38,747 research outputs found

    Improving pupil group work interaction and dialogue in primary classrooms : Results from a year-long intervention study

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    Findings are reported from a year-long evaluation of the effectiveness of the SPRinG programme relative to a control group. SPRinG aimed to address the wide gap between the potential of group interaction to promote learning and its limited use in schools. The project involved working with teachers to develop strategies for enhancing pupil group-work and dialogue, and to implement a pupil relational and group skills training programme. Video observations were conducted of a sub-sample of pupil groups (31 SPRinG; 29 Control groups) working on a specially designed group decision-making activity undertaken in everyday classroom settings. SPRinG groups displayed higher levels of participation, engagement, active and sustained discussion, high level inferential joint reasoning and lower levels of group disruptive blocking behaviours. We argue that group-work can be successfully implemented into everyday school classrooms, and improve pupil interactions and high level discussion, provided teachers take time to train pupils in relational and group-working skills

    OpenSciEd design specifications

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    Many considerations must be taken into account in designing instructional materials to create a product that lives up to the expectations of students, teachers, schools, and districts. There are the obvious and necessary elements that must be addressed, such as standards, scope and sequence, instructional model, and pacing. OpenSciEd instructional materials are thoughtfully constructed with all of these considerations and constraints in mind. Yet, these elements are not enough. Instructional materials must have a classroom vision, an image of how students will engage with the content, what type of discourse students will engage in, and a sense of what a teacher needs to make standards come alive. OpenSciEd’s beliefs about a science learning and vision of the classroom are embodied in our design specifications. These fourteen specifications describe what we want science learning to look like for every student, and therefore guide our materials development process and implementation support. The topics addressed range from equitable science instruction and the centrality of asking questions, to meeting practical needs and constraints of a classroom. These specifications are based on A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the resulting Next Generation Science Standards, including the emphasis on three-dimensional learning.Published versio

    A framework to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning

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    Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is often based on written argumentative discourse of learners, who discuss their perspectives on a problem with the goal to acquire knowledge. Lately, CSCL research focuses on the facilitation of specific processes of argumentative knowledge construction, e.g., with computer-supported collaboration scripts. In order to refine process-oriented instructional support, such as scripts, we need to measure the influence of scripts on specific processes of argumentative knowledge construction. In this article, we propose a multi-dimensional approach to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in CSCL from sampling and segmentation of the discourse corpora to the analysis of four process dimensions (participation, epistemic, argumentative, social mode)

    Argumentation in school science : Breaking the tradition of authoritative exposition through a pedagogy that promotes discussion and reasoning

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    The value of argumentation in science education has become internationally recognised and has been the subject of many research studies in recent years. Successful introduction of argumentation activities in learning contexts involves extending teaching goals beyond the understanding of facts and concepts, to include an emphasis on cognitive and metacognitive processes, epistemic criteria and reasoning. The authors focus on the difficulties inherent in shifting a tradition of teaching from one dominated by authoritative exposition to one that is more dialogic, involving small-group discussion based on tasks that stimulate argumentation. The paper builds on previous research on enhancing the quality of argument in school science, to focus on how argumentation activities have been designed, with appropriate strategies, resources and modelling, for pedagogical purposes. The paper analyses design frameworks, their contexts and lesson plans, to evaluate their potential for enhancing reasoning through foregrounding the processes of argumentation. Examples of classroom dialogue where teachers adopt the frameworks/plans are analysed to show how argumentation processes are scaffolded. The analysis shows that several layers of interpretation are needed and these layers need to be aligned for successful implementation. The analysis serves to highlight the potential and limitations of the design frameworks

    TLAD 2010 Proceedings:8th international workshop on teaching, learning and assesment of databases (TLAD)

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    This is the eighth in the series of highly successful international workshops on the Teaching, Learning and Assessment of Databases (TLAD 2010), which once again is held as a workshop of BNCOD 2010 - the 27th International Information Systems Conference. TLAD 2010 is held on the 28th June at the beautiful Dudhope Castle at the Abertay University, just before BNCOD, and hopes to be just as successful as its predecessors.The teaching of databases is central to all Computing Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems and Information Technology courses, and this year, the workshop aims to continue the tradition of bringing together both database teachers and researchers, in order to share good learning, teaching and assessment practice and experience, and further the growing community amongst database academics. As well as attracting academics from the UK community, the workshop has also been successful in attracting academics from the wider international community, through serving on the programme committee, and attending and presenting papers.This year, the workshop includes an invited talk given by Richard Cooper (of the University of Glasgow) who will present a discussion and some results from the Database Disciplinary Commons which was held in the UK over the academic year. Due to the healthy number of high quality submissions this year, the workshop will also present seven peer reviewed papers, and six refereed poster papers. Of the seven presented papers, three will be presented as full papers and four as short papers. These papers and posters cover a number of themes, including: approaches to teaching databases, e.g. group centered and problem based learning; use of novel case studies, e.g. forensics and XML data; techniques and approaches for improving teaching and student learning processes; assessment techniques, e.g. peer review; methods for improving students abilities to develop database queries and develop E-R diagrams; and e-learning platforms for supporting teaching and learning

    Developing Strategic Learners: Supporting Self-Efficacy Through Goal Setting and Reflection

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    When students face academic challenges, when they receive poor grades on a subject, and when they see unchanged performance -even though they put effort on a task- they often develop the belief that they are not capable of overcoming challenges. Continuous underperformance affects students’ self-efficacy and belief that success is an achievable goal. The purpose of this paper is to explain the process of goal setting with continuous reflection to support students’ writing growth and persistence. The paper further comments on teachers’ goal setting for instructional and professional goals in order to support their instructional delivery and their growth as learners and professionals

    TLAD 2010 Proceedings:8th international workshop on teaching, learning and assesment of databases (TLAD)

    Get PDF
    This is the eighth in the series of highly successful international workshops on the Teaching, Learning and Assessment of Databases (TLAD 2010), which once again is held as a workshop of BNCOD 2010 - the 27th International Information Systems Conference. TLAD 2010 is held on the 28th June at the beautiful Dudhope Castle at the Abertay University, just before BNCOD, and hopes to be just as successful as its predecessors.The teaching of databases is central to all Computing Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems and Information Technology courses, and this year, the workshop aims to continue the tradition of bringing together both database teachers and researchers, in order to share good learning, teaching and assessment practice and experience, and further the growing community amongst database academics. As well as attracting academics from the UK community, the workshop has also been successful in attracting academics from the wider international community, through serving on the programme committee, and attending and presenting papers.This year, the workshop includes an invited talk given by Richard Cooper (of the University of Glasgow) who will present a discussion and some results from the Database Disciplinary Commons which was held in the UK over the academic year. Due to the healthy number of high quality submissions this year, the workshop will also present seven peer reviewed papers, and six refereed poster papers. Of the seven presented papers, three will be presented as full papers and four as short papers. These papers and posters cover a number of themes, including: approaches to teaching databases, e.g. group centered and problem based learning; use of novel case studies, e.g. forensics and XML data; techniques and approaches for improving teaching and student learning processes; assessment techniques, e.g. peer review; methods for improving students abilities to develop database queries and develop E-R diagrams; and e-learning platforms for supporting teaching and learning

    Bridging the Gap: 21st Century Media Meets Theoretical Pedagogical Literacy Practices

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    In this chapter, the researchers used an ethnographic stance to demonstrate how conversation evolved within a social media platform. They investigated the online discussions and face-to-face dialogues between teacher educators and pre-service teachers. They compared the participants’ reciprocal conversations within this case study to analyze patterns in the language used in each forum in order to identify the affordances and constraints of perceived understanding. Through this discourse analysis the authors sought to identify indicators of each participant’s metacognitive development while engaging in an online book discussion through a social media platform. Data analysis indicated that there was metacognitive growth when comparing the initial reciprocal conversations with the final conversations

    Instructional Supports: Facilitating or Constraining Emergent Bilinguals’ Production of Oral Explanations?

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    This qualitative study examined how specific instructional supports intended to scaffold emergent bilinguals’ oral production of explanations facilitated or constrained students’ attempts to explain. Findings demonstrate that explanations were very rarely produced, and when they were produced, the explanations were not particularly informative. Furthermore, the teachers’ attempts to support emergent bilingual talk via sentence starters, guiding questions, and rephrasing questions inadvertently undermined the students’ attempts to explain
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