Progressive inquiry in a computer‐supported biology class

The problem addressed in the study was whether 10‐ and 11‐year‐old children, collaborating within a computer‐supported classroom, could engage in progressive inquiry that exhibits an essential principal feature of mature scientific inquiry: namely, engagement in increasingly deep levels of explanation. Technical infrastructure for the study was provided by the Computer‐Supported Intentional Learning Environment (CSILE). The study was carried out by qualitatively analyzing written notes logged by 28 Grade 5/6 students to CSILE's database. Results of the study indicated that with teacher guidance, students were able to produce meaningful intuitive explanations about biological phenomena, guide this process by pursuing their own research questions, and engage in constructive peer interaction that helped them go beyond their intuitive explanations and toward theoretical scientific explanations. Expert evaluations by three widely recognized philosophers of science confirmed the progressive nature of students' inquiry. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 1072–1088, 2003     

The design of learning spaces matters: perceived impact of the deskless school on learning and teaching

Learning Environments Research - This exploratory case study examined the kinds of activity that a ‘deskless school” (i.e., flexible physical school spaces) engenders among pupils and...     

Nordic Experiences: Participants' Expectations and Experiences of Short-Term Study Abroad Programs

The purpose of this study was to investigate Finnish high school students' and teachers' perceptions of the effects of short-term Nordic study abroad programs in which they had participated. The data presented were based on a mixed-methods strategy. The data set consisted of responses from 158 students and 92 teachers to a specifically developed Study Abroad Assessment (SAA) instrument. These data were analyzed quantitatively and, in part, also qualitatively. Additional qualitative data in the form of interviews with six participants were also analyzed.

Four factors emerged from the analysis which represented dimensions of what a short-term study abroad (SA) program may offer to its participants. These dimensions were named “Personal growth,” “Social connectedness,” “Development of Nordic awareness,” and “Impact on career or study opportunities.” Composite variables were created on the basis of these factors. The analysis revealed some statistically significant differences between the groups (Period Scholars; Scholars to Sweden; Teachers) concerning the composite variables. The qualitative part of the study provided information on the benefits and challenges of short-term study abroad that were compatible with previous studies. There is evidence that even short-term study abroad programs in a Nordic context provide participants with some core skills needed later in life, and the benefits of SA were perceived to be greater by those who spent more time in the new environment.     

Long-Term Teacher Orchestration of Technology-mediated Collaborative Inquiry

This explorative case study longitudinally examines teacher orchestration of an inquiry learning process in a technology-enhanced elementary classroom. A 13-month investigative study on cultural artifacts was conducted on 32 fourth grade students who progressed to the fifth grade during the project. The activities were mediated and documented using Knowledge Forum, a technology-enhanced collaborative environment. Data were gathered from video recordings of whole-class sessions and the teacher’s reflective diary entries. The coding scheme for the video analysis focused on identifying the various orchestration events, while drawing on theory and data-driven qualitative content analysis. Six types of orchestration events effectively maintained the process during whole-class sessions. These events supported the advancement of knowledge, reflection on inquiry, and pragmatic organization of inquiry. The study also adopted CORTDRA diagrams that highlighted temporal aspects of the orchestration events throughout the project. Knowledge Forum enabled the longitudinal advancement of the project.     

Pursuit of explanation within a computer‐supported classroom

The problem addressed in the study was whether 10‐year‐old and 11‐year‐old children, collaborating within a computer‐supported classroom, learned an explanation‐driven process of inquiry that had characteristics of the progressive nature of scientific inquiry. The technical infrastructure for the study was provided by the Computer‐Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE). The study was based on qualitative content analysis of students’ written productions in physics posted to CSILE’s database in three investigative projects. The study indicated that some young students do engage in epistemic agency and genuinely pursue explanation‐driven inquiry. students’ intuitive explanations were often functional (referring to human agency) and empirical (in terms of observables) in nature. Provided that understandable explanations were available, some of the students moved towards theoretical scientific explanations.     

The Knowledge Creation Metaphor – An Emergent Epistemological Approach to Learning

We argue that beyond metaphors, according to which learning is a process of knowledge acquisition by individual learners (a “monological” approach) or participation to social interaction (a “dialogical” approach), one should distinguish a “trialogical” approach, i.e., learning as a process of knowledge creation which concentrates on mediated processes where common objects of activity are developed collaboratively. The third metaphor helps us to elicit and understand processes of knowledge advancement that are important in a knowledge society. We review three approaches to knowledge-creation, i.e., Bereiter‘s knowledge-building, Engeström‘s expansive learning, and Nonaka and Takeuchi‘s organizational knowledge-creation. We give a concise analysis of the trialogical character of the knowledge-creation approach, and illustrate how the third metaphor may be applied at the school level.     

Mathematical and Reading Difficulties as Predictors of School Achievement and Transition to Secondary Education

This study investigated whether mathematical and reading difficulties and self-reported learning problems predicted school achievement in the ninth grade, at the age of 16, and how these difficulties further explained the transition either to upper secondary academic education or to vocational education. The sample of the present study comprised one age group of ninth-grade adolescents (n?=?592; 300 girls, 292 boys) in a middle-sized Finnish city. These students completed tests of mathematics, reading comprehension and decoding. Participants were also asked to assess their learning problems in school work. Results demonstrated that mathematical and reading difficulties strongly predicted school achievement in the ninth grade and, through school achievement, also predicted the transition to different tracks in secondary education. The role of self-reported learning difficulties in this prediction was significant, but less significant than that of mathematical and reading difficulties. Parents' education did not play a major role in this prediction.