A Bibliography for Philosophy and Constructivism in Science Education

The research literature on educational constructivism is voluminous (see the Carmichael (1990) Pfundt & Duit (1994) and Driver et al. (1994b) bibliographies cited below). The research - in both the Piagetian and Alternative Conception traditions - covers children's learning, cognitive development, curriculum development, classroom practices, teacher education, and much else. There is a further enormous literature on constructivism in philosophy of science (see Leplin (1984) and Churchland & Hooker (1985)), and on constructivism in the sociology of science (see Brown (1984), McMullin (1988, 1992). In turn these latter literatures overlap with the ocean of writing on post-modernist theory of knowledge and cognition (see Gross & Levitt (1994)). The following references relate mostly to educational constructivism, and then, with some exceptions, to articles that address epistemological and philosophical matters in science education. Even so it is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will be useful for teachers and researchers in the field. The author welcomes additions or omissions being brought to his attention.     

Reducing Children's Implicit Racial Bias Through Exposure to Positive Out‐Group Exemplars

Studies with adults suggest that implicit preferences favoring White versus Black individuals can be reduced through exposure to positive Black exemplars. However, it remains unclear whether developmental differences exist in the capacity for these biases to be changed. This study included 369 children and examined whether their implicit racial bias would be reduced following exposure to positive Black exemplars. Results showed that children's implicit pro‐White bias was reduced following exposure to positive Black exemplars, but only for older children (M_age = ~10 years). Younger children's (M_age = ~7 years) implicit bias was not affected by this intervention. These results suggest developmental differences in the malleability of implicit racial biases and point to possible age differences in intervention effectiveness.     

Understanding the Researcher Identity Development of Counselor Education and Supervision Doctoral Students

Counselor education and supervision (CES) doctoral students play an important role in contributing to knowledge in the counseling profession. CES doctoral students were interviewed to explore their researcher identity, a unique self‐concept that possibly includes research self‐efficacy and interest. Issues critical to facilitating researcher identity development included confidence, the researcher voice, faculty support, and opportunities for research.