The role of collaborative argumentation in future teachers' selection of online information

(Future) teachers should acquire skills in sourcing science-related information online, so they can use evidence appropriately in their pedagogical practice. To successfully use such evidence, it is vital that teachers critically question their selection of online information. Based on findings from collaborative learning, we hypothesized that collaboration promotes teachers' critical elaboration of their selection of online educational information. Additionally, collaboration allows for social comparison and may thus impact teachers' self-efficacy in seeking information. In a 2 × 2 mixed-design study with the between-participants factor reasoning (individual vs. collaborative) and the within-participants factor self-reported information seeking self-efficacy (pre vs. post the reasoning task), each of N = 83 future teachers individually sought online information regarding the educational use of mobile phones in classrooms. This constituted a realistic search on the Internet, in a natural setting. Based on each participant's particular search, s / he was asked to select the online sources that s / he perceived relevant for reasoning whether mobile phones should be used in class. To foster reflection on how they selected information, participants were asked either to reason individually (individual group, n = 33) or to chat collaboratively (collaboration group, n = 50 in 25 dyads) about their selections. Participants in both groups reported higher information seeking self-efficacy after the reasoning task. Yet participants who collaboratively reflected on their selections more frequently showed elaborated reasoning behavior, than did participants in the individual group. Nonetheless, participants in both groups referred to certain criteria that guided their selection (i. e., criteria related to the information, the provider of information, or media) with the same frequency. Considering the potential benefits and challenges of collaboration, we discuss the findings in terms of how to promote future teachers' ability to critically reflect on their selection of online educational information.(Zukünftige) Lehrkräfte sollten ihre pädagogische Praxis auch auf der Basis von bildungswissenschaftlichen Evidenzen begründen. Dazu müssen sie Fähigkeiten erwerben, wie sie angemessen wissenschaftsbezogene Online-Informationen recherchieren können. Um Evidenzen aus Online-Informationen sinnvoll nutzen zu können, ist es wichtig, die Auswahl von Online-Informationen kritisch zu hinterfragen. Basierend auf Forschungsarbeiten zum kollaborativen Lernen wurde angenommen, dass Kollaboration eine kritisch-reflektierte Auseinandersetzung mit der Auswahl von Online-Informationen fördern kann. Zusätzlich bietet die Kollaboration die Möglichkeit zum sozialen Vergleich mit anderen und kann daher die erlebte Selbstwirksamkeit der Lehrkräfte beim Suchen nach Informationen beeinflussen. In einem 2 × 2 Mixed-Design mit dem Zwischensubjektfaktor Erörterung (individuell vs. kollaborativ) und dem Innersubjektfaktor selbstberichtete Selbstwirksamkeit bei der Suche nach Online-Informationen (Prä- vs. Post der Erörterung) suchten N = 83 Lehramtsstudierende individuell nach Online- Informationen zum Thema Handynutzung im Unterricht. Basierend auf ihren Rechercheergebnissen wählten sie diejenigen Webinhalte aus, die sie für eine Entscheidung für ihre didaktische Vorgehensweise als relevant einschätzten. Die Lehramtsstudierenden wurden dann gebeten entweder alleine (individuelle Gruppe, n = 33) oder gemeinsam im Chat mit einer weiteren Lehramtsstudierenden (kollaborative Gruppe, n = 50 in 25 Dyaden) zu erörtern, welche Kriterien die Auswahl ihrer Webinhalte leiteten. Im Anschluss berichteten die Lehramtsstudierenden beider Bedingungen eine höhere Selbstwirksamkeit in Bezug auf die Suche nach Online-Informationen. Die Lehramtsstudierenden, die sich kollaborativ austauschten, konnten ihre Auswahl jedoch argumentativ elaborierter begründen. Des Weiteren verwiesen die Lehramtsstudierenden beider Bedingungen ähnlich häufig auf die jeweiligen Kriterien, die sie für ihre Auswahl nutzten (d. h. Kriterien in Bezug auf die Informationen, die Autoren und Autorinnen, oder die Online-Medien). Die Rolle von Kollaboration bei der Beschaffung von bildungswissenschaftlichen Online-Informationen wird hinsichtlich der Förderung einer kompetenten und kritischen Reflexion über mögliche Vorgehensweisen diskutiert.Peer Reviewe

“You Are Not Alone”–Opportunities and Challenges for University Students’ Collaborative Engagement When Dealing With Online Information About COVID-19

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, students had to cope with the challenging situation of handling a vast amount of potentially conflicting online information while staying informed. Reading conflicting scientific information has been shown to require cognitive effort for one to integrate it successfully, but reading such information during a crisis–such as the COVID-19 pandemic–may cause additional emotional stress, as students also had to cope with critical aspects of the pandemic (e.g., physical distancing and uncertainty). Different studies have indicated that in crises, stress can be relieved by seeking online social support (as a coping strategy). Similarly, working together (as collaborative learning) can also help people more critically discuss information on a cognitive level. Based on the approaches of online collaborative learning and online social support seeking, we were interested in whether an individual vs. collaborative communication setting would lead to any differences in students’ cognitive as well as emotional engagement with conflicting information about COVID-19. In a 2 × 2 mixed design, N = 109 education science students were exposed to two conflicting texts regarding COVID-19 testing that contained current scientific information. The online experiment was conducted in Germany in April 2020, which was the beginning of lockdown in that country. After reading the two texts, participants were asked to reflect on their engagement with the conflicting information either individually (individual group, n = 49) or via chat collaboratively (collaboration group, n = 60 in 30 dyads). With respect to participants’ written reflections (content-analyzed regarding cognitive as well as emotional engagement), participants in the collaborative group, compared to those in the individual group, more often discussed the pandemic in general and less often engaged emotionally when discussing the evidence from texts. All participants reported higher perceived information overload, lower self-efficacy in sourcing information about COVID-19, and higher active coping strategies after the reflection task compared to before reading the information, with no significant differences between the collaborative and individual groups. We discuss these findings regarding any opportunities and challenges that arise in online collaboration between students for cognitive and emotional engagement when handling conflicting information about COVID-19.Peer Reviewe

Pre-service teachers’ search strategies when sourcing educational information on the Internet

Teachers need to be able to inform and justify their teaching practice based on available research knowledge. When searching for research knowledge, the Internet plays a crucial role as it allows teachers to search for and access evidence long after their own education at university. On the Internet, however, educational information can have varying levels of scientific groundedness (e.g., science articles or blogs from colleagues), and research indicates that (pre-service) teachers struggle to find, select, and evaluate online educational information. It is precisely for this reason that it is important to educate (pre-service) teachers on how to competently source online information. This study describes pre-service teachers’ search strategies when sourcing online educational information about the topic “students’ use of mobile phones in class.” It sheds light on their use of (1) basic or advanced search strategies and (2) the role of Internet-specific epistemological beliefs (ISEBs). N = 77 pre-service teachers conducted a realistic search on the Internet and selected those web items (WI) that they perceived relevant for justifying whether mobile phones should be used in class. Their sourcing behavior was screen-recorded and analyzed. Most selected WI were found via search engines of Google LLC (91.4%). Advanced search strategies were defined as (1) using two or more search engines (performed by 62.3% of participants), (2) adapting search terms and/or formulating new search terms (90.9%), (3) selecting at least one WI that was not listed among the first four ranks on the first search engine results page (54.7%), and (4) checking for the trustworthiness of the author/source (14.3%) or the quality of the content (13%). Binary logistic regressions were used to analyze the relationship between ISEBs and (1) search strategies and (2) science-relatedness of WI as dependent variables. The predictor ISEB did not contribute to the models, meaning that differences in participants’ ISEBs did not significantly relate to their search strategies nor to the science-relatedness of WI, all β ≤ |0.36|, Wald ≤ 0.64, p ≥ 0.43. The role of pre-service teachers’ search strategies is discussed with respect to teachers’ evidence-informed reasoning and its implications for teacher education.Peer Reviewe

A review of technologies for collaborative online information seeking: On the contribution of collaborative argumentation

In everyday life, people seek, evaluate, and use online sources to underpin opinions and make decisions. While education must promote the skills people need to critically question the sourcing of online information, it is important, more generally, to understand how to successfully promote the acquisition of any skills related to seeking online information. This review outlines technologies that aim to support users when they collaboratively seek online information. Upon integrating psychological–pedagogical approaches on trust in and the sourcing of online information, argumentation, and computer-supported collaborative learning, we reviewed the literature (N = 95 journal articles) on technologies for collaborative online information seeking. The technologies we identified either addressed collaborative online information seeking as an exclusive process for searching for online information or, alternatively, addressed online information seeking within the context of a more complex learning process. Our review was driven by three main research questions: We aimed to understand whether and how the studies considered 1) the role of trust and critical questioning in the sourcing of online information, 2) the learning processes at play when information seekers engage in collaborative argumentation, and 3) what affordances are offered by technologies that support users’ collaborative seeking of online information. The reviewed articles that focused exclusively on technologies for seeking online information primarily addressed aspects of cooperation (e.g., task management), whereas articles that focused on technologies for integrating the processes of information seeking into the entire learning processes instead highlighted aspects of collaborative argumentation (e.g., exchange of multiple perspectives and critical questioning in argumentation). Seven of the articles referred to trust as an aspect of seekers’ sourcing strategies. We emphasize how researchers’, users’, and technology developers’ consideration of collaborative argumentation could expand the benefits of technological support for seeking online information.Peer Reviewe

Kommunikation und E-Learning: Bedingungen, Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten und Qualitätssicherung beim Einsatz von Foren in der Hochschullehre

Aufbauend auf pädagogisch-psychologischen Hintergründen zum Lernen durch Kommunikation und aktuellen Forderungen zur Entwicklung von Medienkompetenz wird im Artikel der Einsatz von Foren in der Lehre aus theoretischer und praxisorientierter Perspektive betrachtet. Zunächst werden die Potentiale und Besonderheiten von Foren als asynchrones und schriftliches Kommunikationsformat anhand zentraler lernpsychologischer Theorien und Befunde herausgestellt. Dann werden didaktische Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung einer regelmäßigen Partizipation sowie lernförderlichen transaktiven Kommunikation vorgestellt. Der Fokus wird auf die Rolle von Moderationsprozessen durch Lehrende und Peers sowie auf Möglichkeiten des Einsatzes von Kooperationsskripts als instruktionale Strukturierungshilfe für Argumentations- und Austauschprozesse gelegt. Auf dieser Grundlage werden konkrete didaktische Szenarien und deren Umsetzung im virtuellen Raum abgeleitet und veranschaulicht. Im Anschluss werden Vorschläge gemacht, wie die Wirksamkeit der vorgestellten Maßnahmen anhand von Indikatoren für Partizipation und Lern- und Kompetenzerwerb überprüft und gesichert werden kann. Abschließend werden Implikationen für die praktische Umsetzung und zukünftige Forschungsvorhaben diskutiert.Based on educational-psychological backgrounds on learning through communication and current requirements regarding the development of media skills this article examines the use of online forums in academic teaching from a theoretical and a practical perspective. First, the potential and the specific characteristics of asynchronous and text-based communication in forums are outlined. Then, didactical methods to support frequent participation and transactive communication are introduced. The main focus lays on the role of moderation processes by university teachers or peers as well as on the potentials of using cooperation scripts as instructional guidance for argumentation and exchange processes. Against this background concrete didactic scenarios as well as recommendations on how they might be realized in virtual environments are deduced and illustrated. Subsequently, suggestions are made on how the effectiveness and quality of these approaches can be proved and secured by using the indicators of participation and knowledge and skill acquisition. Finally, practical implications and future research perspectives are discussed

Constraints and Affordances of Online Engagement With Scientific Information—A Literature Review

Many urgent problems that societies currently face—from climate change to a global pandemic—require citizens to engage with scientific information as members of democratic societies as well as to solve problems in their personal lives. Most often, to solve their epistemic aims (aims directed at achieving knowledge and understanding) regarding such socio-scientific issues, individuals search for information online, where there exists a multitude of possibly relevant and highly interconnected sources of different perspectives, sometimes providing conflicting information. The paper provides a review of the literature aimed at identifying (a) constraints and affordances that scientific knowledge and the online information environment entail and (b) individuals\u27 cognitive and motivational processes that have been found to hinder, or conversely, support practices of engagement (such as critical information evaluation or two-sided dialogue). Doing this, a conceptual framework for understanding and fostering what we call online engagement with scientific information is introduced, which is conceived as consisting of individual engagement (engaging on one\u27s own in the search, selection, evaluation, and integration of information) and dialogic engagement (engaging in discourse with others to interpret, articulate and critically examine scientific information). In turn, this paper identifies individual and contextual conditions for individuals\u27 goal-directed and effortful online engagement with scientific information

Constraints and Affordances of Online Engagement With Scientific Information - A Literature Review

Many urgent problems that societies currently face—from climate change to a global pandemic—require citizens to engage with scientific information as members of democratic societies as well as to solve problems in their personal lives. Most often, to solve their epistemic aims (aims directed at achieving knowledge and understanding) regarding such socio-scientific issues, individuals search for information online, where there exists a multitude of possibly relevant and highly interconnected sources of different perspectives, sometimes providing conflicting information. The paper provides a review of the literature aimed at identifying (a) constraints and affordances that scientific knowledge and the online information environment entail and (b) individuals' cognitive and motivational processes that have been found to hinder, or conversely, support practices of engagement (such as critical information evaluation or two-sided dialogue). Doing this, a conceptual framework for understanding and fostering what we call online engagement with scientific information is introduced, which is conceived as consisting of individual engagement (engaging on one's own in the search, selection, evaluation, and integration of information) and dialogic engagement (engaging in discourse with others to interpret, articulate and critically examine scientific information). In turn, this paper identifies individual and contextual conditions for individuals' goal-directed and effortful online engagement with scientific information