Interesting

Some research about constructivism in science shows that middle school science students have misconceptions on WHY scientists use models to demonstrate ideas. It is imortant thqt those models shown are conceptually appropriate for our students. I wish there was another middle school science teacher involved in TEAM to bounce these ideas off of

Love this quote about constructivism from google search

Thus, from a constructivist perspective, science is not the search for truth. It is a process that assists us to make sense of our world. Using a constructivist perspective, teaching science becomes more like the science that scientists do - it is an active, social process of making sense of experiences, as opposed to what we now call "school science." Indeed, actively engaging students in science (we have all heard the call for "hands-on, minds-on science") is the goal of most science education reform. It is an admirable goal, and using constructivism as a referent can possibly assist in reaching that goal.

1. http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/research/constructivism.html

Constructivist Learning Environments for the Science Classroom

Picture this a Science Classroom with lab counters only and many resources layed out for investigation. I would be inspired to look at "play" with the objecte to create or make some kind of sense out of them.

Ideally i think this would be great!! However there are some thing that must be taken into concederation. Lots of Planning, lots or resources ( that sometimes are not available) lots of space, smaller class sizes to facilitate discussion and easy assessment and monitoring, and TIMe to set up change resources to keep students interested and challenged

I try to use constructivist teaching methods in science but I find it difficult to do when studnets don't even want to read directions.

LIU Online Resources

Arrgh I cant find my borrower bar code. I want to read some real biology journals again and about constructivism