Constructivist Instruction: Success or Failure?

Constructivist Instruction: Success or Failure?brings together leading thinkers from both sides of the hotly debated controversy about constructivist approaches to instruction. Although constructivist theories and practice now dominate the fields of the learning sciences, instructional technology, curriculum and teaching, and educational psychology, they have also been the subject of sharp criticism regarding sparse research support and adverse research findings. This volume presents: the evidence for and against constructivism; the challenges from information-processing theorists; and commentaries from leading researchers in areas such as text comprehension, technology, as well as math and science education, who discuss the constructivist framework from their perspectives. Chapters present detailed views from both sides of the controversy. A distinctive feature of the book is the dialogue built into it between the different positions. Each chapter concludes with discussions in which two authors with opposing views raise questions about the chapter, followed by the author(s)#xE2;#xAC;" responses to those questions; for some chapters there are several cycles of questions and answers. These discussions, and concluding chapters by the editors, clarify, and occasionally narrow the differences between positions and identify needed research.

Foreword, Robert J. SternbergPrefacePart I. IntroductionChapter 1. The Success or Failure of Constructivist Instruction: An IntroductionSigmund Tobias and Timothy M. DuffyPart II. The Evidence for ConstructivismChapter 2. Reconciling a Human Cognitive ArchitectureDavid JonassenChapter 3. Constructivism in an Age of Non-Constructivist AssessmentsDaniel L. Schwartz, Robb Lindgren, and Sarah LewisChapter 4. Taking Guided Learning Theory to School: Reconciling the Cognitive, Motivational, and Social Contexts of InstructionPhillip Herman and Louis M. GomezChapter 5. Beyond More Versus Less: A Reframing of the Debate on Instructional GuidanceAlyssa Friend Wise and Kevin O'NeillChapter 6. Constructivism: When It's the Wrong Idea and When It's the Only IdeaRand J. Spiro and Michael DeSchryverPart III. Challenges to the Constructivist ViewChapter 7. What Human Cognitive Architecture Tells Us About ConstructivismJohn SwellerChapter 8. Epistemology or Pedagogy, That Is the QuestionPaul A. KirschnerChapter 9. How Much and What Type of Guidance is Optimal for Learning?Richard E. ClarkChapter 10. Constructivism as a Theory of Learning Versus Constructivism as a Prescription for Instruction.Richard E. MayerChapter 11. The Empirical Support for Direct InstructionBarak RosenshinePart IV. An Examination of Specific Learning and Motivational Issues.Chapter 12. Learning and ConstructivismWalter KintschChapter 13. From Behaviorism to Constructivism: A Philosophical Journey from Drill and Practice to Situated LearningJ. D. FletcherChapter 14. What's Worth Knowing about Mathematics?Melissa Sommerfeld Gresalfi and Frank LesterChapter 15. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens" What about Direct Instruction?David KlahrChapter 16. Beyond the Fringe: Building and Evaluating Scientific Knowledge SystemsRichard A. Duschl and Ravit Golan DuncanPart V. Summing UpChapter 17. An Eclectic Appraisal of the Success or Failure of Constructivist InstructionSigmund TobiasChapter 18. Building Lines of Communication and a Research AgendaThomas M. Duffy