Pedagogical transformation and knowledge building for the Chinese learner

This study examines the Chinese learner in the current changing education contexts with their emphasis on 21st century learning goals of inquiry, teamwork, and learning how to learn. With socioeconomic and technological changes, internationalisation and educational reforms, pedagogical approaches developed in the Western countries, such as inquiry-oriented and technology-based learning are becoming increasingly common in Confucian-Heritage Culture (CHC) classrooms. This paper reports on a case study of an expert teacher implementing a computer-supported knowledge-building approach in Hong Kong classrooms over a period of three years. The analyses indicated that the Chinese learners used seemingly contradictory approaches to make meaning, given the contextual dynamics. Similarly, the teacher did not merely adopt the Western model; he developed a transformed pedagogy integrating Chinese and Western approaches to scaffold student learning. The Chinese learners and Chinese teachers employed approaches that transcended the polarised categorisation of surface vs. deep, student-centred vs. teacher-centred, and didactic vs. constructivist approaches in the Chinese classroom. Implications for teaching and learning for Chinese learners in the changing educational contexts are discussed

Bridging research and practice: Implementing and sustaining knowledge building in Hong Kong classrooms

Despite major theoretical progress in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), relatively less attention has been paid to the problem of how research advances may impact schools and classrooms. Given the global changes and educational policies for twenty-first century education, issues of how research in CSCL can be integrated with classroom practice for innovation pose important challenges. This paper draws on experiences in Hong Kong and examines research-based CSCL classroom innovations in the context of scaling up and sustaining a knowledge-building model in Hong Kong classrooms. It begins with an examination of the rationale for CSCL research in classrooms and then considers a range of problems and constraints for school implementation. Classroom innovations involve complex and emergent changes occurring at different levels of the educational system. The experience of CSCL knowledge-building classroom innovations in Hong Kong schools is reported, including: the macro-context of educational policies and educational reform, the meso-context of a knowledge-building teacher network, and the micro-context of knowledge-building design in classrooms. Three interacting themes-context and systemic change, capacity and community building, and innovation as inquiry-are proposed for examining collaboration and knowledge creation for classroom innovation. © 2011 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

Co-regulation of learning in computer-supported collaborative learning environments: A discussion

This discussion paper for this special issue examines co-regulation of learning in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments extending research on self-regulated learning in computerbased environments. The discussion employs a socio-cognitive perspective focusing on social and collective views of learning to examine how students co-regulate and collaborate in computer-supported inquiry. Following the review of the articles, theoretical, methodological and instructional implications are discussed: Future research directions include examining the theoretical nature of collective regulation and social metacognition in building models of co-regulated learning; expanding methodological approaches using trace data and multiple measures for convergence and construct validity; and conducting instructional experiments to test and to foster the development of co-regulated learning in computer-supported collaborative inquiry. © 2012 The Author(s).published_or_final_versio

Effect of different cover crop residue management practices on soil moisture content under a tomato crop (Lycopersicon esculentum)

Water relations are among the most important physical phenomena that affect the use of soils for agricultural, ecological, environmental, and engineering purposes. In sub-Saharan African, water is most critical in limiting crop production and yields especially in the Arid and Sub-arid regions. The soil water storage, available water content and soil water balance under various cover crop residue management practices in a Nitisol were evaluated in a field experiment at the Kabete Field Station, University of Nairobi. The effects of surface mulching, above and below ground biomass and roots only incorporated of velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens), Tanzanian sunhemp (Crotalaria ochroleuca) and purple vetch (Vicia benghalensis) cover crops, fertilizer and non fertilized plots on soil water balance were studied. The experimental design was a split plot and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) was the test crop. Since water content was close to field capacity, the drainage component at 100 cm soil depth was negligible and evapotranspiration was therefore derived from the change in soil moisture storage and precipitation. Residue management showed that above and below ground biomass incorporated optimized the partitioning of the water balance components, increasing moisture storage, leading to increased tomato yields and water use efficiency (WUE). Furthermore, vetch above and below ground biomass incorporated significantly improved the quantity and frequency of deep percolation. Soil fertilization (F) and non fertilization (NF) caused the most unfavourable partitioning of water balance, leading to the lowest yield and WUE. Tomato yields ranged from 4.1 in NF to 7.4 Mg ha-1 in vetch treated plots. Vetch above and belowground biomass incorporated had significant (p ≤ 0.1) yields of 11.4 Mg ha-1 compared to all other residue management systems. Vetch residue treatment had the highest WUE (22.7 kg mm-1 ha-1) followed by mucuna treated plots (20.7 kg mm-1 ha-1) and both were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) compared to the others irrespective of residue management practices

Pedagogical transformation and knowledge building for the Chinese learner

This study examines the Chinese learner in the current changing education contexts with their emphasis on 21st century learning goals of inquiry, teamwork, and learning how to learn. With socioeconomic and technological changes, internationalisation and educational reforms, pedagogical approaches developed in the Western countries, such as inquiry-oriented and technology-based learning are becoming increasingly common in Confucian-Heritage Culture (CHC) classrooms. This paper reports on a case study of an expert teacher implementing a computer-supported knowledge-building approach in Hong Kong classrooms over a period of three years. The analyses indicated that the Chinese learners used seemingly contradictory approaches to make meaning, given the contextual dynamics. Similarly, the teacher did not merely adopt the Western model; he developed a transformed pedagogy integrating Chinese and Western approaches to scaffold student learning. The Chinese learners and Chinese teachers employed approaches that transcended the polarised categorisation of surface vs. deep, student-centred vs. teacher-centred, and didactic vs. constructivist approaches in the Chinese classroom. Implications for teaching and learning for Chinese learners in the changing educational contexts are discussed

Examining the growth of community knowledge in an online space

With theoretical advances conceptualizing learning as a social, distributed and collective process, there is a need to capture and assess community knowledge-knowledge as a social product that has an out-in-the-world existence and has value to a community. There has now been much progress in analyzing collaborative processes and interactions in CSCL, we propose extending the analyses including both collaborative processes and knowledge products. This paper explores the conceptual basis for examining community knowledge and reports on two specific tools for examining the growth of community knowledge: knowledge-building portfolios and inquiry threads analysis. We discuss design and research implications for integrating these two tools that may serve both purposes of assessing and scaffolding community knowledge building.postprin

Beliefs about learning and constructive strategies in text comprehension

This study investigated the roles of epistemological beliefs and constructive strategies in text comprehension among elementary-school children in Hong Kong. Specifically, three questions were addressed: (a) What characterized children s beliefs and did they vary with age, gender, and ability? (b) What strategies did children use when they learned from text and did these strategies vary with age, gender, and ability? And (c) Did beliefs contribute to text comprehension over and above the effects of age, ability, and strategy use? Eighty-two children, 40 grade-five and 42 grade-six, participated in the study. They were interviewed on their beliefs about learning and asked to think aloud to a scientific text passage. Several tasks including recall, summary, new learning, and questions were administered to assess their text comprehension. Qualitative analyses showed different beliefs ranging from reproductive to constructivist beliefs, and surface to deep text-processing strategies were identified. Quantitative analyses indicated that high achievers more often held constructivist beliefs and used deeper constructive strategies. Gender and age effects were not significant. Regression analyses indicated that constructivist beliefs contributed to text comprehension over and above the effects of age, achievement scores, and strategy use. Implications of examining children s beliefs about learning in strategy instruction are discussed.published_or_final_versio

Soil hydraulic properties of a Nitisol in Kabete, Kenya

Water relations are among the most important physical phenomena that affect the use of soils for agricultural, ecological, environmental, and engineering purposes. To formulate soil-water relationships, soil hydraulic properties are required as essential inputs. The most important hydraulic properties are the soil-water retention curve and the hydraulic conductivity. The objective of this study was to determine the soil hydraulic properties of a Nitisol, at Kabete Campus Field Station. Use of an internal drainage procedure to characterize the hydraulic properties and soil and water retention curves allowed for the establishment of the moisture and matric potential at field capacity and permanent wilting point. The Bt2 (84 -115) and Bt3 (115 - 143 cm) had the highest clay contents of 619 compared to Ap, AB and Bt1 horizons. The PWP was attained at soil moisture contents of 0.223, 0.284, 0277, 0.307 and 0.314 m3m-3 in the Ap, AB, Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons, respectively. Horizontal saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) was high at 6.0 cm hr-1 in Ap horizon and decreased to 0.4 cm hr-1 in the subsurface horizon (Bt3). Ksat in the vertical direction was higher than horizontal and ranged from 8.3 cm hr-1 in surface layer to 0.6 cm hr-1 in Bt3 horizon, with exception of Bt1 and Bt2 where horizontal Ksat was greater than vertical. The Ap horizon also had the highest crop extractable water. Though the AB and Bt1 had the same water content at low matric suction, the variation was very wide as the SWRC approached saturation point. Bt1 and Bt2 also had similar water contents at suction range of – 7kPa after which Bt1, tended towards Bt3. Bt3 had the narrowest range of crop extractable water and thus was attributed to texture. The Bt3 retained the most amount of water at 0.314 m3m-3concluding that θPWP increased with depth. The total available water capacity between FC and PWP in the profile was 79.2 mm m-1. The study observed that the field capacity, crop available water contents and hydraulic conductivities were influenced positively by soil organic matter. The Van Genuchten parameters of air entry value (α) and pore size distribution (n) indicated that pore size distribution was not even in the AP and AB horizons. The field capacity was attained at higher matric potential at -5kPa for Bt1 while Bt2 and AP, AB, Bt2 and Bt3 was at -10kPa.The functional relationship, K(θ) = aθb that deals with water redistribution as a result of soil hydraulic properties and evaporative demand of the atmosphere was highly correlated to soil moisture content and texture with R2 values > 0.85

Initial use of knowledge forum for Chinese students: Productive discourse and knowledge building

published_or_final_versionCentre for Information Technology in Education, University of Hong Kon