Wikipedia as a platform for impactful learning: A new course model in higher education

In January 2014, 62 students graduated from the first for-credit course dedicated to Wikipedia. Learning focused on improved consumption of information, and collaborative construction of knowledge using the Wikipedia platform. This paper investigates the design and implementation of this course model, while highlighting the benefits and challenges to students & faculty. In addition to 128 medical articles in Hebrew Wikipedia, already viewed over 1.4 million times, students reported a unique learning experience that sharpened their collaborative skills as well as academic skills. This paper also presents the findings of a related study that focused on students’ learning experience, long-term impact and productive teaching practices. The study results helped fine-tune the pedagogical and administrative aspects of the course, influencing both teaching practices and the learning experience. Finally, the course is discussed in a wider educational perspective, presenting insights regarding reuse of the model, scaling possibilities and suggestions for further research.     

Self- and Social Regulation in Learning Contexts: An Integrative Perspective

This article outlines the rationale for an integrative perspective of self- and social regulation in learning contexts. The role of regulatory mechanisms in self- and social regulation models is examined, leading to the view that in real time collaborative learning, individuals and social entities should be conceptualized as self-regulating and coregulated systems at the same time. Living systems theory provides support for the claim that although all forms of regulation have an adaptive function, the distinct, regulatory processes occurring at different systemic levels (e.g. individual, social) are concurrent and interdependent. Challenges for future research from an integrative perspective are discussed.     

Using research to promote equity within education systems: Possibilities and barriers

This article provides an evaluative account of its authors’ involvement in three major national improvement initiatives. Set in the context of three of the countries that make up the UK, these developments were focused in particular on the promotion of educational equity. Unusually, the analysis provided compares evidence collected from an insider perspective with data generated through independent evaluations. In so doing, it considers how research and researchers can contribute to system change by using research evidence to influence policy-makers and practitioners at all levels of the system. The article argues that this requires the coming together of different perspectives in a process of social learning and knowledge creation within particular settings. This means that researchers have to overcome a number of barriers related to social, cultural and political factors. They therefore have to develop skills in creating collaborative partnerships that span boundaries between actors who have different types of professional experience. It is argued that researchers also need to mobilise support in dealing with the pressures that this involves. The article concludes with the presentation of a strategic framework that can be used to think about how school systems can be helped to make better use of research knowledge.     

情绪交互对在线协作学习者知识建构的影响

情绪交互可以在一定程度上决定在线学习者协作知识建构的成效。为了探究情绪交互的网络结构特征及其对在线学习者协作知识建构的影响程度,研究综合采用社会网络分析法和内容分析法,从整体网络视角分析在线协作讨论中情绪交互的网络结构特征,并依据Gunawardena提出的知识建构模型对在线学习者协作知识建构水平进行了分析。研究发现,情绪交互的连通性较低、密度整体不高、中心势偏高,而且在线学习者的协作知识建构总体水平也不高,主要集中于知识分享和知识分析层次。其次,情绪交互密度和中心势不仅与知识协商和知识修改之间存在显著相关关系,而且在一定程度上可以预测在线协作知识建构水平。鉴于此,文章从情绪交互视角提出了提升在线学习者协作知识建构水平的策略。     

Research on Motivation in Collaborative Learning: Moving Beyond the Cognitive–Situative Divide and Combining Individual and Social Processes

In this article we propose that in order to advance our understanding of motivation in collaborative learning we should move beyond the cognitive–situative epistemological divide and combine individual and social processes. Our claim is that although recent research has recognized the importance of social aspects in emerging and sustained motivation in collaborative learning activities, the social is mainly conceived as a unidirectional source of influence on individual motivation. In the article we examine the significance of motivation in research on collaborative learning. We discuss two characterizations of the role of the social in conceptualizations of motivation, namely, social influence and social construction, and outline our case for moving beyond the cognitive–situative divide and combining individual and social processes in research on motivation. Finally, we present illustrations from recent research on motivation in collaborative learning that has attempted to bridge the cognitive–situative divide across theoretical perspectives or using different methods.     

Social Construction of Computer Experience in a First-Grade Classroom: Social Processes and Mediating Artifacts

Based on a Vygotskian perspective, as well as a broader socio-cultural perspective, we propose a transactional model of social processes and artifacts to investigate young children's social construction of their computer experience. An ethnographic study was conducted in a first-grade classroom at a public school located in a Midwest town. A grounded-theory approach was used to analyze video, field notes, interviews, and artifacts. The results indicate that young children constantly negotiate between their own individual and collective goals in the classroom and the affordances of the environment, as they create their own definition of computer use while simultaneously conforming to the rules set by the teacher. The artifacts students use—the computer, a timer, and waiting lists—both enable and challenge children's social negotiation. In this negotiation process, children socially construct not only their computer experience, but also their early school experience on a whole. The transactional model provides a useful theoretical framework to study children's social practice as well as practical suggestions for teachers to optimize students' collaborative interaction.     

Use of repertory grids in facilitating knowledge construction and reconstruction in geology

This article describes a case study of the social construction of knowledge when undergraduate students are engaged in collaborative analysis of repertory grids produced by themselves and their instructor. The research is based on the elicitation of students' private understanding and instructors' public knowledge with the use of the repertory grid. This technique is derived from Kelly's personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1955), a constructivist theory that emphasizes the idiosyncratic nature of meaning. The teaching experience that follows was conducted adopting the educational paradigm of self-organized learning, in which the principles of constructivism, conceptual change, personal construct psychology, public knowledge and private understanding, and social learning are integrated to some extent. Results indicate that the repertory grid technique is (a) an approach that motivates students to be responsible for their own learning; (b) one means to get students to communicate their understanding and make this understanding open for inspection and scrutiny; (c) a way to negotiate the meanings of the concepts under study; (d) a tool to match students' understanding with their instructor's knowledge; and (e) a way for students to structure their knowledge. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Perspectives on learning to teach science: insights and dilemmas from a collaborative practicum project

In this article we discuss the theoretical and practical rationale for establishing a collaborative science practicum project and report on the findings of the first two years. The project was designed to strengthen the communication links among the school‐based educators, the pre‐service teachers, and the university‐based educators, in order to address the seemingly intractable problems associated with initiating new science teachers into the varied social practices of the teaching profession. Our findings are organized and discussed in the form of three dilemmas (Cuban 1992). These dilemmas are associated with the difficulties the pre‐service teachers had in connecting the propositional knowledge presented in the university setting with the procedural knowledge required in the school setting, and the lack of familiarity by the university and school‐based educators of each other's practice setting. We describe results that resonate with similar issues reported in other collaborative projects, and propose an alternative approach for preparing science teachers. This approach is based on conceptualizing learning to teach as a cognitive apprenticeship (Hennessy 1993) which prepares pre‐service teachers to enter the ‘community of practice’ called teaching. We argue that the success of such an approach requires the development of a collaborative community in which all participants engage in meaningful and supportive discourse concerning what, when and how science is taught in the classroom.     

CSCL环境中的社会交互

现在有很多关于计算机支持下协作学习(CSCL)异步环境中分布式学习团体(DLGs)的实证研究。研究表明当前的CSCL环境并不能完全满足人们对其支持交互的团体学习、知识共享、知识的社会建构及能力的培养的需要。在CSCL环境中,主要有两个因素阻碍我们取得预期的社会交互的成果:一是将社会交互看作是自然而然发生的,二是忽视与学习任务本身无关的社会心理交互。当前解决这个问题的办法主要是依靠教育者和教师鼓励协作学习,为了让教师从这样的负担中解脱出来,我们必须改进CSCL环境,激发和支持学习者的社会交互。     

Measuring perceived social presence in distributed learning groups

Social presence—the degree to which ‘the other’ in a communication appears to be a ‘real’ person—has captured the attention of those dealing with learning in groups through computer-supported collaborative learning environments. The concept is important because it affects participation and social interaction, both necessary for effective collaboration and knowledge construction. This article reports on the construction and validation of a self-reporting (Dutch-language) Social Presence Scale to determine perceived social presence in distributed learning groups using computer-supported collaborative learning environments. The result is a one-dimensional scale consisting of five items with an internal consistency of .81. We used a nomological network of similar constructs for further validation. The findings suggest that the Social Presence Scale has potential to be useful as a measure for social presence.     

Collaborative Mentorship: A Mentoring Approach to Support and Sustain Teachers for Equity and Diversity

In this article, I propose collaborative mentorship (CM) as a mentoring approach to support and sustain teachers in diversity and equity education. CM is theorized as a mentoring relationship grounded in critical dialog between mentor and mentee. Drawing on research conducted in a culturally, racially, linguistically, and socially diverse secondary school in Southern Ontario, Canada, this article examines tensions teachers experience with equity and diversity and the knowledge base necessary for such a mentoring approach. As the schools become more diverse, it is vital that teachers seek out new approaches that respond to the changing social contexts. The findings of my research have implications for teacher professional development and teacher training in discovering new ways to support in diverse classrooms.     

协作学习交互分析方法之反思

当今教育理念已经从关注个体知识建构转向关注群体知识建构。协作学习作为一种群体建构的方式,已经成为各级各类教育特别是高等教育的一种主要学习方式。交互是协作学习的基本活动单元,也是理解协作学习本质的关键。交互分析是探究协作学习规律、把握协作学习过程变化的核心,也是诊断学习者对教学目标掌握程度的依据。交互分析研究的重心已经从交互的各种影响因素转移到小组交互过程的研究。但目前关于交互过程的研究主要集中在宏观的交互模式、成员关系、交互行为特征等方面,还存在对交互过程的分析粒度过粗、视交互为静态的过程、以及缺乏客观、有效的分析方法和工具等问题。目前已有的9种协作学习交互分析方法大多从言语行为的视角对交互过程进行分析,在划分分析单元、确定客观且可重用的编码体系,以及保证分析方法的信效度方面面临诸多挑战。基于信息流的协作学习交互分析方法着眼于整体,注重过程,并用新的效标即信息流所映射的目标知识网络图的总激活量来预测交互效果,信效度较高,可能成为一种有前景的交互分析方法。     

协作治理的内涵、动因及模式分析

为了解决公共管理中各种问题而产生的协作治理理论,倡导各个部门和人员之间纵向和横向的协作。从启动条件、制度设计、领导能力和协作程序分析协作成功的关键。我国在社会发展中,中央和地方必须重视各方面协作的作用,注重协作中领导者及其能力的建构,完善协作规则,注重信任增量建设。     

Investigating children's musical interactions within the activities systems of group composing and arranging: An application of Engeström's Activity Theory

This article applies Engeström's Activity Theory (AT) as an analytical lens to identify defining characteristics of the collaborative creative music making activities of composing and arranging. Attention is paid to the complex interrelationships among the various elements of interaction in children's collaborative creative music making as evidenced in group composing (where the activity features generation and revision of new musical material) and arranging (where the activity features creative use of existing musical material) are differentiated tasks. These include, for example, tool use in response to different tasks, the rules that govern peer collaboration, and the division of labour experienced among key players in the co-construction of decisions. Exemplary cases are sampled from data sets drawn from two separate sites one of which features a group composing task with fifth graders in a USA urban school and the other a group arranging task with eighth graders in a UK urban school. This micro-analysis is less concerned with the differences of collaborative interaction in varying cultural settings than with exploring the micro-analysis of social and language processes that characterise these differentiated creative tasks and the related activity systems. The activity system, or systems of social relations, is the unit of analysis applied across comparison-group cases using ethnographic observation, and discourse and event analysis. Analysis of the data indicates that composing and arranging involve differentiated activity systems. Important defining characteristics of the collaborative interactions, as outcomes of the children's approach to the task activities, are identified. Conclusions indicate that the application of an activity theory research perspective can provide a useful framework to make sense of the interrelated elements that characterise interaction in peer collaboration.     

Collaborative Counseling: A Conceptual Framework and Approach for Counselors of Adults in Life Transitions

The emerging field of adult counseling generally refers to the applications of adult development and life transitions literature in counseling. To date, numerous definitions that apply a particular theoretical perspective to clients within an established counseling approach have characterized practice. In contrast, collaborative counseling is a term that defines an inclusive theoretical framework and distinct counseling approach. The phenomenology of counselors is defined in terms of three perspectives: (a) developmental—for conceptualizing adult experience and counseling; (b) collaborative—for characterizing counselor-client roles, interactions, and processes; and (c) idiographic—for conceptualizing applicability of theory and interventions to individuals. From these perspectives a specialized practice is derived that emphasizes transitional status assessment, adult processes, counseling outcomes in meaning and behavior, as well as multiple contexts and modalities for delivery of service. The implications for curriculum and training provide the basis for defining a specialization in adult counseling.     

Social Construction of Computer Experience in a First-Grade Classroom: Social Processes and Mediating Artifacts

Based on a Vygotskian perspective, as well as a broader socio-cultural perspective, we propose a transactional model of social processes and artifacts to investigate young children's social construction of their computer experience. An ethnographic study was conducted in a first-grade classroom at a public school located in a Midwest town. A grounded-theory approach was used to analyze video, field notes, interviews, and artifacts. The results indicate that young children constantly negotiate between their own individual and collective goals in the classroom and the affordances of the environment, as they create their own definition of computer use while simultaneously conforming to the rules set by the teacher. The artifacts students use—the computer, a timer, and waiting lists—both enable and challenge children's social negotiation. In this negotiation process, children socially construct not only their computer experience, but also their early school experience on a whole. The transactional model provides a useful theoretical framework to study children's social practice as well as practical suggestions for teachers to optimize students' collaborative interaction.     

Learning and Collective Knowledge Construction With Social Media: A Process-Oriented Perspective

Social media are increasingly being used for educational purposes. The first part of this article briefly reviews literature that reports on educational applications of social media tools. The second part discusses theories that may provide a basis for analyzing the processes that are relevant for individual learning and collective knowledge construction. We argue that a systems-theoretical constructivist approach is appropriate to examine the processes of educational social media use, namely, self-organization, the internalization of information, the externalization of knowledge, and the interplay of externalization and internalization providing the basis of a co-evolution of cognitive and social systems. In the third part we present research findings that illustrate and support this systems-theoretical framework. Concluding, we discuss the implications for educational design and for future research on learning and collective knowledge construction with social media.     

经验认知冲突探究法——一种翻转课堂模式下的深度协作知识建构学习策略探索

协作知识建构是实现知识创新的重要途径,然而,在场无建构、建构无深度和深度难持续的现象是翻转课堂面临的主要挑战,原因在于学习者的经验知识匮乏、概念建构乏力和持续动力不足。为此,研究基于经验之塔理论和认知冲突理论提出了经验认知冲突探究法,它包括经验生成系统、个体认知冲突系统、集体认知冲突系统和知识建构系统。采用基于设计的研究方法,通过三轮迭代实验逐步改进了评价权重、问题设计和学习支架,最终形成了一种翻转课堂模式下的深度协作知识建构策略。研究结果表明,经验认知冲突探究法消解了以微视频为主的经验学习模式的局限性,提供了多元化经验生成方式,建立了以问题嵌入驱动个体、小组和集体认知冲突的基本方法,开发的学习支架能够促进学习者进行深度协作知识建构的连续统发展。     

Making Multimedia in the Classroom: A Teachers' Guide

Interactive relationships in online learning communities can influence the process and quality of knowledge building. The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the relationships between network structures and social knowledge building in an asynchronous writing environment through discussion forums in a learning management system. The quality of the knowledge construction process is evaluated through content analysis, and the network structures are analyzed using a social network analysis of the response relations among participants during online discussions. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze relations between network structures and knowledge construction. Working on data extracted from a 6-week distance-learning experiment, we analyzed how 10 groups developed collaborative learning social networks when participants worked together on case resolution. The results show a positive correlation between cohesion and centralization, and the positive influence of the cohesion index and the centralization index on social presence and cognitive presence in knowledge building. However, this must be understood within the context of social networks in which messages sent to all group members occupy the center. This underlines the need for reinforcing participations that are directed to the group as a whole, and the importance of the fact the network contains both central and intermediate members. By contrast, we propose that the combination of analysis techniques used is a good option for this type of study while recognizing that it is necessary to continue validating the instruments in terms of their own theoretical suppositions.