Chapter 10: Epistemology and Educational Research: The Influence of Recent Approaches to Knowledge

ser described "rapid advances in the social, behavioral, and cognitive sciences" (p. 5) that were yielding a new understanding of mental function. He spoke of new methodologies in use for studies of teaching and pedagogical processes and then made the point that "the research necessary for the improvement of education is like that we recognize as most useful for the normal course of science—generat-ing know-how that provides the understanding that can lead to invention and innovation " (p. 6). Following Glaser, John Carroll reviewed what he believed to be the great achievements in educational research (in the work of such scholars as Thorndike, Skinner, Terman, Gates, Tyler, and Coleman). In doing so, he pointed to the ways in which they provided the foundations of educational theory (p. 10). Harold Howe, interested in the understanding of particular educational situations, nonetheless agreed that the best educational research shares the charac-teristics of the best scientific research (pp. 21-26). Lauren Resnick stressed the challenge posed to researchers by the unprecedented diversity of children in American classrooms and called for new methods based on recent scientific