Constructionism Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The rapid dissemination and integration of the information and communication technology, has resulted in an exponential growth of innovation within the educational field. Ideas such as online learning, e-learning e-training, m-learning... more

The rapid dissemination and integration of the information and communication technology, has resulted in an exponential growth of innovation within the educational field. Ideas such as online learning, e-learning e-training, m-learning (mobile learning) and social networking within distance education have extended the learning opportunities of both business and education alike. As these advancements become seamlessly integrated into the university environment, an important question remains: How to prepare university professors to function in highly interactive constructionist learning environments? This chapter aim is to investigate two important components: the development, implementation and evaluation of the characteristics of a constructionist environment and the use of this environment as part of an introductory on-line course to prepare faculty from Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (Brazil) to be able to function as mediators within the constructionist online learning environment.

I would like to acknowledge and thank my supervision team. My principal supervisor, Dr Moira O'Connor, is an amazing supervisor, combining a sharp intellect with empathy, support, advice, humour, and timely feedback. I couldn't have asked... more

I would like to acknowledge and thank my supervision team. My principal supervisor, Dr Moira O'Connor, is an amazing supervisor, combining a sharp intellect with empathy, support, advice, humour, and timely feedback. I couldn't have asked for more! I would also like to thank my Associate Supervisor, Associate Professor Margaret Mitchell, who joined the team while I was writing the thesis, and my Adjunct Supervisor, Dr Christopher Sonn (Victoria University), who was instrumental in the conceptualisation and early development of the project. I would like to acknowledge all those that have shaped the project over the years-the proposal reviewers, Dr Susan Pradip Griffiths and Dr Val Roche, and those that attended my thesis proposal presentation. I didn't give my project justice but I hope you were able to recognise its worth. Your comments and questions during the development stage of the project was invaluable in making the study stronger. I would also like to thank Professor Alison Garton, who acted as a critical reader of the entire draft. I would also like to acknowledge and thank everyone who aided and supported the study. Thank you to Tracey Ahern, Tamara Breen, Ana Ilijovska, and Sue Timewell for your time and effort in transcribing some of the interviews, which saved me many hours. Thanks are also due to the support staff in the

If visualization is to be democratized, we need to provide means for non-experts to create visualizations that allow them to engage directly with datasets. We present constructive visualization a new paradigm for the simple creation of... more

If visualization is to be democratized, we need to provide means for non-experts to create visualizations that allow them to engage directly with datasets. We present constructive visualization a new paradigm for the simple creation of flexible, dynamic visualizations. Constructive visualization is simple—in that the skills required to build and manipulate the visualizations are akin to kindergarten play; it is expressive— in that one can build within the constraints of the chosen environment, and it also supports dynamics — in that these constructed visualizations can be rebuilt and adjusted. We describe the conceptual components and processes underlying constructive visualization, and present real-world examples to illustrate the utility of this approach. The constructive visualization approach builds on our inherent understanding and experience with physical building blocks, offering a model that enables non-experts to create entirely novel visualizations, and to engage with datasets in a manner that would not have otherwise been possible.

The article explores the ways in which language is a factor in the generation of social realities. Having as a foundation social constructionism, the appreciative inquiry is a form of intervention in the organisational environment that... more

The article explores the ways in which language is a factor in the generation of social realities. Having as a foundation social constructionism, the appreciative inquiry is a form of intervention in the organisational environment that can produce a rapid change in the way an organisation’s members define the organisation they work in. Thus, the theory of social constructionism seems to be operational in the organisational space, as it focuses on the relations through which social actors construct realities. The approach of social constructionism starts from the assumption that the language people use in order to understand the world is a social artefact, the historical product of exchanges between people. During the meetings with representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organisations involved in the experiment, we recorded the adjectives and the metaphors they used in order to describe the organisational environment they worked in. The experiment proves the fact that the...

It is widely agreed that engaging students in authentic science practices is important for science education. Theory building is a central practice of science. Today, many scientists build theory through computational modeling. This paper... more

It is widely agreed that engaging students in authentic science practices is important for science education. Theory building is a central practice of science. Today, many scientists build theory through computational modeling. This paper characterizes the nature of student theory building in the context of computational modeling activities. Using a fine-grained grounded analysis, we identified theory-building moves in one student's goal-directed modeling in a block-based microworld. We present moves enacted during phases of model building, testing, debugging, and sense-making using a segment of transcript from the student's theory-building activity, which was focused on modeling a flu epidemic.

Despite the introduction of road safety measures and media campaigns, crashes are a leading cause of death in Western Australia. While economic costs of crashes are relatively easy to determine, their psychosocial burden remains... more

Despite the introduction of road safety measures and media campaigns, crashes are a leading cause of death in Western Australia. While economic costs of crashes are relatively easy to determine, their psychosocial burden remains appreciably understudied, as are the social, cultural, historical, temporal, and political contexts within which grief experiences are housed. As such, I explored the experience of grief resulting from losing a loved one in a crash in Western Australia and described the influence of contextual factors on those grief experiences. Constructionist grounded theory methodology was utilised. Data were collected from two informant groups – 10 were employed in road safety and post-crash services in Western Australia and 21 were Western Australians bereaved through the loss of a family member in crashes. Data were collected via in-depth recursive interviews, a ‘scoping and profiling’ process, and public documents. The data indicate that the bereaved informants were s...

À l'aide de données recueillies lors de la couverture d'événements par la presse locale, on examine comment a été présenté le meurtre d'un jeune de 15 ans, Jordan Manners, commis dans une école secondaire de Toronto. En particulier, on... more

À l'aide de données recueillies lors de la couverture d'événements par la presse locale, on examine comment a été présenté le meurtre d'un jeune de 15 ans, Jordan Manners, commis dans une école secondaire de Toronto. En particulier, on cherche à comprendre pourquoi, après avoir d'abord tenté de contextualiser l'événement en fonction d'autres cas de tireurs dans des écoles, les médias ont ensuite adopté un cadre d'interprétation basé sur des présuppositions idéologiques liées aux classes marginales de Toronto. Quand les médias veulent absolument couvrir un événement malgré l'absence de renseignements essentiels, on note qu'ils on tendance à reprendre des cadres conformistes. Dans la conclusion, on étudie la signification sociopolitique de ces cadres essentialisés pour les crimes commis dans les collectivités pauvres, habitées principalement par des personnes de couleur.

Qualitative methods have much to offer those studying health care and health services. However, because these methods have traditionally been employed in the social sciences, they may be unfamiliar to health care professionals and... more

Qualitative methods have much to offer those studying health care and health services. However, because these methods have traditionally been employed in the social sciences, they may be unfamiliar to health care professionals and researchers with a biomedical or natural science background. Indeed, qualitative methods may seem alien alongside the experimental and observational quantitative methods used in clinical, biological and epidemiological research.

Do you mean back to the traditional classroom? No. There's more than one way to flip and re-flip the classroom. If the flipped classroom's goal is active learning, shouldn't we then adopt a flip that focuses on student engagement and... more

Do you mean back to the traditional classroom? No. There's more than one way to flip
and re-flip the classroom.
If the flipped classroom's goal is active learning, shouldn't we then adopt a flip that
focuses on student engagement and active learning first, instead of reinforcing a flip
based on an archaic instructionist view of learning driven by passive lectures?

This paper reports on a design experiment conducted to explore the construction of meanings by 17 year old students, emerging from their interpretations and uses of algebraic like formalism. The students worked collaboratively in groups... more

This paper reports on a design experiment conducted to explore the construction of meanings by 17 year old students, emerging from their interpretations and uses of algebraic like formalism. The students worked collaboratively in groups of two or three, using MoPiX, a ...

Το παρόν άρθρο έχει ως αντικείμενο τη χρήση της νέας τεχνολογίας στο πλαίσιο της εκπαιδευτικής πράξης με σκοπό την ανάδειξη της πρόσθετης παιδαγωγικής αξίας μέσα από ειδικά διαμορφωμένο κονστρακτιονιστικό ψηφιακό τεχνούργημα. Πρόκειται... more

Το παρόν άρθρο έχει ως αντικείμενο τη χρήση της νέας τεχνολογίας στο πλαίσιο της εκπαιδευτικής πράξης με σκοπό την ανάδειξη της πρόσθετης παιδαγωγικής αξίας μέσα από ειδικά διαμορφωμένο κονστρακτιονιστικό ψηφιακό τεχνούργημα. Πρόκειται για την ανάλυση των σχεδιαστικών αρχών του λογισμικού «Αλφάβητα του Κόσμου», που οικοδομήθηκε στο υπολογιστικό περιβάλλον Αβάκιο 2. Το συγκεκριμένο ψηφιακό τεχνούργημα αποτελεί μια εναλλακτική πρόταση διδασκαλίας της πρώτης γραφής και ανάγνωσης στην πρώτη τάξη του Δημοτικού Σχολείου που έχει ως στόχο την εμπλοκή των μαθητών σε δραστηριότητες διερεύνησης και συνεργασίας. Η θεωρητική πλαισίωση αυτού του εγχειρήματος βασίστηκε στον Κονστρακτιονισμό, μια θεωρία μάθησης που έχει τις ρίζες της στις κονστρουκτιβιστικές θεωρίες μάθησης και στον κοινωνικό εποικοδομισμό. Ακόμη υποστηρίζει ότι η μάθηση οικοδομείται μέσα από το σχεδιασμό και τη δημιουργία τεχνουργημάτων με προσωπικό νόημα σε συνδυασμό με την αλληλεπίδραση που έχουν οι μαθητές μεταξύ τους. Στη βάση αυτή, δημιουργείται η προοπτική της ανάδειξης της πρόσθετης παιδαγωγικής αξίας της χρήσης της νέας τεχνολογίας κατά την εκπαιδευτική πράξη, μέσα από πτυχές μαθησιακών δραστηριοτήτων που συνήθως δεν καλύπτονται από την παραδοσιακή μέθοδο διδασκαλίας. ΛΕΞΕΙΣ ΚΛΕΙΔΙΑ: Πρώτη γραφή και ανάγνωση, Κονστρακτιονισμός, Πρόσθετη παιδαγωγική αξία. ΕΙΣΑΓΩΓΗ Είναι κοινώς αποδεκτό, ότι σημερινοί μαθητές δεν είναι πλέον οι μαθητές για τους οποίους σχεδιάστηκαν τα παραδοσιακά εκπαιδευτικά συστήματα (Prensky, 2001). Η αλλαγή αυτή οφείλεται στη ραγδαία ανάπτυξη της ψηφιακής τεχνολογίας που έχει κατακλύσει τη ζωή των παιδιών από πολύ μικρή ηλικία. Επομένως, παρατηρείται έντονα το φαινόμενο ότι οι μαθητές πριν ακόμα διδαχθούν γραφή και ανάγνωση είναι, κατά πλειοψηφία, πολύ καλοί χρήστες των σύγχρονων ψηφιακών εργαλείων. Πάνω σε αυτή τη λογική, ένα κονστρακτιονιστικό ψηφιακό δόμημα που δίνει στους μαθητές τη δυνατότητα να εκφραστούν δημιουργικά, να αλληλεπιδράσουν, να επικοινωνήσουν και να δώσουν νόημα (Κυνηγός, 2011) στη γραφή και στην ανάγνωση, πλησιάζει αρκετά το φαινόμενο των «digital natives», δηλαδή των μαθητών που χρησιμοποιούν πλέον την ψηφιακή γλώσσα ως «μητρική γλώσσα» (Prensky, 2001). Όμως, εκτός από τη ραγδαία ανάπτυξη της τεχνολογίας, η πολυπολιτισμική σύνθεση του μαθητικού πληθυσμού και η συνεκπαίδευση παιδιών που είναι φορείς ενός διαφορετικού πολιτισμικού και γλωσσικού κεφαλαίου διαμορφώνουν μια «άλλη» πραγματικότητα στο ελληνικό σχολείο (Κεσίδου, 2011), η οποία θα πρέπει να συνυπολογιστεί κατά την εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία της πρώτης γραφής και ανάγνωσης στην πρωτοβάθμια εκπαίδευση. Σε αυτή τη βάση, το συγκεκριμένο άρθρο κινείται στο πλαίσιο μιας εναλλακτικής πρότασης μέσα από την εισαγωγή του ψηφιακού τεχνουργήματος «Αλφάβητα του Κόσμου» στην καθημερινή διδασκαλία της πρώτης γραφής και ανάγνωσης στην Α΄ τάξη του δημοτικού σχολείου. Ο κύριος σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι να εξετάσει, την πρόσθετη παιδαγωγική αξία της εφαρμογής μια τέτοιας καινοτομίας στη σχολική τάξη, κυρίως ως προς τη δημιουργία νοημάτων στους μαθητές, σε σχέση με την πρώτη γραφή και ανάγνωση, δηλαδή τη συμβολική αναπαράσταση της γλώσσας, κατά τη συνεργασία τους, καθώς αλληλεπιδρούν με το ψηφιακό περιβάλλον του Μικρόκοσμου «Αλφάβητα

The Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) consistently rank among the top 10% of per capita waste producers in the world. Collectively around 120 million tons of waste is produced annually in GCC; 55% construction and demolition (C&D) waste,... more

The Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) consistently rank among the top 10% of per capita waste producers in the world. Collectively around 120 million tons of waste is produced annually in GCC; 55% construction and demolition (C&D) waste, 20% municipal solid waste (MSW), 18% industrial waste, and 7% hazardous waste. Like other GCC nations, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) generates massive amounts of MSW, C&D waste, and industrial waste. This study aims to examine 81 construction companies in the Eastern Province of KSA to determine which factors critically affect the sustainable management of C&D waste in the country. Only 39.5% of the companies studied had a pollution control plan for their projects. It was also found that only 13.6% of C&D waste is recycled and reused every year, whereas the remaining 86.4% C&D waste eventually goes to the landfills. Most of the C&D waste in the country is a promising source of potential recyclable construction materials such as gravel from debris, metals, and sand. This would not only fulfill the requirements of gravel and metal production of the KSA but also solve the waste disposal issues along with generating huge economic benefits. However, to accomplish the goal of sustainable construction waste management, it is critical to underline the various factors that might impact the construction waste management practices in the country. Keywords Construction and demolition (C&D) waste · Municipal solid waste (MSW) · Waste recycling · Landfill sites · Sustainable construction material

Acquiring argumentative reading and writing practices reflects a key component of recent curricular reforms in schools and universities throughout the United States and the world as well as a major challenge to teachers of reading and... more

Acquiring argumentative reading and writing practices reflects a key component of recent curricular reforms in schools and universities throughout the United States and the world as well as a major challenge to teachers of reading and writing in K-12 and college writing classrooms. In this review, we consider the contributions of two research perspectives, cognitive and social, that researchers have employed in the study of the teaching and learning of argumentative reading and writing. We address two basic questions: How do these perspectives with their own disciplinary frameworks and logics of inquiry interactively inform how researchers study argumentative reading and writing, and consequently, how have these orientations informed pedagogical knowledge that may support teachers' understanding of what argumentation is and how it may be taken up in the educational contexts? We analyze relevant conceptual and empirical studies by considering assumptions underlying the cognitive ...

Durante los años 60 del siglo XX, surgieron teorías pedagógicas que partían de los aportes del Constructivismo de Jean Piaget y de Lev Vygosky. Paulo Freire, David Ausubel y otros seguían el camino emprendido décadas antes por éstos dos... more

Durante los años 60 del siglo XX, surgieron teorías pedagógicas que partían de los aportes del Constructivismo de Jean Piaget y de Lev Vygosky. Paulo Freire, David Ausubel y otros seguían el camino emprendido décadas antes por éstos dos fundamentales psicólogos. Asimismo, los años 60 es la época germinal del desarrollo de las tecnologías de cómputo, reservadas en esos tiempos sólo a iniciados. Un colaborador de Jean Piaget, Seymour Papert, Matemático y activista en Sudáfrica a favor de los derechos de los grupos sociales segregados, comienza a percibir la importancia que tendría el cómputo en la educación de los niños. Crea un lenguaje de programación dirigido específicamente a los niños de nombre Logo y desarrolla una propuesta teórica a la que llama Construccionismo. Este trabajo busca establecer de forma crítica, cuáles son los aportes de Papert a la educación y comparar la relación de su producción, con los aportes de Jean Piaget y Lev Vygosky, tratando de discernir si Construccionismo es un concepto sólido y si no son en realidad los aportes fundamentales de Papert la propia experiencia del lenguaje Logo. Finaliza éste trabajo con la herencia actual de sus aportes en voces de quienes han desarrollado nuevos entornos pedagógicos para las TIC en la educación.

Hackathons were originated from both the evolution of and revolution caused by personal computers. Initially, they have been implemented as a collaborative method for solving computer-related problems or conceptualizing new possibilities... more

Hackathons were originated from both the evolution of and revolution caused by personal computers. Initially, they have been implemented as a collaborative method for solving computer-related problems or conceptualizing new possibilities based on specific infrastructures. Only later on, when Cultural Institutions had undergone intensive digitization, Hackathons started to be part of their repertoire. Because of the special nature of Cultural Institutions, Hackathons for Cultural Heritage cannot be understood in the same way as their counterparts happening in a purely engineering domain. Problem solving and conceptualization through collaborative programming are entangled with the significance of the content matter they intend to deal with: the institutionsa collections. Based on these considerations, this thesis aims at explaining the underlying principles, interactions, and infrastructures of the Hackathon as a method for Heritage Interpretation. Moreover, the thesis also proposes a Fast-speed IT Platform, which was designed within the context of the Two-speed IT infrastructure, where a foundational, stable, and slow infrastructure is complemented by an additional creative, experimental, and agile infrastructure, which is capable of promptly responding to the needs of communities. The platform is an effort to implement strategies for interpreting, recontextualizing, and telling stories with Digital Collections. In addition, the platform aims at mitigating problems concerning technical knowledge that is usually required for taking advantage of the affordances of Digital Collections as a creative material.

The spread of the Internet has led to a change from a TV-childhood to a computer-childhood. We investigate how this shift towards networked forms of communication is reflected in constructionist learning environments and elaborate the... more

The spread of the Internet has led to a change from a TV-childhood to a computer-childhood. We investigate how this shift towards networked forms of communication is reflected in constructionist learning environments and elaborate the concept of objects-to-think-with-together in the context of using computers as tool and social medium at the same time. In doing so, we propose four design aspects that should be considered in the context of socially-oriented constructionist learning environments: providing an integrated platform for construction and socializing, supporting re-mixing and re-using as well as self-expression and appreciation, allowing collaborative projects of non-collocated learners, and supporting enculturation and team-building.

El Bondage, Dominación, Sumisión y Sadomasoquismo (BDSM) es una construcción social que implica diversas expresiones de la sexualidad relacionadas con el juego de roles, intercambio de poder y el sadomasoquismo. Se trata de un tema... more

El Bondage, Dominación, Sumisión y Sadomasoquismo (BDSM) es una construcción social que implica diversas expresiones de la sexualidad relacionadas con el juego de roles, intercambio de poder y el sadomasoquismo. Se trata de un tema altamente estigmatizado del cual escasean recursos bibliográficos. Por tanto, nos planteamos comprender las vivencias del BDSM en la ciudad de Caracas y realizamos este estudio, bajo una metodología cualitativa, con un diseño emergente y proyectado, utilizando la técnica de entrevista a profundidad. Entre los hallazgos resalta una comunidad de practicantes del BDSM que busca crecer, darse a conocer y consolidarse, que asimismo mantiene una postura cerrada y de difícil acceso.

Computer code and programmable objects are a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. Over the past 25 years critical engagement with digital media has become a part of the art education curriculum. However, involving art students in... more

Computer code and programmable objects are a ubiquitous
part of our everyday lives. Over the past 25 years critical
engagement with digital media has become a part of the art
education curriculum. However, involving art students in
utilizing processing agents as part of studio practice by learning
how to code programming languages is a rare occurrence.
This article advocates for computational thinking as an urgent
need within art education to prepare students to utilize digital
innovations and create code-based artworks. By reviewing
the constructionist origins of computational thinking for art
educational purposes, we posit that creative code can benefit
studio art practice while making broader contributions to
conceptions of computational thinking across disciplines. We
emphasize three concepts to engage in critical digital making
by recognizing code as critical text, code as open or proprietary,
and code as digital material to be performed and acted upon.

The goal of this article is to provide a conceptual framework to better understand digital games in learning and creative contexts through the dimensions of play, design, and participation. This framework can be used as a guiding tool for... more

The goal of this article is to provide a conceptual framework to better understand digital games in learning and creative contexts through the dimensions of play, design, and participation. This framework can be used as a guiding tool for the selection, implementation, and evaluation of game- based approaches in formal and informal educational settings, as well as a blueprint for making sense of playful learning and creativity in virtual worlds and technology-mediated environments. In essence, this article seeks to answer the question “What are digital games and how can we make sense of them for learning and creativity?” The proposed visual model and conceptual framework, here defined as Playful Constructivism, is grounded on the learning theories of Situated Cognition, Social Constructivism, and Constructionism, and draws from play and game studies, design-based learning, and affinity spaces research. This framework is not intended as the “ultimate” conceptualization of game-based learning, but rather as an agile tool that can guide scholars, practitioners, and students through the affordances, challenges, and opportunities of implementing and using digital games in learning and creative contexts.

Thematic analysis (TA) is a method for identifying, analysing and interpreting patterned meanings or ‘themes’ in qualitative data. In this chapter we outline our approach to TA (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2012, 2013) and demonstrate its core... more

Thematic analysis (TA) is a method for identifying, analysing and interpreting patterned meanings or ‘themes’ in qualitative data. In this chapter we outline our approach to TA (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2012, 2013) and demonstrate its core processes of coding and theme development using worked examples from our study of sexual health professionals’ views on impediments to sexual health in Aotearoa/New Zealand (A/NZ; Terry et al., 2012). First we consider the historical development of TA and the proliferation of different approaches to it, then we outline the hallmarks of our approach to TA: its unique status as a method, rather than a methodology, and its theoretical flexibility.

The effect of the individual analyst on research findings can create a credibility problem for qualitative approaches from the perspective of evaluative criteria utilized in quantitative psychology. This paper explicates the ways in which... more

The effect of the individual analyst on research findings can create a credibility problem for qualitative approaches from the perspective of evaluative criteria utilized in quantitative psychology. This paper explicates the ways in which objectivity and reliability are understood in qualitative analysis conducted from within three distinct epistemological frameworks: realism, contextual constructionism, and radical constructionism. It is argued that quality criteria utilized in quantitative psychology are appropriate to the evaluation of qualitative analysis only to the extent that it is conducted within a naive or scientific realist framework. The discussion is illustrated with reference to the comparison of two independent grounded theory analyses of identical material. An implication of this illustration is to identify the potential to develop a radical constructionist strand of grounded theory.

تناول هذا الكتاب موضوعا مهما في مجال البحث العلمي في حقل العلوم الانسانية والاجتماعية. وقد نال موضوع الكتاب حظا قليلا من اهتمام الباحثين في العالم العربي خصوصا في الجامعات العربية ومراكز البحوث والتي غلب على معظم أساليبها المنهجية الطابع... more

For decades there has been a call for educators to explore new possibilities for meeting educational goals defined broadly under a number of twenty-first century competencies curricula (Dede, 2014; Voogt et al., 2013). These stress the... more

For decades there has been a call for educators to explore new possibilities for meeting educational goals defined broadly under a number of twenty-first century competencies curricula (Dede, 2014; Voogt et al., 2013). These stress the need for students to combine critical skills development with an understanding of the processes and reach of technologies in daily life, in order to prepare them for a shifting cultural and economic landscape. In response, an extensive literature has grown up about game-based learning (Brown, 2008; de Castell, 2011; Gee, 2003; Gee and Hayes, 2011; Jenson, Taylor, de Castell, 2011; Jenson et al., 2016; Kafai, 1995; 2012; 2016; Prensky, 2001; Squire, 2004; 2011; Steinkuehler, 2006) that seeks to explore whether/how games can be used productively in education. History as a discipline lends itself particularly well to game-based learning. It is bound up in questions of interpretation, agency, and choice, considerations that gameplay and game design as processes highlight well. My research explores the uses of digital historical games in history education, and most especially in the acquisition of critical historical skills. These skills are defined as the capacity to view and engage with the constitutive parts of historical scholarship and objects: interpretation, argument, evidence, ideology, subject position, class, race, sex, etc. This thesis will present findings from two participant-based research studies that I organized and ran between 2018 and 2019. In the first, participants were tasked with playing a counterfactual historical game, Fallout 4, and talking about their experiences, as well as answering questions about history and historical understandings. The second study took the form of an interactive digital history course. In it, students, working in small groups, were tasked with creating their own historical games. Exploring both gameplay and game production answers the call issued by Kafai and Burke (2016) that researchers should view the potential for games in education holistically, rather than in either/or terms. Taken together, this thesis argues that playing and especially making historical games offers opportunities for learners to engage with epistemological concepts in history in meaningful ways that can advance their critical understanding of history as a subject.

This paper attempts to clarify similarities and differences among three key constructivist psychologies. I describe “personal construct psychology,” “radical constructivism,” and “social constructionism.” I suggest—as has Lyddon... more

This paper attempts to clarify similarities and differences among three key constructivist psychologies. I describe “personal construct psychology,” “radical constructivism,” and “social constructionism.” I suggest—as has Lyddon (1995)—that the commonalities among these approaches outweigh the points of divergence. Highlighting this common ground should be useful to both psychologists and non-psychologists. I contend that all three approaches center on human meaning making as psychology’s primary focus of inquiry. In comparing and contrasting these approaches, I try to overcome some of the convoluted jargon that has inhibited communication about the larger meaning of the constructivist movement.

Lucrarea prezintă o cercetare desfășurată în centre de plasament din județul Iași în perioada 2014-2017. Aceasta a urmărit identificarea resurselor și a mecanismelor utilizate de către tinerii din aceste organizații pentru a face față... more

Lucrarea prezintă o cercetare desfășurată în centre de plasament din județul Iași în perioada 2014-2017. Aceasta a urmărit identificarea resurselor și a mecanismelor utilizate de către tinerii din aceste organizații pentru a face față adversitilor cu care s-au confruntat în trecut, se confruntă în prezent și estimează că vor avea de a face în viitor. Componenta calitativă a demersului - așezată pe baze construcționiste - urmărește strategiile celor care au reușit să depășească așteptările publicului și să obțină rezultate notabile în diferite domenii în ciuda vieții trăite în sistemul de protecție a copilului.

In this essay I set out to critically analyse the foundations of contemporary analytic metaphysics and I investigate the feasibility of a realist, physicalist and pluralist project in particular. Having done that, I attempt to roughly... more

In this essay I set out to critically analyse the foundations of contemporary analytic metaphysics and I investigate the feasibility of a realist, physicalist and pluralist project in particular. Having done that, I attempt to roughly outline a framework capable of supporting such a project.

Basic Emotion theory has had a tremendous influence on the affective sciences, including music psychology, where most researchers have assumed that music expressivity is constrained to a limited set of basic emotions. Several scholars... more

Basic Emotion theory has had a tremendous influence on the affective sciences, including music psychology, where most researchers have assumed that music expressivity is constrained to a limited set of basic emotions. Several scholars suggested that these constrains to musical expressivity are explained by the existence of a shared acoustic code to the expression of emotions in music and speech prosody. In this article we advocate for a shift from this focus on basic emotions to a constructionist account. This approach proposes that the phenomenon of perception of emotions in music arises from the interaction of music's ability to express core affects and the influence of top-down and contextual information in the listener's mind. We start by reviewing the problems with the concept of Basic Emotions, and the inconsistent evidence that supports it. We also demonstrate how decades of developmental and cross-cultural research on music and emotional speech have failed to produce convincing findings to conclude that music expressivity is built upon a set of biologically predetermined basic emotions. We then examine the cue-emotion consistencies between music and speech, and show how they support a parsimonious explanation, where musical expressivity is grounded on two dimensions of core affect (arousal and valence). Next, we explain how the fact that listeners reliably identify basic emotions in music does not arise from the existence of categorical boundaries in the stimuli, but from processes that facilitate categorical perception, such as using stereotyped stimuli and close-ended response formats, psychological processes of construction of mental prototypes, and contextual information. Finally, we outline our proposal of a constructionist account of perception of emotions in music, and spell out the ways in which this approach is able to make solve past conflicting findings. We conclude by providing explicit pointers about the methodological choices that will be vital to move beyond the popular Basic Emotion paradigm and start untangling the emergence of emotional experiences with music in the actual contexts in which they occur.

There is a widespread idea that in grounded theory (GT) research, the researcher has to delay the literature review until the end of the analysis to avoid contamination – a dictum that might turn educational researchers away from GT.... more

There is a widespread idea that in grounded theory (GT) research, the researcher has to delay the literature review until the end of the analysis to avoid contamination – a dictum that might turn educational researchers away from GT. Nevertheless, in this article the author (a) problematizes the dictum of delaying a literature review in classic grounded theory, (b) presents arguments for using extant literature in the substantive field within a constructivist grounded theory, and (c) suggests data sensitizing principles in using literature, which are: theoretical agnosticism, theoretical pluralism, theoretical sampling of literature, staying grounded, theoretical playfulness, memoing extant knowledge associations, and constant reflexivity.

This paper provides a worked exemplar of psychotherapy research using the approach of conversation analysis inspired discourse analysis (CA/DA), sometimes known as discursive psychology (Edwards & Potter, 1992; Potter, 2003; Potter &... more

This paper provides a worked exemplar of psychotherapy research using the approach of conversation analysis inspired discourse analysis (CA/DA), sometimes known as discursive psychology (Edwards & Potter, 1992; Potter, 2003; Potter & Wetherell, 1987). The aim of the paper is to explore the potential usefulness of discursive analysis for qualitative psychotherapy research within a relational centred ethos. The paper presents an analysis of extracts from a case of psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy based on Hobson’s (1985) conversational model. This model has a particular relational focus in assuming clients’ problems arise from relationship disturbances and that the therapeutic encounter is a vehicle for the manifestation, exploration, and modification of such problems. The model is conversational in that intervention consists of therapists’ use of strategies such as negotiation, metaphor, and development of a ‘common feeling language’...

Consumers act and interact via social media networks and online brand communities, collectively generating brand culture. In this context, organisations have the opportunity to develop a cultural following. The respective task for brand... more

Consumers act and interact via social media networks and online brand communities, collectively generating brand culture. In this context, organisations have the opportunity to develop a cultural following. The respective task for brand managers and marketers is to understand how consumers collectively generate online brand culture? Using active and overt netnography and investigating the specific context of the Behance Network, the findings presented here demonstrate that online brand community members collectively generate brand culture in variant ways: through construction of self, emotional relationships, storytelling, and ritualistic practices. Pragmatically, this work demonstrates that online brand community members are curators of online brand culture and netnography offers a window through which to identify what actions and interactions need to be facilitated and fostered.

Euclid’s definition of a point as “that which has no part” has been a major source of controversy in relation to the epistemological and ontological presuppositions of classical geometry, from the medieval and modern disputes on... more

Euclid’s definition of a point as “that which has no part” has been a major source of controversy in relation to the epistemological and ontological presuppositions of classical geometry, from the medieval and modern disputes on indivisibilism to the full development of point-free geometries in the 20th century. Such theories stem from the general idea that all talk of points as putative lower-dimensional entities must and can be recovered in terms of suitable higher-order constructs involving only extended regions (or bodies). Here I focus on what is arguably the first thorough proposal of this sort, Whitehead’s theory of “extensive abstraction”, offering a critical reconstruction of the theory through its successive installments: from the purely mereological version of ‘La théorie relationniste de l’espace’ (1916) to the refined versions presented in An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge (1919) and in The Concept of Nature (1920) to the last, mereotopological version of Process and Reality (1929).

O presente trabalho tem por finalidade analisar as potencialidades de desenvolvimento das habilidades fundamentais relacionadas ao pensamento computacional — decomposição, generalização, abstração, algoritmos e avaliação — por meio de... more

O presente trabalho tem por finalidade analisar as potencialidades de desenvolvimento das habilidades fundamentais relacionadas ao pensamento computacional — decomposição, generalização, abstração, algoritmos e avaliação — por meio de atividades com a linguagem de programação Scratch. As atividades práticas foram realizadas em um laboratório de
informática em uma escola estadual da cidade Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, com alunos do nono ano do Ensino Fundamental. Sob um viés qualitativo, e apoiados no Construcionismo de Seymour Papert (1988) e nas ideias levantadas por Jeannette Wing (2006), que trouxe à tona o movimento atual de difusão do pensamento computacional, analisamos as construções e caminhos dos estudantes, a procura de indícios das dimensões referentes ao pensamento computacional e de possíveis relações de construção de conhecimentos matemáticos em suas falas, discursos e produções de artefatos tecnológicos. Observamos que ao serem confrontados com atividades de caráter aberto em ambientes computacionais, os alunos foram capazes de demonstrar domínio de várias dimensões relativas ao pensamento computacional, o que converge com os ideais de Papert (1988).

Michael Oakeshott’s distinction between the practical and the historical past has been the focus of much discussion in contemporary theory of history. This is primarily due to Hayden White’s appeal to Oakeshott’s distinction in several... more

Michael Oakeshott’s distinction between the practical and the historical past has been the focus of much discussion in contemporary theory of history. This is primarily due to Hayden White’s appeal to Oakeshott’s distinction in several recent works. However, the philosophical underpinnings of Oakeshott’s distinction are seldom discussed. This essay provides a philosophical elaboration and critique of both Oakeshott’s distinction and White’s use of it. Oakeshott’s distinction is expounded as an integral part of his idealist philosophy. My contention is that in order to properly understand the distinction, we must first understand Oakeshott’s theories about different modes of understanding to which different kinds of past belong. Besides comparing White and Oakeshott, this essay will also develop a critique of the distinction between history and practice. The main claim of the essay is that there are important internal connections between history and practice that Oakeshott’s distinction neglects. In conclusion, I argue that the ethical and existential dimension of history can only be appreciated by dissolving Oakeshott’s absolute distinction between the practical and the historical past.

While recent educational research has focused on what/how people learn through playing digital games, there is less work focusing on what and how young people learn through game design and critical digital making. Drawing upon our own... more

While recent educational research has focused on what/how people learn through playing digital games, there is less work focusing on what and how young people learn through game design and critical digital making. Drawing upon our own research and pedagogical interventions, this conceptual paper describes how digital gamemaking enacted through “production pedagogy” can leverage dynamic learning opportunities, enriching game-based learning research and offering critical alternatives to aridly disengaging forms of digital literacies instruction in schools. Production pedagogies are premised on the view that people learn best, and most deeply, through designing “networked” cultural artefacts that have use value, and that matter to their makers. Leveraging sociotechnical resources outside of schools, this approach to game design supports the acquisition of meaningful computational and critical literacies – from coding literacies and procedural logic to narrative and artistic competences, inviting students to open the “black box” of algorithmic culture and critically explore how these systems and mechanics can work towards a designer’s own purposes. Learners thus move beyond consumer-level technological proficiency to experience and enact creative producer-like dispositions. This approach to digital making involve learners in self-directed, interdisciplinary modes of situated inquiry, where actors collaboratively research, deconstruct models, and co-construct new knowledge and art as they create, “do things” with, and share digital games - interactive visual novels and critical empathy games, roleplaying simulations and non-linear multimodal narrative adventures. Here, we identify limitations in constructionist game making research and advance production pedagogy as a critical alternative to increasingly instrumentalized forms of 21st century “skills” learning. Addressing the pressing crisis of student disengagement today, we argue that production pedagogy can enable learners to reengage with and drive their own learning, both within and beyond formal educational spaces.

In this paper, we discuss the need for new approaches to research regarding coding to support students in developing practices in computational thinking, such as abstraction and decomposition, in multidisciplinary contexts. We explore... more

In this paper, we discuss the need for new approaches to research regarding coding to support students in developing practices in computational thinking, such as abstraction and decomposition, in multidisciplinary contexts. We explore students’ activities with a tool integrating constructionist textual programming activity with game-based learning and specifically game modding. In this context, we designed a programmable ‘design-to-play’ game developed with the computational environment MaLT2. MaLT2 offers the affordances of textual programming, dynamic manipulation, and 3D navigation for the design of 3D animated models aiming to give children access to, otherwise, complex, computational and mathematical ideas. To develop an understanding of children's learning activity regarding computational practices, we organised an empirical study with middle-school students, who played a game called ‘Code-the-Mime’. It is a charades-based game in which the players manipulate, programme, and modify a digital human model to describe a word to their teammates. The preliminary findings indicate that the affordances of MaLT2 in conjunction with the game context enabled students to express and develop key computational practices, including decomposition, pattern recognition, analysis and abstraction, in a meaningful and multidisciplinary context.

【背景】: 早前出席過幾塲老師講批判教育學的講座。佢地的實踐好精彩,好係堅的批判教學,亦好有教學成效。但老師們不約而同提出: 題目不是學生揀,學習經歷也不是學生決定,這仍未做到批判教學的真諦。... more

This paper explores the issue whether feminism needs a metaphysical grounding, and if so, what form that might take to effectively take account of and support the socio-political demands of feminism; addressing these demands I further... more

This paper explores the issue whether feminism needs a metaphysical grounding, and if so, what form that might take to effectively take account of and support the socio-political demands of feminism; addressing these demands I further propose will also contribute to the resolution of other social concerns. Social constructionism is regularly invoked by feminists and other political activists who argue that social injustices are justified and sustained through hidden structures which oppress some while privileging others. Some feminists (Haslanger and Sveinsdóttir, 2011) argue that the constructs appealed to in social constructionism are real but not metaphysically fundamental because they are contingent. And this is exactly the crux of the problem-is it possible to sustain an engaged feminist socio-political critique for which contingency is central (ie. that things could be otherwise) and at the same time retain some kind of metaphysical grounding. Without metaphysical grounding it has been argued, the feminist project may be rendered nonsubstantive (Sider 2011; 2017). There has been much debate around this issue and Sider (as an exemplar of the points under contention) nuances the claims expressed in his earlier writings (2011) and later presents a more qualified account (2017). Nonetheless, I propose the arguments and critiques offered by the various parties continue to depend on certain erroneous assumptions and frameworks that are challengeable. I argue that fundamentality as presented in many of these current accounts, which are underpinned by the explicit or implicit ontologies of monism and dualism and argued for in purely rationalist terms which conceive of subjects as primarily reason-responding agents, reveal basic irresolvable problems. I propose that addressing these concerns will be possible through an enactivist account which, following phenomenology, advances an ontology of interdependence and reconceives the subject as first and foremost an organism immersed in a meaningful world as opposed to a primarily reason-responding agent. Enactivism is thus, I will argue, able to legitimize feminist socio-political critiques by offering a non-reductive grounding in which not only are contingency and fundamentality reconciled, but in which fundamentality is in fact defined by radical contingency. My paper proceeds in dialogue with feminists generally addressing this 'metaphysical turn' in feminism and specifically with Sally Haslanger and Mari Mikkola.

This entry explores computer-based learning (CBL) designs that are informed by the learning theory of constructionism. First, it discusses different definitions and types of CBL and explores the pedagogical approaches that underpin CBL... more

This entry explores computer-based learning
(CBL) designs that are informed by the learning
theory of constructionism. First, it discusses
different definitions and types of CBL and
explores the pedagogical approaches that underpin
CBL designs through a brief history of CBL
in education. Next, it elaborates on the role of
the constructionist paradigm in CBL and presents
different CBL designs that are based on constructionism.
Then it focuses especially on the use of
constructionist CBL approaches for supporting
students to cultivate their computational thinking.
The final part discusses the educational challenges
and the near future of constructionist CBL.

In the context of a design-based research effort to develop a technology-enabled constructivist algebra unit, a new activity architecture emerged that steps students through discovery levels. As they build a virtual model of a problem... more

In the context of a design-based research effort to develop a technology-enabled constructivist algebra unit, a new activity architecture emerged that steps students through discovery levels. As they build a virtual model of a problem situation, students figure out technical principles for assuring the model’s fidelity to the situation. These construction heuristics, we find, are precisely the conceptual foundations of algebra, such as tinkering with the model to assure that the variable quantity is of consistent size throughout the model. We articulated these principles as situated intermediary learning objectives (SILOs). At each interaction level, the student discovers a SILO, and then the technology takes over by automatizing that SILO, thus freeing the student for further discovery. We call this architecture reverse scaffolding, because the cultural mediator thus relieves learners from performing what they know to do, not from what they do not know to do. In a quasi-experimental evaluation study (Grades 4 & 9; n=40), reverse-scaffolding students outperformed direct-scaffolding students, for whom the technical features were pre-automatized. We speculate on the architecture’s generalizability.