Showing papers on "Social constructivism published in 2005"

Peripheral Vision Discourse Analysis in Organization Studies: The Case for Critical Realism

Abstract: Although studies of organization certainly need to include analysis of discourse, one prominent tendency within current research on organizational discourse limits its value for organizational studies through a commitment to postmodernism and extreme versions of social constructivism. I argue that a version of critical discourse analysis based on a critical realist social ontology is potentially of greater value to organization studies, and I refer in particular to the contribution it can make to research on organizational change.

A social constructivist assessment process model: how the research literature shows us this could be best practice

Abstract: Although assessment is acknowledged as vitally important in its effect on students’ approaches to learning, there is much criticism of assessment practice. This paper argues that if a social constructivist approach is applied to the assessment process many of the problems could be overcome. It describes what a social constructivist approach to assessment would look like and gives practical examples, from the research literature, of ways it could be implemented.

A constructivist model for thinking about learning online

Abstract: This paper provides a brief overview of constructivist learning theory and explores its implications for instruction in terms of the design of online learning environments that are learner-centered, knowledgecentered, assessment-centered, and community centered. It then presents a model for organizing thinking about technology-mediated learning within a social constructivist frame. The RCET model distinguishes three interacting domains of knowledge construction -- conceptualization, representation, and use within which the unique affordances and constraints of the online medium and their effects on learning can be scrutinized. It is hoped that so narrowing the focus of inquiry might guide research to pursue findings which can meaningfully inform practice and advance online learning.

E-learning pedagogy in the third millennium: the need for combining social and cognitive constructivist approaches

Abstract: An analysis of the characteristics of education and educational institutions of the third millennium shows that predominant features are flexibility, inclusiveness, collaboration, authenticity, relevance and extended institutional boundaries. Roles of both students and teachers have changed significantly as educational goals have broadened to include lifelong learning, global interaction, the acquisition of meta-cognitive knowledge and skills, and processes include negotiated curricula and real-life tutors and informants. This is a demanding package that appears to lead us naturally to a social constructivist paradigm for learning and teaching. While few would dispute the value of this approach in humanistic terms, a series of dilemmas – social, conceptual, political, pedagogical – have been articulated. The author will demonstrate that although these are not insurmountable, addressing them has major time implications. The paper argues that to free up time we need to combine social constructivist activities with cognitive constructivist ones, incorporating personalised ICALL systems.

Adult Student Identity in an Intergenerational Community College Classroom

Abstract: What is the nature of an adult student identity? Based in social constructivist theory, this study explored coconstructed understandings of culturally and socially mediated student identities throu...

Multicultural issues and literacy achievement

Abstract: This book is a sequel to the author's earlier volume entitled, Literacy Instruction in Multicultural Settings. In addition to extensive updating of earlier material, this book extends the content coverage to include issues of power, attitudes, and systemic change through the application of discourse theory and critical theory. In doing so, however, the author has tried to maintain the brevity, stylistic clarity, and classroom focus of the earlier volume.Key features of this important new book include:*Teaching Flexibility. Although written with the classroom needs of pre-service teachers in mind, theory and research are treated in sufficient depth to make the book suitable for graduate courses and for teacher study groups.*Issues Organization. Each chapter is organized around familiar issues that characterize schools and classrooms with diverse student populations and explores these issues through new lenses that most teachers have not previously encountered.*Social Constructivist Perspective. Critical theory, discourse theory, and historical perspective are introduced in order to sensitize readers to the need to recognize negative, socially sustained patterns that hamper literacy achievement and replace them with positive patterns. To this end each chapter asks students to maintain a running list of negative patterns along with alternative positive patterns.

The Limits of Transparency: Ambiguity and the History of International Finance

Abstract: The Limits of Transparency: Ambiguity and the History of International Finance. By Jacqueline Best. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005. 240p. $37.50. While social constructivism has moved into the mainstream of international relations theory, informing scholarship in the subfields of security studies and international organization, its application and status in international political economy (IPE) has lagged behind. From the articles in the highest-status political science journals to the works on graduate syllabi across the major research universities, the study of IPE has been dominated by a single view of markets, drawn from neoclassical economics, premised on a narrow view of rationality, and rooted in materialist foundations.

Global Liberalism Versus Political Islam: Competing Ideological Frameworks in International Politics'

Abstract: Over the past decade, a vibrant international relations (IR) research agenda has developed around the role of norms and the dynamics of normative change in world politics (for reviews, see Adler 1997; Checkel 1998; Desch 1998; Hopf 1998). From an initial concern with demonstrating that "norms matter" (for example, Katzenstein 1996) to more recent research that delineates the specific actors, mechanisms, and causal processes by which particular norms come to be accepted by actors in the international system (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998; Keck and Sikkink 1998: Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink 1999; Risse 2000), the study of international norms has emerged as a core constructivist concern in IR. Despite this progress, however, one cannot fail to note that the constructivist research agenda on norms and normative change appears to be curiously ill-equipped to shed light on many recent developments in world politics, such as the use of violence by ideologically motivated actors and transnational networks or the role of religion and culture in international affairs. Ironically, it is the work of someone far removed from the social constructivist research agenda-Samuel Huntington (1996) in The Clash of Civilizations--who generated the most public debate in the 1990s on the role of ideational factors in world affairs. And, in the aftermath of September 11, Huntington's controversial thesis appears to resonate even more strongly, while the "meat and bones" of the mainstream constructivist research agenda-the benign power of international norms, global civil society, and strategies of communicative action, argumentation, and persuasion--appear to have lost some of their sway. This essay will argue that the failing of social constructivism to grapple with some of the issues that have come to the fore in world politics over the past several years is the result of two theoretical limitations that have constrained the constructivist research agenda. The first can be referred to as "the liberal bias" of mainstream social constructivism, in which constructivists concerned with normative change in world politics have overwhelmingly focused their attention on a relatively narrow range of cases-on the actions, discourses, beliefs, and strategies used by liberal actors promoting liberal norms in the international system. They have, thus, universalized strategies of norm promotion through the study of only a small subset of the contending norms and actors that compete for attention in international society and have lost sight of the fact that liberalism is only one possible ideological framework that can be used for framing political action. The second limitation in the current research agenda is a lack of theory regarding the relationship between individual agents and global ideological structures--a disconnect between the structural theories of the international system and the micro

Preservice Teacher Learning in an Unfamiliar Setting.

Abstract: Although field experiences are considered an important component of multicultural teacher education (Fox & Gay, 1995; Grant & Secada, 1990; Holmes Group, 1995), especially community-based experience (Sleeter, 1995a, 2001), some have raised questions about their impact on preservice teachers' (PSTs') long-held beliefs in general (Kennedy, 1997; Melnick & Zeichner, 1995) and racial stereotypes in particular (Ford, 1999; Goodwin, 2001; O'Loughlin, 2001). Evidence from recent studies indicates that course content and pedagogy need to be linked to field experience and "interwoven with multicultural course work to foster the aims of culturally responsive teaching" (Vavrus, 2002, p. 96). Both time to reflect and connections to course work give PSTs in field experiences opportunities to construct new understandings that directly affect their personal and professional beliefs about others and their own self-conceptions. The focus of this study is the first field experience in a teacher education program developed around themes of equity and social justice within a larger framework of inclusive education. The community-based field experience entails one-on-one mentoring in which elementary PSTs work with African American children in local public housing neighborhoods. This field experience challenges PSTs to work with and get to know children, families, and communities that are unfamiliar to them. The courses students take concurrently emphasize multicultural themes, as do courses and field experiences that they take in the next two-and-a-half years in the program. How do the PSTs respond to this unfamiliar experience? In particular, how do they respond at different points in time following completion of the community field experience, and what factors influence their responses? Our findings, we believed, would have implications for how field experiences are structured and for the kinds of scaffolding PSTs require throughout a teacher education program to promote the skills and dispositions of culturally responsive teaching. Theoretical Framework In this study we approached preservice teacher learning in an early field experience from a social constructivist perspective, recognizing that learning is shaped by a variety of factors and forces that come before and that exist in and around the activities in which people engage (Lampert, 1997). This framework of learning provides a backdrop for investigating why PSTs respond as they do and what factors influence their responses. In particular, we drew on the social constructivist perspective known as Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as articulated by Wells (2002) and Wells and Claxton (2002). Based on the work of Vygotsky (1934/1987, 1978) and Leont'ev (1981), CHAT has been influenced by the work of scholars such as Brown, Collins and Duguid (1989), Cole (1996), Lave (1988), Lave and Wenger (1991), Tharp and Gallimore (1988), and Wells (1999). From the perspective of CHAT, cognition is shaped by the settings in which learners participate and the activities that take place in those settings (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989; Lave, 1988). As Lave and Wenger (1991) have explained, the setting is not another term for "physical context." Rather, it is composed of people and events that have social and historical meaning. This explains why "two people in a room are not inevitably identically situated" (Brown & Duguid, 1996, p. 53); their histories and the interaction of their histories with the other elements of the setting may be dramatically different. All elements of the setting--the activities, the forms of assistance from instructors or peers, the participants--are interdependently involved in a change process. Wells (2002) explained that an individual's learning depends not only on the "nature and quality of the assistance provided but also on his or her learning dispositions and potential" (p. 4). This explains the differential impact on learners involved in the "same" lesson or activity. …

Cross-cultural Collaborative Online Learning: When the West Meets the East

Abstract: Contemporary information and communication technologies have brought the world together by interconnecting more people in more nations. The rapid growth of online learning worldwide has created a need to study the design of online environments which foster inter- and multicultural learning communities. This study investigated cultural influences on students’ online social and learning behaviors and students’ opinions and attitude toward cross-cultural collaborative online learning. Based on the findings from this study and contemporary social constructivist theories, an instructional model was proposed.

Making a Case in Social Work: The Construction of an Unsuitable Mother

Abstract: The central focus of the article is a case study in which the author highlights the ways in which social workers and other helping professionals constructed a mother, her daughter and their own realities through the use of authorial devices such as moral characterization, point of view, and other techniques. This analysis is made on the basis of oral and written accounts available in this case and focuses primarily on some of the narrative strategies underpinning interventions in the case. These, it is maintained, served social workers in making their representations persuasive for various publics. Moreover, this analysis shows that social work accounts are also deeply moral narrative strategies. The narrative materials examined here about a mother illustrate how the character of a morally unsuitable woman and parent are constructed in social work accounts. The analysis also demonstrates that such moral constructions then serve as the basis for interventions requiring justification when presented to impor...

Learning and Sense of Community: A Comparative Analysis of African American and Caucasian Online Graduate Students.

Abstract: This study addressed how four variables used to operationalize learning and sense of community differed between African American and Caucasian students enrolled in an online graduate course. Participants (N = 97) from two sections of the course were sampled. African American students were in the minority in the mixed African American and Caucasian section, while the other section consisted of only African Americans. The results revealed that on the four outcomes measured by the study, the African American only section of the course and the Caucasian students in the mixed section represented a homogeneous subset, while the African American students in the mixed section scored lower, on average, on all four variables. INTRODUCTION Distance education is already a pervasive element of higher education, and it continues to rapidly expand (Walts & Lewis, 2003). The Internet is the favorite medium of colleges and universities for delivering such courses. This anytime, anywhere delivery of courses by computer networks, known as Asynchronous Learning Networks, or ALNs, has become a viable alternative for students who either cannot or choose not to travel to campuses to attend traditional class meetings. Characteristics of a successful, online student include being self-motivated, independent, a self-directed learner, a critical thinker, a good time manager, a highly organized individual, and computer literate (Irizarry, 2002). Additionally, Tinto (1993), writing about higher education in general, argued that insufficient interactions of students with peers and faculty and differences with the prevailing value patterns of other students are likely to result in student anxiety. Students who feel they do not fit in are likely to have a low sense of community, feel isolated, and are at-risk of becoming dropouts. Since distance education has burgeoned over the past decade, studies that explore issues of differences in learning between traditional and non-traditional students are now coming to the forefront. However, there have been few studies that have centered on race-related impediments to achieving academic success and generating a strong sense of community in ALN environments. Since many higher education programs are now delivered at a distance, an examination of the differences in learning and sense of community of African Americans to their majority Caucasian counterparts is relevant to the goal of providing culturally responsive, fair, and equitable online learning. This goal is particularly relevant given the problem widely reported by researchers and the media of the academic underperformance of many minority students, to include African Americans, in traditional learning environments (e.g., Allen, 1988, 1992; Boykin, 1986; Hammer, 2003; Kozol, 1991). Research is required to determine if the achievement gap by race extends to ALN programs and, if so, to identify ways to help close this gap. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Snowman, Biehler, and Bonk (2000) defined learning as a change in one's capability or knowledge. Approaches to learning that promote social constructivism, or learning within a social context, and that feature active group construction of knowledge, rather than transfer of knowledge, provide ideal learning environments. Vygotsky (1978) argued that all cognitive functions must be explained as products of social interactions and that learning is not simply the accumulation of new knowledge by learners; it is the process by which learners are integrated into a knowledge community. Learning is therefore viewed as a function of the activity, context, and culture in which it occurs, and cognition must take account of social interaction and work (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). Consequently, learning has important social and cognitive dimensions and occurs most effectively when there is a strong sense of community. Brookfield (1990) reported that students often pointed to the sense of community that existed within their classes when asked to name the most critical factor in surviving a challenging educational experience. …

Students’ knowledge about the value of discussions for teaching and learning

Abstract: We are particularly interested in looking at teaching and learning from students’ perspectives. Focussed interviews and written responses from a number of linked investigations with middle-school and tertiary students highlighted that students perceive discussion to be a valuable teaching -- learning technique. This paper provides text extracts, organised into six key themes, to illustrate students’ understandings about how discussion helps them to learn. We conclude that, across the whole participant group, knowledge about the various potentials of discussion for learning is wide ranging. However, at the individual level, some students’ perspectives appear limited. We propose that specific attention to enhancing students’ pedagogical knowledge about techniques such as discussion should accompany subject matter instruction.

Critical Junctures and Social Identity Theory: Explaining the Gap between Danish Mass and Elite Attitudes to Europeanization

Abstract: By applying a combination of a social constructivist perspective on ideational change with theories of social learning and social identity, the article explains the gap in the Danish discourse on Europe between mass and elite. The Danish population is conceptualized as two differently constructed ‘social groups’ consisting of a nation people and a state-elite group. Each ‘social group’ has experienced different processes of ideational change and socialization and has developed different conceptions of interests and political preferences.

Innovation and action research

Abstract: In the Western economies there is a growing focus on innovation as the key to economic growth. In spite of its orientation towards transcending the given, and creating something new, action research has so far played a limited role as a resource in innovation. Departing from practice-driven innovation and the need for collaboration between many actors, a key role for action research as promoter of joint inquiries in dialogical form and associated action is described and discussed, drawing on experiences from action research programmes in Scandinavia. The core challenge for action research is not only to promote certain forms of collaborative inquiry and action, but to reach a level of scale, or mass, that makes innovation possible. Keywords: Action research, innovation, dialogue, social constructivism Introduction As more and more mass production is moved out of the Western economies, these economies need to create products and services with a complexity and knowledge content that cannot easily be copied. This has brought the issue of innovation to the forefront, as the probably most important challenge these economies are facing. While innovation in the nineteenth century was largely done by practical people facing practical problems, the post World War II period came to see science as the most important driver in innovation processes. Science is supposed to perform the basic leaps forwards in knowledge; innovation is a question of applying, exploring or exploiting these leaps. This view on innovation as a "linear" process starting with science and ending with commercially relevant products and services has been questioned; in fact there are probably few issues that have been subject to more discussion in recent years. Since all actors, when they are facing the challenge of laying the ground for innovation, are looking for guidelines to the future, rather than interpretations of the past, one should expect action research to play an important role in these discussions. This form of research is, after all, a form that aims at structuring the actions of today so that they lead to certain outcomes in the future. In actual practice, the discourse on innovation contains few contributions from action research, and even fewer that gain recognition in the discourse. There are many explanations for this: one is that to introduce action research as relevant to a specific discourse is not only a question of arguing the positive benefits of this kind of research in the abstract. There is a need to specify, in concrete terms, how this kind of research actually can contribute. The purpose of this article is to describe and discuss one line of reasoning of relevance in this context, with associated examples. Practice driven innovation When Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA, the basic idea was to bring together two facts: (a) people do things in their homes (b) people have furniture in their homes. This idea emerged in a context as far removed from science as it was possible to come, at least in Sweden. The Smaland region has the lowest average level of formal education in the country, no institutions of higher learning and very little orientation towards formalised knowledge. It was, and still is, however, the most highly industrialised region, with more than 40 % of the workforce employed in industry. Among the industries, furniture is a major one. In the beginning it was the ability of this local industry to participate in the project that made the realisation of the idea possible. When this author had occasion to visit the region of Veneto in Northern Italy, as part of a delegation of representatives from the labour market parties in Norway, one of the cases to be presented was the Geox shoe company, perhaps the largest success in this field in recent years. The founder told how he, as a wine salesman with much walking to do, had started to wonder if it would be possible to make a shoe that could breathe through the sole. …

Using Driving Questions to Motivate and Sustain Student Interest in Learning Science 1

Abstract: Introduction How can we capture and then sustain student interest in science? What can we do to help ensure students will find what they learn in science useful? Advances in understanding how students learn science have led to new approaches to science instruction. The Highly Interactive Classrooms, Curriculum and Computers for Education (hi-ce) group at the University of Michigan have expanded and articulated our understanding of project-based learning (PBL). Blumenfeld and company (1991) describe that PBL is an approach to teaching and learning rooted in inquiry pedagogy that is consistent with social constructivist ideas. Five prominent learning features characterize the this model of instruction: a) active construction, which states that students must be actively engaged in explaining, generalizing, hypothesizing, representing, etc., in order for deep understanding to develop; b) situated cognition, which states that learning occurs best where contextualized in situations meaningful to the students; c) learning occurs through repeated exposure to the practices of a community of practitioners; d) the communities of practitioners constitute communities of a disciplinary discourse; and e) cognitive tools can expand what students can learn.

Introduction to International Relations: Perspectives and Themes

Abstract: Table of Contents Preface/Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Liberalism 2. Realism 3. Structuralism 4. Critical theory 5. Postmodernism 6. Feminist Perspectives 7. Social Constructivism 8. Green Perspectives Conclusions, Key Debates and New Directions Glossary of key or problem terms Further reading

Learners and teachers as co-designers of relevant science curricula : research article : mathematics and science education

Abstract: In this project the researchers worked with Grade 6 learners and teachers on the Cape Flats of Cape Town, South Africa, to design a science module that builds on learners' experiences and responds to their needs. The project went beyond learning processes and contexts, to incorporate learners' purposes and interests, the circumstances of their lives, and problems they would like to address. In a framework of learner-centred education and social constructivism, the research had interpretive and participative phases, first to understand the learners' lives and interests, and then design and conduct a module in which participation enabled further investigation of relevance. The data comprise interviews, observations, learners' writing, drawings and oral accounts and video-tapes of lessons. The research found that learners became thoroughly involved in the project, shaping the purposes, content, context and learning, bringing their everyday knowledge and concerns into the classroom and providing insight into relevance and the ways they use knowledge. Their participation resulted in themes and outcomes that extended beyond traditional science: the social, cultural and personal aspects of their lives, especially the practical aspects of survival, impact on their interests and the way they experienced science and thus provided a framework for deciding what is worth learning.

Dynamic Social Studies for Constructivist Classrooms: Inspiring Tomorrow's Social Scientists

Abstract: Part I: Foundations of Instruction 1. Dynamic Social Studies: The Subject You Will Teach 2. Diversity in the Classroom: The Children You Will Teach 3. Integrated Learning: Connecting Learning to the Real World Part II: Classrooms for Young Social Scientists 4. Young Historians: Learning to Unlock the Past 5. Young Geographers: Exploring the People/Place Connection 6. Young Political Scientists: Citizens in Action Part III: Contructivist Approaches to Classroom Instruction 7. The Learning Cycle: Teacher Scaffolded Social Constructivism 8. Collaborative and Cooperative Learning: Student-Assisted Social Constructivism 9. Inquiry and Problem-Solving: Cognitive Constructivism in Action Part IV: Key Organizational Decisions 10. Managing Instruction: Planning Lessons and Units

Learners and Teachers as Co-Designers of Relevant Science Curricula.

Abstract: In this project the researchers worked with Grade 6 learners and teachers on the Cape Flats of Cape Town, South Africa, to design a science module that builds on learners' experiences and responds to their needs. The project went beyond learning processes and contexts, to incorporate learners' purposes and interests, the circumstances of their lives, and problems they would like to address. In a framework of learner-centred education and social constructivism, the research had interpretive and participative phases, first to understand the learners' lives and interests, and then design and conduct a module in which participation enabled further investigation of relevance. The data comprise interviews, observations, learners' writing, drawings and oral accounts and video-tapes of lessons. The research found that learners became thoroughly involved in the project, shaping the purposes, content, context and learning, bringing their everyday knowledge and concerns into the classroom and providing insight into relevance and the ways they use knowledge. Their participation resulted in themes and outcomes that extended beyond traditional science: the social, cultural and personal aspects of their lives, especially the practical aspects of survival, impact on their interests and the way they experienced science and thus provided a framework for deciding what is worth learning.

A research-led curriculum in multimedia: learning about convergence

Abstract: Traditional teaching methods have acknowledged limitations. Lectures may be used to transmit information efficiently, but often fail to motivate students to engage with the subject. Coursework assessments and examinations may lack authenticity and thus fail to help students develop 'real world' skills even though they ensure technical competence.This paper presents a teaching innovation motivated from a social constructivist perspective whereby undergraduates researched, reviewed, and presented their papers at a one day conference, by way of preparing for a written examination.The paper presents theory supporting this change, our experiences from running the course, and improvements in learning we observed. We identify the value of undergraduate conferences beyond serving as a vehicle for communication skills. We identify an approach which engages learners and realizes higher level learning objectives by using authentic activities. The process has identified a 'research-led' approach which clarifies the similarity between research processes and effective independent learning strategies and is valued by students, faculty and stakeholders alike.

Comments on the articles and proposals for further work

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this afterword is to examine which questions have been illuminated in the present issue and which theoretical problems still need to be addressed.Design/methodology/approach – Examines articles in this issue.Findings – Many epistemological views, e.g. social constructivism, critical theory, feminist epistemology, postmodernism and systems theory, need to be considered more deeply within library and information science (LIS). For some of the other epistemologies such as phenomenology and (post)structuralism there is still a need for deeper explorations of their potential contributions. Finally eclecticism is discussed as one way of coping with different theories in a field.Originality/value – The value of this afterword is to contribute to future reflections and debates concerning the philosophical basis of LIS and the specific contributions of specific systems of thought.

Extending social constructivism with institutional theory: A broadband civic networking case

Abstract: A longitudinal study of broadband civic network design is analyzed using social construction of technology (SCOT) approach and then through the lens of institutional theory. SCOT is useful to show how artifacts take on the forms they do; institutional theory, by locating (design) action in a cultural, historical and structural context can complement SCOT by explaining why they tend to assume certain forms. Broadband civic networking initiatives often have mixed goals: ensuring financial viability and realizing normative social aims. In the present case, this tension was resolved by fitting the network's technological and social form to a criterion of legitimacy prevailing among power centers in the broader field; this succeeded in eliciting necessary financial resources to sustain the network, but at the expense of the project's normative aims. Institutional approaches theorize the relation of cultural ideas and social structure, and that of structure and social action, to interrogate micro-politics of social constructions and the (intended/unintended) forms they assume. To engage the Why question, constructivists need to theorize action. Sociological institutional theory offers pointers.

‘Sharing Time’ with young learners

Abstract: Although "Sharing Time" is a popular and widespread activity in English for Young Learners (L2) classrooms around the world, there have so far been no research studies of the interaction that is generated and its relationship to learning processes. The aims of this study were to find out how interaction is organized during "Sharing Time" and what kinds of learning it promotes. Audio recordings of 18 complete sessions of Sharing Time in a second grade class in a private English-medium international school in Abu Dhabi were fully transcribed and qualitative analysis of the transcripts was undertaken together with a simple coding system. The focus of the interaction is found to be on topic, meaning, and fluency, rather than form and accuracy. The teacher has no prior knowledge of the topic of the interaction and works collaboratively with the learner to develop the topic and sometimes upgrades the learners' structure and vocabulary. Sharing Time conforms to a social constructivist learning model.

Historical and philosophical perspectives on experimental practice in medicine and the life sciences.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to discuss a key question in the history and philosophy of medicine, namely how scholars should treat the practices and experimental hypotheses of modern life science laboratories. The paper seeks to introduce some prominent historiographical methods and theoretical approaches associated with biomedical research. Although medical scientists need no convincing that experimentation has a significant function in their laboratory work, historians, philosophers, and sociologists long neglected its importance when examining changes in medical theories or progress in scientific knowledge. The reason appears to have been the academic influence of the then dominant tradition in the history of ideas, but was also due to a misconception of what could usefully be termed the view on “historical ontology.” During the last two decades, there have been many books and research articles that have turned towards the subject, so that the study of experimental practice has become a major trend in the contemporary history and philosophy of medicine. A closer look at the issue of laboratory research shows that concepts in medicine and the life sciences cannot be understood as historically constant, free-standing ideas, but have to be regarded as dependent on local research settings. They often carry particular “social memories” with them and thus acquire important ethical implications.

Peer-assisted Learning: Implications for Content-based English Classes ∗

Abstract: Kim, Sung-Yeon. (2005). Peer-assisted learning: Implications for content-based English classes. English Teaching, 60(3), 67-89. In recent years, with increased attempts to account for learning within a socialconstructivist framework, the association between social context and learning has become a popular topic of L2 research. This paper explores the social and cognitive functions of peer-assisted learning (PAL) tasks in a content-based L2 classroom. Observing the effects of PAL tasks within the theoretical framework of Vygotskian social constructivism, this study highlights the role of language, either L1 or L2, as a tool of semiotic mediation between learners. In addition, this study investigates whether a peer-assisted learning context promotes positive attitudes and increases academic performance, as opposed to a teacher-driven context. The study examines the effects of two classroom contexts by comparing students’ attainment of positive attitudes and of content knowledge of the principles of language teaching. For the purpose of the study, a lecture-driven context was compared with a PAL context in light of the effect on students’ learning. Findings of the study will be reported, along with their pedagogical implications.