Volume 5, Issue 1

April 2017
Welcome to AERA 2017 in
San Antonio, TX!
Dear Constructivist SIG We continue to make interna-
members, tional connections with con-
structivist oriented organizations
AERA 2017 is this week! and scholars. The business
The Constructivist SIG meeting will provide time to dis-
leadership has been busy
THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY,

cuss the state of our SIG as well

preparing an engaging as hear from our membership
and informative program about their research. We will
RESEARCH & PRACTICE SIG

to help celebrate AERA also discuss upcoming leader-

2017 in San Antonio. ship and professional opportuni-
ties. This is a growing SIG, and
In this edition of our Con- we encourage you and your
structivist SIG newsletter
scheduled on Saturday, April colleagues to be a part of it!
you will find information
29, from 6:30-8:00pm in Hen-
about SIG related events Safe travels and see you in San
ry B. Gonzalez Convention
during the AERA confer-
Center, Meeting Room Level, Antonio, TX!
ence. We encourage you
Room 213 A. Sincerely,
to join us for the Con-
structivist SIG paper ses- Violeta Vainer, Chair
We will have a wine and
sions as well as
Newsletter

cheese reception during the Erik Byker, Co-Chair

our business meeting! Susan Donohue, Program Chair
business meeting.
The business meeting is Vicki Thomas, Treasurer

Constructivist SIG Sessions at AERA 2017

Paper Session 1: Focus on Preservice and Classroom Practices

Date and Location: Sat, April 29, 8:15 to 9:45am, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Cen-
ter, Meeting Room Level, Room 216B

Chairs: Barbara M. Butler and Jannah Walters Nerren

Discussants: Dengting Boyanton, Tracey Hasburn, Vicki Thomas

Constructionism and Authorship LearningJonan Phillip Donaldson, Drexel University and
Mary Bucy, Western Oregon University

Constructivism as a Framework for Literacy Teacher Education Courses: Case Studies of Five
Literacy Teacher EducatorsClare Kosnik, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the
University of Toronto; Pooja Dharmashi, Simon Fraser University; Lydia Menna, Universi-
ty of Alberta; Cathy Marie Miyata, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the Univer-
sity of Toronto

Influence of Teacher-Directed Scientific Inquiry on Students' Primal Inquiries in Two Sci-

ence Classrooms Brian A. Stone, Northern Arizona University

Continued on Page 2

Visit our Constructivist SIG website for the latest news and job postings: http://constructsig.wikispaces.com/
Constructivist SIG Sessions at AERA 2017Continued

Paper Session 2: Focus on Teacher Development and Efficacy

Date and Location: Sat, April 29, 2:45 to 4:15pm, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room
216A

Chairs: Kate Rollert French

Discussants: Yu-Hui Chang, Sheila R. Vaidya

Constructing What it Means to Teach: Applications of the Inquiry Processing Model with First Year Students Erik Jon
Byker, Heather Coffey, Christopher P. O Brien, Amy J. Good, Tina Lane Heafner, Susan Harden, S. Michael Putman,
Bruce Taylor, & Larry Fisher all from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Teachers Implementing a System Inquiry Learning Initiative: A Constructivist Perspective Clive M. Owens, Ontario Insti-
tute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto; Clare Kosnik, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the
University of Toronto; Monica Eileen McGlynn-Stewart, George Brown College; Tiffany MacKay, Peel District School
Board; Belinda Monique Longe, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto; Julie Middleton,
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto

Constructivist SIG Business Meeting: Saturday, April 29, 2017 ~ 6:30pm-8:00pm in the Henry B. Gonzalez Con-
vention Center, Meeting Room Level, Room 213A

Membership Highlights
Congratulations to Kathy
Schuh (Associate Profes- comments from reviewers). Thank you to all of you
sor at University of Iowa) whove been at our Constructivist SIG sessions and meet-
for the publication of her ings over the past years; I think it reflects the kinds of
new book, Making Mean- things that our SIG informally supports.
ing by Making Connec-
tions 2017 published by
Springer Congratulations to Violeta Vainer, our SIG Chair, on the
recent publication of her article, Creative Evaluation: A
Even though Kathy is not Proposal Within a Constructivist Framework. The article
able to join us in San Anto- is being used as a reference for teacher training. Violeta
nio this year. She sends is currently working on creativity and thinking processes
along this greeting: Over in science, arts and everyday activities. In August, she will
the past years I have pre- be presenting her work in Finland at the EARLI Conferen-
sented for the Constructiv- ce. She also working on a book, which will be published
ist SIG sessions at AERA my findings from various by a German publishing company. Violeta also has ma-
studies about how upper elementary students linked nuscripts in progress based on her educational leadership
what they are learning with what they already and practitioner work at Escuela de Jacaranda. The ma-
knew. The SIG has provided a useful community to nuscripts include examining the basis of rules for living in
share my ideas and gain useful feedback about a a democratic society and the latest trends in conceptual
small piece of the complex process of how learners change and learning. She is applying the constructivist
construct their knowledge. My book is finally pub- framework to work with human rights issues, like recent
lished! (Making Meaning by Making Connections history in Argentina.
2017 published by Springer). In the book Ive tried to
blend theory and practicethere are many excepts of Congratulations to Erik Jon Byker, our SIG Co-Chair, on
the classroom cases and also a fair amount of theo- being awarded a Global Teacher Education Fellowship by
retical foundation (more than I had planned, thanks to the Global Teacher Education Initiative .

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