Volume 3, Issue 1

February 2015

A Letter From Our SIG Chair

It is almost that time! Hopefully your spring semester is underway you
and you are planning and looking forward to the Annual AERA
meeting in April. The SIG leadership has been busily preparing an
interesting and informative program for you all once we arrive in windy
Chicago. In this edition of the newsletter you will find important dates to
remember as you make your travel plans. I want to encourage you to join
us for our paper sessions as well as our business meeting, which will
feature three interesting presentations. Tawnya Lubbes, our newsletter
editor and professor at Eastern Oregon University, will be giving an
overview of her new book chapter entled From Do as We Say to Do as
We [Digitally] Do: Modeling the Implementation of the Common Core, from The Next Digital
Scholar. Also, Dr. Jacqueline Grennon Brooks, Professor at Hofstra University, will be
presenting her work from her recent book titled Big Science for Growing Minds: Constructivist
Classroom Thinkers. And finally, we will be presenting the award for the outstanding paper
submission to the SIG and hearing a brief overview of the work behind the paper. Additionally,
you will hear about the activity of the SIG, as well as upcoming leadership and involvement
opportunities. This is a growing SIG, and we encourage you and your colleagues to be a part.
The time is right for you to get involved!

Newsletter

THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY,

RESEARCH & PRACTICE SIG

Dear Constructivist Theory, Research, and Practice SIG members,

We look forward to seeing you at the SIG business meeting, which is tentatively scheduled
for Saturday, April 18, from 6:30pm to 8:00 pm in the Swissotel, Event Centre Second Level,
Montreux 3. We will have a wine and cheese reception as part of the business meeting. Please
consider joining us, getting to know the group a bit better, and perhaps discovering a new idea or
opportunity through our discussion.
We hope you enjoy this edition of the newsletter and that you find the information you need to
provide you with an idea of the SIG happenings at the conference, and we will see you in
Chicago!
Jannah Nerren, Ph.D.

Award for Best Original Submission

Each year our awards committee reviews proposal submissions and nominates
one conference proposal to receive the award for best original submission.
This year our awardees are from the University of Turku in Finland. On
behalf of the Constructivist SIG at the American Educational Research
Association, congratulations go out to Mikko Tiilikainen, Juuso Karjalainen,
and Jukka Husu from University of Turku on being awarded the Constructivist
SIG's Best Original Submission Award for your paper, "Primary School
Teachers' Instructional Practices Related to Constructivist Approach to Teaching." We would
like to recognize their achievement at our Annual Constructivist SIG Business Meeting during
AERA 2015 in Chicago. Please save the date. An invitation to the event with more details will
be available as the conference approaches. Much thanks to following members of our
Constructivist SIG Awards Committee for their reviews: Shampa Biswas, Laura Hsu, Ashwini
Tiwari, Violeta Vainer, and Tingting Xu.

2015 AERA ANNUAL MEETING

Registration is Now Open
www.area.net

Program Chair Report

AERA 2015 in Chicago is just a couple of months away! The Constructivist Theory, Research, and Practice SIG would like to
extend a very big thank you to those who reviewed proposals for the 2015 AERA Conference. Our SIG received 14 proposal
submissions; 42 reviews were completed; 9 paper submissions were accepted and 5 were rejected. Our SIGs sense of timeliness
and organization has been positively noted to us by AERA this would not be possible without our great membership! A hearty
thanks goes out to our 8 reviewers: Erik Byker, Susan Donohue, Deirdre Greer, Patrick Jenlink, Jeffrey Kaplan, Suzanne Porath,
Kathy Schuh, and Michelle Williams.

SIG Sessions (dates and times to be determined, please check the program)
SESSION ONE: CONSTRUCTIVIST RESEARCH AND
TEACHING TRENDS
Chair Ashwini Tiwari

Discussant - Tingting Xu

1) Effectiveness of a Constructivist-based Science Camp for Gifted Secondary

Students
Hope Elisabeth Wilson and Brian P. Zoellner,
University of North Florida
2) **BEST ORIGINAL SUBMISSION**
Primary School Teachers' Instructional Practices Related to Constructivist
Approach to Teaching
Mikko Tiilikainen, Juuso Karjalainen, and Jukka Husu,
University of Turku
3) Social Constructivism: Developing Pre-Service Teachers Praxis Through Peer
Groups
Carolyn Stufft and Robin D Johnson, Stephen F. Austin State University
4) Using Constructivist Practices to Teach Mathematics through Problem Solving
Deirdre C. Greer, Columbus State University
5) Elementary School Computer Use in the Piney Woods: Social Construction of
Technology in East Texas
Erik Jon Byker, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

SESSION TWO: PREPARING EDUCATORS FOR

CONSTRUCTIVST LEARNING ENVIORNMENTS
Chair Sheila Rae Goodwin

Discussant Jeffrey Kaplan

1) Promoting Progressive Approaches in Teacher Education: Advocating

Constructive and Critical Pedagogy Models
Donna Wake, University of Central Arkansas
2) Implementing More Constructivist Teaching and Learning Practices in
Contemporary Classrooms via Focused Teacher Reflections
Walter S. Polka, Niagara University, William M. Young, Oglala Lakota
College, Monica J. VanHusen, Stafford County Public Schools , Kurt
Minervino, City Honors High School, Terrell M Peace, Huntington
University, Cathy J. Pearman, Missouri State University, Jennifer
Young, Jackson State University, Shirley A. Lefever-Davis, Wichita
State University, Nancy P. Gallavan, University of Central Arkansas
3) Collaboration and Connections: Investigating the Use of Observation
Protocols to Connect Research to Classroom Practice in an Educator Preparation
Program
Jannah Walters Nerren and Tracey Covington Hasbun,
Stephen F. Austin State University
4) The COI System: A Model and Rubric for Emergent Curricula Planning
Practices
Jane Tingle Broderick, East Tennessee State University

Reminders
Please invite your colleagues to consider upcoming SIG leadership roles
The deadline for uploading full papers to the AERA website is March 26th
Dont forget to join us for our annual business meeting in Chicago, more information will be forthcoming

Looking for a Job?

We have added a new section to our SIG Wiki constructsig.wikispaces.com and we will be listing job announcements and other
pertinent information. If you have an announcement you would like to add, please contact our webmaster at ebyker@gmail.com
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T H E C O N S T R U CT I V I S T T H E O R Y , R E S E A R C H & PR A CT I C E S I G