Environmental Education Research

Abstract

As online courses become increasingly popular, course designers are searching for
 ways to create learning experiences that move beyond content acquisition to incorporate
 meaningful interactions among learners and between learners and instructors
 (cf. Alexander, Schallert, and Reynolds 2009; Illeris 2007; Sfard 1998). Interactive
 theories of learning would support such experiences, including theories focusing on
 how students construct knowledge through processes of assimilation and accommodation
 (Piaget 1952) and how participants move from an inexperienced to skilled
 member of a community of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991; Rogoff et al. 2003;
 Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder 2002). Related theories focus on the social, cultural,
 and historical contexts of learning (Lemke 2001), and on the importance of
 reciprocal interactions among learners’ behaviors, capabilities, and surrounding
 environment (Bandura 1977).