COGNITIVE SCHEMA THEORY IN THE CONSTRUCTIVIST DEBATE

Cognitive constructivism is not a unique theoretical framework, pedago gical approach, or epistemology, but a general, metaphorical assumptio n about the nature of cognition that virtually all cognitive education al researchers accept. Despite this unifying assumption, there are man y different cognitive constructivist research programs and theories wi thin the community at large. This article contrasts cognitive construc tivism with several other forms of constructivism in the educational r esearch community. It then attempts to represent the range of theoreti cal approaches within cognitive constructivism, pointing to examples a nd potential educational applications of cognitive constructivist idea s. Cognitive schema theory receives special attention as an important theoretical perspective that has been relatively neglected in recent t heoretical discussions. It is believed to have significant potential f or building conceptual bridges between information processing and radi cal constructivist viewpoints.