This course focuses on research on the learning of mathematics and science in the K-12 schooling environment. It serves to introduce students to seminal learning theories that have guided and shaped mathematics & science education over the past thirty years (e.g., constructivist, cognitive, situative/sociocultural and critical perspectives). Core ideas within each of these theoretical perspectives will be explored such as knowledge construction and conceptual change, argumentation and reasoning, classroom discourse processes, participation and identity, and access and power. Pragmatic implications of these different theoretical perspectives will also be examined. For example, questions such as the following are considered: What is the purpose of a theory of learning (e.g., for research, for practice)? What constitutes learning within each perspective? What are the implications of a particular theoretical perspective for organizing and analyzing learning environments? What are the implications for differences among learners are perceived?
