378 research outputs found
Internal and external scripts in computer-supported collaborative inquiry learning
We investigated how differently structured external scripts interact with learners’ internal scripts concerning individual knowledge acquisition in a Web-based collaborative inquiry learning environment. 90 students from two secondary schools participated. Two versions of an external collaboration script (high vs. low structured) supporting collaborative argumentation were embedded within a Web-based collaborative inquiry learning environment. Students’ internal scripts were classified as either high or low structured, establishing a 2x2-factorial design. Results suggest that the high structured external collaboration script supported the acquisition of domain-general knowledge of all learners regardless of their internal scripts. Learners’ internal scripts influenced the acquisition of domain-specific knowledge. Results are discussed concerning their theoretical relevance and practical implications for Web-based inquiry learning with collaboration scripts
CKBiology: An Active Learning Curriculum Design for Secondary Biology
This research paper presents the design of an active learning curriculum and corresponding software environment called CKBiology, reporting on its implementation in two sections of a Grade 12 Biology course across three design cycles. Guided by a theoretical framework called Knowledge Community and Inquiry (KCI), we employed a design-based research methodology in which we worked closely with a high school biology teacher and team of technology developers to co-design, build, test, implement, and revise this curriculum within a blended learning context. We first present the results of a needs assessment and baseline analysis in which we identify the design constraints and challenges associated with infusing a “traditional” Grade 12 Biology course with a KCI curriculum. Next, we present the design narrative for CKBiology in which we respond to these constraints and challenges, detailing the activity sequences, pedagogical aspects, and technology elements used across three design iterations. Finally, we provide a qualitative analysis of student and teacher perspectives on aspects of the design, including activity elements as well as the CKBiology interface. Findings from this analysis are synthesized into design principles which may serve the wider community of active learning researchers and practitioners
A principled approach to the design of collaborative MOOC curricula
MOOCs have the potential to benefit from the large number of very diverse learners that participate in courses, but this requires a principled approach to MOOC curriculum development. Courses need to take into consideration the diversity of learner experience and intentions, and incorporate scripts that both benefit from the large numbers of learners (crowd-sourcing), as well as enabling small-scale intense collaboration. The real challenge is tying together a set of learning activities and the development of a community knowledge base, with the specific curriculum learning goals of the course. This paper offers a pragmatic approach to developing courses, based on the experience of a MOOC for teacher professional development
Strangeness counting in high energy collisions
The estimates of overall strange quark production in high energy e+e-, pp and
ppbar collisions by using the statistical-thermal model of hadronisation are
presented and compared with previous works. The parametrization of strangeness
suppression within the model is discussed. Interesting regularities emerge in
the strange/non-strange produced quark ratio which turns out to be fairly
constant in elementary collisions while it is twice as large in SPS heavy ion
collision.Comment: talk given at Strangeness in Quark Matter 98, submitted to J. Phys.
Status of Chemical Equilibrium in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions
Recent work on chemical equilibrium in heavy ion collisions is reviewed. The
energy dependence of thermal parameters is discussed. The centrality dependence
of thermal parameters at SPS energies is presented.Comment: 7 pages, 7 Postscript figure
S-COL: A Copernican turn for the development of flexibly reusable collaboration scripts
Collaboration scripts are usually implemented as parts of a particular collaborative-learning platform. Therefore, scripts of demonstrated effectiveness are hardly used with learning platforms at other sites, and replication studies are rare. The approach of a platform-independent description language for scripts that allows for easy implementation of the same script on different platforms has not succeeded yet in making the transfer of scripts feasible. We present an alternative solution that treats the problem as a special case of providing support on top of diverse Web pages: In this case, the challenge is to trigger support based on the recognition of a Web page as belonging to a specific type of functionally equivalent pages such as the search query form or the results page of a search engine. The solution suggested has been implemented by means of a tool called S-COL (Scripting for Collaborative Online Learning) and allows for the sustainable development of scripts and scaffolds that can be used with a broad variety of content and platforms. The tool’s functions are described. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and ease of script reuse with S-COL, we describe the flexible re-implementation of a collaboration script for argumentation in S-COL and its adaptation to different learning platforms. To demonstrate that a collaboration script implemented in S-COL can actually foster learning, an empirical study about the effects of a specific script for collaborative online search on learning activities is presented. The further potentials and the limitations of the S-COL approach are discussed
Contextualizing the co-creation of artefacts within the nested social structure of a collaborative MOOC
MOOCs have traditionally been seen as providing an individual learning experience, however there is an increasing trend towards enabling social learning in MOOCs. To make online learning at scale more social and collaborative, some MOOCs have introduced cohorts. The interaction between a smaller number of learners, within a cohort, facilitates a richer exchange of experiences and ideas as compared to the effect of “drinking from the fire hose” felt in MOOCs without cohorts. Traditionally, these cohorts have been formed randomly. In this paper, we examine the MOOC “Inquiry and Technology for Teachers”, where we formed cohorts based on student demographics relevant to our course design. Furthermore, these cohorts (which we called Special Interest Groups, SIGs) contained a nested social structure of small teams that worked together on co-creating a final artifact. The different social planes (whole course, SIGs, teams, and individuals) were linked together by pedagogical scripts that orchestrated the movement of ideas and artifacts vertically and horizontally. In this contribution, we analyzed the interaction between these social planes to contextualize the co-creation of artefacts
Using conceptual metaphor and functional grammar to explore how language used in physics affects student learning
This paper introduces a theory about the role of language in learning
physics. The theory is developed in the context of physics students' and
physicists' talking and writing about the subject of quantum mechanics. We
found that physicists' language encodes different varieties of analogical
models through the use of grammar and conceptual metaphor. We hypothesize that
students categorize concepts into ontological categories based on the
grammatical structure of physicists' language. We also hypothesize that
students over-extend and misapply conceptual metaphors in physicists' speech
and writing. Using our theory, we will show how, in some cases, we can explain
student difficulties in quantum mechanics as difficulties with language.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. ST:PE
Strange Messages: Chemical and Thermal Freeze-out in Nuclear Collisions
Thermal models are commonly used to interpret heavy-ion data on particle
yields and spectra and to extract the conditions of chemical and thermal
freeze-out in heavy-ion collisions. I discuss the usefulness and limitations of
such thermal model analyses and review the experimental and theoretical
evidence for thermalization in nuclear collisions. The crucial role of
correlating strangeness production data with single particle spectra and
two-particle correlation measurements is pointed out. A consistent dynamical
picture for the heavy-ion data from the CERN SPS involves an initial
prehadronic stage with deconfined color and with an appreciable isotropic
pressure component. This requires an early onset of thermalization.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, talk given at Strange Quark Matter '98, Padova,
Italy, 20-24 July 1998, to be published in J. Phys. G 25; final version with
updated reference
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