportunity to design and streamline taught content, using a constructivist model of student learning. The design process revealed that a key learning objective for a postgraduate engineering student must be the competency to analyse difficult social and political contexts. The success of meeting this need by introducing cognitive mapping, a technique previously used in operations research and social science, is reported.

Constructivism Applied: An Example from the Teaching of Computing

The state of science education is similar to that of other disciplines: research shows a clear need for new instructional strategies based on a constructivist model of learning emphasizing conceptual growth, conceptual change and the conditions that support conceptual change. Practice, however, remains anchored in behaviorist theory and rote methods of learning. “Serious constructivist approaches usually set out to reorganize traditional teaching by including changes of aims, setup of content structures, media, and teaching/learning strategies” (Treagust et al, 1996, p7). Maher and Alston (1990) discuss constructivist reform efforts and the implications for classroom teaching focusing on three issues that arise repeatedly: how to learn to listen to students’ thinking; how to organize classroom activities to support “listening and questioning”; and how to implement forms of assessment that document students’ questions. This paper describes some constructivist teaching methodology and practices, and highlights their effectiveness as an aid to teaching and understanding in the classroom.

REVIEW: JosephGrange.JOHN DEWEY, CONFUCIUS, AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY.Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2004.

to many dimensions of Whitehead's thought in their present and continu- 7° ing significance. In short, it is a major contribution to Whitehead studies. . Nancy K. Frankenberry ¡~* Department of Religious Studies such works as Experience and Nature, Reconstruction in Philosophy, The Public and Its Problems, and Art as Experience. He does not cite A Common Faith, which retrenched the religious individualism of Emerson and William James, though it runs as an undercurrent in Grange's elaboration, submerging Con- ^ fucius's far more transcendent religiosity in its undertow. The reader may ask here whether this is an accurate rendering of Confucius or an anachronistic "mis-reading" in the fashionable postmodern style. The problem is a pervasive one insofar as Grange declares himself committed to a recent transliteration of Confucian terms which breaks away from over two millennia of interpretation of Confucian and Neo-Confucian teachings in the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean traditions, as well as from the standard translations of contemporary East Asian scholarship. 2 A sign of such a revisionist reading occurs in this work's reference to Confucius' concept of Heaven (tian) as the transcendent basis of the moral order. This concept of Heaven has been standard for interpretation of the works of Confucius and Mencius, and foundational as well for an ensuing twenty-five hundred year history of orthodox transmission of the pristine teachings. It is counterintuitive to think that the concept can now be "secularized " to accord with Dewey's A Common Faith. Grange tucks this crucial issue away in a footnote in reference to an ongoing debate within comparative philosophy—in effect, as an intramural issue "that needs further debate if global philosophy is to become a truly planetary integrative force" (p. 117, fn. I6).3 The putative debate, however, is truer to Dewey than to Confucius. Dewey's pragmatism is front and center in regarding ancient philosophies as having provided past answers to past problems that are now obsolete. Even the more recent Western philosophies appeared to Dewey to have left a tangle of dualisms to be overcome by a more contemporary set of resolutions. Dewey famously exemplifies a modern historical consciousness whose evolutionary focus called for "the reconstruction of philosophy today." He envisioned post-Darwinian philosophy to serve as a "criticism of criticisms" functioning as fresh point of departure into the brave new open-ended future. His concept of the progressive curriculum with its cooperative learning and constructivist learning models were keynoted to "growth for growth's sake." None of this even remotely sounds like Confucius. For his part, Confucius sought to reinvigorate the mythic models of high antiquity. He philosophized in a culture which had strong ties to its mythic past and which reverenced its legendary sage kings as efficacious paradigms for all times. His full gamut of ritual enactments (//) presupposed such a perennial "eternal present."Thus he "studied the old to know the new." And he drew a sharp line between the exemplary Confucian gentleman (junzt) and the ' inferior types of persons" (hsiao ren), the partisan types who are always in the majority in the private and public spheres of life. Grange s book, then, has to prove its point. Like much of Dewey's writors ings, it is in fact oriented to a "social studies" approach as distinguished m in from serious historical understanding. An example of this is that it does not 7° inform the reader of the historical facts connected with Dewey's almost ., two-year sojourn in China. AU we learn from this book is that Dewey picked up the title of "Second Confucius" in receiving an honorary degree at the National University of China (no date is given). The reader is entitled here to have Grange set the record straight of Dewey's activities and lectures in China, as well as providing an assessment of the net pragmatic effect of his presence and teaching in China, Japan, and other countties he visited as a quasi-ambassador of "American" values. These pertinent historical details are elided, when the prevailing testimony of the historians is to the effect that Dewey—and such prominent followers as Dr. Hu Shih (who interpreted for Dewey in China, lectured in the U...

Researching thinking skills strategies in a primary school: challenging technical-rationalist orthodoxies of learning?

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 children were capable of substantiating beliefs with evidence and reasonable argument – one indicator of intellectual autonomy. Furthermore, over time, children were able to articulate an increasingly constructivist model of mind and learning. However, the findings also suggest that, for some children, intellectual autonomy may have been hindered by current United Kingdom curriculum and assessment policy; a technical-rationalist, competitive, transmission model of education still persisted in the perceptions of some children with regard to perceived classroom expectations. Throughout the discussion, the author grounds the action research project in philosophical theory to explore the extent to which a philosophical schism is creating this tension and impeding revision in education. As a means of resolving this tension, the potential of constructivist and sociocultural views of learning is also discussed.

Benefits of An Online Discussion List in A Traditional Distance Education Course

This paper analyses and evaluates the use of an asynchronous online discussion list introduced to an established distance education print based course on recreational drug use and abuse. This discussion list was established in order to be able to meet a course objective of challenging assumptions and attitudes about drug use, which was difficult to measure in the previous format. This paper chronicles the introduction and evaluation of an asynchronous discussion board based on the constructivist model of learning. It demonstrates the benefits gained from adding an on-line discussion list, including attitudinal change and the opportunity for academic discourse between students.

“If you Build it, they will Come”

Who studies media literacy and why? What has the nation’s first graduate program in media literacy learned about what motivates students to come from across the country and around the world to pursue the study of media literacy? How do students in this learning community support each other? How did the graduate program emerge from a college of education’s commitment to a social constructivist model of learning, and how is media literacy reinforced and integrated in other degree tracks throughout the college? The coordinator of the program offers some insights, including anecdotal comments from the students themselves.

Teaching medication calculation for conceptual understanding.

Medication calculation ability has been identified as a common weakness among nursing students. However, few new methods for teaching this skill have been devised. This article describes the development of a teaching strategy based on a constructivist learning model.

JOURNAL WRITING REVISITED: USING LIFE-ADJUSTMENT NARRATIVES AS AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH TO LEARNING IN PSYCHOLOGY OF ADJUSTMENT

As a follow-up to the earlier success of using the Life Analysis as a life-story narrative assignment in my life-span development courses, in this article I report on the Life-Adjustment Narrative as an autobiographical approach to learning that I employed in instructing a course in psychology of adjustment. In completing the Life Adjustment Narrative, students record their attitudes, beliefs, and feelings toward the self, important events in their own lives, and interpersonal relationships that affect their personal adjustment. As predicted, the results of quantitative testing indicate that narrative discourse leads to higher-level learning outcomes, including critical analysis and conceptual application, when compared to traditional didactics. Based on questionnaire data, students viewed the project as helpful in stimulating critical thinking, course relevance to personal life, academic challenge, creative expression, self-discovery, personal interest and enjoyment, and motivation to learn. The quantitative and qualitative evidence combine to show that journal-writing assignments, such as the Life-Adjustment Narrative and the related Life Analysis, concurrently promote intellectual growth and meaningful personal insights. Results are discussed in terms of a constructivist model of teaching and learning. Implications for classroom pedagogy and future research are also presented.

Conceptual Difficulties Experienced by Prospective Teachers in Electrochemistry: Half-Cell Potential, Cell Potential, and Chemical and Electrochemical Equilibrium in Galvanic Cells

A previous study of prospective teachers found that students from different countries and different levels of electrochemistry hold common misconceptions, indicating that concepts were presented to them poorly. It also identified new misconceptions by considering electrochemical concepts such as chemical equilibrium, electrochemical equilibrium, and the instrumental requirements for the measurement of cell potential, which had been ignored in the literature. This paper reports how the prospective teachers' scientifically incorrect ideas were used to form assertion-reason-type questions and how these questions were used to identify previously unreported conceptual difficulties related to these ignored concepts. The origins of the learning difficulties were attributed to lack of electrochemical conceptual knowledge and to insufficient explanation of the concepts in the textbooks. The results of this study were consistent with the constructivist model of learning, which suggests that students construct new k...

CASE-BASED INSTRUCTION: A TECHNIQUE FOR INCREASING CONCEPTUAL APPLICATION IN INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY

As an alternative or supplement to the traditional lecture format, in case-based instruction (CBI) students actively experience an actual or fictional problem-centered narrative within applied settings. As a means of teaching reasoning skills that link theory to practice, CBI has been used across many disciplines, including business, law, medicine, teacher education, and the natural and behavioral sciences. In the present investigation, I formulate and use a hypothetical case narrative in teaching conceptual analysis and application of major theories (biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, and cross-cultural) in introductory psychology. Intact classes were randomly assigned to receive either CBI, combining small- and large-group discussion, or traditional lecture-based instruction (Control). As predicted, results of an independent t -test analysis show that students in the CBI condition outperformed those in the Control with respect to theoretical comprehension and application. Group discussions were generally lively and reflective of critical thinking and higher-level conceptual understanding. Overall, students viewed CBI not only as realistic and helpful in the learning process, but also as challenging, creatively stimulating, interesting, and enjoyable. Results are discussed in light of constructivist and cooperative learning models.