Abstract
Research questions are shaped, explicitly or implicitly, by the theories we bring to bear upon our scholarship. Broadening our theoretical perspectives allows us to frame richer, deeper questions about the teaching and learning happening in our classrooms. This paper explicates the research implications of three broad theories of learning (constructivist, socio-cultural, and complexivist), exploring what scholarship framed by each theory might look like and some of the strengths and limitations of each framework. The authors use their experience engaging in research on teaching and learning in an undergraduate interdisciplinary science program to illustrate the argument that changing theories can help improve the scholarship and practice of teaching and learning in higher education.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Gerhard, Gillian Dr. and Mayer-Smith, Jolie
(2008)
"Casting a Wider Net: Deepening Scholarship by Changing Theories,"
International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning:
Vol. 2:
No.
1, Article 20.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2008.020120
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