Validating the Automated Assessment of Participation and of Collaboration in Chat Conversations

International audienceAs Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) gains a broader usage as a viable alternative to classic educational scenarios, the need for automated tools capable of supporting tutors in the time consuming process of analyzing conversations becomes more stringent. Moreover, in order to fully explore the benefits of such scenarios, a clear demarcation must be made between participation or active involvement, and collaboration that presumes the intertwining of ideas or points of view with other participants. Therefore, starting from a cohesion-based model of the discourse, we propose two computational models for assessing collaboration and participation. The first model is based on the cohesion graph and can be perceived as a longitudinal analysis of the ongoing conversation, thus accounting for participation from a social knowledge-building perspective. In the second approach, collaboration is regarded from a dialogical perspective as the intertwining or overlap of voices pertaining to different speakers, therefore enabling a transversal analysis of subsequent discussion slices

Voices' inter-animation detection with ReaderBench. Modelling and assessing polyphony in CSCL chats as voice synergy

International audienceStarting from dialogism in which every act is perceived as a dialogue, we shift the perspective towards multi-participant chat conversations from Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in which ideas, points of view or more generally put voices interact, inter-animate and generate the context of a conversation. Within this perspective of discourse analysis, we introduce an implemented framework, ReaderBench, for modeling and automatically evaluating polyphony that emerges as an overlap or synergy of voices. Moreover, multiple evaluation factors were analyzed for quantifying the importance of a voice and various functions were experimented to best reflect the synergic effect of co- occurring voices for modeling the underlying discourse structure

Voices' inter-animation detection with ReaderBench. Modelling and assessing polyphony in CSCL chats as voice synergy

International audienceStarting from dialogism in which every act is perceived as a dialogue, we shift the perspective towards multi-participant chat conversations from Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in which ideas, points of view or more generally put voices interact, inter-animate and generate the context of a conversation. Within this perspective of discourse analysis, we introduce an implemented framework, ReaderBench, for modeling and automatically evaluating polyphony that emerges as an overlap or synergy of voices. Moreover, multiple evaluation factors were analyzed for quantifying the importance of a voice and various functions were experimented to best reflect the synergic effect of co- occurring voices for modeling the underlying discourse structure

Pedagogy and power relations in English studies ; insights from literary and rhetorical theory

In this dissertation, I examine, against a history of current literature and composition teaching, the question of teacher authority versus student freedom in four different sites: the writing conference, especially as it takes place in writing centers; the“open” class discussion, particularly the issue of whether it encourages dissent or defusesit; non authoritarian strategies such as teaching in a circle and all they signify about classroom hierarchies; and the use of networked computers in the reading and writing course, which has been both endorsed and excoriated by leaders in the discipline.Chapter two draws heavily on recent social constructionist theories of composition to interrogate tutoring practices, while chapter three employs critiques of Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogism in questioning models of classroom conversation. Chapter three problematizes, through applications of Louis Althusser and Michel Foucault, what may be seen as utopian techniques rooted in Paulo Freire and his followers. Finally, chapter five uses the theorists of the preceding three chapters, and touches briefly upon JacquesDerrida, in the analysis of online class interactions. Each site reveals the paradox thatEnglish pedagogies that at first seem liberatory for both teachers and students often reveal themselves, under theoretical and empirical pressure, as conservative at best and oppressive at worst. In each chapter and an afterword, I propose a demystifying pedagogy for English studies that foregrounds asymmetrical power relations between teachers and students and allows instructors to proclaim their vision of social justice

Navigating Abrupt Shifts in Contextual Discourses During a Pandemic and Lack of Mentorship: A Preservice Teacher’s Journey Developing Critical Pedagogical Discourses

This study is centered on one English language arts (ELA) preservice teacher’s development of her critical pedagogical discourses (CPD) with the contextual discourses of a school placement for preservice teaching and later shift to a full-time teacher before the placement was complete during a pandemic and in the midst of implementing online learning. Data is drawn from a 4-month interpretive qualitative case study that included classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The objective for this study included how a preservice teacher uses their beliefs and identity about instruction amid changing contextual discourses in a pandemic and with a lack of mentorship. Discourse data analysis demonstrated that the CPD acted as a filter in her identity, beliefs, and dialogic instructional practices and to what extent they aligned or were compartmentalized in the classroom. Additionally, due to an abrupt shift from the preservice teaching placement to a full-time teaching position in a different district, it left her without a mentor classroom teacher. This study suggests that the teacher education programs and school districts should provide supportive mentoring opportunities for preservice teachers when they experience such displacement and are required to fulfill both job and university courses’ expectations. This study indicated that such an unanticipated alteration in contextual discourses created a set of circumstances that primed the preservice teacher for a quicker departure from dialogic practices toward monologic practices

Teachers\u27 perceptions of professional development and pedagogical practice: a study of a Kentucky suburban school district.

Professional development supports teacher growth and enhances pedagogical practice. Teachers in Kentucky must complete annual professional development hours and districts must develop a professional development plan tied to research that supports high-quality professional development. This qualitative case study takes place in a rural district, Bullitt County, where I investigated the teachers’ perception of a customized professional development, Thinking Focus Cohort (TFC), and its impact on their pedagogical practice. While a body of research exists on high quality professional development, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of it, in particular a year-long cohort model with curriculum centered around four pillars: learning of community, thinking strategies, gradual release of responsibility, and academic discourse. This study drew upon data collected from document analysis, semi-structured interviews and group level assessment (GLA). Document analysis provided an understanding of materials used throughout TFC and feedback gathered from outside observers and participants. The semi-structured interviews provided insight into participants’ perspectives on their experience of TCF. GLA questions functioned to fill the gap of information which addressed teachers’ perceptions of the Thinking Focus Cohort and its influence on teachers’ pedagogical practice, specifically focusing on the participants’ experience as a community of learners as well as their intentional pedagogical practices. Findings show the customized professional development, TFC, impacted teachers’ pedagogical practice from their perspective after reviewing the participants’ responses aligned with the selective codes. First, participants were able to identify intentional pedagogical practices they implemented, which also created higher teacher and student efficacy. Next, participants revealed the importance of instructional coaches serving as mentors to foster the perceived pedagogical changes. Finally, participants discussed how the teacher rounds provided exemplar modeling of the intended instructional strategies and created an avenue for collaboration throughout the district. In summary, the transformational changes to teachers’ pedagogical practice was supported through a year-long cohort of modeling instructional strategies tied to the curriculum while meeting monthly was enhanced through instructional coaches and teacher rounds. The demands of teaching have evolved -in part due to high stakes accountability systems. This is coupled with the hemorrhage of teachers leaving the profession for more personal and professional reasons. Professional development is a means for teachers to experience critical support through collaboration, thus resulting in pedagogical changes. The effective professional development and the desired results point directly to implications for policy and practice to mitigate compliance driven by regulations and law, suggesting instead the creation of structures to evaluate the effectiveness of professional development. This also points directly to examining the style of delivery and methods of support within the evaluation system of professional development. Teachers become models of continued learning focusing on improving their pedagogical practice. This study reveals the importance of high-quality professional development as a means to positively impact a teacher’s pedagogical practice

Genres of Dialogic Discussion in High School English: A Cross-Case Study of Two Courses

This cross-case ethnographic study examines genres of discussion in two public high school English courses to explore the interplay between dialogism, structure, and critical and collaborative thinking practices. Bakhtin\u27s concepts of dialogism and speech genres as well as Vygotsky\u27s concepts of thinking and language and the zone of proximal development provide the theoretical premise of this research. Data sources included field notes, audio recordings and transcriptions, artifacts of the teacher\u27s handouts and students\u27 written work, informal conversations, and an interview with the teacher. I used discourse analysis and grounded theory to analyze the data, looking at both lively and problematic episodes of discourse. An honors 12th grade class is juxtaposed with a lower-level ninth grade class as a teacher\u27s choices about meta-talk, degrees of structure, and genres of dialogic discussion are described. In the honors class, the teacher uses three genres of discussion: warm-up, book gossip, and deeper-level thinking. These genres create openings for dialogic discussion and invite students to participate in collaborative critical thinking practices. In the lower-level class, the teacher uses prereading instead of warm-up, and she uses a greater degree of structure and authority to invite students to use deeper-level thinking practices. This study finds that the use of structure may support or obstruct deeper-level thinking. Meta-talk differs greatly between the two courses, highlighting the negative impact of high-stakes testing as part of states\u27 implementation of the Common Core State Standards and illustrating the impact of within-school ability sorting on classroom cultures. The study finds that dialogic talk can support critical and collaborative thinking practices with both levels of students; however, a fluid and responsive approach to structure is necessary to support students while providing them with flexibility to create their own paths of thought. Using genres of talk as part of a dialogic approach to teaching can communicate teachers\u27 intentions for dialogism and critical thinking and teach students to learn through collaboratively building meaning. These findings suggest strategies and aspects of the teacher\u27s stance that can support students as they learn to think critically and collaboratively

Culturally Responsive Instructional Coaching : Accessing Student Voice during a Co-Generated Lesson Plan

In an increasingly diverse nation, rife with racial unrest and systemic inequities, it is the responsibility of educators to ensure the academic equity of all students. This participatory action research (PAR) sought to incorporate student voice into a culturally responsive coaching cycle in order to create equity and shared power between students and teachers. Through one phase of PAR and one coaching cycle (planning, observing, reflecting) that incorporated student voice, student-participants challenged traditional teaching structures and felt validation as a result. Additionally, teachers may have struggled with sharing power, but they demonstrated growth in their teaching practice. Finally, as an instructional coach, I helped to develop trust, interpret student voice into pedagogical strategies, while struggling with incorporating the components of cultural competency and sociopolitical consciousness