Peer collaboration and discourse patterns in learning from incompatible information

This study investigated the effects of peer collaboration anddiscourse patterns on conceptual change in the context of high-schoolstudents learning from incompatible scientific information. The domainof investigation was biological evolution. Participants included 108students from Grades 9 and 12 randomly assigned to four conditions: (1)peer-conflict; (2) individual-conflict; (3) peer-assimilationand (4) individual-assimilation. Students were asked to think aloud ordiscuss with their peers eight statements consisting of scientificinformation ordered in ways that either maximized or minimized conflict.Several measures of prior knowledge and conceptual change were obtained.Peer collaboration resulted in some mixed findings suggesting that peereffects may vary depending on collaborative interactions. In-depthanalyses of collaborative interactions indicated two discourse patterns:surface moves included rating, ignoring, rejecting, and patching toeliminate differences; problem-centred moves involved problemrecognition, formulation of questions, and construction of explanations.Comparisons between successful and unsuccessful learners showedsignificant differences in their proportional use of surface andproblem-centred moves. External conflict did not lead to deeperdiscourse and more conceptual change; students may need toexperience meaningful conflict. These findings suggest why peercollaboration only works sometimes and indicate the importance ofhelping students to engage in productive discourse.     

Computer support for knowledge communication in science exhibitions: Novel perspectives from research on collaborative learning

In this article, the potentials of advanced technologies for learning in science exhibitions are outlined. For this purpose, we conceptualize science exhibitions as dynamic information space for knowledge building which includes three pathways of knowledge communication. This article centers on the second pathway, that is, knowledge communication among visitors. We argue that advanced technologies have specific potentials to support all forms of visitor-to-visitor knowledge communication and, furthermore, allow for new forms of knowledge communication among unacquainted visitors and beyond the actual museum visit. We discuss mechanisms of collaborative learning with regard to their relevance for visitor-to-visitor knowledge communication and present prototypical advanced media applications in science exhibitions that address these mechanisms. This article both contributes to our understanding of collaborative learning in science exhibitions and the support advanced technologies can provide for visitor-to-visitor knowledge communication in science exhibitions.     

Action learning and the creative industries: the efficacy of an action learning set in building collaboration between a university and creative industries

In the UK, the creative sector has been identified as a key strand in the economic recovery strategy. Composed of mostly micro and small enterprises often grouping together for particular commissions and projects, there is a tendency to operate primarily through a series of networks made up of peers. This paper presents the outcomes of a ‘peer-to-peer business programme’, or action learning set, involving 10 participants from the creative sector over a period of 6 months. The programme was based on a ‘Six-Squared’ model where participants would address their own needs alongside participating in, and developing further understanding of, action learning sets in order to establish sets with others. Assessment of outcomes indicated that the programme allowed participants to develop new skills with peers, network and strengthen relationships and collaborate in a university programme. The paper concludes by suggesting that, within the context of a growing and vibrant creative industries sector and increasing pressures on universities to engage with the business community, it is essential to develop flexible, peer-led and innovative models of collaboration.     

Contributions from citizen science to science education: an examination of a biodiversity citizen science project with schools in Central Europe

ABSTRACT

Despite the rising popularity of Citizen Science (CS) projects, there is little empirical evidence for effects on learning outcomes, particularly when young people are involved. It is also often not clear how CS projects are linked to science education (SE) research. The aim of this study was to examine biodiversity CS projects in an outdoor school class context and to measure the effects on individual learning outcomes (ILOs) with a perspective for SE. Five learning outcomes considered important for CS were tested: interest, self-efficacy/mastery, motivation, behaviour and attitude. These ILOs were measured via eight different scales and tested in an evaluation study of a large CS project with 428 students aged 8–18. Students recorded hedgehogs, wild bee activity, birds and butterflies in gardens. Results showed that students’ interest and motivation, as well as perceived mastery increased during the project. Most remarkably, positive attitudes towards wild animals, natural gardens and biodiversity rose significantly. For most ILOs there were significant differences between age groups: Primary school students showed the highest ILOs and also provided most database entries. The authors describe how well biodiversity CS projects contribute to SE aims and how discrepancies between educational and scientific aims in CS projects may be addressed.     

不同民族和年级的学生协作开展设计性实验的探讨

针对新疆少数民族学生的实际情况加强实践环节的教学,将不同年级不同民族的学生组织在一起共同完成了生理学的设计性实验。在此基础上,探讨了对不同年级和不同民族的学生开设综合性和设计性实验的体会:正确认识综合性和设计性实验;注意实验的可行性;编写翔实的实验教学大纲;合理搭配民、汉语言学生和高、低年级学生;注重对学生协作能力的培养等。这种方式既提高学生对专业知识的理解,也锻炼了他们取长补短、团结协作的能力。     

论在计算机教学中如何促进道德素质教育

针对计算机使用中出现的道德问题，在计算机教学中应引导学生提高警惕，加强网络安全意识，正确对待网络，合理取舍网络信息，培养网络“环保意识”，进而提高学生的道德素质。     

Cross-boundary collaboration and knowledge creation in an online higher education course

This study investigated an international, inter-university and multidisciplinary online course with the aim of helping higher education students develop competencies for solving complex problems in collaboration with their peers and stakeholders. The course design was informed by the knowledge creation framework and ideas about cross-boundary collaboration. We attempted to enrich perspectives on knowledge creation by investigating how higher education students (N = 42) from different fields of study and from 17 different nationalities perceived, built and regulated cross-boundary collaboration in the pursuit of real-life problems presented by companies or non-governmental organisations. Drawing on data from 11 in-depth group interviews and team reports of students who had completed this course, we showed the kinds of activities the students considered relevant for cross-boundary collaboration and knowledge creation online. Given this extended context for knowledge creation, the study contributes to the pedagogical development of online learning in higher education.     

What counts as knowledge: learning to use categories in computer environments

In this article, I develop a perspective on learning as multilayered phenomena. I take a socio-genetic approach in order to understand human activity and to show how categories are a fundamental part of learning in a specific type of institutional practice. In the empirical section, student dialogue is analysed in relation to a set of categories taken from scientific discourse. The analysis illustrates how categories in the progressive inquiry model could guide students towards a more systematic orientation to problem solving.     

An Experiment in Multinational Collaborative Learning and Group Work Using the Internet

In this paper we describe a pedagogic experiment, intended to support and encourage interactive group discussion among students from different universities, in different countries, in what we call Internet Seminars. In an Internet Seminar students and teachers cooperate via the Internet to research and discuss a common subject. In the case discussed here, the chosen subject, 'Teleworking' was selected as one which would have particular resonance with the medium of the seminar, and also as being a topic which is not, as yet, part of the mainstream teaching curriculum. The aims of the seminar, however, were not only or even primarily concerned with the subject material. We also hoped to encourage and help the students develop the transferable skills of project planning, research, team-working and communication, with the added stimulus of working in a multinational context. We describe the form of the seminar, report on its outcomes, and comment on the successes and failures of our approach. © 1999 IFIP, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Enhanced student learning in accounting utilising web-based technology,peer-review feedback and reflective practices: a learning community approach to assessment

Higher education is becoming a major driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy. Maintaining the competitive edge has seen an increase in public accountability of higher education institutions through the mechanism of ranking universities based on the quality of their teaching and learning outcomes. As a result, assessment processes are under scrutiny, creating tensions between standardisation and measurability and the development of creative and reflective learners. These tensions are further highlighted in the context of large undergraduate subjects, learner diversity and time-poor academics and students. Research suggests that high level and complex learning is best developed when assessment, combined with effective feedback practices, involves students as partners in these processes. This article reports on a four-phase, cross-institution and cross-discipline project designed to embed peer-review processes as part of the assessment in two large, under-graduate accounting classes. Using a social constructivist view of learning, which emphasises the role of both teacher and learner in the development of complex cognitive understandings, we undertook an iterative process of peer review. Successive phases built upon students’ feedback and achievements and input from language/learning and curriculum experts to improve the teaching and learning outcomes.     

It takes a village: supporting inquiry- and equity-oriented computer science pedagogy through a professional learning community

This article describes the importance that high school computer science teachers place on a teachers’ professional learning community designed around an inquiry- and equity-oriented approach for broadening participation in computing. Using grounded theory to analyze four years of teacher surveys and interviews from the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, this article describes how participating in professional development activities purposefully aimed at fostering a teachers’ professional learning community helps ECS teachers make the transition to an inquiry-based classroom culture and break professional isolation. This professional learning community also provides experiences that challenge prevalent deficit notions and stereotypes about which students can or cannot excel in computer science.     

Facilitating deep-strategy behaviors and positive learning performances in science inquiry activities with a 3D experiential gaming approach

ABSTRACT

Facilitating students’ deep-strategy behaviors and positive learning performances of science inquiry is an important and challenging educational issue. In this study, a contextual science inquiry approach is proposed for developing a 3D experiential game to cope with this problem. To evaluate the impacts of the game on students’ science learning approaches, learning achievements and problem-solving awareness as well as the learning behavioral patterns of the students with different learning achievements, a quasi-experiment was conducted in an elementary school geoscience course. The participants were two classes of sixth graders. One class was the experimental group who learned with the 3D experiential game, and the other was the control group who learned with the conventional technology-enhanced learning approach. The experimental results showed that the students learning with the 3D experiential gaming system showed better learning achievements, problem-solving tendency, deep learning strategies, and deep learning motive than those who learned with the conventional technology-enhanced learning approach. Moreover, the higher-achievement students showed more behavioral patterns of deep learning strategies than the lower-achievement students. The findings of this study provide a good reference for helping lower-achievement students improve their learning performance.     

Peer Review in Education: Promoting Collaboration, Written Expression, Critical Thinking, and Professional Responsibility

This article discusses the application of the peer review process as a pedagogical instrument for the promotion of written expression, collaborative work, critical thinking, and professional responsibility among Informatics and Engineering majors. The approach is introduced with a motivation, followed by a discussion about common principles of current learning paradigms and the peer review process. This work is being conducted in Brazil, where we intend to promote a learning paradigm shift through the application of peer review in education. A framework for this application is outlined, together with an account of results from experiences and a discussion about the skills that this approach exercises, especially with regard to widely accepted curricula and codes of ethics and professional conduct. Further research and development efforts are conjectured.     

Interaction and cognition in asynchronous computer conferencing

This paper is based on a multiple-case study of the learning process in three asynchronous computer conferences. The conferences were part of the distance learning component in doctoral degree courses in computing technology in education offered at an American university. The conferences were analyzed from a number of perspectives, the emphasis in this paper being on the dimensions of interaction and cognition. Although similar interaction patterns were identified in the three conferences, each conference also showed distinctive patterns, which were related to factors such as instructor moderation, structuring of the instructional task and the emergence of student moderation of the discussion in specific threads. Three models were used to evaluate cognition: Bloom's Taxonomy (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, Handbook 1, Cognitive Domain, Longman, London, 1956), the SOLO Taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy, Academic Press, New York, 1982) and the Practical Inquiry Model of Cognitive Presence (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, The American Journal of Distance Education 15(1)7, 2001). Correspondences were found among the three models and all three conferences were characterized by higher-order thinking. When higher-order thinking was defined in terms of the distributed cognition occurring during practical inquiry, the advanced phases of cognition were found to be related to synergistic interaction in the conference threads. The findings serve to define the knowledge-building processes occurring in asynchronous computer conferencing. They also lend support to views of learning as dialogical and to social constructivist approaches to learning and teaching.     

Fostering online social construction of science knowledge with primary pre-service teachers working in virtual teams

As many primary pre-service teachers enter teacher education courses with little science background, it is essential in teacher education courses to provide opportunities for them to learn more science independently. The purpose of this study is to investigate an online pedagogical activity that fosters the social construction of science knowledge by primary pre-service teachers working in small virtual teams. The study investigated how the pre-service teachers collaborated online in virtual teams to complete set tasks, their attitudes toward and beliefs about the effectiveness of the online learning experience, and the types and quality of the resources developed. The findings indicated that the virtual team-produced science resource materials were generally of high quality, with nearly half the number of teams engaging with Web 2.0 technologies (e.g. wikis and blogs) to construct their product. The findings indicated positive attitudes toward the collaborative learning even though beliefs about online learning were mixed.     

The Gateway Science Workshop Program: Enhancing Student Performance and Retention in the Sciences Through Peer-Facilitated Discussion

Minority student attrition and underachievement is a long-standing and widespread concern in higher education. It is especially acute in introductory science courses which are prerequisites for students planning to pursue science-related careers. Poor performance in these courses often results in attrition of minorities from the science fields. This is a particular concern at selective universities where minority students enter with excellent academic credentials but receive lower average grades and have lower retention rates than majority students with similar credentials. This paper reports the first year results of a large scale peer-facilitated workshop program designed to increase performance and retention in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics at a selective research university. After adjusting for grade point average or SAT-Math score, workshop participants earned higher final grades than nonparticipants in Biology and Chemistry, but not in Physics. Similar effects on retention were found. While, positive effects of the program were observed in both majority and minority students, effect sizes were generally largest for minority students. Because of practical constraints in Physics, implementation of the program was not optimal, possibly accounting for the differential success of the program across disciplines.     

Relationship between affect and achievement in science and mathematics in Malaysia and Singapore

Background : The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses the quality of the teaching and learning of science and mathematics among Grades 4 and 8 students across participating countries.

Purpose : This study explored the relationship between positive affect towards science and mathematics and achievement in science and mathematics among Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students.

Sample : In total, 4466 Malaysia students and 4599 Singaporean students from Grade 8 who participated in TIMSS 2007 were involved in this study.

Design and method : Students’ achievement scores on eight items in the survey instrument that were reported in TIMSS 2007 were used as the dependent variable in the analysis. Students’ scores on four items in the TIMSS 2007 survey instrument pertaining to students’ affect towards science and mathematics together with students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education were used as the independent variables.

Results : Positive affect towards science and mathematics indicated statistically significant predictive effects on achievement in the two subjects for both Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students. There were statistically significant predictive effects on mathematics achievement for the students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education for both Malaysian and Singaporean students, with R ² = 0.18 and 0.21, respectively. However, only parental education showed statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement for both countries. For Singapore, language spoken at home also demonstrated statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement, whereas gender did not. For Malaysia, neither gender nor language spoken at home had statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement.

Conclusions : It is important for educators to consider implementing self-concept enhancement intervention programmes by incorporating ‘affect’ components of academic self-concept in order to develop students’ talents and promote academic excellence in science and mathematics.     

Gender and stereotypes in motivation to study computer programming for careers in multimedia

A multimedia university programme with relatively equal numbers of male and female students in elective programming subjects provided a rare opportunity to investigate female motivation to study and pursue computer programming in a career. The MSLQ was used to survey 85 participants. In common with research into deterrence of females from STEM domains, females displayed significantly lower self-efficacy and expectancy for success. In contrast to research into deterrence of females from STEM domains, both genders placed similar high values on computer programming and shared high extrinsic and intrinsic goal orientation. The authors propose that the stereotype associated with a creative multimedia career could attract female participation in computer programming whereas the stereotype associated with computer science could be a deterrent.