Scaffolding students' knowledge integration: prompts for reflection in KIE

Encouraging students to be autonomous is an important goal of the scaffolded knowledge integration framework. Knowledge integration requires students to expand their repertoire of ideas but unless those ideas are reflected upon, they cannot be linked to and reconciled with current ideas. Students are capable of doing this kind of reflection but, many need scaffolding. Scaffolding here in the form of reflection prompts can help students be autonomous integrators of their knowledge. This research investigated learning and design questions. It determined whether reflection prompts promote knowledge integration for students working on science projects and investigated the effects of students' different dispositions on their reflection. It explored which characteristics of prompts best support students in knowledge integration. The learning results indicate that prompting students to reflect significantly increases knowledge integration in science projects. Yet similar prompts elicit qualitatively diverse responses from students. Students who focus on their ideas perform significantly better on the end product than do other students who focus on their actions or activities. Furthermore, students who indicate that they understand everything perform significantly worse on the final project than do other students. The design results show that self-monitoring prompts, which encourage planning for and reflection on activities, help students to demonstrate an integrated understanding of the relevant science; while activity prompts, which guide the inquiry process, are less successful in prompting knowledge integration.     

Software‐Realized Scaffolding to Facilitate Programming for Science Learning

Abstract

Programming is an activity through which students can learn about other domains, but the difficulty of programming diminishes its usefulness as a learning activity. One approach to facilitate the use of programming for learning is to view programming as a skill like those taught through apprenticeships, and to use the apprenticeship concept of scaffolding to facilitate doing and learning through programming. Scaffolding means providing modifiable support (through fading) that communicates process, coaches, and elicits articulation. Software‐realized scaffolding embeds scaffolding in a computer‐based environment. Emile implements software‐realized scaffolding to facilitate student learning of physics by facilitating students building computer‐based models and simulations. In this article, I present Emile's features as examples of software‐realized scaffolding, and I present the results of an evaluation of Emile's effectiveness. Students were able to use Emile to create fairly sophisticated programs and gained a qualitative understanding of kinematics in the process.     

Designing technology to support reflection

Technology can play a powerful role in supporting student reflection. Sociocognitive theories provide a conceptual framework that we use to consider systems that afford reflective thinking. Reflective thinking involves actively monitoring, evaluating, and modifying one's thinking and comparing it to both expert models and peers. This requires a combination of both individual and collaborative reflection. These theoretical frameworks suggest four ways that technology can provide powerful scaffolding for reflection: (a) process displays, (b) process prompts, (c) process models, and (d) a forum for reflective social discourse. Each approach is presented with specific examples illustrating its design features. We argue that a systems approach that combines these different scaffolding techniques may be even more powerful. Modern technologies can provide students with rich resources for reflection and help students develop adaptive learning expertise through reflective practice. We conclude with a discussion of design issues that should be considered in the future.The preparation of this article was supported by a Vanderbilt University Research Council grant and a Spencer Fellowship to the first author. The ideas expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the granting agencies. We thank John Bransford, Allan Collins, Ben Loh and Susan Williams for their insightful suggestions on drafts of this article. We also thank Eliot Soloway, Shari Jackson Metcalf and the highly interactive computing group at the University of Michigan for their permission to use the graphics of the Model-It program. Finally, we thank the reviewers for their comments and suggestions.     

小学语文阅读教学“支架”式难点突破法例谈

“支架”是一种比喻的说法。在语文教学过程中,要根据不同的文本,不同的学情,搭建不同的“支架”,如对比分析法、背景限定法、图示破冰法、示范引领法等,只要是有助于突破难点的方法,都可以看作学生学习的“支架”。几种“支架”交织在一起综合运用,可以取得更好的教学效果。     

Scaffolding peer-assessment skills: Risk of interference with learning domain-specific skills?

Giving students complex learning tasks combined with peer-assessment tasks can impose a high cognitive load. Scaffolding has proven to reduce cognitive load during learning and improve accuracy on domain-specific tasks. This study investigated whether scaffolding has a similar, positive effect on the learning of peer-assessment tasks. We hypothesised that: (1) domain-specific scaffolding improves domain-specific accuracy and reduces time on task and perceived mental effort, and (2) peer-assessment scaffolding improves peer-assessment accuracy and reduces time on task and perceived mental effort. Additionally, we explored whether there was an interaction between domain-specific and peer-assessment scaffolding. In a 2x2 experiment with the factors domain-specific scaffolding (present, absent) and peer-assessment scaffolding (present, absent), 236 secondary school students assessed the performance of fictitious peers in an electronic learning environment. We found that domain-specific accuracy indeed improved with domain-specific scaffolding, confirming our first hypothesis. Our tests of the second hypothesis, however, revealed surprising results: peer-assessment scaffolding significantly increased accuracy and mental effort during learning, it had no effect on peer-assessment accuracy at the test and led to reduced domain-specific accuracy, even when combined with domain-specific scaffolding. These results suggest that scaffolding students' peer assessment before they have mastered the task at hand can have disturbing effects on students’ ability to learn from the task.     

Examining the effects of combining self-explanation principles with an educational game on learning science concepts

Educational researchers have indicated that although computer games have the potential to promote students’ motivation and engagement, the work on how to design effective games that fulfil educational purposes is still in its infancy. This study aimed to examine how integration of self-explanation into a computer game affected primary schoolers’ acquisition of light and shadow concepts. The participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group and played a computer game with or without self-explanation prompts individually as a treatment. Students’ conceptual understanding was evaluated through a pretest and a posttest administered right after the treatment. The results revealed that by controlling the pretest scores, students who played the game with self-explanation features did not outperform those who played the game without any prompts in the posttest. Further analyses of the experimental group students’ responses to the self-explanation prompts also indicated that the students with more correct responses to the prompts did not perform better than those with lower accuracy rates. The deficits in the use of self-explanation prompts are identified, and possible improvements to enhance the function of self-explanation in educational games are proposed.     

Using structured examples and prompting reflective questions to correct misconceptions about thermodynamic concepts

This paper explores the effectiveness of using ‘structured examples in concert with prompting reflective questions’ to address misconceptions held by mechanical engineering students about thermodynamic principles by employing pre-test and post-test design, a structured questionnaire, lecture room observation, and participants’ interviews. Students’ misconceptions were identified through pre-tests that evaluated students’ understanding of the chosen concepts, while conceptual change was assessed in pre-test–post-test design that revealed students’ ability to apply the concepts and transfer skills from a worked example to satisfactorily undertake a fairly complex similar problem. The use of worked examples in concert with prompting reflective questions is effective for inducing correct conceptual change and effective problem-solving skills. However, it is recommended that engineering tutors should incorporate inquiry-based learning approach and computer simulations alongside the use of worked examples with prompting reflective questions in order to enhance students’ conceptual understanding of thermodynamic concepts.     

Engaging junior college students in computer‐mediated lessons using scaffolding strategies

This paper discusses the findings of a collective case study of two junior colleges in Singapore. It aims to identify and describe the scaffolding strategies used by teachers to engage students in computer‐mediated lessons. For students to engage in the learning process, they need to be equipped with the learning strategies and see the relevance of the concepts and principles presented. By employing methods such as observations, focus group discussions with students and face‐to‐face interviews with teachers, an account of how scaffolding strategies are used in computer‐mediated lessons is generated. The account identifies and describes four categories of scaffolding strategies: orienting activities, peer interactions, prompts and modelling.     

支架式教学方法在计算机程序设计课中的应用研究

针对非计算机专业VB实验教学,开展支架式教学有着特殊的意义,它符合VB实验课的教学特点和非计算机专业学生的认知特点。支架式教学是通过提供一套恰当的概念框架来帮助学生理解特定知识,是建构知识意义的教学模式。文章论述了支架式教学模式的理论基础,以及在VB实验教学中实施的方法。     

"任务驱动"式的合作学习在"石油工程课程设计"教学中的应用

"任务驱动"式的小组合作学习过程中,学生以教师精心设计的任务为导向,以小组合作为主的学习组织形式,在教师与学生、学生与学生之间进行互动学习,在教师的指导下分析、讨论任务中隐含的新知识、新技能,通过任务的完成掌握教学内容,该方法运用在"石油工程课程设计"的教学中,取得了良好的教学效果。     

Instructional designers as reflective practitioners: developing professional identity through reflection

As the design thinking approach becomes more established in the instructional design (ID) discourse, the field will have to reconsider the professional identity of instructional designers. Rather than passively following models or processes, a professional identity rooted in design thinking calls for instructional designers to be dynamic agents of change who use reflective thinking to navigate the design space and develop solutions to ill-structured problems. Graduate programs in ID will also need to prepare students to manage the complexities they will encounter in their professional practice, including the establishment of design precedents, reflective thinking skills, and the foundations of professional identity. This research explored the use of reflective writing assignments in an introductory ID graduate course, with results indicating that most students are able to engage in meaningful reflection in relation to prompts concerning design concepts, experiences, and identity attributes, although no clear patterns of improvement emerged over time. Future directions for research include the use of feedback and the structure of prompts (including frequency of writing assignments and wording of prompts) to support improved student performance.     

支架式教学法及其在对外汉语中级口语教学中的应用

建构主义教学模式下的支架式教学法提倡“教师指导下的,以学生为中心的学习“,强调利用情境、合作、交流等环境要素为学生搭建合理的可以不断向上攀缘的支架,以形成对知识的意义建构,其理论为教师组织对外汉语中级口语课的教学活动提供了很好的指导.本文以两堂口语课的课堂教学设计为实例,探讨如何用支架式教学法组织对外汉语中级口语教学.     

巧搭“支架”，优化教学——基于对一个美国ESL课堂观察的分析与思考

“支架”在课堂教学中起着辅助学生学习的至关重要的作用。要在一个真实的课堂里搭好“支架”,仅仅遵照支架式教学理论给出的步骤是远远不够的。教师们往往会在构建“支架”的过程中遇到形形色色的问题。通过对一个美国ESL课堂的观察和分析,给教师们如何在课堂中运用支架式教学法提出建议。     

支架式教学模式在大学英语写作中的应用

支架式教学是建构主义理论指导下的一种教学模式。将支架式教学运用于大学英语写作课堂,可以让学生树立对写作的兴趣和信心,有效地提高英语写作水平。主要介绍支架式教学的内涵和在英语写作课堂教学中应用的基本环节,以及该模式对大学英语写作教学的启示。     

Using Concept Cartoons in Formative Assessment: Scaffolding students’ argumentation

The purpose of this study was to investigate how concept cartoons, together with other diagnostic and scaffolding tools, could be used in formative assessment, to stimulate talk and argumentation among students in small groups, as part of peer‐assessment and self‐assessment; and to provide diagnostic feedback about students’ misconceptions to the teacher for teaching towards conceptual change. Two classes of Primary 5 and 6 students worked in small groups to discuss the opposing viewpoints posed by the cartoon characters, using scaffolding tools to guide their discussions and to evaluate, challenge, and document each others’ ideas. Students also used drawings to depict their ideas. The conversation from one group was audio‐taped. These tools provided a record of students’ thinking in a form that was accessible to the teacher for monitoring and feedback purposes. Findings showed dialogic talk and interactive argumentation among students where they made their reasoning visible. Students’ assertions and questions had formative potential as they encouraged exploratory and reflective discourse by drawing upon each others’ ideas. The teacher’s discursive practices, as well as her role in designing scaffolding structures for supporting ‘assessment conversations’ when using concept cartoons and in devising strategies that take into account students’ conceptual and epistemic thinking, are emphasised.     

Equitable Written Assessments for English Language Learners: How Scaffolding Helps

This study investigated the effects of the use of scaffolds in written classroom assessments through the voices of both native English speakers and English language learners from two middle schools. Students responded to assessment tasks in writing, by speaking aloud using think aloud protocols, and by reflecting in a post-assessment interview. The classroom assessment tasks were designed to engage students in scientific sense making and multifaceted language use, as recommended by the Next Generation Science Standards. Data analyses showed that both groups benefitted from the use of scaffolds. The findings revealed specific ways that modifications were supportive in helping students to comprehend, visualize and organize thinking, and elicit responses. This study offers a model for both sensitizing teachers and strengthening their strategies for scaffolding assessments equitably.     

基于建构主义理论的高职英语支架式教学探讨

支架式教学是基于建构主义理论的一种教学方法,它体现了建构主义理论以学生为中心的理念,强调学生对知识的主动探索和主动建构,强调情境对意义建构的重要作用。本文以建构主义理论为基础,探讨支架式教学在高职英语教学中的运用。     

支架式韩国语口语的教学模式

“支架”理论衍生于建构主义理论,它在教与学二者之间的关系方面提出了富有创造性的见解,倡导体验参与,强调以学生为中心,注重培养学生独立解决问题的能力.文章以“支架”理论为依据,搭建探讨如何通过这一支架构筑支架式韩国语口语教学模式.     

计算机硬件综合实验开发平台

介绍为强化和提高学生的综合实践能力,培养学生的创新思维和创造能力,在大四开设了"硬件综合实习"实践课程,让学生独立设计一个小型计算机控制系统,包括计算机的各个部件和功能。阐述了课程设计的任务及安排,并对各功能模块的设计给出了详细说明。实践表明,"硬件综合实习"课程开设达到了预期目的,对高校计算机专业学生硬件动手能力培养具有普遍的指导意义。