I think that a very important aspect of the poor success of these students has to do with the way they filled in their learning gaps.  As a teacher, I would expose my students to the meaning of metacognition.  I think making students aware of how they currently think is the best way to correct any poor habits they may have acquired.  In the case at hand, you can see that both students try to construct their own meaning for the material they are learning.  Like most students they fill in their mental gaps with ideas that seem right to them based on something they heard somewhere down the line.  Secondly, in order to increase their understanding of what they read I would model a reading strategy.  I believe teaching students to read for understanding would prove to be a very valuable lesson.  Although Sharon already has a good start with her current reading practices, I think she would also benefit from this lesson.  The Reciprocal Teaching Method seems to be very successful with increasing student's reading comprehension.  In following the steps of this process, students will learn how to read for a better understanding and accurately make connections and form relationships with what they learn.   I think in teaching these students I would continue to pose questions that assess their ability to transfer what they are learning to real life.  I would require them to go one step further in their learning, but while I did this, I would give them feedback on their ideas so they can accurately clear up any misunderstandings they may have.  I think that frequently doing activities to assess where students are at is a good idea too.  These activities can act as good checks for the teacher to know how fast they can push through the material while still maintaining students' understanding. 

This student focuses on the importance of: 1) trying to enhance Sharon's and Andrew's awareness of their own understanding, 2) getting the youngsters to make connections and relationships while they read, and 3) feedback and assessment to clarify misunderstandings and help the teacher gauge student progress.

The answer could have been stronger by developing these elements further, but this is a good effort by a student who has just learned the constructivist perspective. Moreover, there is nothing in this answer that is prepackaged; the student has treated the case as a unique problem and has thought it through rather than rely on generic solutions.

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