Creating shared understanding through chats in a community of inquiry

This study investigated the process by which shared understanding develops in a chat learning space. It used a practical inquiry model to assess the development of cognitive presence. The study also explored how the pattern of conversation in synchronous discussion supports cognitive presence and how cognitive presence changes over time. Results show that there is a pattern among group members that involves reacquainting themselves through social presence and orienting themselves to the cognitive task through teaching presence. Individual meaning contributed by each member of the group through triggering events and exploratory statements is transformed as members see the text on the screen and respond to it through questioning and collective exploration. This group exploration enables the transition to shared understanding.     

Routines in classroom discourse: An ethnomethodological approach

The approach to routines presented in this paper refers to the phenomenology of Schütz, to symbolic interactionism and in particular to ethonomethodology: The interest is focussed on teachers’ and students’ routines making them establish the common classroom discourse. Routines important in the mathematics classroom — but presumably in other subjects too — are presented. The discussion shows that they have positive functions for the interaction process as well as partly negative consequences for the learning of mathematics.     

Collaborative learning in networked environments: Interaction through shared workspaces and communication tools

Today, a variety of web-based learning environments have been developed for educational purposes, especially in higher education and continuing education courses. At the same time many studies have reported how networked interaction in many learning projects results in superficial and experience-based discussion, and does not reach the level of theory-based reflections and argumentation [e.g. W.F. Admiraal, D. Lockhorst, T. Wubbels, F.A.J. Korthagen & W. Veen (1998) Computer-mediated communication in teacher education: computer conferencing and the supervision of student teachers, Journal of Learning Environment Research , 1(1), pp. 59-74]. Challenged by this, this research project investigates social construction of knowledge in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning settings, especially the possibilities and problems of shared virtual environments in supporting learning and interaction. The first of two related sub-projects is focused on using shared workspaces and cognitive tools to support co-construction of understanding in complex science and civic phenomena in secondary school settings. The other project aims to develop the kind of pedagogical models for teacher training purposes that would facilitate deeper-level interaction and argumentation in networked communication.     

Teaching and learning through multiple intelligences in the outcomes-based education classroom

Abstract

As outcomes-based education forms the foundation of the new school curriculum in South Africa, educators are confronted with the challenge of not only meeting the different needs of individual learners, but also of helping learners (many of them previously disadvantaged) to achieve their maximum potential. One way of realising this ideal is by applying Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences in the classroom. The article provides a discussion on both Gardner's multiple intelligences theory and outcomes-based education in South Africa, as it is believed that together they can contribute to solving some of the present problems in South African education. The article defines the use of MI theory in an OBE classroom and suggests specific ways in which educators worldwide could incorporate the different intelligences in their teaching and learning activities.     

Developing cohesion and building positive relationships through storytelling in a culturally diverse New Zealand classroom

Educational research highlights the importance of positive teacher student relationships and recommends teachers adopt teaching strategies that are more culturally inclusive, and allow for reciprocal teaching and learning where student prior knowledge is legitimized. Participants in this study experienced such an approach. Through a storytelling process they fostered empathy, compassion, tolerance and respect for difference. This paper introduces four interrelated factors that enhanced participant understanding of themselves, others and cultural perspectives: developing the ways of working, establishing a caring supportive environment, privileging student voice through personal stories, and enhancing participant connectedness and relationship change. These results have potential relevance for teachers and teacher educators who face the challenge of catering for the learning needs of culturally diverse students in their classrooms.     

Prior knowledge and its activation in elementary classroom discourse

The purpose of the current study was to: (a) examine the frequency of prior knowledge (PK) activation in elementary classrooms while students were engaged with text, (b) investigate the relevance of students’ responses to teacher prompts, (c) explore the nature of teachers’ and students’ prior knowledge activation utterances, and (d) investigate whether there were discernible routines in the interactions between teachers and students when activating PK. Participants were 6 teachers and 99 students from a private elementary school in the mid-Atlantic. An analysis of classroom discourse suggested that teachers infrequently prompted students to activate their prior knowledge during reading. Yet, when teachers did prompt PK, they asked about a prior lesson most often, or about a specific text, students’ world knowledge, or their personal experiences. Students then responded to their teachers according to the prompted referential frame. Additionally, four routines of classroom discourse were identified in the data including nonresponsive, question–answer, simple feedback, and interaction routines, with less elaborate routines being most common and primarily occurring at the beginning of lessons.

     

Developing pre-professional identity in undergraduates through work-integrated learning

Pre-professional identity is a complex phenomenon spanning awareness of and connection with the skills, qualities, behaviours, values and standards of a student’s chosen profession, as well as one’s understanding of professional self in relation to the broader general self. It is an important, yet under-explored, aspect of graduate employability and can influence academic success, well-being and productivity. This study investigates the role of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), more specifically work placements, in developing pre-professional identity among undergraduates. It uses qualitative data, in the form of structured reflections, gathered over two time periods from 105 business students in a Western Australian university. Findings indicate that work placements can offer a valuable platform for fostering identity construction. Students use the experience to make sense of their intended profession through observing, questioning and interacting with seasoned professionals. Appraising and reflecting on their experience, through learning activities and assessment, are highlighted as important elements of placement design and critical for students to question and make sense of what they observed and learned. Strategies are presented for industry and education practitioners to enhance pre-professional identity development among undergraduates. The study underlines the important role of work placements in preparing students for graduate-level employment, beyond the traditional focus on non-technical skill development and the application of disciplinary knowledge.     

Developing conceptual understanding in ray optics via learning with multiple representations

A particular difficulty in physics learning is the fact that pupils’ “intuitive” concepts are often resistant to instruction. This article reports empirical results from two related studies within an interdisciplinary project of physics education and educational psychology in ray optics. Two different kinds of treatment groups (TG A and TG B), both targeted at widespread pupils’ intuitive concepts (N?=?511), were compared with the results of a control group (CG C) learning with conventional tasks (N?=?218) provided by a related study II. Pupils in TG A) of study I worked on cognitively activating tasks related to widespread intuitive concepts in ray optics explicitly requiring them to deal with multiple representations. Pupils in the TG B) of study I worked on the same intuitive concepts, but without the cognitively activating representational component. TG A) and B) were compared with each other and with CG C) learning with conventional tasks. The results indicated that tasks addressing widespread intuitive pupils’ concepts improved conceptual understanding significantly more than conventional tasks. There was evidence of a significant intermediate effect showing medium-term stability.     

Developing healthcare practice through action learning: individual and group journeys

Action Learning is now a well established strategy for reflective inquiry in healthcare. Whilst a great deal is know about action learning there has been inadequate research on the process of learning that takes place, and the impact that this holds for individuals, groups or organisations. This article reports on the findings of 15-month action learning program based in a special care nursery. A realistic evaluation of the program uncovered individual and group journeys and provide evidence that action learning is an effective strategy in practice development.     

The social mediation of learning in multiethnic schools: Introduction

The ethnic diversity within schools is a major challenge for education in most European countries. The diversity of cultural backgrounds of students and parents leads to new transitions, enables new forms of participation, and demands the creation of new concepts, values and practices. Processes of mediation have a vital place in the required developments. The contributions to this issue study the relationship between learning and social mediation on three levels: (1) the mediating role of cultural tools, in particular language and the curriculum, (2) the role of peers and teachers in the appropriation of cultural tools by minority students, and (3) the mediating role of social representations in the shaping of students’ identities at school.     

Examining the discourse on the limit concept in a beginning-level calculus classroom

Existing research on limits documents many difficulties students encounter when learning about the concept. There is also some research on teaching of limits but it is not yet as extensive as the research on student learning about limits. This study explores the discourse on limits in a beginning-level undergraduate calculus classroom by focusing on one instructor’s and his students’ discourses through a communicational approach to cognition. The findings indicate that some of the limit-related contexts in which students struggled coincided with those in which the instructor shifted his elements of discourse on limits. The instructor did not attend to the shifts in his discourse, making them implicit for the students. The study highlights that the discrepancies among participants’ discourses signal communicational breakages and suggests that future studies should examine whether teachers’ explicit attention to the elements of their discourse can enhance communication in the classrooms.     

Scapegoating and conflict in the classroom: A resolution through classroom discussions

Summary As is often the case for the counsellor, initial referrals when explored further lead to other issues. In this paper, a methodology was presented for dealing with scapegoating problems and a negative classroom atmosphere. The methodology involved the use of structured questions designed to help children: explore problem areas, express feelings, understand conflicts and activate the motivation to change and act positively. The sequencing of the format is important in that it allows for movement and transformation of thoughts and feelings. In addition, particular attention was paid to entry and exit stages and to shifts from self to other, facts to problems and problems to solutions. The model is easily understood by teachers and after a few modelling sessins by the counsellor most are able to use it on their own with minimal supervision.University of British ColumbiaThis article will also be published in Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, a journal of APGA.