Elaborating Research Questions Along The Writing-as-Inquiry Model

Research Questions (RQs) drive, frame and shape research endeavours. Though classification schemas are available, it is not clear how RQs are developed. This work looks into the writing-as-inquiry model. According to this model, writing unleashes mental processes that help to further refine the discourse. Hence, we consider writing not for dissemination purposes but as an enabler of RQ elaboration. This model fits the gradual and iterative process of RQ development by iterating along two workspaces: the Content workspace, for idea profiling, and the Rhetorical workspace, for narrative construction. Unfortunately, current editors fall short to support this process. This work introduces the notion of “round-trip editors” in an attempt to account for this two-workspace iteration. Abstracting from experiences on a proof-of-concept artefact (i.e. DScaffolding), we introduce some general requirements that are informed by two main kernel theories: the knowledge-transforming model of writing and the writing-as-inquiry theory. DScaffolding is formatively evaluated for its utility and usability in elaborating problem-solving RQs

Cognitive apprenticeship : teaching the craft of reading, writing, and mathtematics

Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-27)This research was supported by the National Institute of Education under Contract no. US-NIE-C-400-81-0030 and the Office of Naval Research under Contract No. N00014-85-C-002

Reading for Idea Advancement in a Grade 4 Knowledge Building Community

This study looks into the reading practice in a Grade 4 knowledge building community that involved 22 students and a veteran teacher. The students investigated light over a threemonth period supported by Knowledge Forum, a networked collaborative knowledge-building environment. The classroom designs encouraged the students to take on high-level responsibility for advancing the community’s knowledge, as represented in their online discourse in Knowledge Forum. The tracing of student conversations in Knowledge Forum and content analysis of their portfolio notes demonstrate productive advancement of scientific understanding. Qualitative analyses of classroom videos, online discourse, and the teacher’s reflection journal characterize student reading practice along four themes: reading for the purpose of advancing community knowledge; as progressive problem solving; embedded in sustained knowledge-building discourse; and as dialogues between local understanding and knowledge in the larger world. These results contribute to elaborating the possibility and processes of integrating reading with creative knowledge work in content areas. Classroom strategies are identified and discussed in relation to the role of collaborative online technologies

Design science research in PhD education: designing for assistance tools

170 p.scholars. Major conferences have tracks dedicated to DSR, and even leading journals have publishedspecial issues on it. In line with this momentum, DSR has also gained acceptance among PhD students.Indeed, DSR is well regarded for its ability to bring together theoretical and practical knowledge,addressing both rigor and relevance. But in exchange, DSR calls for high levels of commitment andmaturity. PhD students, as they are transitioning towards becoming independent researchers, usually lacksuch maturity. On top of that, the lack of widely accepted software tools for conducting DSR does nothelp.This Thesis is aimed at providing PhD students with tool support for carrying out DSR. To thatend, we focus on problematic situations related to four basic activities conducted throughout thedoctorate: inquiry, reading, writing and peer review. For each of these problems, a purposeful artifact isdesigned, developed and evaluated with real stakeholders. The outcome: DScaffolding and Review&Go,two browser extensions for Google Chrome currently in use by practitioners

Helping students connect: architecting learning spaces for experiential and transactional reflection

Given the complex and varied contexts that inform students’ consciousness and occasion their learning, learning spaces are more than physical and virtual spaces. Learning spaces are also a range of situations sedimented in our continuum of experiences that shape our philosophical orientations. As such, this article, written from the perspectives of two faculty members in an English department at a four-year public university, describes our efforts to do the following. First, to draw upon models of instructional design we have experienced in our own educational backgrounds; and equally importantly, to develop learning spaces that support learning that is continuous, situated, and personal. Specifically, we critique the ways in which learning has been segregated from the rest of our life contexts for us throughout our educational histories. The irony is that this de-segregation has motivated us to create diverse learning spaces that provide our students with a more realistic set of tools and techniques for integrative life-long learning

A Pilot Study of Emotions of Writing in L2: Unpacking the Felt Sense of an EFL Writer

This study explores one EFL writer’s emotional aspects towards writing in second language (L2) through verbalizing her felt sense using the Thinking at the Edge (TAE) approach. Data collected include the participant’s autobiography of learning English, TAE-based reflective worksheets, and an individual interview. To analyze the data, thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998) in a qualitative method was employed. The findings reveal that the participant showed difficulty in expressing herself clearly in English and remained apprehensive about using English words and expressions properly. However, she realized the importance of English writing, which has promoted her creating a sense of confidence and writing proficiency. This study indicates that the findings obtained by the TAE approach will enhance the importance of seeking learners’ psychological engagement with writing in L2 in a qualitative manner

“Not Like a Big Gap, Something We Could Handle”: Facilitating Shifts in Paradigm in the Supervision of Mathematics Graduates upon Entry into Mathematics Education

Mathematics is the discipline that a significant majority of most incoming researchers in mathematics education have prior qualifications and experience in. Upon entry into the field of mathematics education research, these newcomers–often students on a postgraduate programme in mathematics education–need a broadened understanding on how to read, converse, write and conduct research in the largely unfamiliar territory of mathematics education. The intervention into the practices of post-graduate teaching and supervision in the field of mathematics education that I describe here aims at fostering this broadened understanding and thus facilitating newcomers’ participation in the practices of the mathematics education research community. Here I outline the theoretical underpinnings of the intervention and exemplify one of its parts (an Activity Set designed to facilitate incoming students’ engagement with the mathematics education research literature). I supplement the discussion of the intervention with comments sampled from student interview and student written evaluation data as well as observations of the activities’ implementation. The main themes touched upon include: learning how to identify appropriate mathematics education literature; reading increasingly more complex writings in mathematics education; coping with the complexity of literate mathematics education discourse; working towards a contextualised understanding of literate mathematics education discourse. I conclude with indicating the directions that the intervention, and its evaluation, is currently taking and a brief discussion of broader implications, theoretical as well as concerning the supervision and teaching of post-graduate students in mathematics education

A teaching experiment to foster the conceptual understanding of multiplication based on children's literature to facilitate dialogic learning

The importance of conceptual understanding as opposed to low-level procedural knowledge in mathematics has been well documented (Hiebert & Carpenter, 1992). Development of conceptual understanding of multiplication is fostered when students recognise the equal group structure that is common in all multiplicative problems (Mulligan & Mitchelmore, 1996). This paper reports on the theoretical development of a transformative teaching experiment based on conjecture-driven research design (Confrey & Lachance, 1999) that aims to enhance Year 3 students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication. The teaching experiment employs children’s literature as a motivational catalyst and mediational tool for students to explore and engage in multiplication activities and dialogue. The SOLO taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 1989) is used to both frame the novel teaching and learning activities, as well as assess the level of students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication as displayed in the products derived from the experiment. Further, student’s group interactions will be analysed in order to investigate the social processes that may contribute positively to learning

How to Get Started with SoTL: Reflections from a Novice SoTL Researcher

The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflection on successfully engaging in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) after overcoming common barriers to engagement in SoTL. The author identifies barriers commonly experienced by scholars interested in engaging in SoTL. The author identified a variety of frameworks in the literature that were reported to be helpful in assisting novice SoTL scholars in overcoming barriers related to research question formation. An example is shared to demonstrate how the complementary frameworks can be used to develop answerable research questions