Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students

The emergence and evolution of constructivism since the early 1980’s has provided education and educational research with a new paradigm. The acceptance of this viewpoint has allowed educators greater scope as the criterion of epistemological and ontological truth / reality has been replaced by the...

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Main Author: Ward, Graeme Keith
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Curtin University 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2082
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author Ward, Graeme Keith
author_facet Ward, Graeme Keith
author_sort Ward, Graeme Keith
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The emergence and evolution of constructivism since the early 1980’s has provided education and educational research with a new paradigm. The acceptance of this viewpoint has allowed educators greater scope as the criterion of epistemological and ontological truth / reality has been replaced by the more pragmatic approach of (practical) viability. This approach has, in turn, freed teachers to offer learning experiences which are useful and relate to previous experience and understanding of students rather than presenting rigorous and epistemologically correct information dissemination experiences.One area that has embraced constructivist principles in an effort to provide more relevant and cosmologically pertinent learning experiences has been the profession and learning of engineering.This thesis examines how engineering teachers can provide relevant learning experiences that recognize and connect with student past learning experiences and which meet the needs of modern learners, such as engineers, and in doing so develop these learners as problem solvers, communicators and team players who are aware of the wider implications and issues pertinent to the 21st century.In addition to looking at the problems faced and at how this researcher believes some of the issues can be resolved at the classroom and faculty level it also maps out the emergent transformative journey of this teacher-researcher that has emerged in the doing of this research, as I progress from what has been termed teacher mastery in the technical domain of human interest to what I perceive as the emancipatory.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-20822017-02-20T06:39:26Z Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students Ward, Graeme Keith mathematics learning environment past learning experiences constructivist principles EFL engineering students The emergence and evolution of constructivism since the early 1980’s has provided education and educational research with a new paradigm. The acceptance of this viewpoint has allowed educators greater scope as the criterion of epistemological and ontological truth / reality has been replaced by the more pragmatic approach of (practical) viability. This approach has, in turn, freed teachers to offer learning experiences which are useful and relate to previous experience and understanding of students rather than presenting rigorous and epistemologically correct information dissemination experiences.One area that has embraced constructivist principles in an effort to provide more relevant and cosmologically pertinent learning experiences has been the profession and learning of engineering.This thesis examines how engineering teachers can provide relevant learning experiences that recognize and connect with student past learning experiences and which meet the needs of modern learners, such as engineers, and in doing so develop these learners as problem solvers, communicators and team players who are aware of the wider implications and issues pertinent to the 21st century.In addition to looking at the problems faced and at how this researcher believes some of the issues can be resolved at the classroom and faculty level it also maps out the emergent transformative journey of this teacher-researcher that has emerged in the doing of this research, as I progress from what has been termed teacher mastery in the technical domain of human interest to what I perceive as the emancipatory. 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2082 en Curtin University fulltext
spellingShingle mathematics learning environment
past learning experiences
constructivist principles
EFL engineering students
Ward, Graeme Keith
Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students
title Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students
title_full Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students
title_fullStr Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students
title_full_unstemmed Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students
title_short Constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for EFL engineering students
title_sort constructing a culturally empowering mathematics learning environment for efl engineering students
topic mathematics learning environment
past learning experiences
constructivist principles
EFL engineering students
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2082