Support of the collaborative inquiry learning process: influence of support on task and team regulation

Regulation of the learning process is an important condition for efficient and effective learning. In collaborative learning, students have to regulate their collaborative activities (team regulation) next to the regulation of their own learning process focused on the task at hand (task regulation). In this study, we investigate how support of collaborative inquiry learning can influence the use of regulative activities of students. Furthermore, we explore the possible relations between task regulation, team regulation and learning results. This study involves tenth-grade students who worked in pairs in a collaborative inquiry learning environment that was based on a computer simulation, Collisions, developed in the program SimQuest. Students of the same team worked on two different computers and communicated through chat. Chat logs of students from three different conditions are compared. Students in the first condition did not receive any support at all (Control condition). In the second condition, students received an instruction in effective communication, the RIDE rules (RIDE condition). In the third condition, students were, in addition to receiving the RIDE rules instruction, supported by the Collaborative Hypothesis Tool (CHT), which helped the students with formulating hypotheses together (CHT condition). The results show that students overall used more team regulation than task regulation. In the RIDE condition and the CHT condition, students regulated their team activities most often. Moreover, in the CHT condition the regulation of team activities was positively related to the learning results. We can conclude that different measures of support can enhance the use of team regulative activities, which in turn can lead to better learning results

DojoIBL: Online Inquiry-based Learning

DojoIBL is a web based platform to support collaborative inquirybased learning processes. It imitates real-world research processes and organizes inquiry activities into several phases. DojoIBL considers lessons learned from the weSPOT project and offers a cloud-based highly scalable infrastructure that has a strong focus on (mobile) data collection. In this sense, DojoIBL blends formal (desk-top based) learning and informal (mobile) learning. Within the course of 1 year, a design based research methodology was implemented in 10 national and international inquiry projects. Within this period, students were inter-viewed at regular times. Time and task management issues turned out to be critical functionalities and were thus implemented in several iterations

DojoAnalytics:A Learning Analytics interoperable component for DojoIBL

DojoIBL is a cloud-based platform that provides flexible support for collaborative inquiry-based learning processes. It expands the learning process beyond the classroom walls and brings it to an online setting. Such transition requires teachers and learners to have more means to track and to follow up their progress. Learning Analytics dashboards provide such functionality in form of meaningful visualizations. In this paper, we present the DojoAnalytics, a new module of DojoIBL that enables connections with third-party Learning Analytics dashboards. In order to demonstrate interoperability with the external dashboards, two use case implementations will be described

Place of a Realistic Teacher Education Pedagogy in an ICT-Supported Learning Environment in Distance Teacher Education in Uganda

This article is based on a study undertaken to examine the impact of introducing a realistic teacher education pedagogy (RTEP) oriented learning environment supported by ICT on distance teacher education in Uganda. It gives an overview of the quality, quantity and training of teachers in primary and secondary schools in the country after which it positions distance learning in teacher education. Using the evidence gathered, it suggests solutions to challenges facing distance teacher education in the country. It is argued that the solutions may be relevant to distance teacher education worldwide

Collaborative dispositions, knowledge co-construction and monitoring in collaborative problem solving

Abstract. Dispositions are trends or frequencies of acts performed consciously, habitually and automatically, influenced by beliefs, attitudes, personal values or commitments (Katz & Raths, 1985; NCATE, 2002). Thus, collaborative learning dispositions are students’ commitments, beliefs, contributions, or attitudes towards collaboration (Wu, Ho, Lin, Chang, & Chen, 2013). In a similar context, a person who has a certain level of disposition will display certain behaviors, so dispositions can be used to predict behaviors that may occur (Katz & Raths, 1985). To enhance learners’ collaborative learning skill, it is necessary to start from teacher students’ collaborative learning dispositions, which may potentially have impacts on their future students’ learning opportunities. This study aims to investigate what kinds of activities students focus on during collaborative learning processes. Also, the research explores whether there is any difference in the way students demonstrate and contribute diversely in group work when they possess different collaborative disposition scores, measured by questionnaires, which were based on research by Wang, MacCann, Zhuang, Liu and Roberts (2009). Videos from five groups of teacher students (N = 14) were collected and observed. First, the process-oriented qualitative analysis was carried out to assign meaningful events to separate categories of knowledge co-construction and monitoring activities. Then, quantitative analyses were conducted to explore activities executed most regularly as well as correlation between collaborative disposition scores and students’ contributions. The results of video data, gathered from the PREP21 project indicate that participants were actively sharing ideas, showing approval or disapproval about members’ contributions. Also, they frequently monitored how group tasks had progressed, then suggested following actions. Unexpectedly, there was no considerable relationship between measured collaborative disposition levels and enacted individual level collaborative problem-solving contributions. However, in a case study analysis, active and passive students displayed differently. Additionally, interconnection between knowledge co-construction and monitoring was shown

Uurimuslik õpe veebipõhises õpikeskkonnas: uurimusliku õppe protsesside teoreetiline raamistik

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Uurimuslik õpe on tänapäeva hariduses, eriti loodusainete õpetamisel, väga tähtsal kohal. Sellest annavad tunnistust nii mitmed üle-euroopalised dokumendid kui ka Eestis 2011. aastal vastu võetud uus õppekava, mis seab uurimusliku õppe kesksele kohale. Uurimuslik õpe on meetod, mis võimaldab õpilasel olla teadlase rollis – lahendada probleeme ning uurida erinevaid nähtusi. Õppimine käib teadlase tööle omaste tegevuste kaudu: sõnastatakse hüpoteese, planeeritakse katseid ning pakutakse lahendusi uuritavatele probleemidele. Uusi teadmisi ei ammutata enam õpetaja dikteerimisel, vaid õpilane ise võtab endale vastutuse teadmiste omandamisel. Nii on ka suurem tõenäosus, et uus teadmine on õpilase jaoks mõistetavam ning püsib ka paremini meeles. Seejuures on ka õpetajal oma roll – ta on suunaja, abistaja ning tagasisidestaja. Uurimuslikku õpet võib läbi viia nii tava- kui virtuaalses klassiruumis. Virtuaalne klassiruum võimaldab teha katseid, mis tavaoludes oleksid võimatud. Üheks näiteks on kõnealuse doktoritöö käigus välja arendatud uurimuslik õpikeskkond „Noor teadlane“ (http://bio.edu.ee/teadlane), mis on mõeldud eelkõige 6.–9. klassi õpilastele bioloogia õppimiseks. Selles on viis uurimuslikku ülesannet, milles otsitakse vastuseid näiteks küsimusele „Miks lihased väsivad erinevalt?“. Igas ülesandes teevad õpilased läbi teadustööle omased etapid: määratlevad probleemi, sõnastavad uurimisküsimuse ja hüpoteesi, planeerivad ja viivad läbi katse, analüüsivad katsetulemusi ning teevad selle põhjal järeldused. Doktoritöö tulemusena koostati uurimusliku õppe mudel, mis aitab paremini mõista, kuidas uurimuslikud protsessid omavahel seostuvad, ning võimaldab seeläbi uute uurimuslike õppematerjalide koostamisel seda arvestada. Lisaks selgus, et rakendades kompleksset uurimusliku õppe keskkonda, on võimalik arendada õpilaste uurimuslikke oskusi ja ainealaseid teadmisi. Leiti, et uurimuslike oskuste arengut mõjutavad ka oskuste omavahelised seosed ning uurimuslikud üldteadmised.Inquiry-based learning has an important role in today’s science education. This is confirmed by many European-level documents and recent curriculum reforms in Estonia, where inquiry-based learning is an umbrella term for science related subjects. Inquiry-based learning is a learning method where students take on the role of a scientist, mirroring activities employed by scientists—formulate hypotheses, carry out investigations and collect evidence to propose explanations about the investigated phenomena. Teachers no longer are the primary source of knowledge. Students take their own responsibility for obtaining new knowledge. The teacher’s role is to enable the construction process as a facilitator and to provide resources. Inquiry-based learning is applicable in regular or virtual classrooms. The latter enable conducting experiments impossible in a regular classroom (e.g., experiments that are dangerous). One example of such virtual classrooms is the inquiry-based learning environment Young Researcher (http://bio.edu.ee/teadlane), which is designed for students from the 6th to the 9th grade for learning biology. There are five inquiry-based tasks that need to be solved (e.g., “Why do muscles wear down differently?”). The entire learning process is structured according to inquiry learning stages: problem identification; research question and hypothesis formulation; planning and carrying out an experiment; analysis and interpretation of data; and drawing conclusions. As a result of the doctoral study, a theoretical model of inquiry-based learning was constructed that serves as a conceptual structure for showing how inquiry processes are related to each other. Additionally, it was revealed that applying a comprehensive inquiry-based learning environment improves students’ inquiry skills and general inquiry knowledge; also, it was found that the development of inquiry skills is influenced by the interactions between such skills, as well as by general inquiry knowledge

Regulative processes in individual, 3D and computer supported cooperative learning contexts

Three studies of student regulation of learning were undertaken. In the first study, the temporal organization of the self-regulation process was examined within an individual learning context. Multilevel analysis showed linear and quadratic relations between self-regulation process and the phase of learning. An unexpected negative direct relation between self-regulation and test performance was only found for the process of “directing”. In the two other studies, collaborative computer learning within a 3D environment, on the one hand, and within the context of literacy practices, on the other hand, was examined. Self-regulative processes as “monitoring,” “directing,” and “testing” occurred less frequently than “grounding” and “common agreement” activities. In all three studies, the students rarely “orient” themselves towards the learning task. It is concluded that the adequacy of regulation and not the frequency is important for student learning