Showing papers on "Social constructivism published in 2000"

The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture

Abstract: of assessments used to give grades or to satisfy the accountability demands of an external authority, but rather the kind of assessment that can be used as a part of instruction to support and enhance learning. On this topic, I am especially interested in engaging the very large number of educational researchers who participate, in one way or another, in teacher education. The transformation of assessment practices cannot be accomplished in separate tests and measurement courses, but rather should be a central concern in teaching methods courses. The article is organized in three parts. I present, first, an historical framework highlighting the key tenets of social efficiency curricula, behaviorist learning theories, and "scientific measurement." Next, I offer a contrasting socialconstructivist conceptual framework that blends key ideas from cognitive, constructivist, and sociocultural theories. In the third part, I elaborate on the ways that assessment practices should change to be consistent with and support socialconstructivist pedagogy. The impetus for my development of an historical framework was the observation by Beth Graue (1993) that "assessment and instruction are often conceived as curiously separate in both time and purpose" (p. 291, emphasis added). As Graue notes, the measurement approach to classroom assessment, "exemplified by standardized tests and teacher-made emulations of those tests," presents a barrier to the implementation of more constructivist approaches to instruction. To understand the origins of Graue's picture of separation and to help explain its continuing power over presentday practice, I drew the chronology in Figure 1. A longerterm span of history helps us see that those measurement perspectives, now felt to be incompatible with instruction, came from an earlier, highly consistent theoretical framework (on the left) in which conceptions of "scientific measurement" were closely aligned with traditional curricula and beliefs about learning. To the right is an emergent, constructivist paradigm in which teachers' close assessment of students' understandings, feedback from peers, and student self-assessments would be a central part of the social processes that mediate the development of intellectual abilities, construction of knowledge, and formation of students' identities. The best way to understand dissonant current practices, shown in the middle of the figure, is to realize that instruction (at least in its ideal form) is drawn from the emergent paradigm, while testing is held over from the past. Historical Perspectives: Curriculum, Psychology, and Measurement

“Let's Argue!”: Communicative Action in World Politics

Abstract: This article introduces a mode of social action and interaction that has so far been largely overlooked in the U.S.-dominated international relations debate between rational choice and social constructivism that focuses mainly on the differences between instrumental rationality and norm-guided behavior. Drawing on insights from a theoretical debate within the Germanspeaking international relations community, I suggest that actors have a third mode of social action at their disposal: arguing and deliberating about the validity claims inherent in any communicative statement about identities, interests, and the state of the world. Arguing and truth-seeking behavior presuppose that actors no longer hold fixed interests during their communicative interaction but are open to persuasion, challenges, and counterchallenges geared toward reaching a reasoned consensus. The preconditions for argumentative rationality, particularly a “common lifeworld” and the mutual recognition of speakers as equals in a nonhierarchical relationship, are more common in international relations than is usually assumed. Arguing processes are more likely to occur the more actors are uncertain about their interests and even identities, the less they know about the situation in which they find themselves and the underlying “rules of the game,” and the more apparently irreconcilable differences prevent them from reaching an optimal rather than a merely satisfactory solution for a widely perceived problem (“problem solving”). Moreover, arguing is likely to increase the influence of the materially less powerful, be it small states or nonstate actors such as INGOs. I illustrate these claims empirically with two plausibility probes. The first concerns the East–West talks leading to a negotiated settlement of the Cold War in Europe and German unification within NATO. The second case focuses on the implementation of international human rights norms into domestic practices of Third World states.

A Reconstruction of Constructivism in International Relations

Abstract: In order to avoid both theoretically eclectic and redundant approaches to constructivism, this article proposes one possible and coherent reconstruction of constructivism understood as a reflexive ...

Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Science

Abstract: Social constructionists maintain that we invent the properties of the world rather than discover them. Is reality constructed by our own activity? Do we collectively invent the world rather than discover it? Andre Kukla presents a comprehensive discussion of the philosophical issues that arise out of this debate, analysing the various strengths and weaknesses of a range of constructivist arguments and arguing that current philosophical objections to constructivism are inconclusive. However, Kukla offers and develops new objections to constructivism, distinguishing between the social causes of scientific beliefs and the view that all ascertainable facts are constructed.

Discourse Community, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, and the Nonnative-English-Speaking Scholar.

Abstract: This article presents a case study of a nonnative-English-speaking scholar from Hong Kong and his experience in publishing a scholarly article in an international refereed journal on his return from doctoral study in the United States. The investigation is presented as a contribution to the important study of what it means to be a non-anglophone researcher seeking international publication in English but living and researching in a non-anglophone country. The article applies elements of social constructivist theory—most importantly the notions of discourse community (e.g., Swales, 1990) and learning as peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991)—to interpret the difficulties the writer experiences. It also considers the role that TESOL may play in addressing these difficulties.

Performing Technology's Stories: On Social Constructivism, Performance, and Performativity

Abstract: Reponse a un article anterieur etablissant une critique du constructivisme social dans l'histoire de la technologie. L'auteur reprend ici les elements cles de la discussion en axant tout particulierement sa demonstration sur la notion de performance.

The myth of objectivity: is medicine moving towards a social constructivist medical paradigm?

Abstract: Biomedicine is improperly imbued with a nomothetic methodology, which views 'disease' in a similar way to other 'natural' phenomena. This arises from a 300-year history of a positivist domination of science, meaning that objectivist research (e.g. randomized controlled trials or biochemical research) attracts more funding and is more readily published than 'softer' qualitative research. A brief review of objectivism and subjectivism is followed by a definition of an emerging medical paradigm. Current 'inappropriate' medical practices become understandable in this broader context, and examples are given. A constructivist paradigm can continue to incorporate 'objective' clinical findings and interventions, as well as the recent evidence for the doctor-patient relationship as a major contributor to patient outcomes.

Wendt's world

Abstract: Alexander Wendt's book, Social Theory of International Politics, is published twenty years after Kenneth Waltz's enormously influential Theory of International Politics. The similarity in their titles is no coincidence, since Wendt wants to build on the insights of Waltz's realism and construct an idealist and holist account of international politics (not, note, international relations). In my view, Wendt's book is likely to be as influential as Waltz's. It is a superbly written and sophisticated book, one that has clearly been drafted and redrafted so as to refine the argument and anticipate many of the likely objections. I think that although I can anticipate the objections of both his rationalist and his reflectivist critics. I am also aware that he makes life difficult for them by defining his ground very precisely, and by trying to define the terms of any debate in which he might be engaged. Criticism of the book is not an easy task. The book is likely to become the standard account for those working within the social constructivist literature of International Politics. It is a book that has been eagerly awaited, and it will not disappoint those who have been waiting for Wendt to publish his definitive statement on constructivism.

Cocreative Transactional Analysis

Abstract: Drawing on field theory and social constructivism, the authors present a dynamic, cocreative approach to transactional analysis. This approach emphasizes the present-centered nature of the therapeu...

Toward social constructivist understandings of IS success and failure: introducing a new computerized reservation system

Abstract: This article is based on an intensive case study, the implementation of a computerized reservation system (CRS) in a transport organization, and adopts a non-essentialist stance to analyze its failure aspects. Providing a rich description of micro-level, organizational,and macro-level events and techno-economic networks enabled us to depart from managerialist and technologist accounts of the failure. The analysis draws on constructivism and the sociology of technology, more specifically actor-network theory and the notions of symmetry and translation. An effort is made to combine elements of both the global and the local in identifying a series of translations occurring in the case study. To complement actor-network theory, a critical analysis is also necessary to examine how power relationships are creating disadvantage and can further explain failure.

Corpo, Escola e Identidade

Abstract: In a dualistic tradition, Nature and Culture are seen as separated, and the body is seen as situated on the side of Nature, and outside of Culture. In this paper, largue against this dichotomy. Having gender and sexuality as a focus, I analyze both theories based on biological determinism and social constructivism, paying special attention to plurivocal meanings of the expression "social constructivism". largue that sexuality, as it happens with gender, race or c1ass, must be understood within the context of Culture, which means that whereas some identities are privileged and are seen as legitimate and authorize, others are represented as deviant and iIIegitimate. With support of ethnographic data, it is shown how "normal" and "marked" identities are produced. Finally, I examine how the multiplicity of young groups and "tribos" challenge traditional analyses based on the usual dichotomies and polarizations.

Performance indicators and social constructivism: conflict and control in housing management

Abstract: As practitioners prepare to implement ‘best value’ models in housing management, it is clear that the measurement and evaluation of all aspects of service provision will have significant organizational consequences. This article argues that the use of performance indicators (PIs) reconfigures traditional power structures and mechanisms of control within organizations. Thus although PIs are generally perceived as valuable management instruments, we suggest that their privileged status in practice results in an oppositional culture whereby staff adopt strategies of resistance. The article is divided into four parts. The first part outlines our methodological approach. Here we set out the merits of a constructivist framework for a critique of recent developments in housing practice. The second part considers the background to the emergence of a performance culture in the public sector. By focusing on issues of power and conflict, the third part makes use of empirical research to highlight how the discourse o...

What is the relationship between social constructivism and Piagetian constructivism? An analysis of the characteristics of the ideas within both theories

Abstract: For twenty years, social constructivism has been a paradigm in science teaching and not an easy bedfellow for piagetian constructivism, even though both have had the same thing in mind… a study of the learner. For this reason we attempt to find connections and bridges between them so that both may be enriched, to the benefit of science teaching.

Reshaping Clinical Practice for the New Millennium.

Abstract: In the new millennium, oppression will continue to affect social workers’ clients. This article discusses training clinical practitioners to address oppression. Drawing on poststructural, postmodern, feminist, and social constructivist theories, the article argues that to challenge oppression, clinical practice must address the dialectical relationship between private troubles and public issues while transforming professional relationships that disempower clients. The article describes a second-year MSW clinical practice sequence taught from feminist, poststructuralist, postmodern, and social constructionist perspectives, where students learn to assess the impacts of oppression, discover clients’ strengths, and respond in personal, social, and political contexts.

Constructive Instruction and Learning Difficulties

Abstract: In this article Judith Watson suggests that social constructivist approaches to learning hold special promise for the education of pupils with learning difficulties. Investigations of effective teaching and learning support the application of social constructivist theoretical frameworks. Following a description of the roots and principles of these, some practical examples conclude the discussion.

Conceptual change instruction: a social constructivist perspective

Abstract: Studies of conceptual change from a social constructivist perspective are reviewed and synthesized. Some studies that analyzed teacher-student interactions involved the use of tradebooks and teacher-guided and student-initiated discussion helpful to conceptual change. Other studies that examined student student interactions in peer groups demonstrated that the interactions and sociocultural factors that affected them interfered with conceptual change. The effect of gender on conceptual change in teacher-student interactions and student-student interactions is also discussed. Finally, the implications of this research for instruction are drawn.

Doing the Right Thing. Social Processes in Design Learning

Abstract: During the research described in this paper, students often expressed the concern to know if they were ‘doing the right thing’ during studio-based project work. This poses the questions: how can students find out what the right thing is and how is the right thing decided? Social constructivism tells us that who we are and what we know to be right are fabricated by our social interactions with others and this is particularly true where there is no physical means of evaluating reality. This paper explores the role of social interactions as an aid to reflection in three design school studios which both establish for participants what the right thing is and are the means by which the right thing is communicated.

Social science and the absence of nature: uncertainty and the reality of extremes

Abstract: The elimination of nature from social science discourse is one of the most noteworthy features of the intellectual history of the social sciences of this century. Proposals to overcome the prohibition to (re-)introduce nature into the social sciences are on the increase, and practical and theoretical justifications are offered in support of them. In this article we critically examine several sociological approaches that have attempted to respond to the ecological crisis. In the end, these approaches remain overly tied to questions of epistemology and fail to offer a satisfactory alternative. On the basis of a discussion of theories and research in the sociology of science and work on decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, we propose to develop an alternative basis for “bringing nature” into social science discourse. We explore extreme climate events to illustrate how natural phenomena appear as real, yet at the same time constructed.

The concept of learning demand as a tool for designing teaching sequences

Abstract: Claims have been made in the science education research literature that one teaching sequence typically results in better student learning than another. In such studies, ‘teaching sequence’ typically describes the sequence of activities presented by teachers to students. The sequences tend to be designed on the basis of a detailed analysis of the scientific content to be taught, and research on students’ preinstructional knowledge. Improvements in students’ learning tend to be explained in terms of changes in the nature or sequence of activities. Other possible explanations for improvements in learning feature less prominently. The paper argues for a broader view of teaching sequences. It draws upon a social constructivist view of learning to theorise what is involved in the appropriation, by individuals, of knowledge that exists in social settings. Teaching activities and the talk that surrounds them are viewed as inseparable. Teaching sequences are portrayed in terms of a flow of discourse between teacher and students, rather than as a sequence of activities which can be talked about independently from the classroom environment in which they are conducted. Teacher talk is given a central place in accounts of teaching sequences. The concept of learning demand (Leach and Scott, 1995; 1999) is developed as a tool to inform the planning of teaching, drawing upon an analysis of the scientific subject matter to be taught, research findings about students’ preinstructional knowledge, and a social constructivist perspective on learning.

On the Future of Group Therapy Theory

Abstract: The author presents a hypothetical view of group therapy theories as they may evolve over the first decades of the New Milennium. Looking at the problem of prediction from the standpoint of postmodernism and social constructivism, the importance of these perspectives as frameworks of the social sciences is emphasized. The influence of general systems theory, Foulkesian group analysis, object relations theory, self psychology, cognitive-behavioral psychology, and neuropsychiatry are briefly examined with respect to the expected evolution of increasingly sophisticated, detailed, and nuanced theories of group psychology and group psychotherapy.

Experiencing the Theory': Constructivism in a pre-service teacher preparation program

Abstract: In two Bachelor of Education courses, students experienced social constructivist principles for teaching Elementary Language Arts. In the first course, they were introduced to the theory upon which curricula, methods, and strategies are based. Implications for instruction were explored through discussion of readings and participation in child-centered activities, later examined from the points of view of the learner and of the theory. In the second course, the seminar group pursued advanced questions about social constructivist theories, methods, and strategies. Students kept informal written responses to readings; shared reactions, ideas, and questions; suggested readings and approaches; and summarized their understanding in final papers. Students evaluated both experiences as being exceptionally useful to their own understanding of instruction. Four pedagogical points are worth consideration. First, despite differences in their undergraduate disciplines, all students demonstrated that they could contrib...

Reflections on Practice: Classroom Observations.

Abstract: Student disengagement and overuse of direct instruction can result in lack of student motivation. This paper reflects on the practice of 4th and 5th grade teachers at a suburban elementary school that includes diverse, mainly lowand middle-income students. Because of the diversity, motivation has been very important to the school. The paper argues that characteristics of the constructivist approach to teaching and learning can foster student motivation, relating basic constructivist principles that can be applied to engaging students in intrinsic, self-motivating learning. The first section focuses on the basic concept of constructivism, which is that student learning is self-constructed, with knowledge created by the student. The second section looks at two views of constructivism (radical constructivism and social constructivism). The third section examines the relationship between constructivism and technology, explaining that social constructivism uses technology as a tool in the classroom. Technology provides students with almost unlimited access to information that they need in order to do research and test their ideas. It also facilitates their communication, cooperation, and self-reliance. This section describes the school's use of Webquest, an inquiry-oriented Web site, in order to combine constructivism and technology. (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.