In this article we argue that student learning is enhanced by "theoretical eclecticism," which we define as intentionally drawing on different theories of learning when making instructional decisions to provide students with the instructional support they need to be successful. We briefly review the literature on four views of learning and on learner-centered approaches to instruction and then integrate this literature with Barr and Tagg's (1995) distinction between the instruction paradigm and the learning paradigm. Finally, we present examples from a teacher education course to illustrate how theoretical eclecticism can be used to support student learning.KEY WORDS: constructivism; social constructivism; learning.Most college instructors use a variety of techniques to engage students in meaningful learning. This "bag of tricks" has often been developed through trial and error in the classroom with little awareness of the underlying theories of learning that support the techniques. In this article, we argue that student learning is better served by "theoretical eclecticism" than by the bag of tricks approach or by strict adherence to any one theoretical approach. We define theoretical eclecticism as intentionally drawing on different theories of learning when making instructional decisions, with the goal of providing students with the instructional support they need to be successful. Theoretical eclecticism, then, implies an awareness of when and why different instructional approaches might be used based on the underlying theories of learning.
In this study, data in the form of (preservice teacher) student voices taken from mathematical autobiographies, written at the beginning of the semester, and end-ofsemester reflections, were analyzed in order to examine why preservice elementary school teachers were highly motivated in a social constructivist mathematics course in which the teacher emphasized mastery goals. The findings suggest that students entered the course with a wide variety of feelings about mathematics and their own mathematical ability. At the end of the semester, students wrote about aspects of the course that "led to their growth as a mathematical thinker and as a mathematics teacher. . ." Student responses were coded within themes that emerged from the data: Struggle; Construction of meaning [mathematical language; mathematical understanding]; Grouping [working in groups]; Change [self-efficacy; math self-concept]; and the Teacher's Role. These themes are described using student voices and within a motivation goal theory framework. The role of struggle, in relation to motivation, is discussed.
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