A thinking-focused classroom is one which is constructivist in orientation and which places importance on social interactions in the attainment of “taken-as-shared” meanings. While there can never be a prescriptive set of strategies or a set format for such classrooms, there are broad features which generally typify thinking-focused pedagogy. In a thinking-focused mathematics classroom, there is usually a constant focus on sense-making and conceptual understanding, and mathematical thinking is encouraged and valued.

In the process of reviewing a course in classroom assessment offered as part of a programme leading to a Diploma in Teaching, the need to reconcile a constructivist-behaviourist tension that was embedded in the course became evident. The tension resulted from the course designers’ effort to replace a course in classroom testing and measurement that was more behaviouristic with one that emphasized a constructivist approach to assessment.

Educators venture into the next millennium guided by a paradigm shift of changing student needs. As a consequence, literacy practitioners need to be creative in their instructional approaches, altering conventional teaching methods and embracing new innovations within the classroom. Designing multimedia classrooms developed within a theoretical framework of sociocultural constructivism is one answer.