Constructivist View Of Learning Research Articles

Change in Teaching Mathematics: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study was to examine teacher’s learning in the setting of the classroom. In an ongoing mathematics research project based on constructivist views of learning and set in a second-grade classroom, the teacher changed in her beliefs about learning and teaching. These alterations occurred as she resolved conflicts and dilemmas that arose between her previously established form of practice and the emphasis of the project on children’s construction of mathematical meaning. The changes that occurred as the teacher reorganized her practice were analyzed and interpreted by using selected daily video recordings of mathematics lessons along with field notes, open-ended interviews, and notes from project meetings. The analyses indicated that changes occurred in her beliefs about the nature of (a) mathematics from rules and procedures to meaningful activity, (b) learning from passivity to interacting and communicating, and (c) teaching from transmitting information to initiating and guiding students’ development of knowledge.

The Use of Personal Construct Theory and the Repertory Grid in the Development of Case Reports of Children's Science Learning

Abstract This article presents the assumptions and methodology used in a study of children learning science in a fifth-grade classroom. Case report results are presented that illustrate both the approach and findings of the research. The implications of a constructivist view of learning are discussed. A practical teaching aid that employs this view and enables teachers to effectively summarize and integrate student ideas in the teaching/learning dialogue is suggested.

Evolving Conceptions of Teaching: Reflections of One Teacher

This article is one teacher's story of her development as a teacher. It was written as she prepared to implement a new teacher certification program for secondary science and mathematics teachers. One underlying assumption is that our ways of naming and describing the world shape and limit the lives we can live. A second assumption is that many of our ways of naming are learned as we grow and are educated within our societies. Therefore, those of us who share backgrounds are likely to share ways of naming the world and will tend to envision potentials in similar ways. If we can identify some of our common assumptions and trace out some of their origins, we can develop our abilities to envision a wider range of possibilities for the future.Specifically, the author explores how as a new teacher she so enthusiastically and uncritically accepted a technocratic view of teaching and learning, a view she now rejects. In the process she identifies some experiences that contributed to the development of her views as a beginning teacher and describes conditions of practice that led to the evolution of a more constructivist view of learning and teaching. The hope is that other readers can relate this story to their own work in education, as teachers, as teacher educators, and as learners.