Reinventing learning: a design-research odyssey

Design research is a broad, practice-based approach to investigating problems of education. This approach can catalyze the development of learning theory by fostering opportunities for transformational change in scholars’ interpretation of instructional interactions. Surveying a succession of design-research projects, I explain how challenges in understanding students’ behaviors promoted my own recapitulation of a historical evolution in educators’ conceptualizations of learning—Romantic, Progressivist, and Synthetic (Schön, Intuitive thinking? A metaphor underlying some ideas of educational reform (working paper 8). Division for Study and Research in Education, MIT, Cambridge, 1981)—and beyond to a proposed Systemic view. In reflection, I consider methodological adaptations to design-research practice that may enhance its contributions in accord with its objectives

Teachers' adoption of inquiry-based learning activities : the importance of beliefs about education, the self, and the context

Even though studies have shown that the impact of professional development on inquiry-based learning (IBL) tends to remain limited when it fails to consider teachers' beliefs, there is little known about how these beliefs influence teachers' adoption of IBL. In answer to this issue, the present study offers a framework that explains teachers' use of IBL through three constitutive dimensions of beliefs systems, covering the constructs of education, the self, and the context. This framework is empirically investigated through a survey study with 536 secondary school history teachers. The resulting data are used to estimate a structural equation model (SEM), which indicates that the framework is able to explain a relatively large portion (38%) of the variance in teachers' decision to implement IBL. Based on the findings, the implications for professional development and research on teachers' use of IBL in general, and within history education in particular, are discussed

Comparative Multiple Case Study into the Teaching of Problem-Solving Competence in Lebanese Middle Schools

This multiple case study investigates how problem-solving competence is integrated into teaching practices in private schools in Lebanon. Its purpose is to compare instructional approaches to problem-solving across three different programs: the American (Common Core State Standards and New Generation Science Standards), French (Socle Commun de Connaissances, de Compétences et de Culture), and Lebanese with a focus on middle school (grades 7, 8, and 9). The project was conducted in nine schools equally distributed among three categories based on the programs they offered: category 1 schools offered the Lebanese program, category 2 the French and Lebanese programs, and category 3 the American and Lebanese programs. Each school was treated as a separate case. Structured observation data were collected using observation logs that focused on lesson objectives and specific cognitive problem-solving processes. The two logs were created based on a document review of the requirements for the three programs. Structured observations were followed by semi-structured interviews that were conducted to explore teachers' beliefs and understandings of problem-solving competence. The comparative analysis of within-category structured observations revealed an instruction ranging from teacher-led practices, particularly in category 1 schools, to more student-centered approaches in categories 2 and 3. The cross-category analysis showed a reliance on cognitive processes primarily promoting exploration, understanding, and demonstrating understanding, with less emphasis on planning and executing, monitoring and reflecting, thus uncovering a weakness in addressing these processes. The findings of the post-observation semi-structured interviews disclosed a range of definitions of problem-solving competence prevalent amongst teachers with clear divergences across the three school categories. This research is unique in that it compares problem-solving teaching approaches across three different programs and explores underlying teachers' beliefs and understandings of problem-solving competence in the Lebanese context. It is hoped that this project will inform curriculum developers about future directions and much-anticipated reforms of the Lebanese program and practitioners about areas that need to be addressed to further improve the teaching of problem-solving competence

ASSESSING THE EFFECTS OF AN AUTHENTIC PROJECT-BASED INTERVENTION ON SECONDARY STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF ECOSYSTEMS AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD AND INTERESTS IN STEM

There is a need for secondary schools to provide more authentic, hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and specifically, project-based investigation (PBI) environments in the classroom that focus on real-world problems relevant to students’ experiences, interest, and lives that manifest the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) following practices they prescribe. This study investigated how, to what extent, a contextualized aquaponics PBI (APBI) 10-week model unit affected high school students’ attitudes toward STEM in general, and aquaculture and aquaponics in particular, and interests in future STEM-related disciplines and/or STEM career pathways. This study also measured changes in students’ understanding of standard-based ecological relationships and concepts concerning interactions in ecosystems and specifically the phenomena carrying capacity and bacterial nitrification process. Currently, there is very little research literature on how APBI may engage students in learning science, initiate affective attitudes and interest in their local environments, and potentially pique their interests in STEM, and aquaculture/aquaponics fields as a career choice. Using a quantitative methods, quasi-experimental research design, three different student groups who participated in the authentic, hands-on APBI intervention (i.e., treatment groups) were given a pre- and post-attitude/interest survey (N=55). The 12 survey items were rated by a 5-point Likert-type scale that measured changes in student interest and attitudes toward STEM as discipline and area of interest. In addition, the survey included a profile of the respondents with the demographic items. Further, the treatment groups and control group were given a pre- and post-content-aligned test (N=88) which measured changes in students’ ecological knowledge. The results in this study revealed that the intervention contributed to the treatment group students’ positive attitudes toward STEM in general, and aquaculture and aquaponics in particular, and developing an interest in STEM disciplines and/or STEM career pursuits. Results also demonstrate that the project-based intervention, utilizing a real-life aquaculture/aquaponics context, was an effective method to provide meaningful learning and content understanding of standard-based ecological concepts and relationships. The evidence from this study suggest that authentic instructional experiences can facilitate students’ understanding of standard-based ecological concepts and knowledge of ecosystems as the three treatment group students showed statistically significantly higher mean difference (improvement) sum scores after taking the pre- and post-content-aligned assessment when compared to the control group (Group 1). Overall, the gain in understanding and appreciation for and interest in STEM and aquaculture can be attributed to the project-enhanced unit implemented in this study. The implications of this study suggest APBI models may create authentic science learning environments that promote student learning of scientific concepts while piquing their interest in STEM related disciplines and/or career pathways. The intervention design and findings in this study may provide educators new insights and ideas on how to incorporate and use contextualized, aquaponics project-based instruction as a teaching and learning tool. In addition, APBI can offer engaging curricula that articulates NGSS

Becoming STEM Teachers: Examining Changes in Science Teachers’ Conceptual Understanding about Earthquake Engineering

This multi-paper dissertation reports results from three related research studies centered on the development and use of an authentic measure, concept mapping, to assess changes in workshop teachers’ conceptual understanding of earthquake engineering. My review of the literature indicated few research studies examining how traditionally trained science teachers develop STEM-related understandings about the complex relationships between concepts associated with STEM-related contexts, such as those existing within the context of earthquake engineering. STEM researchers currently know little about how teachers develop deep conceptual understanding of complex and interdisciplinary content knowledge. To address the gap I found in the literature, I designed three studies to: (1) conduct a modified Delphi study to create a list of key concepts as a knowledge base in earthquake engineering, (2) examine changes in science teachers’ conceptual understanding of earthquake engineering as a result of their participation to an engineering-oriented teacher professional development (EOTPD), and (3) investigate changes in the quality of science teachers’ argumentation discourse after their participation in a week-long EOTPD. Researchers suggest identification of key concepts in critical engineering content areas for high school science teachers to increase their engineering content knowledge. In my first study, I identified and verified key concepts in earthquake engineering necessary for high school learners to acquire a basic understanding of earthquake engineering. Results included a key concepts list and an interdisciplinary strand map with 35 earthquake engineering key concepts in five domains. Furthermore, stakeholders suggest providing opportunities for STEM teachers to improve their conceptual understanding in critical engineering areas within EOTPDs. In my second study, I developed a conceptual framework, Meaningful Conceptual Learning, for successful conceptual understanding of complex and interdisciplinary content knowledge, implemented the framework into an EOTPD on earthquake engineering, used individual and group concept mapping as authentic assessment method. Results indicated science teachers enhanced their conceptual understanding of the earthquake engineering content knowledge after the EOTPD. Stakeholders in science education also emphasize the critical role of using argumentation discourse in teaching science and indicate most science teachers still lack the pedagogical skills to introduce and enhance students’ argumentation discourse skills. In my third study, I implemented argumentation discourse with a procedural guideline involving EOTPD participants’ reasons for the inclusion of various concepts in their concept maps. I used a modified method for collecting and analyzing discourse data and found significant enhancement in teachers’ argumentation discourse levels after the implementation

Toward a Semiotic Framework for Using Technology in Mathematics Education: The Case of Learning 3D Geometry

This paper proposes and examines a semiotic framework to inform the use of technology in mathematics education. Semiotics asserts that all cognition is irreducibly triadic, of the nature of a sign, fallible, and thoroughly immersed in a continuing process of interpretation (Halton, 1992). Mathematical meaning-making or meaningful knowledge construction is a continuing process of interpretation within multiple semiotic resources including typological, topological, and social-actional resources. Based on this semiotic framework, an application named VRMath has been developed to facilitate the learning of 3D geometry. VRMath utilises innovative virtual reality (VR) technology and integrates many semiotic resources to form a virtual reality learning environment (VRLE) as well as a mathematical microworld (Edwards, 1995) for learning 3D geometry. The semiotic framework and VRMath are both now being evaluated and will be re-examined continuously