Metacognitive scaffolding during collaborative learning: a promising combination

This article explores the effect of computerized scaffolding with different scaffolds (structuring vs. problematizing) on intra-group metacognitive interaction. In this study, we investigate 4 types of intra-group social metacognitive activities; namely ignored, accepted, shared and co-constructed metacognitive activities in 18 triads (6 control groups; no scaffolds and 12 experimental groups; 6 structuring scaffolds and 6 problematizing scaffolds).We found that groups receiving scaffolding showed significantly more intra-group interactions in which the group members co-construct social metacognitive activities. Groups receiving problematizing scaffolds showed significantly less ignored and more co-constructed social metacognitive interaction compared to groups receiving structuring scaffolds. These findings indicate that scaffolding positively influenced the group members’ intra-group social metacognitive interaction. We also found a significant relation between students’ participation in intra-group social metacognitive interaction and students’ metacognitive knowledge. Twelve percent of the variance in students’ metacognitive knowledge was explained by their participation in intra-group shared social metacognitive interaction. Therefore, future research should consider how to design scaffolds that elicit intra-group social metacognitive interaction among group members to enhance the development of students’ metacognitive knowledge

Geschiedenis, erfgoed en didactiek

In de media klinkt de roep om meer onderwijs over het verleden en het erfgoed van Nederland, om meer feitenkennis en aandacht voor chronologie. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat het op een betekenisvolle manier leren van historische feiten complexer is dan politici en beleidsmakers vaak denken. Vanuit de wetenschap weten we dat 'het' geschiedenisverhaal van Nederland niet bestaat. Het bereidt leerlingen bovendien onvoldoende voor op de moderne samenleving. In deze rede pleit Van Boxtel voor een chronologisch referentiekader dat ruimte biedt aan verschillende soorten geschiedenis en perspectieven. Het leren van historische feiten en ook het beleven van erfgoed moet samengaan met aandacht voor historisch leren denken en redeneren. Vanuit de bijzondere leerstoel Historische Cultuur en Educatie wordt onderzoek gedaan naar de vraag hoe geschiedenisonderwijs en erfgoededucatie in een globaliserende samenleving kunnen bijdragen aan gedeelde historische kennis die recht doet aan meerdere perspectieven

Student Questioning:what does questioning reveal about prior knowledge, historical reasoning and affect?

Students ask historical questions when they are engaged in historical reasoning and trying to understand a particular historical phenomenon. Student questioning can be regarded as the engine and a destination of historical reasoning. This study is aimed at deeper insight into thinking processes underlying students’ historical questions using a general model of questioning and a domain-specific model of historical reasoning. Thirty-three secondary school students were instructed to read a text and underline striking text segments. At the point of underlining, students were asked to verbalize their thoughts. In our protocol analysis we focused on the questions students spontaneously asked while verbalizing their prior knowledge, reasoning, and feelings. It appeared that in half of the 251 analyzed fragments (episodes) students verbalized an extent of historical reasoning and expressed feelings. Questions were mostly asked when students expressed a knowledge deficit, but spontaneous questions were also present in episodes with historical reasoning and episodes with affective responses. All components, activating prior knowledge, realizing a knowledge deficit, historical reasoning and experiencing affective thoughts, help students to ask their questions and help them to process the introduction into a historical topic

Testing elementary and secondary school students’ ability to perform historical perspective taking: the constructing of valid and reliable measure instruments

Historical reasoning competencies play an important role in history education. However, valid and reliable large-scale measurement instruments to assess these competencies are scarce. This study considers two instruments for measuring students’ ability to perform historical perspective taking (HPT) as a historical reasoning competency. The instruments have been tested for validity and reliability among 1,270 Dutch upper elementary and secondary school students, ranging in age from 10 to 17 years. One instrument offers effective validity and reliability and can map HPT performance among a large and heterogeneous student population. The results show that even upper elementary school students are capable of performing HPT. However, as students age, their ability to perform HPT increases. Differences regarding the ability to perform HPT were also found between educational levels. Pre-university students performed HPT more successfully compared to students at lower educational levels. The results of this study can be used to gain insight into the construct of HPT and into how historical reasoning competencies such as HPT can be measured. Furthermore, the results provide insight into how differences between students, such as age and educational levels, influence the performance of HPT

Teaching Historical Contextualization:The Construction of a Reliable Observation Instrument

Since the 1970s, many observation instruments have been constructed to map teachers’ general pedagogic competencies. However, few of these instruments focus on teachers’ subject-specific competencies. This study presents the development of the Framework for Analyzing the Teaching of Historical Contextualization (FAT-HC). This high-inference observation instrument focuses on history teachers’ competency in promoting historical contextualization in classrooms. The results of the study demonstrate the instrument’s content validity. Generalizability studies were conducted to further assess the instrument’s dimensionality and reliability by decomposing the instrument’s variance. A large proportion of the variance was explained by differences between observed teachers, and a small proportion of the variance was explained by lessons and observers, demonstrating the instrument’s reliability. Furthermore, a decision study was conducted to determine the optimal number of observers and lessons needed for a reliable scoring design. The developed instrument could be used to gain greater insight into history teachers’ subject-specific competencies and to focus teacher professionalization on teachers’ specific needs

Promoting historical contextualization: the development and testing of a pedagogy

The aim of this explorative study was to develop and test a pedagogy aimed at promoting students’ ability to perform historical contextualization. Teaching historical contextualization was conceptualized in terms of four pedagogical design principles: (1) making students aware of the consequences of a present-oriented perspective when examining the past, (2) enhancing the reconstruction of a historical context, (3) enhancing the use of the historical context to explain historical phenomena and (4) enhancing historical empathy. The effectiveness of these principles was explored in a lesson unit focusing on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design with experimental and control conditions, the effects of the pedagogy on 15- and 16-year-old students’ ability to perform historical contextualization were examined (n = 131). The results indicated that students in the experimental condition significantly improved their ability to perform historical contextualization compared to students in the control condition. These findings could be used to help teachers and other educational professionals design and implement historical contextualization tasks and instructions

Students’ historical contextualization and the cold war

This exploratory study presents an example of how a historical contextualization framework can be used to develop and implement a lesson unit on Cold War events. The effects of the lesson unit on students’ ability to perform historical contextualization are explored in a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design with an experimental (n = 96) and a control (n = 73) condition. The students’ answers on a historical contextualization test were analysed. The results indicate that students in the experimental condition increased their ability to perform historical contextualization and displayed less present-oriented perspectives in their answers compared to students in the control condition

Exposure-toxicity relationship of cabozantinib in patients with renal cell cancer and salivary gland cancer

Cabozantinib is registered in fixed 60 mg dose. However, 46% to 62% of patients in the registration studies needed a dose reduction due to toxicity. Improved clinical efficacy has been observed in renal cell carcinoma patients (RCC) with a cabozantinib exposure greater than 750 μg/L. In our study we explored the cabozantinib exposure in patients with different tumour types. We included RCC patients from routine care and salivary gland carcinoma (SGC) patients from a phase II study with ≥1 measured C min at steady-state. The geometric mean (GM) C min at the starting dose, at 40 mg and at best tolerated dose (BTD) were compared between both tumour types. Forty-seven patients were included. All SGC patients (n = 22) started with 60 mg, while 52% of RCC patients started with 40 mg. GM C min at the start dose was 1456 μg/L (95% CI: 1185-1789) vs 682 μg/L (95% CI: 572-812) (P <.001) for SGC and RCC patients, respectively. When dose-normalised to 40 mg, SGC patients had a significantly higher cabozantinib exposure compared to RCC patients (C min 971 μg/L [95% CI: 790-1193] vs 669 μg/L [95% CI: 568-788]) (P =.005). Dose reductions due to toxicity were needed in 91% and 60% of SGC and RCC patients, respectively. Median BTD was between 20 to 30 mg for SGC and 40 mg for RCC patients. GM C min at BTD were comparable between the SGC and the RCC group, 694 μg/L (95% CI: 584-824) vs 583 μg/L (95% CI: 496-671) (P =.1). The observed cabozantinib exposure at BTD of approximately 600 μg/L is below the previously proposed target. Surprisingly, a comparable exposure at BTD was reached at different dosages of cabozantinib for SGC patients compared to RCC patients Further research is warranted to identify the optimal exposure and starting dose to balance efficacy and toxicity

Excessive toxicity of cabozantinib in a phase II study in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic salivary gland cancer

AIM: Because the tyrosine kinases c-MET and vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR) are often overexpressed in salivary gland cancer (SGC), this study evaluated the efficacy and safety of cabozantinib in patients with recurrent/metastatic (R/M) SGC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A single-centre phase II study was conducted. Patients with immunohistochemical c-MET-positive R/M SGC were included in three cohorts: adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC); salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) and other miscellaneous SGCs. No prior systemic treatments were required. Patients started cabozantinib 60 mg once daily. The primary outcome was the objective response rate (ORR). Secondary outcomes included survival, safety and quality of life. Per Simon-two-stage design, depending on efficacy, a maximum of 43 patients would be included. RESULTS: In total, 25 patients were included until premature closure owing to severe toxicity. Six patients (24%) had grade 3-5 wound complications, occurring at a median of 7.1 months on cabozantinib treatment (range 2.1-12.6). Remarkably, four of these six patients developed this complication in the area prior exposed to high-dose radiotherapy. Other grade ≥3 adverse events in >1 patient were hypertension (20%), diarrhoea (8%) and dehydration (8%). Twenty-one patients were evaluable for response; 1/15 ACC (ORR: 7%); 1/4 SDC and 0/2 patients with other miscellaneous SGC responded. Median progression-free survival was 9.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.4-11.4 months), 7.2 months (95%CI 0.0-15.1) and 6.9 months (95%CI 0.0-15.1), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study showed too many severe cabozantinib-associated wound complications in patients with SGC, especially in prior irradiated areas. Therefore, the study closed prematurely. The efficacy in the limited number of evaluable patients was low to moderate. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03729297