Inquiry-Based Training Model and the Design of E-Learning Environments

Cognitive developmental theories attempt to explain cognitive activities that contribute to stu-dents ’ intellectual development and their capacity to learn and solve problems. Cognitive devel-opmental research has had a great impact on the constructivism movement in education and edu-cational technology. In order to appreciate how cognitive developmental theories have contrib-uted to the design, process and development of constructive e-learning environments, The author will first present Piaget’s cognitive theory and derive an inquiry-training model from it that will support a constructivist approach to teaching and learning. Second, an example developed by the author and his graduate students will be presented that uses the Web as an appropriate instruc-tional delivery medium to apply Piaget’s cognitive theory to create e-learning environments. The result is a collection of simple, uniform, and effective inquiry-training math web sites for elemen-tary and middle school students. The information presented can be applied to other subject areas as well