Showing papers on "Social constructivism published in 2002"

Designing and Evaluating Science Teaching Sequences: An Approach Drawing upon the Concept of Learning Demand and a Social Constructivist Perspective on Learning

Abstract: (2002) Designing and Evaluating Science Teaching Sequences: An Approach Drawing upon the Concept of Learning Demand and a Social Constructivist Perspective on Learning Studies in Science Education: Vol 38, No 1, pp 115-142

The Situated Production of Identity Artifacts in Classroom Interaction

Abstract: Classroom interaction has been productively studied as a site for the social construction of identity. While social constructivist interpretations have advanced a relational, multiple, and fluid conception of identity, one difficult problem involves understanding how identities are stabilized during the course of interaction. In this article I argue that interactants define and stabilize identity by producing identity artifacts with multimodal means, by constructing configurations of those artifacts, and by using those artifacts to project social space. These processes are argued to be central for interpreting how particular identity meanings are forged and stabilized out of all the available meanings of identity-in-interaction. The argument is developed through the close analysis of an episode of interaction from a high school English classroom in which one student, Latanya, was constructed by the other participants as being “ghetto.” I interpret how constructing and relating multiple identity artifacts—including a banner displayed in the classroom, descriptions of the Black community, embodied spaces, and represented home geographies—serve to define and stabilize identity.

Defining Social Constructivism in Security Studies: The Normative Dilemma of Writing Security:

Abstract: Explains security formation as it relates to social interpretations from a social constructivist perspective. Consequences of approaching identity questions from a security perspective; Interpretation of security problems in the societal area without the risk of repeating the securitization of the area; Sociological understanding of the governing work of the security information; Mobilization of security formation from a sociological angle.

Norms in international relations: some theoretical and methodological reflections

Abstract: Acknowledging the social constructivist turn in the study of norms, this article offers to demonstrate that the notion of norms is useful as an analytical tool and likely to become a lasting element in international relations theory. Ideational causality and the independent explanatory power of norms are methodological issues that have been debated widely. Despite arguing that norms matter, social constructivism has problems making a successful case for the independent influence of norms. This article explores social constructivism as an approach to understanding international norms and their origins.

A social constructivist approach to computer-mediated instruction

Abstract: A computer-mediated teaching system, called computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI), has been developed that incorporates a social constructivist approach. This educational philosophy maintains that human learning occurs primarily through a socially interactive process. In CAPSI, course material is divided into study units, and the instructor prepares study questions on each unit. The study questions require verbally composed answers. In addition, the study questions in CAPSI often do not specify any one correct answer; instead the quality of the answer depends on how well it is argued as judged by the feedback it evokes from others. All students receive feedback on their performance from more advanced students. In addition, the more advanced students learn from the answers of the less advanced students. Data presented in this report show that, consistent with social constructivism, students in a CAPSI-taught course receive and give a large amount of substantive feedback.

Social Constructivist Teaching: Affordances and Constraints

Abstract: Learning and teaching for understanding: the key role of collaborative knowledge building, (G. Wells) Social constructivist teaching and the shaping of students' knowledge and thinking, (G. Nuthall) A diversity of teaching and learning paths - teaching writing in situated activity, (C.S. Englert, K. Dunsmore) A highly interactive discourse structure, (A. Schoenfeld) Methods, goals, beliefs, commitments, and manner in teaching - dialogue against a calculus backdrop, (D. Chazan, M. Schnepp) Talking to understand science, (K.J. Roth) Constructing ideas about history in the classroom - the influence of competing forces on pedagogical decision making, (B.A. Van Sledright, J.H. James) Westward expansion and the ten-year-old mind - teaching for understanding in a diverse classroom, (C.M. Okolo et al) Discussion, (J. Brophy).

Reconciling Social Constructivism and Realism in GIS

Abstract: An epistemological and discursive divide separates critics of GIS and its researchers. An assumption exists among many users and developers of GIS that the technology models reality and can thus be used to predict and explain spatial processes. This realist position is not sanctioned by social science critics of GIS who have focused efforts on illustrating the social effects of technology as well as social influences on its development. In this paper, I attempt to mediate these positions by arguing that GIS is shaped by social parameters, but that this does not necessarily negate its value in modelling spatial processes. Emphasis exclusively on either realist results or social influences in GIS deny evidence of their reciprocal effect. GIS and other technologies are shaped by social factors, but these are not the sole influences and don’t necessarily compromise the predictive value of GIS. A more constructive exercise is to “map” points of social influence in order to demonstrate points where future negotiation can take place. Three examples of social influence are analyzed: (i) model building; (ii) algorithmic solutions for line intersection; and (iii) generalization research. These examples provide a preliminary blueprint for detecting social effects on the technology, a map that can be used by both developers and critics for reconstructing GIS. Moreover, the blueprint provides an epistemological basis for collaboration between geographers concerned with social influences in GIS as well as those engaged in its technical development.

Constructivism: the view of knowledge that ended philosophy or a theory of learning and instruction?

Abstract: Background: Constructivism is referred to in two very different ways in education including medical education: to refer to a view of knowledge and to refer to a theory of learning and hence instruction. Summary and Conclusions: This proposal (a) distinguishes between these two usages of constructivism and (b) concludes that constructivism is not a theory of learning and thus as such has little to offer that might be of value to medical education.

Social constructivist teaching and the shaping of students' knowledge and thinking

Abstract: Because so much has been written about social constructivist teaching, it is impossible to identify any single description or underlying theme that can be said to define its essential nature. More often than not social constructivist teaching is described in opposition to a simple transmission model of teaching in which what a teacher or text says becomes what the student learns. Perhaps the best way of defining the social constructivist model of teaching is to say that it represents a set of pedagogical intentions that can be realised in a variety of forms. These intentions focus on the need to bring about intellectually significant changes in the minds of students through social processes. They are concerned with producing students who are skilled participants in the processes of creating and evaluating new knowledge, using evidence and reasoning in ways that characterise the academic disciplines. Underpinning these ]pedagogical intentions is the belief that knowledge and the cognitive processes that produce, elaborate and evaluate knowledge develop through social experience. The content and processes of the mind reflect the cultural and social contexts in which they develop,

Transforming Undergraduate Science Teaching Social Constructivist Perspectives

Abstract: This book comes at a time when epistemological reform is sweeping through the global community of science education Since the 1970s, the theories of knowing embodied in the teaching activities of school science teachers have been undergoing a ma

The contributions of co-occurring forms of classroom discourse and academic activities to curriculum events and instruction.

Abstract: How do academic activities and discourse work together in classrooms to shape learning and instruction? This complex question was answered in a case study of underachieving students in a Grade 8 history class. Data were collected through class observation and interviews with experienced teachers and students in 2 classrooms. Teachers taught history content and learning strategies. Theories of social constructivism predict that the discourse arising before, during, and after activities can explain variability in students' social and academic participation in curriculum events, as can the nature of the instructional approach students experience when teachers hold similar goals. Patterns of co-occurring forms of discourse and activities across sequences of lesson events provided a useful window into interactions between learning and instruction.

Vampires: Social Constructivism, Realism, and Other Philosophical Undead

Abstract: Books reviewed in this article: Andre Kukla, Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Science Ian Hacking, The Social Construction of What?

Learning links online: Establishing constructivist and collaborative learning environments

Abstract: This paper addresses the issues surrounding the implementation of online environments that enhance and facilitate learning, particularly from a constructivist or collaborative perspective. I have applied the findings of a research study into collaborative learning through computer mediated communication to a later course I developed to implement the findings and which I then researched. I will discuss the issues that have arisen from such an implementation. The paper initially describes the theoretical perspectives of my view of learning online, then provides a rationale for this approach to online teaching and learning through a brief review of the literature about experiences and advantages of this environment. Practices and strategies for effective online environments are described and the issues and problems that arise from learning in this way are raised. Theoretical context My research developed within an interpretive framework from the perspective that knowledge is subjective and socially constructed. Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) was viewed as a facility for learner interaction and my perspectives about learning and knowledge construction were developed from a constructivist and social constructivist viewpoint. The social nature of cognition as theorised by Vygotsky (1978) and developed through neo-Vygotskian research (Forman & McPhail, 1993) was seen as influential to a person's construction of knowledge. The provision of dialogue within a community of learners was of major importance to the way the studies were designed. Knowledge construction was perceived as a dialectic process in which individuals test their constructed views on others and negotiate their ideas. Duffy, Lowyck and Jonassen (1993), in describing the importance of the context to meaning and

Sociological and psychological theories of self-neglect.

Abstract: Background. Self-neglect can be defined as the failure to engage in those self-care actions necessary to maintain a socially acceptable standard of personal and household hygiene and/or a failure to adequately care for one's own health. It is generally acknowledged that research and practice in the area of self-neglect has been hampered by a lack of theoretical development. Socio-psychological theories, such as ‘social constructivism’ and ‘negotiated interactionism’ can contribute to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and to the further development of self-neglect theory. Aims. This paper seeks to apply social and psychological theories to understanding self-neglect. Self-neglect is an underconceptualized phenomenon, which requires to be studied within a broader theoretical context than is at present the case. Implications. Sociological and psychological theories offer radically different ways of looking at self-neglect, as opposed to the medical model, as they seek to explain and understand, rather than simply classify it as a medical disorder caused by some form of underlying psychopathology. These theories emphasize the dynamic and interpretative nature of self-neglect and illustrate the arbitrary way in which this label is applied.

Enhancing Vocational Psychology Practice through Narrative Inquiry

Abstract: One of the new directions in vocational psychology is the trend of integrating the emerging social constructivist worldview into research and practice. Narrative inquiry echoes this trend. The narr...

Organizational Learning and communities of Practice, a social constructivist perspective

Abstract: In this paper, the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and communities of practice (COP) is addressed. A social constructivist lens is used to analyzing the potential contributions of COP’s in supporting learning by organizations. A social constructivist approach sees organizational learning as an institutionalizing process. The attention is on the process through which individual or local knowledge is transformed into collective knowledge as well as the process through which this socially constructed knowledge influences, and is part of, local knowledge. In order to analyse COP’s contribution to OL, we use the three phases or ‘moments’ described by Berger and Luckman (1966) that can be discerned during institutionalizing knowledge: ‘externalizing, objectifying and internalizing’. Externalizing knowledge refers to the process through which personal knowledge is exchanged with others. Objectifying knowledge refers to the process through which knowledge becomes an objective reality. Internalizing knowledge refers to the process through which objectified knowledge is used by individuals in the course of their socialization. In relation to OL processes, learning can be analyzed as consisting of these three knowledge sharing activities: externalizing individual knowledge resulting in shared knowledge; objectifying shared knowledge resulting in organizational knowledge; internalizing organizational knowledge resulting in individual knowledge. These various processes that in combination make up OL processes, are visualized by the use of a OL cycle. The cycle provides a simplified picture of OL seen as a process of institutionalization. The cycle is subsequently used to analyze the possible contribution of COP’s to support organizational learning. The paper concludes that COP’s are well suited to support processes of internalization and externalization. As a result, COP’s stimulate social learning processes within organizations. However, COP’s do not seem to be the appropriate means to support the process of objectification. This means that COP’s contribution in supporting learning at the organizational level or ‘organizational learning’ is much more complicated.

Integrating Experimental and Social Constructivist Social Psychology: Some of Us Are Already Doing It

Abstract: I concur with Jost and Kruglanski (this issue) that the rift between social constructivist and experimental social psychology is bigger than it need be. I do so by showing that many social-psychological theories predict why we have the rift that we do. I use this method to point out that self-reflexivity is possible and desirable. This is especially the case when we try to consider how our own political and historical context influences our work. I give examples from my teaching of social psychology, and of contemporary research that has been informed by both social constructivist criticisms and by knowledge of experimental methods.

Limiting the Social: Constructivism and Social Knowledge in International Relations

Abstract: I n their respective articles in the Spring 2002 issue of International Studies Review(4, No. 1), Theo Farrell and Jennifer Sterling-Folker demonstrate that the conversation between constructivism and traditional approaches in international relations (IR) has reached a stage of fruitful exchange and sophisticated analysis. Both authors persuasively address constructivism on some of the central issues and assumptions that confront IR scholars. 1

International Regimes and the Legitimacy of Rules: A Discourse-Ethical Approach

Abstract: How, given the absence of a universally shared set of values at the international level, may international rules possessing legitimacy be articulated? That is the question addressed by this article. Those who argue that international normativity enjoys relative independence from power relations or self-interest are confronted with the absence of a value consensus capable of undergirding a true sense of community at the international level and from which valid and legitimate rules may be derived. Claims that a community encompassing all of humanity is emerging have been made throughout history, and have been subjected, on the one hand, to charges of utopianism and idealism, and, on the other, to the criticism that such a community would simply mask the existence of fundamental disagreements regarding values and interests. (1) Many IR theorists interested in the problem of normativity have turned to social constructivism in an effort to place their project on more solid foundations. (2) The insights derived from these explorations are many and varied, and the uses to which they are put and the theoretical conclusions to which they contribute cover a wide spectrum. It may be useful to place the projects of these various authors into three categories in order better to identify some of the common themes uniting them and to understand the contributions that they make to international-relations theory. (3) According to one conception, which is inspired by democratic-peace theory, the fact of cooperative relations among certain states, particularly liberal democracies, leads to strong identification and a sense of mutual trust among those states. Based on these observations, attempts are made to identify the conditions for further community building at the international level. According to another conception, which draws on critical international theory and on a cosmopolitan approach to international relations, there is cause to be wary of arguments that the transmission of liberal-democratic values is a precondition to community building at the international level. Instead, a means for consensus building is sought that is not predicated on the universalizability of a set of values held by one group of states, (4) particularly if the group of states in question--namely, liberal democracies--wields disproportionate power in international society. The goal of critical cosmopolitanism is not to disseminate one worl dview but rather to build a consensus that leaves room for difference and diversity while being sufficiently substantial to provide the basis for the validity of norms. (5) A third conception holds that norms derive their validity not from commonly held values and a sense of community, but rather from intersubjective understandings that are constructed by agents in the course of interaction, and from which practices, rules, and institutions are constituted. While these intersubjective understandings normally constitute the background against which interactions take place, they can be critically examined by the agents who employ them and subjected to processes of argumentation through which they can be confirmed, modified, or reconstituted on the basis of reasons that participants in these processes accept. This article begins with a brief discussion of the theoretical approaches taken within each of these three conceptions. I then briefly explore social constructivism in international relations, and more particularly a social-constructivist conception of the regime as a site of international governance. I then discuss Jurgen Habermas's discourse ethics and seek to identify points of convergence between Habermas's project and international-relations theory. Finally, I argue that the regime, as described in social-constructivist terms, may operate as a forum for discourse and deliberation and as such may permit the articulation of international rules and norms grounded in consensus and therefore enjoying legitimacy. …

Organizing as Improvisations (Methodological Temptations of Social Constructivism)

Abstract: textAcademic communities in social sciences are still dominated by neo-positivist paradigm, but communities of practice developing social constructivism have started to redress paradigmatic imbalances. According to the latter man-made organizational reality is processual and saturated with sensemaking (Weick). Social constructivists succeeded in reconstructing complex organizational disasters and contributed to organizational innovation and change (for instance in the wake of ICT challenges). They belong to postmodernist critics of modernity's failure to regulate social development and contribute to a better understanding of organizing (e.g. implementing a new technology or managing knowledge production) as patchworking and improvising. In spite of discriminating practices, they survive in academic communities.

Encouraging Attitudinal Change through Online Oral History

Abstract: Computing technology has been used extensively in the classroom to aid students in learning about math, science, and writing. Comparatively little work has focused on the sorts of history learning computing technology facilitates, if any. Can computing technology be used to facilitate history learning? What does it mean to support history learning? How do we evaluate such learning? In this paper, we give an overview of some of the key components of history learning and discuss one way to encourage them: supporting students as they explore history through direct contact with and interpretation of primary sources. We present Palaver Tree Online, a constructionist and social constructivist environment that aims to enable authentic history learning by supporting students in doing oral history projects online. We then discuss the impact of the system on the development of empathy, one of the four forms of historical thought. Specifically, analysis of the data shows that students develop an increased empathy for elders and a stronger enjoyment of learning history through participation in online oral history. We begin by giving an overview of some of the key components of history learning and look at a way in which these forms of learning might be encouraged. We then discuss Palaver Tree Online (PTO), an environment which employs ideas from constructionism (Papert, 1991) and social constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978) to support authentic (Shaffer & Resnick, 1999) history learning. We then discuss a study design designed to uncover attitudinal change in the areas of history, language arts, and elders. We then describe the results of that study - significant change on nine attitude statements, providing evidence of increased interest in history and empathy for elders. Finally, we discuss the implications of those results for CSCL and conclude with ideas for future work.

Property companies and the remaking of markets: stories from the 1990s

Abstract: About the book: This book presents for the first time an interdisciplinary view of property development and property developers. Fourteen contributor are brought together here from leading researchers and respected practitioners, including property analysts, economists, geographers, planners and sociologists. This rounded picture of property research explores: * the development of quantitative and qualitative research methods * theories ranging from mainstream economics to social constructivism * the inter-relationships between the economic and the social, and between individuals and organisations and their environments.

African American Male Students' Perception of a Mathematics Learning Environment

Abstract: Findings from interview data support National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommendations for student discourse and classroom learning environment. In particular, results indicate that for these African American male students, student involvement and class participation, group work, and student discourse in the classroom are significant contributing factors to their understanding of school mathematics. These perceptions inform pedagogical considerations when seeking to improve the school mathematics achievement of all students. Gaining Perspective One of the most prominent problems in urban education in the United States today is that African American students, particularly males, have been categorically underserved by public schools (Murrell, 1994). The evidence of low mathematics achievement among African American students has been well documented for over 25 years (Anderson, 1990; Jencks, 1998). Comparatively, along the lines of race and gender, African American male students perform at the lowest rating of mathematical achievement. Yet, seemingly little progress has been made in understanding why and finding effective resolutions to the problem. Part of the problem stems from an insufficient and incomplete knowledge base about African American male students' development and socialization within the mathematics classroom (Murrell, 1994). Though the majority of research has addressed the mathematics achievement of African American learners from a pedagogical perspective, two areas of investigation are conspicuously lacking in the literature, research on mathematics achievement among African American male learners in secondary schools and research that includes the perspectives of the African American male learners themselves. Murrell posits that teachers cannot fully interpret the developmental learning of these students without an analysis and synthesis of the students' experiences with the curriculum and knowledge of how they position themselves in the culture of the classroom. As an educator, a crucial element of the educational process is what teachers can learn about their students from the students themselves. Pedagogy that is intended to improve students' academic achievement needs to be informed by the students. Insight into the perceptions of the learners with regard to their mathematical experiences can prove beneficial in developing effective pedagogy for improved mathematics achievement. African American male students, in particular, are in need of effective pedagogy that will improve their school mathematics performance. The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the perceptions of five African American male high school students with respect to the learning environment and student discourse in their mathematics classrooms. Implications of these perceptions will be discussed in addressing how they inform pedagogical considerations in improving the mathematics achievement of African American male students. Theoretical Framework A major aspect of the constructivist response to improving students' mathematics understanding is the increase of their opportunity and ability to participate in mathematical discourse. Social interaction constitutes a crucial source of opportunities to learn mathematics in that the process of constructing mathematical knowledge involves cognitive conflict, reflection, and active cognitive reorganization (Piaget, 1970). Building upon Vygotsky's (1978, 1986) emphasis of the importance of social interaction in learning, Cobb and Yackel (1996) proposed a perspective called social constructivism that puts great emphasis on the processes of communicating and negotiating in communities. Their social constructivist perspective incorporates the constructivist and the sociocultural points of view. This emergent framework is used to study mathematical learning as it occurs within the social contexts of the classroom. …

What does it mean to be a learning support teacher? A life-history investigation of ten learning support teachers in the east-coast of Ireland

Abstract: There has been a rapid expansion of the learning support (LS) teaching service in Ireland since 1999 with approximately one in fifteen primary-school teachers currently working as learning support teachers (LSTs). Although there is a small body of quantitative research on LS teaching, there are no qualitative studies on LSTs themselves. This gap in the research is unfortunate because of the importance of studying teachers’ lives and perspectives as a key to understanding teaching, a now well-established position in biographical research on education. Using life-history interviews within a social constructivist paradigm, this study investigates the identity and work practices of ten LSTs in primary schools in the east-coast of Ireland. The study is based on the assumption that valuable insights into the work and identity of LSTs can be gained by examining their views and beliefs and the discourses through which they understand themselves and their work. A combination of grounded theory and discourse analysis is used to examine the language they use to construct themselves as LSTs and the discourse of LS teaching. The evidence from the study shows that there is a recognisable way of using language and engaging in specific practices that can be described as a discourse of LS teaching. The LSTs are both constructors of and constructed by the discourse of LS teaching. Their accounts show that they perceived themselves, and believed others perceived them to be, different from mainstream class-teachers. Using the overarching concept of ‘difference’, three themes were distilled from the LSTs’ accounts and used to analyse the data: their craft knowledge, the teaching of reading and parenthood. Their accounts display a potent union of theory and practice which was guided by their professional craft knowledge. They presented themselves as expert teachers of reading, comfortably embracing different models, thereby displaying their multiple positions and the complexity of the reading process. Drawing on their experiences of parenthood they constructed an identity for themselves as teacher-parents and parent-teachers. The findings have implications for the provision of in-service and professional development for LSTs. If, as their accounts suggest, the discourse of LS teaching pushes LSTs and their pupils into marginalised positions, it is important to scrutinise this discourse so that the exclusionary assumptions underpinning it are explored. The insider perspectives gained from the life-history accounts offer worthwhile insights into the intuitive craft of teaching in general and the teaching of reading in particular.

Social Constructivism, Hermeneutics, and the Sociology of Knowledge

Abstract: One of the unique characteristics of German interpretative social research is its combination of the sociology of knowledge with hermeneutics. The "Hermeneutic Sociology of Knowledge" is grounded in a tradition clearly shaped by a Central European conception of the social sciences as philosophically-founded and, at the same time, dedicated to empirical research. WEBER's work is undoubtedly the important starting point for this line of theory, that received its phenomenological basis from SCHUTZ and its profile of a sociology of knowledge from BERGER and LUCKMANN. The aim of this model of sociology is the reconstruction of the "social constructions of reality." The common view of all authors included in this anthology is that "pure" theorizing detached from empirical analysis lacks epistemological logic. Therefore, they are justifiably skeptical of all efforts to develop an a-historical general sociological theory. The contributions are intended to further reflection on the epistemological bases of the social sciences and progress in developing the methodological base and methods of social research. The editors emphasize that a "Hermeneutic Sociology of Knowledge" is to be understood as involving methodical skepticism regarding all forms of "positive knowledge." It aims at the "disenchant- ment of the social constructions of reality," and this includes criticism of the "constructs of sociologists" by sociologists themselves. The conception and practice of science as a collaborative task as realized by the "Hermeneutic Sociology of Knowledge" seems to be a very adequate contemporary way of working in the social sciences. The advantage of this line of thought, its inner pluralism, its interest in and willingness to cooperate with other theoretical traditions and ability to focus on the nonsense that can motivate social actions constitute undeniable advantages of this conception of social research and theorizing.

Context, Cultural Difference, Sex and Social Justice

Abstract: Three concerns have motivated scholars to examine what is often called the "dilemma" between sexual equality and cultural autonomy. First, by far the majority of the world's women fail to enjoy the legal, political, social and economic status enjoyed by men and, moreover, one of the main explanations for their relatively deprived state is found in the cultural traditions and practices that govern their lives. Second, even though sexism is ubiquitous, the existence of gender inequality within minority groups renders vulnerable the claims of groups to cultural autonomy, especially claims made by groups that are marginalized or fragile. And, third, all scholars who tread in this minefield of issues must come to terms with the most vexing methodological challenges in the social sciences and humanities, namely how to avoid the excesses of, on the one hand, universalism and essentialism and, on the other hand, relativism and social constructivism. Feminist theory provides one of the most interesting and lively venues for the exploration of these challenges, and the debates seem to reach a particularly intriguing pitch when the putative conflict between gender and culture is discussed. In Sex and Social Justice,' Martha Nussbaum defends what are, in some respects, conventional liberal principles and arguments about

Understanding information technology and its relationship to organizational and societal change

Abstract: In recent years, IT scholars have adopted from historians of technology a social constructivist approach to study IT and organizational change. Actor-network theory has also shown to be a promising tool to analyze the complexity of the intricate relationships between technical and nontechnical aspects of change, and thus to serve as a framework for studies on IT and organizational change. In this paper we want to extend this argument by stating that the interdependence and influence of IT in the case of complex, networked, infrastructural technologies is not limited to that of organizational change, but has a broader scope that encompasses society as a whole. Thus, we want to explore how information technology is transforming our lives, and how to account for this transformation. We base our argument on an evaluation of the criticism voiced of social constructivist approaches to technology studies, and on our observations gleaned from studies of the development of cellular technologies in Europe.