1,200 research outputs found
Knowledge building and vocabulary growth over two years, Grades 3 and 4
High-level literacy and productive knowledge work are central to educational reforms. In the research reported in this article, students were engaged in sustained, collaborative knowledge building in science and social studies. The vocabulary growth of 22 students over Grades 3 and 4 was traced, based on their entries to Knowledge Forumâa knowledge building environment used as an integral part of classroom work. It is the communal space where ideas, reference material, results of experiments, and other inquiry work are entered and continually improved. Analysis of lexical frequency profiles indicated significant growth in productive written vocabulary, including academic words. In a Grade 4 inquiry, students incorporated almost all the domain-specific terms at and below their current grade level, and most of those expected for upper grade levels (5-8) based on the curriculum guidelines. Domain-specific and academic words were correlated with depth of understanding. High correlations between student engagement in knowledge building and vocabulary growth suggest that productive vocabulary can be developed through sustained knowledge building in subject areas
Developing Deep Understanding and Literacy while Addressing a Gender-Based Literacy Gap
Online discourse from a class of 22 students (11 boys and 11 girls) was analysed to assess advances in conceptual understanding and literacy. The students worked over a two-Ââyear period (Grades 3-Ââ4), during which they contributed notes to an online Knowledge Building environmentâKnowledge ForumÂź. Contributions revealed that both boys and girls produced a substantial amount of text and graphics, and that their written texts incorporated an increasing proportion of less-Ââfrequent, advanced words, including academic vocabulary and domain-Ââspecific words from grade levels higher than their own. Brief accounts of classroom discourse indicate how deep understanding and vocabulary growth mutually support each other in online and offline exchanges. The gender differences that were observed show boys doing slightly better than girls, suggesting that Knowledge Building has the potential to help boys overcome weaknesses in literacy
Knowledge Society Network: Toward a dynamic, sustained network for building knowledge
The Knowledge Society Network (KSN) âtakes advantage of new knowledge media to maximize and democratize societyâs knowledge-Ââcreating capacityâ (www.ikit.org/KSN). This article synthesizes the principles and designs of this network which were initiated over 15 years ago, and presents an exploratory study of interactions in the KSN over four years, elaborating different network structures and the potential of each for knowledge advancement. Four major sub-Âânetwork structures for participant and idea interaction are described, as reflected in social network analysis of discourse in the KSN. Strengths and weaknesses of work within each sub-Âânetwork were identified with suggestions for creating a more dynamic, sustained network for knowledge advancement
Early Development of Graphical Literacy through Knowledge Building
This study examined growth in graphical literacy for students contributing to an online, multimedia, communal environment as they advanced their understanding of biology, history and optics. Their science and history studies started early in Grade 3 and continued to the end of Grade 4; students did not receive instruction in graphics production, nor were they required to produce graphics. Results show that students spontaneously produced graphics that advanced along seven dimensions, including effective representation of complex ideas, use of source information and captions, and aesthetic quality. On average, the scores for the seven dimensions were higher for Grade 4 students with two years of experience with Knowledge Building pedagogy and technology (Knowledge ForumÂź) than for Grade 6 students with one year of experience. The overall pattern of results suggests reciprocal enhancement of graphical, textual, digital, and scientific literacy, with students exceeding expectations by available norms, and performance enhanced through extended Knowledge Building experience
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Complicit or implicit? : the role of examiner bias in the over-identification of African American boys as emotionally disturbed
Despite decades of diversity focused training, African American boys are identified for special education at disproportionate rates, particularly in the disability category of Emotional Disturbance (ED). While challenges associated with poverty partially account for the over-representation, research has failed to establish a consistent relationship between poverty and special education identification. A growing volume of literature investigating the nuanced role of implicit bias in decision making has found bias to be particularly salient when criteria are ambiguous. Criteria for ED were not scientifically defined and are highly subjective. This study examined the role of implicit bias in examiner decision making when considering the eligibility of Emotional Disturbance for Caucasian and African American boys.
Participants included currently practicing Licensed Specialists in School Psychology and School Psychology graduate students in Texas. Participants reviewed a mock evaluation report and made an eligibility decision in addition to rating the severity of ED. Participants then completed a survey, provided demographic information, and completed an Implicit Association Test, a measure of implicit bias. First, logistic regression and analysis of variance determined if an over-representation occurred in the collected sample by examining the rates at which boys from each race and SES category were identified as ED. Next, analysis of variance and linear regression determined if the level of examiner bias predicted the likelihood that the examiner identified the child as ED. Finally, post-hoc analyses provide additional information about the influence of pressure to provide services.
Results did not support the hypotheses that African American boys and boys from a low SES family would be identified as ED at disproportionate rates. Further, examiners who demonstrated moderate to high levels of bias did not identify African American boys more frequently than Caucasian boys. Unexpectedly, examiners with moderate to high levels of bias were significantly less likely to identify ED for any student regardless of race. Post-hoc analyses found marked inconsistency in the application of ED criteria. Additionally, the examiners who reported feeling pressure from the knowledge that support services are dependent on a finding of ED were more likely to find ED and to rate the severity as higher.Educational Psycholog
Knowledge-telling as a model for beginning writers to write instructions
Das Wissen-Wiedergeben-Modell versucht, allgemein zu beobachtende FĂ€higkeiten und Grenzen von ungeĂŒbten Schreibern zu erklĂ€ren . Das Modell begrenzt in hohem MaĂ die EinfluĂmöglichkeiten von ziel- und leserorientierten Ăberlegungen auf den SchreibprozeĂ. Als Hypothese wird angenommen, daĂ bei SchreibanfĂ€ngern solche Ăberlegungen die Ausdauer bei der Erzeugung von Inhalt beeinflussen; bei Ă€lteren SchĂŒlern werden sie vielleicht in Testkriterien umgesetzt, welche ungeeignete Inhalte aussondern. In einem Experiment mit 151 SchĂŒlern der Klassenstufen 4-11 werden die Effekte einer Sensibilisierung des Schreibers fĂŒr potentielle Probleme eines Lesers untersucht. Den SchĂŒlern wird ein neues Spiel beigebracht, welches sie nun selbst wieder â in schriftlicher Form â anderen SchĂŒlern vermitteln sollen. Den SchĂŒlern der Experimentalgruppen wird zusĂ€tzlich ein Videofilm vor gefĂŒhrt, der MiĂverstĂ€ndnisse zeigt, die sich aus unzureichenden Spielanweisungen ergeben. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse stimmen mit dem Wissen-Wiedergeben-Modell ĂŒberein. (DIPF/Orig.)The knowledge-telling model attempts to explain commonly observed capabilities and limitations of immature writers. The model designates very limited ways in which goal and audience considerations can enter into the composing process. In beginning writers such concerns are hypothesized to influence persistence in content generation; in older Students they may be translated into test criteria, which exclude inappropriate material. An experiment involving 151 Students in grades 4 to 11 tested the effects of sensitizing writers to potential audience problems. Students were instructed in playing a novel game. Experimental group Students additionally viewed a videotape showing confusions arising from inadequate instructions for the game. Results were consistent with the knowledge-telling model
Sustaining Knowledge Building as a Principle-Based Innovation at an Elementary School
This study explores Knowledge Building as a principle-based innovation at an elementary school and makes a case for a principle- versus procedure-based approach to educational innovation, supported by new knowledge media. Thirty-nine Knowledge Building initiatives, each focused on a curriculum theme and facilitated by nine teachers over eight years, were analyzed using measures of student discourse in a Knowledge Building environment--Knowledge Forum. Results were analyzed from the perspective of student, teacher, and principal engagement to identify conditions for Knowledge Building as a school-wide innovation. Analyses of student discourse showed interactive and complementary contributions to a community knowledge space, conceptual content of growing scope and depth, and collective responsibility for knowledge advancement. Analyses of teacher and principal engagement showed supportive conditions such as shared vision; trust in student competencies to the point of enabling transfer of agency for knowledge advancement to students; ever-deepening understanding of Knowledge Building principles; knowledge emergent through collective responsibility; a coherent systems perspective; teacher professional Knowledge Building communities; and leadership supportive of innovation at all levels. More substantial advances for students were related to years of teachersâ experience in this progressive knowledge-advancing enterprise
Fostering collaborative knowledge construction with visualization tools
This study investigates to what extent collaborative knowledge construction can be fostered by providing students with visualization tools as structural support. Thirty-two students of Educational Psychology took part in the study. The students were subdivided into dyads and asked to solve a case problem of their learning domain under one of two conditions: 1) with content-specific visualization 2) with content-unspecific visualization. Results show that by being provided with a content-specific visualization tool, both the process and the outcome of the cooperative effort improved. More specifically, dyads under that condition referred to more adequate concepts, risked more conflicts, and were more successful in integrating prior knowledge into the collaborative solution. Moreover, those learning partners had a more similar individual learning outcome
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