Mapping Children's Discussions of Evidence in Science to Assess Collaboration and Argumentation

The research reported in this paper concerns the development of children's skills of interpreting and evaluating evidence in science. Previous studies have shown that school teaching often places limited emphasis on the development of these skills, which are necessary for children to engage in scientific debate and decision-making. The research, undertaken in the UK, involved four collaborative decision-making activities to stimulate group discussion, each was carried out with five groups of four children (10-11 years old). The research shows how the children evaluated evidence for possible choices and judged whether their evidence was sufficient to support a particular conclusion or the rejection of alternative conclusions. A mapping technique was developed to analyse the discussions and identify different "levels" of argumentation. The authors conclude that suitable collaborative activities that focus on the discussion of evidence can be developed to exercise children's ability to argue effectively in making decisions

Developing an Interactive Tabletop Mediated Activity to Induce Collaboration by Implementing Design Considerations Based on Cooperative Learning Principles

Constructive collaboration can be a difficult matter. For this reason, we are implementing and studying an interactive-tabletop-mediated activity that aims at inducing collaboration among participants. The resulting activity ‘Orbitia’ is designed as a serious game. Participants are asked to act as a space- mining crew, which has to collect minerals with a rover and rely on a camera- drone for reconnaissance, while keeping the rover out of harm and managing limited resources. In this paper we provide an account of how we designed Orbitia’s pedagogical structuring by relying on the Johnsons’ cooperative learning approach whose fundamental concept is “positive interdependence”. More particularly, we show how we worked on resource, role and task inter- dependence to design three collaboration-inducing ‘flagship’ devices: the rover- steering-device (RSD), the item-locating-device (ILD) and the responsibility- activating-device (RAD)

Closing the theory-practice gap: Physical education students' use of jigsaw learning in a secondary school

Recognising that the theory–practice gap remains problematic in the preparation of physical education (PE) teachers, this study sought to explore three undergraduate students use of jigsaw learning teaching gymnastics during a secondary school placement. Specifically, the research attempted to identify those issues that arose using this learning strategy and consider how these issues might be effectively addressed prior to and during the placement. Utilising an action research design, qualitative data are reported from reflective journals, critical friend observations and pupil comment cards. Findings illustrated that the pupils’ limited practical ability, their minimal teaching capabilities and their problematic social relationships impacted on the students’ use of jigsaw learning. To help close the theory–practice gap it is recommended that university staff, students and supervising teachers consider pupils holistic development in the construction of ‘home’ groups; ensure students are able to teach social skills competently; confirm that students are able to prepare suitable learning resources and, if necessary, consider the use of other learning strategies during secondary school placements