Welcome to the Summer 2011 issue of JPACTe, the Journal for the Practical Application of Constructivist Theory in Education! We are pleased to present this issue of our electronic journal to the educational community. We believe that the journal fills an important niche in educational scholarship – a place to explore the ways that Constructivist Theory is being applied in schools and colleges throughout the world.

This e-journal is one of the vehicles that the Learner Centered Resource Collaborative (LCRC) has developed to accomplish its mission. It is our fundamental belief that research continually supports constructivism as an important and successful theory of learning in the field of education, and that our e-journal can help to further applied research and scholarship in this growing field. We also believe that all stakeholders in education can make important contributions to the expanding knowledge-base about constructivist practices. As a consequence, our e-journal is divided into two sections – Research and Theory and Voices from the Field. Both sections are blind-reviewed. Research and Theory features scholarly publications reviewed under standards suitable for traditional research journals. Voices from the Field features contributions in formats not usually included in research journals – descriptions of successful classroom practices, programs, projects, student work, and the like. We include Voices from the Field out of our fundamental conviction that scholarship in education is furthered by collaboration among researchers and practitioners – literally the scholarship of application, as first outlined by the late Ernest Boyer in Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities for the Professoriate (1991). Finally, we firmly believe that constructivist practice embraces diversity in all of its forms and that constructivist educational practice must promote diversity in order to be truly effective. We expect all published submissions to underscore and evidence this important relationship.

This issue of JPACTe features four important contributions to our understanding of how constructivist theory can be applied to instructional practices on the college level. One of the articles describes the theoretical basis for applying constructivism in an educational leadership program. Another describes constructivist strategies for the uses of technology that can apply both at the K-12 level and the post-secondary level. The other two describe very interesting college-level applications of constructivist practices in teacher education.

We encourage a wide range of submissions to upcoming issues of JPACTe. The deadline for submissions to the next available issue (Spring 2012) is January 1, 2012. Just click on Submissions to learn more. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy and learn from this issue of the Journal for the Practical Application of Constructivist Theory in Education!

The JPACTe Co-Editors
R. Michael Smith, Niagara University
James C. Shuman, St. Lawrence University