Cognitive schema theory in the constructivist debate

Cognitive constructivism is not a unique theoretical framework, pedagogical approach, or epistemology, but a general, metaphorical assumption about the nature of cognition that virtually all cognitive educational researchers accept. Despite this unifying assumption, there are many different cognitive constructivist research programs and theories within the community at large. This article contrasts cognitive constructivism with several other forms of constructivism in the educational research community. It then attempts to represent the range of theoretical approaches within cognitive constructivism, pointing to examples and potential educational applications of cognitive constructivist ideas. Cognitive schema theory receives special attention as an important theoretical perspective that has been relatively neglected in recent theoretical discussions. It is believed to have significant potential for building conceptual bridges between information processing and radical constructivist viewpoints.     

Case Study as a Constructivist Pedagogy for Teaching Educational Psychology

Recent interest and inquiry into constructivism, pedagogical content knowledge, and case study methodology are influencing the content and goals of educational psychology in teacher preparation. The reasons seem clear: The content of educational psychology lends itself to authentic, active, and pragmatic applications of theory to school practices, as well as to investigations of a variety of educational issues, perspectives, and contexts which can be viewed through case study, a constructivist problem-based approach to learning. Widely-used educational psychology texts are including constructivism as a cognitive alternative to behaviorist and information processing views of teaching and learning. Concurrently, case studies are being integrated in educational psychology texts, and a myriad of case texts have appeared with application to educational psychology courses. This article considers the decisions, benefits, and difficulties in teaching educational psychology through a constructivist case study approach.     

Deficiency,Contamination, and the Signal Processing Metaphor

Educational assessment involves eliciting, transmitting, and receiving information concerning the level of proficiency of a learner in a specified domain. With that in mind, it is perhaps surprising that the literature seems to make very little use of the signal processing metaphor. The present article begins by making a general case for greater use of this metaphor, as a simple and intuitive thinking tool for helping to explain how educational assessment works. The main body of the article extends this argument by demonstrating the utility of the metaphor in helping to explain how educational assessment can go wrong. During the 1980s and 1990s, Samuel Messick extensively discussed two major ways in which educational assessment can go wrong via construct-irrelevant variance and construct underrepresentation, respectively. Despite their importance, these concepts have had only a limited impact on the literature. Part of the reason for this may be a lack of clarity and comprehensiveness in their articulation. The present article aims to articulate these concepts more clearly and comprehensively, within a framework provided by the signal processing metaphor, reconfiguring them as signal contamination and signal deficiency, respectively.     

Investigating teachers' educational beliefs in Chinese primary schools: socioeconomic and geographical perspectives

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 applied. Results show that gender and subject domain affect traditional educational beliefs. Significant differences appear considering economic and geographical context variables. Cluster analysis helps to delineate four teacher belief profiles: a constructivist profile, a mixed constructivist/traditional profile, a traditional profile, and a mixed low constructivist/traditional profile. Inter-relation between teacher belief profiles and school categories are discussed.     

Towards a Critical Re-Appraisal of Ecology Education: Scheduling an Educational Intervention to Revisit the ‘Balance of Nature’ Metaphor

The ‘Balance of Nature’ metaphor is a pervasive idea in ecology. However, the scientific community acknowledged during the last decades that equilibrium conditions are rare, while disturbance events are not uncommon. We suggest that the exclusive teaching of the ‘Balance of Nature’ metaphor produces cultural, scientific and learning misconceptions about the structure and function of nature. We outline an exemplary educational intervention for high school students to exhibit that the use of computer simulations could serve important educational goals in ecology and environmental education, such as the liberation of the concept of ‘balance’ of its metaphysic burden, the comprehension of the dynamics and the systemic nature of ecological processes and the appreciation of the mutual relation between society and nature.     

The real world on a short leash: The (mis) application of constructivism to the design of educational technology

Constructivism, or more precisely, a constructivist metatheory, presently prevails throughout professional education circles. Most educators easily accept constructivism's central premise that learners approach tasks with prior knowledge and expectations based on their knowledge of the world around them. Naturally, then, constructivist educational technologists have been guided by the implicit (and increasingly explicit) desire to create authentic environments for learning: environments that correspond to the real world. In this paper, I argue that technologists have tended to paper over the critical epistemological dimension of constructivism by preauthenticating learning environments: creating environments that are predetermined to reflect the real world even though constructivist theory contrindicates precisely this. I suggest that a rhetorical perspective on constructivism offers a way out of this bind and I propose some guidelines to assist developers of educational technologies in accommodating the essentially dialogic nature of teaching and learning.Many of the issues raised in this article are developed in his recent (1998) book entitledReality by Design: The Rhetoric and Technology of Authenticity in Education.     

Commentary

This longitudinal case study of a single school examines changes in the educational beliefs of 10 elementary‐school teachers who experienced a constructivist‐based trans‐disciplinary curriculum (CTC). After 3 years of experiencing a CTC, which emerges through theme‐oriented and project‐based learning, teachers’ educational beliefs had changed to demonstrate multiple views rather than pure beliefs. Teachers’ beliefs form a mosaic of complementary visions and the process of change in teachers’ beliefs reflects the ‘overlapping’ rather than the ‘staircase’ metaphor.     

Interdisciplinary Groups and Leadership Teams: Restructuring World Higher Education for Information Processing

Adaptations by higher education to an information-processing world will involve the development of new organizational forms that encourage and reward collaboration. As the world ‘becomes smaller’, we are rediscovering the interdependence of things. The leadership team and interdisciplinary group are emerging as the workplaces for the information-processing world. Colleges and universities that develop viable networks for processing information will lead the way into the 21st century. Recommendations for higher education worldwide include the following: developing interdisciplinary, team-taught courses of study; forming interdisciplinary groups to bring together people to analyze problems; implementing leadership teams in the decision-making structures of departments, schools and colleges. The creation of interdisciplinary problem-solving groups as the building blocks of the information-processing society will require changes in our attitudes toward leadership. The leader as servant will emerge as governance model. Changes in our systems of selection, evaluation and promotion of faculty and administrators will also be required. Interdisciplinary groups and leadership teams will form the infrastructure of the new world order of information processing and decision making.     

自我调节学习再认识：从经典学习理论流派角度

从操作理论、信息加工理论,社会建构者理论和社会认知理论等经典学习理论流派的角度阐述自我调节学习的实质和范畴。     

Emirates pre-service and in-service teachers' views about the nature of science

This study investigated Emirates pre-service and in-service teachers' views about the nature of science. A questionnaire was developed and administered to 31 female pre-service science teachers, and 224 inservice chemistry teachers. The questionnaire covered five aspects of the nature of science identified by Palmquist and Finley (1997). These are: scientific theories and models; role of a scientist; scientific knowledge; scientific method; and scientific laws. The results indicated that Emirates teachers' views are neither clearly traditional nor clearly constructivist - they held mixed views about the nature of science. The study attributed the existence of the traditional views to historical reasons and the educational system. The presence of constructivist views was attributed to religious factors, where some of students' religious beliefs agree with some constructivist views. The study argued that the traditional view about the nature of science is in conflict with the teachers' religious beliefs. Teaching science in the Arab culture using the traditional view about science creates what Tobin (1996) called 'symbolic violence'. The study concluded that introducing science from the constructivist point of view and using what Jegede (1996) called 'collateral learning' would help to diminish such violence.     

Exploring social constructivism: theories and practicalities

In the drive to improve standards, the collection and dissemination of numerical data still directs much contemporary educational policy. However, recent publications and debates seemingly attempt to reorient discussion from performance to learning. In support, constructivism is often referenced as a contributor in this endeavour. However, constructivism is not a single unified theory either of knowledge or pedagogy. This article identifies one version of constructivist thinking, social constructivism, both in terms of its underlying epistemology (theory of knowledge) and related pedagogy. Contemporary educational theories are then outlined to demonstrate that many practical solutions and theoretical ideas now presented as ‘good learning and teaching’ have much in common with social constructivist thinking. Finally, the article concludes by identifying two issues that require further discussion and debate if pedagogy of a social constructivist nature is to be considered.     

The construction and use of a metaphor for science teaching

While constructivism has emerged as a major reform in science education from the last decade, wide-spread adoption of constructivist practices in school laboratories and classrooms is yet to be achieved. If constructivist approaches are to be utilised more widely, teachers will need to accept a more active and constructivist role in their own pedagogical learning. One experienced junior science teacher was able to implement constructivist approaches in her classroom by using a personally constructed metaphor to guide her practice. Specializations: science education, teaching of thinking, professional development. Specializations: constructivism, professional development.     

USING COMPUTER CONFERENCING IN TEACHING

For 3years, I have been teaching neuroscience courses by using computer conferencing to complement the traditional lectures. Typically, the conferencing involved local, on‐campus students, although one semester the class was combined from on‐campus and off‐campus students. For most of my 33‐year teaching career, I had used the teaching approach that most professors use, which is what educational theorists call “instructivist.” Critics call that “stand and deliver.” Lecturing is an efficient way to dispense organized information, but it does not ensure learning nor is it very effective in showing students how to learn on their own.

Instructivism can be enriched by complementing it with “constructivist” approaches. Constructivists argue that there is a direct relationship between the amount of learning that occurs and the extent to which the environment provides a rich source of engaging experiences in which students construct their own knowledge and understanding. I have found that such an environment is readily provided by computer conferencing.

In my teaching of neuroscience, I have used a network software system (FORUM) for small student groups to conduct a variety of constructivist learning activities. Within weekly deadlines, students worked in groups at their own pace and time of convenience. My impression of the advantages of such conferencing for constructivist activities include the promotion of socialization in “cyberspace,” providing an environment for team learning, the reduction of social problems in face‐to‐face instruction, increased teaching and learning efficiency, more comprehensive means for assessing student learning, and improved quality of student work.     

Exploring Elementary Pre-service Teachers’ Beliefs About Science Teaching and Learning as Revealed in Their Metaphor Writing

This study examined elementary preservice teachers’ beliefs about the role/image of a science teacher and science teaching and how these beliefs change during an elementary science methods course; this examination was conducted through an analysis of their metaphor writing. Data included personal metaphors and rationale papers for supporting them collected from 106 participants at the start and end of the semester. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method and also quantified for statistical analysis. Results indicate that most participants came to the course with traditional views and developed more constructivist views during the course. However, they tended to keep their traditional views and added new constructivist perspectives into their original belief systems. This study suggests that metaphor writing can be used as both a reflection tool for preservice teachers to clarify and refine their beliefs about science teaching and learning and a diagnostic assessment tool for teacher educators to understand their students for tailoring a methods course accordingly.     

The Dangers of Pipeline Thinking: How the School‐To‐Prison Pipeline Metaphor Squeezes Out Complexity

In this essay Ken McGrew critically examines the school‐to‐prison pipeline metaphor and associated literature. The origins and influence of the metaphor are compared with the origins and influence of the competing prison industrial complex concept. Specific weaknesses in the pipeline literature are examined. These problems are described as resulting, in part, from the influence that the pipeline metaphor has on the thinking of those who follow it. McGrew argues that addressing the weaknesses in the literature, abandoning the metaphor, and adopting a more complex theoretical orientation grounded in critical scholarship, will enable educational scholars to better capture the relational nature of the social phenomena being described while simultaneously making their work more useful to emerging movements for social justice.     

Implications of differentiating and understanding constructivist approaches

Sources of confusion are identified among interpretations off information-processing, cognitive constructivist, social constructivist, and sociocultural approaches to understanding classroom learning. Attention to subtle differences among perspectives indicates areas in which particular approaches provide more incisive understanding of different aspects of classroom learning and suggest different ways of setting up learning environments. Several alternative research paradigms are suggested to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying processes and the broad contexts that support or constrain classroom learning.     

Control processing vs. information processing in models of reading

The purpose of this paper is to highlight some important ways in which standard information-processing models of language, and specifically of reading, are deficient. It is proposed that the standard models do not provide an adequate framework for dealing with a number of central issues in reading. Their deficiencies are considered under four headings, (1) theoretical rigour, (2) the interaction of different levels of information during reading, (3) the parallel nature of much of human information processing, and (4) reading comprehension. The source of the problems is considered to be the view of information as an inert encoding and of information processing as a series of these encodings. A distinction is made between models which emphasize a flow of information and models which emphasize a flow of control. Production systems are proposed as examples of the latter type of model. Their use is seen as a qualitatively different approach to language processing which provides a solution to many of the problems inherent in the standard models.     

Eye movement analysis of information processing under different testing conditions

The study reported herein was designed to use eye movement data, collected during solution of complex figural analogies, to test the premise that enhanced feedback mechanisms and opportunities for dual coding of figural stimulus information result in the allocation of an increased percentage of information-processing resources to rule application activities. Subjects were given items from the Advanced Progressive Matrices under elaborated feedback, subject verbalization, or standard procedures. Results indicate that elaborative testing conditions, involving elaborated feedback or subject verbalization, enhance the rule-governed nature of information processing during inductive reasoning by augmenting feedback and dual coding.     

Using a metaphor for learning to improve students' metacognition in the chemistry classroom

A constructivist framework was used in conjunction with an interpretive methodology to investigate the effect of an intervention using the metaphor “learning is constructing” on students' metacognition and learning processes. The metaphor was used to communicate with students regarding learning processes consistent with constructivism. Students were initially found to be generally non‐metacognitive regarding their learning processes. Despite some students possessing metacognitive knowledge consistent with a constructivist learning orientation, their pre‐intervention views and preferences in relation to teaching and learning were predominantly consistent with transmission models. The effect of the intervention on students' metacognition was variable. Some students became increasingly metacognitive and reported evidence of revision of their learning processes. Others reported little or no effect. The effects of the intervention can be partially explained by considering changes to students' metacognition as conceptual change. However, this study also shows that contextual factors are key determinants of students' propensity to enhance their metacognition and learning processes. This study highlights the potential of using metaphor as a means to assist teachers and students develop a shared language of learning in classroom settings. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 222–259, 2001     

Super-Girl: strength and sadness in Black girlhood

This paper complicates notions of Black girlhood by examining the dual experiences of gendered racism that result in both strength and sadness in Black girls’ educational experiences. I highlight the need for a curriculum of liberation to combat historical and current social conditions negatively impacting school-aged Black girls, such as harsh disciplinary practices, low academic expectations, and sexual objectification. The Super-Girl phenomenon serves as a metaphor illustrating the balance and imbalance of multiple social constructs. Utilising constructivist grounded theory [Charmaz, K. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory. London: Sage], the key concepts in the research derived directly from the voices of 18 school-aged girls (8–13) as well as my observations, interpretations, and related experiences. Data collection utilising observation notes, interviews, written responses, and activity products provided from monthly sessions over the course of two years, offer critical insight into some of the complexities of Black girlhood. The most striking common themes abstracted from their voices were concepts related to ‘strength’ and ‘sadness’ in their lives. Thematic narratives were found to be most relevant to (1) negative teacher–student relationships, as well as, (2) policed bodies and sexual objectification. This work offers specific recommendations for future girl empowerment programming, curriculum, and evidence-based intervention development that can aide in liberating Black girls.