Current Research in Constructivism

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Volume 1, Issue 3

December 2013

In each edition of this newsletter, we would like to highlight the work of our members. If you have recent professional accomplishment that you would like to share with the member-ship, please e-mail Tawnya Lubbes (tlubbes@eou.edu) with the details. Published books, book chapters, journal articles, and substantive works in progress will be highlighted. We can also share short articles written expressly for this newsletter and not published else-where.

Graduate Research

Violeta Vainer is one of our international graduate student members. She is a kindergarten and primary principal in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she infuses constructivism across the curriculum. Currently she is conducting research on how children build rules in the context of physi-cal education. Using Piagetian theory and Kholbergs framework she is integrating different interventions such as games without rules and com-paring previous and post ideas on rule meaning. Violeta is also a PhD candidate in Flasco, Argentina. Her research is on the democratization process and how citizenship is built in primary school curriculum. Her

study is a multiple qualitative case study in South America. The research is grounded in constructivism and the meaning making of curriculum and knowledge through teaching citi-

Communications Coordinator

Tawnya Lubbes is our SIG communications coordinator. She is an assistant professor of education at Eastern Oregon University, the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program coordinator and diversity committee chair. Specializing in teacher prepa-ration in multicultural education and ESOL she has the responsibility of ensuring that stu-dents are prepared as teacher leaders, teachers who are ready to face the demands of edu-cating in the 21st century. She must prepare teachers who are capable of meeting the social changes that our society encounters daily. In order to meet the needs of her students and the requirements of her position, she is currently completing her PhD through Walden Uni-versity with an emphasis on ESOL and multicultural education, with an anticipated graduation date of summer 2014.

Tawnya has been actively contributing to field research on the topics of culturally responsive pedagogy, constructivism, teacher identity development, ESOL best practices and online pedagogy. Her re-search has recently been presented at AERA, Vancouver (2012) and Tri-TESOL, Washington (2011). She presented at AERA, San Fran-cisco in April, 2013 regarding the intersection of language, poverty and online science edu-cation. She has two book chapters that will be released this year (2013-14) one that ad-dresses transformation of face-to-face to online writing and the other addressing the Com-mon Core State Standards and professional development. Her doctoral research examines the stages of rural pre-service teacher identity development and how teacher identity influ-ences the integration of culturally responsive pedagogy in K-12 classrooms.

Highlight Your Work

SESSION ONE: TRENDS IN CONSTRUCTIVIST PEDAGOGY Chair Linda R. Kroll Discussant - Kathy L. Schuh

1) Elementary school computer use in the piney woods: Social construction of technology in East Texas

Erik Jon Byker, Stephen F. Austin State University 2) Teaching science and inquiry from a Dewey and Vygotsky perspective Mary Elizabeth Hobbs, The University of Texas; Celeste Alexander, The University of Texas - Austin; James P. Barufaldi, The University of Texas - Austin

3) Students experiences of flow in inquiry-based learning vs. traditional settings: An exploration of motivation through the eyes of Vygotsky & Csikszentmihalyi

Lindsay A. Borovay, Olivia Hua, Ethan Yang, and Bruce M. Shore: McGill University;

4) Conceptual pedagogical, cultural and political dilemmas of implementing a constructivist workshop approach to teaching literacy

Suzanne Porath, University of Wisconsin Madison

Page 2

AERA ANNUAL MEETING SIG SESSIONS

SIG Officer Nominations

SAVE THE DATE!

T HE CONSTR U CTI VIS T T HE ORY, R ESE AR CH & PR A CT ICE SIG

2014 AERA Annual Meeting The Power of Education Research

for Innovation in Practice and Policy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thursday, April 3 - Monday, April 7, 2014

Early Bird Registration is open NOW!

For Registration and Program information go to: http://www.aera.net/EventsMeetings

SESION TWO: INVESTIGATIONS ON CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Chair Terry Robertson Discussant Patrick Jenlink

1) Transformative learning as cultural capital: Native American college stu-dents discover personal values through educational journeys Steven R. Aragon & Patricia Stelter: Texas State University

Anjali Forber-Pratt & Karrie Shogren: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2) Examining the use of teacher candidate created protocols to connect re-search to practice in elementary classrooms: A pilot study Jannah Walters Nerren & Tracey Covington Hasbun Stephen F.

Austin State University

3) Student knowledge linking, learning environments, and learning outcomes Kathy L. Schuh: University of Iowa Yi-Lung Kuo: Beijing Normal University - Hong Kong Baptist Uni-versity United International College

Biographical statements for the officer nominations received can be found below:

Treasurer: Kathy Schuh is an associate professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Iowa. She received her Ph.D. in Cognitive

Science and Instructional Systems Technology, and a Masters in Educational Psychology, from Indiana University at Bloomington. She is original-

ly from North Dakota, with an undergraduate degree in Music Education as well as Masters degrees in Computer Science and Education from

North Dakota State University. Her research interests include exploring the relationships among epistemology, learning theory, and instructional

practice with a primary interest in contemporary views of learning such as constructivism and situated cognition. She conducts research on how

children make meaning from the information they encounter in their classrooms and the personal experience and prior learning they bring with

them. She has been active in AERA and the Constructivist Theory, Research, and Practice SIG since 1997.

Program Chair: Erik Byker is an assistant professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Stephen F. Austin State University. Erik

completed his Ph.D. work in the Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy Program at Michigan State University (MSU). His fields of special-

ization include educational technology, curriculum foundations, global education, and elementary and middle level social studies. Erik's research is

international and comparative in scope as he has conducted ethnographic field research in England, Cuba, India, South Korea, and across the United

States on how teachers and students use and construct meaning for computer technology. Over the 2010-2011 academic year, Erik lived in Banga-

lore, India, and collected dissertation data on how an economic cross-section of Bangalore's elementary schools were using computer technology in

their schools. Erik's research has been published in national and international academic journals. Erik also holds a M.Ed. Degree in Curriculum

and Instruction from the University of Virginia and has a dual degree (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science) in elementary education

and political science from Dordt College.