Models as Relational Categories

Model-based learning (MBL) has an established position within science education. It has been found to enhance conceptual understanding and provide a way for engaging students in authentic scientific activity. Despite ample research, few studies have examined the cognitive processes regarding learning scientific concepts within MBL. On the other hand, recent research within cognitive science has examined the learning of so-called relational categories. Relational categories are categories whose membership is determined on the basis of the common relational structure. In this theoretical paper, I argue that viewing models as relational categories provides a well-motivated cognitive basis for MBL. I discuss the different roles of models and modeling within MBL (using ready-made models, constructive modeling, and generative modeling) and discern the related cognitive aspects brought forward by the reinterpretation of models as relational categories. I will argue that relational knowledge is vital in learning novel models and in the transfer of learning. Moreover, relational knowledge underlies the coherent, hierarchical knowledge of experts. Lastly, I will examine how the format of external representations may affect the learning of models and the relevant relations. The nature of the learning mechanisms underlying students’ mental representations of models is an interesting open question to be examined. Furthermore, the ways in which the expert-like knowledge develops and how to best support it is in need of more research. The discussion and conceptualization of models as relational categories allows discerning students’ mental representations of models in terms of evolving relational structures in greater detail than previously done.     

Fight the power: situated learning and conscientisation in a gendered community of practice

In this paper, I employ situated learning theory to explore gendered processes of marginalisation and conscientisation in a social movement organisation. Using a student activist organisation as a case study, I explain women's awareness of and resistance to masculine performances of leadership and decision-making through the concept of gendered communities of practice and legitimate peripheral participation. I explore how gender inequality is performed in a community of practice, and how it both impedes and facilitates learning and resistance through legitimate peripheral participation. I attempt to bridge situated learning and conscientisation to better theorise the learning and resistance that occur when people are marginalised within communities of practice.     

Adapting the boundaries in primary physical education: an account of my learning,my educational influence and improved practice

In this paper I explore how I have come to theorise my work as a critical emancipatory practice as a lecturer in primary physical education (PE). I give an account of what I understand to be the epistemological foundations and practices of practitioner research and my potential educational influence in my own and other practitioner-researchers’ learning. I explain how I have generated my living educational theory of practice and discuss the changes in my learning from a propositional approach towards a dynamic epistemology of practice that is grounded in inclusional and dialogical ways of knowing. Within my paper I position myself as a professional educator and researcher, and share the exciting and transformational experiences of teaching and learning in evolving action research cycles of practice. I view my learning to date as an active act, working with the novice teachers I support to offer improvement and change in our future practice. I celebrate my reconceptualised view of education as a learner from within my practice and explain my move from knowledge transfer to knowledge co-creation. I make an original contribution to educational knowledge by explaining how I try to inspire others to research their practice and contribute to a new scholarship of educational enquiry.     

Ways of Coming to Understand: metacognitive awareness among first‐year university students

This paper presents a phenomenographic study of conceptions of how understanding comes about. In‐depth interviews with 30 first‐year university students were carried out, dealing with questions about learning, understanding and knowledge. The analysis presented here focuses on the experience of how understanding arises. The subjects came from teacher education, cultural studies and chemistry economics. Data were analysed according to phenomenographic principles. Three main categories of conceptions were found: coming to understand by (1) experiences, (2) mental construction and (3) merging with reality. The order of the categories is interpreted as a progression in ‘metacognitive awareness’. The results are compared with other phenomenographic studies of conceptions of understanding. Finally, they are related to constructivist models of learning and some philosophical views. It is suggested that such a recontextualisation of students’ conceptions can be made part of the curriculum in order to stimulate a ‘deep approach’ to study and learning.     

“Won't you give up your snack for the sake of science?” Emerging science identities in family everyday interaction

This study provides a rich account of everyday science engagement in a science family (a family rich in science habitus) and sheds light on how science–person and science–antagonist identities emerge through science engagement in such a family. Using audio recordings and field notes obtained over a year of self‐ethnography, I systematically analyze science engagement in one family, showing how science was infused in all aspects of family life. However, the children in this family diverged in patterns of science participation: one child exhibited a science person identity, expressing more positive disciplinary emotions, initiating more frequently, asking more questions, sustaining longer investigations, and generally holding the floor three times more than the other child, who exhibited a science antagonist identity. To further understand the reason why the two children thus diverged in their patterns of science participation, despite many shared conditions, I zoom in on the moment‐by‐moment interactions in the family. Using microanalysis, I explore how positioning and roles may elucidate such local variation. The analysis illustrates how repeating events of identification within everyday family interactions are a powerful mechanism that can help explain such divergences. The findings underscore the importance of parents' awareness of the myriad of ways that recognition and roles are intertwined in everyday science engagement and identity formation. They suggest considering the potential of informal science‐learning environments to lead to alienation from science. Furthermore, the study implies that although we must investigate how socio‐historical categories function to deny individuals' (and groups') access to science, we should also go beyond these categories to understand how equal access to science is denied in less apparent ways.     

Gender,identity and culture in learning physics

Student engagement in science, as defined by Iva Gurgel, Mauricio Pietrocola, and Graciella Watanabe, is of great importance because a student’s perceived compatibility with science learning is highly influenced by personal identities, or how students see themselves in relations to the world. This can greatly impact their learning experiences. In this forum, I build on the work of Gurgel, Pietrocola, and Watanabe by exploring the relationships between engagement in physics and gender, and by looking at the expansive nature of the concept of culture. I expand the conversation by investigating ways in which learning science has impacted my own identity/worldview, particularly how it affects my personal teaching and learning experiences. I focus the conversation around the relationship between gender and the experience of learning science to further the dialogue concerning identity and how it impacts engagement in science. I also look at the role of didactic transposition in the perceived disconnect with science. I reveal my experiences and analysis through a personal narrative.     

Primary school students' metacognitive beliefs about religious education

So far scholars have researched beliefs about knowledge, knowing, and learning mainly in the areas of science and mathematics and among secondary school students. In this article, we explore primary school students' metacognitive beliefs about religious education. The article reports on a study involving 656 fifth- and sixth-grade students. We investigated their metacognitive beliefs, how these beliefs interrelate, and which students agree with which beliefs. In the minds of young students 7 categories are discernible: realistic learning, the transformative power of religion, social learning, intrinsic task value motivation, learning satisfaction motivation, the teacher's empathic orientation to learning, and the teacher's respect for students' contributions. These categories and their interrelationships open up new perspectives for the construction of a metacognitive beliefs system and for an interconnected network of beliefs across domains. We also outline implications for religious education in schools.     

Relationships between macro and micro socio-cultural contexts: implications for the study of interactions in the mathematics classroom

In this paper I attempt to clarify how the relationship between macro and micro social contexts has been addressed in the Vygotskian and Neo-Piagetian approaches to learning. For each approach I look at how key scholars (Cole, 1977; Perret-Clermont, Perret and Bell, 1991) come to view context as central to their theories of cognitive development. In order to illustrate my review of the dominant strands of empirical research I refer to studies that focus on the uses, learning and understanding of mathematics. I start the paper with the socio-cultural Vygotskian approach. This is closely associated with my own research into the relationship between culture and learning. Not surprisingly, I find biases in this body of research in terms of the macro and micro features of contexts which were analysed. In an attempt to gain insights into alternative ways of conceptualising these relationships I explore work which has adopted a socio-psychological approach. In the final part of the paper I discuss how these insights can be used to broaden our basis for studying interactions in the mathematics classroom and conclude by relating my ideas to new developments in socio-cultural theory.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

UNESCO,the Faure Report,the Delors Report,and the Political Utopia of Lifelong Learning

Two education reports commissioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Learning to be, otherwise known as the Faure report (1972) and Learning: The treasure within, otherwise known as the Delors report (1996), have been associated with the establishment of lifelong learning as a global educational paradigm. In this article, which draws on archival research and interviews, I will explore how these two reports have contributed to debates on the purpose of education and learning. In the first half, I will shed light on their origins, the context in which they came about, how they have been received by the education community and by UNESCO member states and how they have been discussed in the scholarly literature. In the second half, I will discuss the key themes of the reports, in particular lifelong learning as the global educational ‘master concept’. In the last section, I will reflect on how the Faure report and the Delors report are still relevant for our debates about learning today. I will argue that the concept of lifelong learning, as put forward by these reports, was a political utopia which is at odds with today's utilitarian view of education.     

Student perceptions and use of feedback during active learning: a new model from repeated stimulated recall interviews

As active learning pedagogies continue to increase in popularity in higher education, new questions have emerged about how instructors can manage all of the associated ‘moving parts’ of active learning, including how and when to deliver feedback. Currently, little is known about how students perceive the effects of verbal feedback during in-class activities. This study examined two large sections of introductory biology held in an active learning SCALE-UP (Student-Centred Active Learning Environments with Upside-down Pedagogies) classroom. Thematic analysis of repeated stimulated recall interviews with 15 students (72 total interviews) uncovered three main categories of feedback effects that students perceived: assure, alert and add (AAA). These three categories were supported by repeated stimulated recall surveys with a larger student population (262 students). We describe each category, quantify the frequency of each category in the target course, outline the students’ perceived impact of each on examination preparation and performance, and conclude with implications regarding how understanding students’ perceptions of their feedback experience may help instructors to deliver student-centred feedback during active learning.     

Community and Learning: contradictions,dilemmas and prospects

In this article I reflect on learning and community and their joint deployment. ‘Community’ evokes images and feelings of security and comfort (‘us’ and ‘ours’), while ‘learning’ evokes a sense of progress and confidence in overcoming obstacles—a lifelong and somewhat breathless journey these days. We learn every day, but what is worthwhile learning? What types of communities are worth learning towards? Such crucial considerations can remain unexamined because these words are so beguiling—every one can agree that learning communities are worthwhile. Together these terms have provided a powerful contemporary discourse for different educational reform agendas. Recent proponents of ‘learning communi ties’ have drawn upon sociocultural theorising of learning initiated by Vygotsky and others in the early 20th century. I suggest that this recent deployment of sociocultural learning theory is opportunistic and reflects an effort to resolve certain endemic pedagogical dilemmas related to how inclusion/exclusion is negotiated, how diversity/uniformity is reconciled, and how membership of a learning community is managed over time. I suggest that our role as learning and/or community theorists is principally to critically reflect on what types of learning and communities are worth striving towards.     

Developing values in primary classrooms and the place of the humanities

ABSTRACT

In this article, I discuss how the context of children’s classroom activities and the quality of their participation and agency are key to learning around values. These pedagogical approaches lie in a socio-cultural theoretical framework which I use to show how ‘empowered’ participation in classrooms and in enquiry activities in curriculum areas is bound up with learning democratic values. Focusing on humanities subjects, I show how such values-based democratic pedagogical approaches in these areas of the curriculum (along with others) can be transformative, promoting values education, personal agency and social change.     

Lecturers learning to teach: the role of agency

ABSTRACT

Lecturers may be exposed to the same Academic Development Programme but their course of action at personal and professional level vary. In this paper, I analyze the lecturers’ contribution in shaping their learning to teach. I interviewed twenty-five lecturers in four private universities in Kenya using semi-structured interviews. The analysis showed that the onus to learn how to teach lies with the individual lecturer (agency) especially in contexts that lack a systematic approach to lecturers’ learning. Academic developers may be interested in understanding how the exercise of agency in learning how to teach leads to variations in lecturers’ actions.     

Structural exclusion through school mathematics: using Bourdieu to understand mathematics as a social practice

Research on learner errors in mathematics education is beginning to focus on how teachers can learn to identify and engage with the reasoning behind these errors. Research on professional learning communities is beginning to show that they present powerful opportunities for on-going teacher collaboration and learning. In this paper, I bring the two areas of research together. Drawing on data from one professional learning community in the Data Informed Practice Improvement Project, I show how teachers in this community came to understand key concepts about learner errors and shifted their ways of talking about learner errors. I identify three important shifts that the teachers made in their learning about learner errors: from identifying to interpreting errors; from interpreting to engaging errors; and from focusing on learner errors to focusing on their own knowledge. I argue that these three shifts suggest a deepening of teachers’ thinking in relation to learner errors.     

Walking a thin line? Connecting ethical theory and practice: a co-operative inquiry with human resource management practitioners

Is it possible to manage human ‘resources’ in an ethical way? What does ‘being ethical’ mean as related to the human resources function? In my paper – which also reflects upon my own experiences of two co-operative inquiry projects done with human resource management (HRM) practitioners – I wish to argue that action research could be an exciting and novel way of exploring the meaning and practice of ethical HRM and also an appropriate tool with which to facilitate and develop individual and group ethical action learning: a learning process based on real action, collective real-case solutions and reflection. After introducing practical details pertaining to the two projects (in group ‘A’, I worked with members of the HRM department of a bank as co-researchers; for group ‘B’, I invited along HRM professionals from different companies), I need to stress some ‘learning points’. First, I would like to demonstrate how co-researchers explored their own definition of ethics, learned about the ethical diversity of their group and how they probed and re-shaped theories held via action and reflection. Second, I wish to show how collective ‘solutions’ of co-researchers’ own real-time and ethically dilemma-holding cases acted as a bridge between theory and practice – and then see how the process of case resolution developed by the group become an important individual- and group-level learning point.     

The Semiotics of Education: A new vision in an old landscape

In this article, I attempt to describe how certain theoretical constructions of semiotics could be applied in educational theoretical work. First I introduce meaning as a basic concept of semiotics, thus also touching on concepts such as action, competence and causality. I am then able to define learning as a change of competences, and also refer to the pedagogical concept of learning i.e. Bildung, which can be roughly defined as valuable human learning. I then take up the problem of education as pedagogical direction and communication. Finally, I conclude with some considerations on the famous Greimassian semiotic square.     

Why Ideology Matters for Learning: A Case of Ideological Convergence in an Engineering Ethics Classroom Discussion on Drone Warfare

The relationship between ideology and learning remains insufficiently theorized and sparsely investigated in the learning sciences. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s theorization of ideology, Judith Butler’s notion of the (un)grievability of lives, and Sara Ahmed’s construct of stickiness, we illustrate how insights from critical social theory are indispensable to understanding processes of learning and how perspectives from the learning sciences can enrich critical social theory. Through the analysis of a classroom discussion on the use of militarized drones in an undergraduate engineering ethics course, we show how ideological convergence among participants constructed locally significant categories of “civilian,” “terrorist,” and (un)grievability, which narrowed the possible trajectories for students’ disciplinary learning in engineering and engineering ethics. Our analysis also shows that fleeting moments of ideological expansion offered opportunities for new learning; however, most of these instances of possibility were not sustained through the classroom discussion. We explicate how ideological convergences and expansions, as interactional achievements, profoundly matter for disciplinary learning and students’ identities. In conclusion, we explore the implications of our findings for broader contexts of learning and for the field of the learning sciences.     

语言学习策略及其在大学英语教学中的应用

根据语言学习策略相关的著作阐述了语言学习策略背景、定义、及其分类,也探讨了语言学习策略在大学英语教学中的重要性及其具体如何使用。     

活动理论视域下远程学习目标结构之建构冰

当前远程学习的课程设计普遍存在目标设计缺失的现象,这可能源于人们对远程学习目标“是何”及“如何”运作的认识不够,从而导致学习者面临学习失败的风险。探讨远程学习目标“是何”是研究“如何”的先决条件。远程学习目标结构研究,旨在探讨远程学习目标的类别及其关系。活动理论是一种重在把活动系统作为分析单位的分析模式,迄今为止经历了“中介说”、“层次说”、“要素说”三代发展历程,为人们重新认识远程学习的目标结构提供了新的视角。它提示人们可以从活动层中的“过程”与“结果”维度去认识远程学习的目标结构,并从行动层中提取描述远程学习过程目标的5个要素：主体、客体、工具、行为、时间,建构出远程学习“过程一结果”目标结构的分析框架。远程学习目标结构可以帮助学习者在学习之初对远程学习结果及实现结果的过程做出规划,为之后的目标实施及评价提供保障,规避学习失败的风险。