The fundamental idea underlying this study was that there is a fundamental contradiction between, on the one hand, a view of translation as a hermeneutic process and, on the other hand, a view of teaching and learning as a knowledge transfer. The focus of this project included: investigating the role of a constructivist versus an objectivist epistemology on the design and implementation of instruction; discovering trends in classroom interaction in teacher-centered and collaborative classes; and identifying difficulties that can emerge in collaborative learning environments as well as developing ways to overcome them. The assumptions upon which the study was based are rooted in a social constructivist epistemology. From this perspective, human beings have no access to objective truth, and thus individuals have no choice but to create or construct meanings and knowledge through participation in an interpersonal, inter-subjective interaction.