10th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR RESEARCH ON

Transcription

10th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR RESEARCH ON
LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION
Biennial meeting
Padova, Italy
August 26-30, 2003
ABSTRACTS
Edited by
Lucia Mason, Silvia Andreuzza, Barbara Arfè and Laura Del Favero
This book provides abstracts of paper, symposium, panel, round table, CIT, and
poster presentations.
Abstracts are in chronological order by slot numbers or dates.
A list of participants’ e-mail address is included.
European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction
10th Biennial Meeting
August 26-30, 2003, Padova, Italy
July 2003
© CLEUP
Cooperativa Libraria Editrice Università di Padova
Via G. Belzoni, 118/3, Padova, Italy
Tel.: 049 650261
www.cleup.it
ISBN 88-7178-975-X
Do it 100%
–2–
CONTENTS
B 9 ................................................. 110
B 10 ............................................... 114
B 11 ............................................... 116
B 12 ............................................... 119
B 13 ............................................... 122
B 14 ............................................... 124
B 15 ............................................... 128
B 16 ............................................... 130
B 17 ............................................... 132
B 18 ............................................... 134
B 19 ............................................... 137
B 20 ............................................... 140
B 21 ............................................... 142
B 22 ............................................... 145
B 23 ............................................... 147
B 24 ............................................... 150
C 1 ................................................. 153
C 2 ................................................. 154
C 3 ................................................. 156
C 4 ................................................. 157
C 5 ................................................. 159
C 6 ................................................. 161
C 7 ................................................. 162
C 8 ................................................. 164
C 9 ................................................. 165
C 10 ............................................... 167
C 11 ............................................... 168
C 12 ............................................... 170
C 13 ............................................... 172
C 14 ............................................... 173
C 15 ............................................... 175
C 16 ............................................... 176
C 17 ............................................... 178
C 18 ............................................... 179
C 19 ............................................... 180
C 20 ............................................... 182
C 21 ............................................... 184
C 22 ............................................... 185
Keynote Addresses 27th Aug ......... 187
D 1 ................................................. 189
D 2 ................................................. 189
D 3 ................................................. 192
D 4 ................................................. 194
D 5 ................................................. 197
D 6 ................................................. 200
D 7 ................................................. 203
JURE Pre-Conference.................... 9
Keynote Address .............................. 9
Workshops........................................ 9
Paper session 1 ................................ 12
Paper session 2 ................................ 13
Paper session 3 ................................ 14
Paper session 4 ................................ 15
Paper session 5 ................................ 16
Paper session 6 ................................ 17
Paper session 7 ................................ 18
Main Conference ........................... 20
Opening Address ............................. 20
A 1................................................... 20
A 2................................................... 24
A 3................................................... 26
A 4................................................... 29
A 5................................................... 31
A 6................................................... 34
A 7................................................... 36
A 8................................................... 39
A 9................................................... 41
A 10................................................. 44
A 11................................................. 46
A 12................................................. 49
A 13................................................. 51
A 14................................................. 53
A 15................................................. 56
A 16................................................. 58
A 17................................................. 60
A 18................................................. 64
A 19................................................. 67
A 20................................................. 69
A 21................................................. 73
A 22................................................. 76
A 23................................................. 79
A 24................................................. 82
A 25................................................. 84
Keynote Addresses 26th Aug .......... 87
B 1 ................................................... 89
B 2 ................................................... 92
B 3 ................................................... 95
B 4 ................................................... 97
B 5 ................................................. 100
B 6 ................................................. 103
B 7 ................................................. 105
B 8 ................................................. 108
–3–
D 8................................................. 204
D 9................................................. 207
D 10............................................... 209
D 11............................................... 212
D 12............................................... 215
D 13............................................... 218
D 14............................................... 220
D 15............................................... 223
D 16............................................... 225
D 17............................................... 228
D 18............................................... 230
D 19............................................... 233
D 20............................................... 235
D 21............................................... 238
D 22............................................... 241
D 23............................................... 243
D 24............................................... 246
D 25............................................... 248
D 26............................................... 251
E 1 ................................................. 254
E 2 ................................................. 255
E 3 ................................................. 257
E 4 ................................................. 258
E 5 ................................................. 260
E 6 ................................................. 261
E 7 ................................................. 263
E 8 ................................................. 264
E 9 ................................................. 266
E 10 ............................................... 267
E 11 ............................................... 269
E 12 ............................................... 270
E 13 ............................................... 272
E 14 ............................................... 273
E 15 ............................................... 275
E 16 ............................................... 277
E 17 ............................................... 278
E 18 ............................................... 280
E 19 ............................................... 281
E 20 ............................................... 282
E 21 ............................................... 284
E 22 ............................................... 285
E 23 ............................................... 287
F 1 ................................................. 289
F 2 ................................................. 292
F 3 ................................................. 294
F 4 ................................................. 297
F 5 ................................................. 299
F 6 ................................................. 301
F 7 ................................................. 304
F 8.................................................. 307
F 9.................................................. 309
F 10................................................ 312
F 11................................................ 315
F 12................................................ 317
F 13................................................ 319
F 14................................................ 322
F 15................................................ 324
F 16................................................ 327
F 17................................................ 330
F 18................................................ 332
F 19................................................ 335
F 20................................................ 338
F 21................................................ 340
F 22................................................ 343
F 23................................................ 346
F 24................................................ 348
F 25................................................ 350
F 26................................................ 353
Posters G........................................ 356
Teacher Education and
Professional Development............. 356
Motivation and Emotion................ 363
Learning and Teaching .................. 370
Literacy Questions ........................ 375
Instructional Technology............... 380
Studies on the quality of
school (BIQUA) ............................ 389
Round Table G 1 ........................... 393
Round Table G 2 ........................... 393
Round Table G 3 ........................... 394
Round Table G 4 ........................... 394
Round Table G 5 ........................... 394
Round Table G 6 ........................... 395
Round Table G 7 ........................... 395
Round Table G 8 ........................... 395
Round Table G 9 ........................... 396
Round Table G 10 ......................... 396
Round Table G 11 ......................... 397
Round Table G 12 ......................... 397
Round Table G 13 ......................... 397
Round Table G 14 ......................... 398
Round Table G 15 ......................... 398
Round Table G 16 ......................... 398
Round Table G 17 ......................... 399
Round Table G 18 ......................... 399
Round Table G 19 ......................... 400
Round Table G 20 ......................... 400
Round Table G 21 ......................... 400
–4–
CIT G 22 ....................................... 401
CIT G 23 ....................................... 401
CIT G 24 ....................................... 401
G 25 (Meeting some
Journal Editors) ............................. 402
H 1................................................. 405
H 2................................................. 407
H 3................................................. 410
H 4................................................. 413
H 5................................................. 416
H 6................................................. 418
H 7................................................. 421
H 8................................................. 423
H 9................................................. 425
H 10............................................... 428
H 11............................................... 430
H 12............................................... 432
H 13............................................... 436
H 14............................................... 438
H 15............................................... 440
H 16............................................... 443
H 17............................................... 446
H 18............................................... 449
H 19............................................... 451
H 20............................................... 454
H 21............................................... 457
H 22............................................... 459
H 23............................................... 463
H 24............................................... 466
H 25............................................... 468
H 26............................................... 471
J 1 .................................................. 474
J 2 .................................................. 475
J 3 .................................................. 477
J 4 .................................................. 478
J 5 .................................................. 480
J 6 .................................................. 481
J 7 .................................................. 483
J 8 .................................................. 484
J 9 .................................................. 485
J 10 ................................................ 487
J 11 ................................................ 489
J 12 ................................................ 490
J 13 ................................................ 492
J 14 ................................................ 493
J 15 ................................................ 495
J 16 ................................................ 496
J 17 ................................................ 498
J 18 ................................................ 499
J 19 ................................................ 501
J 20 ................................................ 502
J 21 ................................................ 504
J 22 ................................................ 505
J 23 ................................................ 507
K 1 ................................................. 509
K 2 ................................................. 511
K 3 ................................................. 513
K 4 ................................................. 516
K 5 ................................................. 517
K 6 ................................................. 521
K 7 ................................................. 524
K 8 ................................................. 526
K 9 ................................................. 528
K 10 ............................................... 531
K 11 ............................................... 533
K 12 ............................................... 536
K 13 ............................................... 538
K 14 ............................................... 541
K 15 ............................................... 543
K 16 ............................................... 546
K 17 ............................................... 549
K 18 ............................................... 551
K 19 ............................................... 554
K 20 ............................................... 556
K 21 ............................................... 559
K 22 ............................................... 561
K 23 ............................................... 564
Posters L ....................................... 567
Assessment .................................... 581
Learning and Teaching .................. 587
Literacy ......................................... 593
Social aspects and collaboration.... 598
Round Table L 1............................ 603
Round Table L 2............................ 603
Round Table L 3............................ 603
Round Table L 4............................ 604
Round Table L 5............................ 604
Round Table L 6............................ 604
Round Table L 7............................ 605
Round Table L 8............................ 605
Round Table L 9............................ 606
Round Table L 10.......................... 606
Round Table L 11.......................... 606
Round Table L 12.......................... 607
–5–
Round Table L 13.......................... 607
Round Table L 14.......................... 608
Round Table L 15.......................... 608
Round Table L 16.......................... 608
Round Table L 17.......................... 609
Round Table L 18.......................... 609
Round Table L 19.......................... 609
Round Table L 20.......................... 610
CIT L 21........................................ 610
CIT L 22........................................ 611
CIT L 23........................................ 611
CIT L 24........................................ 611
Posters M....................................... 614
Culture, Learning and Schooling... 614
Learning and Teaching.................. 632
Special Education.......................... 640
Round Table M 1........................... 645
Round Table M 2........................... 645
Round Table M 3........................... 645
Round Table M 4........................... 646
Round Table M 5........................... 646
Round Table M 6........................... 647
Round Table M 7........................... 647
Round Table M 8........................... 647
Round Table M 9........................... 648
Round Table M 10......................... 648
Round Table M 11......................... 648
Round Table M 12......................... 649
Round Table M 13......................... 649
Round Table M 14......................... 650
Round Table M 15......................... 650
Round Table M 16......................... 650
Round Table M 17......................... 651
Round Table M 18......................... 651
Round Table M 19......................... 651
Round Table M 20......................... 652
Round Table M 21......................... 652
CIT M 22....................................... 653
CIT M 23....................................... 653
N 1................................................. 654
N 2................................................. 655
N 3................................................. 657
N 4................................................. 658
N 5................................................. 660
N 6................................................. 661
N 7 ................................................. 663
N 8 ................................................. 664
N 9 ................................................. 666
N 10 ............................................... 667
N 11 ............................................... 669
N 12 ............................................... 670
N 13 ............................................... 672
N 14 ............................................... 673
N 15 ............................................... 674
N 16 ............................................... 676
N 17 ............................................... 677
N 18 ............................................... 679
N 19 ............................................... 680
N 20 ............................................... 682
N 21 ............................................... 684
Presidential Address ...................... 685
P 1.................................................. 686
P 2.................................................. 688
P 3.................................................. 690
P 4.................................................. 693
P 5.................................................. 695
P 6.................................................. 698
P 7.................................................. 701
P 8.................................................. 704
P 9.................................................. 706
P 10................................................ 708
P 11................................................ 711
P 12................................................ 715
P 13................................................ 718
P 14................................................ 720
P 15................................................ 722
P 16................................................ 725
P 17................................................ 728
P 18................................................ 731
P 19................................................ 733
P 20................................................ 736
P 21................................................ 739
Q 1 ................................................. 741
Q 2 ................................................. 742
Q 3 ................................................. 743
Q 4 ................................................. 745
Q 5 ................................................. 746
Q 6 ................................................. 748
Q 7 ................................................. 750
Q 8 ................................................. 751
Q 9 ................................................. 752
Q 10 ............................................... 754
Q 11 ............................................... 756
Q 12 ............................................... 757
–6–
Q 13............................................... 759
Q 14............................................... 761
Q 15............................................... 762
Q 16............................................... 763
Q 17............................................... 765
Q 18 ............................................... 767
Q 19 ............................................... 768
Keynote Address 30th Aug............. 770
List of Participants......................... 771
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–8–
Junior Researchers of EARLI (JURE)
Keynote Address
Improving research on learning and motivation: Challenges of epistemological diversity and
alternative indigenous psychologies
Simone Volet, Murdoch University, Western Australia
Recent debates between cognitive, constructivist perspectives and sociocultural, situative
perspectives have highlighted a period of epistemological diversity in research on learning and
motivation. Calls for more explicit interrogation of assumptions underlying research on learning
and motivation have been made. Similarly, the emergence of alternative cultural and indigenous
psychologies alongside mainstream cross-cultural psychology has questioned implicit claims to
universality of some learning and motivation concepts. This presentation will discuss and illustrate
how such challenges can contribute to research on learning and motivation and raise new
questions. Justifying our choices of epistemological grounding is not usually considered essential
in times of perceived epistemological tranquillity or within research environments that prioritise
the consolidation of one particular tradition. Discomfort and challenges are experienced in times or
contexts of perceived epistemological diversity and by researchers committed to making explicit
the assumptions and values underlying their own approach. Critical and dialectic reflection on
epistemological grounding can be unsettling, yet may be critical to consider the biases underlying
alternatives and make the soundest choice. Similarly, cultural psychologists have challenged
mainstream educational psychology on a number of epistemological grounds, which has created
opportunities for further research development. Interest in how collectivistically and individualistically oriented cultural and educational contexts may shape personal epistemologies, goal
orientations and self-perceptions, is growing. Yet, it has been argued that while the determi-nants
of some psychological constructs may vary across cultures, their functional properties reflect
universals of human agency. Engaging with the complexity of person-context/culture relationships
and interrogating alternative epistemological groundings may contribute to improving research on
learning and motivation.
Workshop 1
Optimising questionnaire design
Tony Bastick, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
This is intended to be an informative and enjoyable workshop on best practice and current ideas
for optimally designing your questionnaires. The workshop focuses on how to design the most
common forms of questionnaires: self administered and group administered questionnaires. The
style of the workshop is to introduce best practice alternatives guided by theory - so participants
can judge what is best for their own projects. To this end, a few optimising principles of
questionnaire design will be introduced and applications of these principles will be illustrated and
evaluated. This approach is intended to allow participants the choice of applying the workshop
content to their own projects either directly as cookbook type recipes or with more contextappropriate and flexible understanding of the principles - as suits their needs and learning styles.
The level of psychological and statistical complexity of the presentation will be matched, a well as
is possible, to the current sophistication of those attending so that all participants can gain as much
as possible from the workshop. The planned content is given below. However, to the extent that
time and numbers allow, emphases, interactions and alternatives will be introduced on the day to
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meet the interests and needs of those researchers present. If participants have a questionnaire in
process of development, they should bring it to the workshop for direct help and guidance.
Content:
(1) Types of questionnaires: Customising the response set
(2) Maximising information collection: Know your needs- balancing quality and quantity
(3) Prevalence vs. Perception - a sensitising concept: Problems with Likert, grounded ipsative
scales
(4) Making it easy to respond: Proxy measures and white space
(5) Coding and codebooks: Weighting and creating indices
(6) Presenting descriptive results: Maximising information delivery
(7) Putting it all together: Sharing ideas and help with individuals’ problems
Workshop 2
Helping doctoral students to finish their theses
Kirsti Lonka, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
This session is a concrete process-writing workshop, with emphasis on psychological. Cognitive
strategies, such as, generative writing and shared revision are applied, instead of practical advice
on stylistic rules and grammar. The aim of the intervention is to reveal and then revise practices
and ideas of writing that usually remain tacit. The theories and methods are applied by Bereiter
and Scardamalia (1987), Olson (1994), Björk & Räisänen (1996), Boice (1990); Tynjälä, Mason,
& Lonka (2001), Lonka & Ahola (1995), and Lonka (2003). The idea is to put the theories in
action. The methods include focused free-writing exercises, using multiple drafts, training peerfeedback strategies, revealing the myths and revising mental models of writing, making tacit
knowledge overt to discussion, and reflecting on our own writing practices and working habits.
Supervisor/doctoral student – relation is also reflected on. Mental coaching techniques are also
going to be applied, the aim of which is to increase the self-confidence of the participants and to
encourage them in their future work.
Workshop 3
How to motivate your research work?Fostering and activating researchers’ individual and social
practices
Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland
Marjaana Rahikainen, University of Helsinki, Finland
The idea of this workshop derives both from theoretical ideas of research on motivation but also
from experience-based evidence of trying to innovate the traditional individually based research
training culture. We focus on the theoretical ideas of motivation, such as achievements goals, selfregulation and motivation control (Zeidner, Boekaerts, & Pintrich, 2000; Volet & Järvelä, 2001) to
frame to essential motivational processes in learning to become a researcher. The focus of this
session is to present methods, processes, and activities to support individual researcher’s
motivation, but especially explicate socially shared practices of research work in order to motivate
students, supervisors and research groups to work towards common goals. A group of researchers
/students is always more than a sum of its members! The methods used include action-based
exercises, case-based method, and joint brainstorming. We will begin with analysing the current
practices of the participants, and by working with the issues such as, what kind of periodical
(weekly/monthly) research-training activities can be used for activating and motivating shared
social practices? How technology can be used for collaborating with distant colleagues and
building virtual teams?, How to enhance the expert-novice interaction? In conclusion, the aim is to
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help seeing concrete ways how each individual can influence his/her own research as well as social
practices within a research team in positive and productive way.
Workshop 4
Identification and assessment of knowledge building
Marlene Scardamalia & Carl Bereiter, OISE,University of Toronto, Canada
Knowledge building, in contrast to learning, is the construction of knowledge of value to a
community. Its economic significance is now widely recognized, under labels such as “knowledge
creation” (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995), “intellectual capital” (Stewart, 1995), and “knowledgebased innovation” (Drucker, 1986). Below the graduate school level, however, knowledge building
remains a rarity in education. This workshop will focus on clarifying what it means to carry out
knowledge building in educational settings (see Scardamalia & Bereiter, in press,
http://www.ikit.org/fulltext/inpressKB.pdf) and on distinguishing it from approaches such as
guided discovery, project-based, and problem-based learning (see Bereiter & Scardamalia, in
press, http://www.ikit.org/fulltext/inresslearning.pdf). Besides dealing with these issues at a
conceptual level, the workshop will include hands-on analysis of transcripts of actual studentgenerated databases. Assessment of knowledge building focuses on advances in the “state of
knowledge” in a classroom or other group, and on the sociocognitive processes by which a
community’s knowledge advances, not simply on individual knowledge acquisition. Assessment
models to be applied include Knowledge Building Principles (Scardamalia, 2002) and Knowledge
Building Indicators (Chan & Van Aalst, 2001). There will also be a brief introduction of other
relevant assessment and analytic methods, several of which are currently under development.
Workshop 5
Quality in qualitative research: Procedures to check the quality of your data and data analyses
Wilfried Admiraal, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
As in quantitative research, doing qualitative research asks for procedures to check the quality of
your data and data analyses. Although the more traditional terms reliability and validity are often
replaced with other concepts, the underlying principles are similar. In this 2-hrs workshop, the
participants will be introduced into various procedures to check the quality of qualitative research.
Then in thematic subgroups of 3 or 4 participants, they will be working on the procedures they
plan to use in their own PhD-projects. The results will be plenary discussed clustered in 3 or 4
themes. Preparation of the participants: Each participant has to prepare one page on issues they
want to resolve in their own research project on the topic of quality checks of the qualitative data
and/or analyses.
Workshop 6
Assessment as a learning tool: The use of portfolios
Harm Tillema, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Assessment is increasingly being recognized as a valuable tool for improving performance, as well
as for appraising it. This has proven true especially with regard to professional learning. Portfolios
as one of the more prominent instruments can be utilized as learning tools for competence
development because of their ability to monitor and appraise changes in performance. Assessment
by means of portfolios entails compiling evidence about performance and providing relevant
feedback about individual practices. A developmental approach to portfolio construction may help
to disclose possibilities and opportunities for further learning in different (i.e., changing) contexts.
– 11 –
Portfolios as tools to document and assess work-related performance can be variously structured.
Reviewing the impact of portfolios might reveal which approach to portfolio use is best suited to
deal effectively with professional learning. From the literature on portfolios several types can be
identified: for instance the performance dossier-type portfolio, the reflective learning portfolio and
the course related learning portfolio. Despite differences in types, important advantages of
portfolios lie in their ability to identify strengths and weaknesses in performance, to develop
awareness of competence and to resolve discrepancies between (external) standards and achieved
performance. The most important feature probably is the way portfolios capture achievements
under realistic circumstances and record them using authentic evidence and tangible products. The
portfolio as a tool organizes the evidence collection process. Utilization of this information is the
crucial part of the process: the portfolio collection needs to be appraised, scrutinized and arranged
to be of use for future action or development. In this respect, what needs to be examined is the
relevance and quality of the collected information as a learning opportunity, which is probably
greatly influenced by the type of portfolio. The workshop, then, deals with finding ways of rating
the quality of portfolio use, i.e., as a tool to provide feedback to the learner.
Workshop 7
International research: Problem and potentialities
Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, Italy
Doing international research is nowadays a must for good researchers. The European commission
and various committees require more and more to submit collective proposals. This means not
only institutions from different countries but also of different natures, such as universities, schools,
local institutions, and so on. This complexity implies new technical skills as well as new social and
professional competencies. During the workshop there will be two interactive moments: (a) A few
international researches will be shortly presented such as CL-net, Itcole and Euroland. Through
those experiences cultural differences emerged both in terms of educational attitude and social
organization; (b) Participants will be asked to describe international experiences they participated
to or they hear about. Both moments will be guided by the following questions: What are the
advantages of being “international”? How to be at the same time “international” and “local”? How
educational researchers can represent the “voice” of the schools (teachers and students) when
working within an international framework? How to deal with different cultures? How to manage
langua-ge differences? What educational topics/domains are more suitable for international
research? A few theoretical approaches able to sustain the reflection upon potentialities and
problems of international researches will be proposed. In particular, the social representation
theory, coming from social psychology and the “multivoice” concept introduced by Backtin. In
conclusion of the workshop it is expected that guidelines be sketched for effective international
research.
Paper session 1: Motivation & Emotion
Motivational self-regulation and volition in technology-based learning environments
Hanna Järvenoja, University of Oulu, Finland
The learning situations of our modern society are increasingly complex and variable and learners’
have to take more responsibility of their own learning. For example, technology-based
environments make a new challenge, and there is research evidence showing that there are
divergences how learners react and contribute in these situations. Learner’s capability for selfregulation and exerting motivational and emotional control has been shown to be useful in
describing these individual differences of learning processes. The aim of this study is to
– 12 –
understand motivation and volition as a part of a self-regulated learning in new technology-based
learning environments. One of the specific questions to be considered is volitional processes in
technology-based learning contexts. The main aim is to find out how motivational self-regulation
is constructed and what is the role of volitional processes in that context. One of the aims is
develop new methodological tools to study the volitional processes in research on motivational
self-regulation.
Motivation in collaborative enquiry-based project-work
Angela Chow, The University of Hong Kong
This study investigated the motivation of about 250 secondary school students participating in a 4month collaborative enquiry-based “Peer Tutoring Award” project. A questionnaire was developed
comprising items from the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Deci, 1985) and new items
that specifically elicited students’ perceptions towards the social and enquiry dimensions of the
learning task. A five-factor motivation model was established using confirmatory factor analysis
(CFI= 0.92; NFI=0.92; RMSEA=0.091) comprising the Project Work Factor, Social Learning
Factor, Learning Motivation Factor, Others’ Perception towards Self Factor and Group Pressure
Factor. The model suggests that students’ motivation towards learning in collaborative enquirybased project work and traditional learning tasks are different. Moreover, it was found that the
award winners scored significantly higher in the first three factors compared to the non-awardwinners’ in both pre and post project data, indicating stronger positive engagement in project work
for this group of students, which can be taken as an indication of the validity of the model.
Perceptions of classroom climate and students’ emotional experiences in mathematics
Christiane Zirngibl & Reinhard Pekrun, University of Munich, Germany
Correlational and multilevel approaches were used to analyse the relationship between students’
perceptions of their classroom environments and their emotional experiences in mathematics.
Environmental characteristics conveying control as well as value to the students proved to be
tightly linked with students’ experience of enjoyment, anxiety, anger, and boredom in mathematics
(cf. Pekrun’s control-value theory of academic emotions, 2000). Multilevel modelling further
revealed that relationships between environmental variables and emotional experiences seem to
have a major impact on the individual level. Observed relationships are assumed to be based on
reciprocal linkages, with features of the environment influencing how an individual feels, but the
emotional experiences also affecting the perception of one’s environment.
Paper session 2: Conceptual change
The organisation of knowledge and pupils’ understandings: Fourteen-year olds work on
environmental issues
Karolina Österlind, Stockholm University, Sweden
The paper examines the conditions for learning in an instruction were so called real-life issues
serve as organising centres, and domain specific knowledge are brought to the fore in the activities
within these issues. The paper presents empirical examples from a study on pupils (14 year olds)
work on environmental issues concerning the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone
layer. Data consists of tape-recorded conversations in instruction and the material that the pupils
produce in writing. It is shown that the pupils confuse the two environmental issues. This
confusion seems to be due to difficulties in understanding the scientific concepts that are brought
to the fore. In the pupils interpretation of the individual concepts different conceptual contexts
– 13 –
arise, and pupils’ difficulties are described as problems of differentiating between these contexts
for interpretation. The result illustrates some difficulties that the learner may encounter in this kind
of organisation of knowledge. The result also provide a basis for arguing that it is fruitful to regard
the pupils difficulties as being one of problems of differentiation between conceptual contexts,
rather than as problems of conceptual change.
Turkish pupils' conceptions of evaporation
Yezdan Tuncer, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
This paper describes year 6, 8 & 11 (13, 15 and 17 years old respectively) Turkish pupils’ views
about the evaporation of water and cologne. 300 Turkish students ranging in age from twelve to
eighteen years were the participants in this research. Two open-ended questions were asked to
obtain pupils' understanding about evaporation. As well as these written responses, 10 students of
various year groups were interviewed. Three main categories such as correct answers, partially
correct answers and incorrect answers were used in the description of results. The analysis of both
written responses and interviews showed that year 6 pupils had difficulties with the understanding
of evaporation of water than the evaporation of cologne. The findings of this study are important to
design appropriate teaching strategies to teach evaporation concept in schools.
13 year old students' conceptions about global warming
Tiina Nevanpää, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
In this study 13-year-old Finnish students conceptions about global warming prior instruction was
studied by using a questionnaire with free-response items. By utilising a phenomenographic
approach to analyse responses of 379 students, qualitatively different ways to conceptualise global
warming could be found. According to empirical evidence Finnish students do have some
knowledge about global warming but also lack of understanding and misunderstandings were
identified. Students were able to express some causes and consequences of global warming but
typically couldn’t explain the processes involved or the explanations were not in accordance with
scientific view. Global warming was also incorrectly connected with ozone layer depletion. For
Finnish students TV-news along school are important sources of environmental information.
Paper session 3: Computer-based learning & design
Case-based computerized experiments and their effect on visualization skills of high-school
chemistry students
Irit Sasson, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology
Yehudit J. Dori, MIT, Cambridge, USA
The importance of integrating experiments into chemistry teaching is well documented.
Researchers emphasized both the theoretical aspects – fostering meaningful learning, as well as
stimulating critical scientific thinking, and the practical aspects – self-experiencing by carrying
out and monitoring processes and phenomena. However, during the last two decades, most of the
laboratory experiments in high school chemistry in Israel are performed in tenth grade and they
are rare in twelfth grade. Our project was aimed at integrating computerized experiments into
chemistry teaching. We developed a study unit that integrates case-based computerized
laboratories with emphasis on scientific inquiry. The research includes about 200 honors 12th
grade students from various high schools. We investigated students’ visualization skills and their
ability to transfer chemical knowledge to a new learning situation. We found a significant
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improvement in the post-test students’ scores compared with the pre-test in all higher order
thinking skills that were tested.
Designing teaching-learning environments that promote the flexible application of knowledge
Michael Bendorf, University of Göttingen, Germany
A major goal of vocational apprenticeship is to prepare apprentices for flexible adaptation to
problems and settings in practice. In contrast to this goal, apprentices do not often get the
opportunity to solve complex problems and to develop important competencies. Beyond, they
often get instruction, which prevents a flexible application of knowledge; their knowledge
remains inert. By our project “Promoting the flexible application of knowledge in the in-firm
training of bankers” promoted by the German Research Foundation we investigated the
conditions and key characteristics of learning and knowledge transfer to help apprentices develop
a flexible representation of knowledge by inducting them into an expert community of practice in
banking. Based on our findings we designed three complex teaching-learning environments for
customer consulting in banks to evaluate their effects on transfer performance. The results bring
forth important implications for instruction.
Secondary students’ dynamic modeling of experimental data
Patrick H. M. Sins, Elwin R. Savelsbergh & Wouter R. van Joolingen, University of Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Computer modeling is a constructionist learning activity that is rapidly attracting more interest in
science education. However, dynamic modeling, for secondary students, is quite a complex
cognitive activity and should be undertaken with proper support. This implicates that both the task
and the computer-based modeling tool must be designed to provide an optimal support for
students’ thinking processes. However, little research has attempted to describe reasoning
processes involved in students’ modeling. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to
characterize secondary students’ dynamic modeling processes. Twenty-six secondary students,
working in dyads, were asked to improve a given model in the domain of physics. Modeling
activities and conversations between students were recorded and transcribed. A coding scheme
was developed and employed in order to capture: a) the type of reasoning process, b) the topic
students are reasoning about, and c) the argumentation they employ for their reasoning. It seemed
that most dyads were found to have a strong focus on quantifying variables in their model. Still,
students greatly differed with respect to elaborateness of their approach to the modeling
assignment. Based on the outcomes of the present study, suggestions for scaffolds in order to
support students’ reasoning in a dynamic modeling tool are discussed.
Paper session 4: Qualitative research methods
Finnish students’ conceptions of Lutheranism
Elina Hella, University of Helsinki, Finland
Findings of my study of religious education are presented and evaluated. The study focused on the
meanings of Lutheranism as understood by Finnish secondary students between 16 and 19 years of
age. The qualitative approach of the study was based on the phenomenographic tradition, which
provided theoretical and a methodological framework for the study. Written answers to the
projective essay question were collected from 33 secondary students during two Religious
Education classes. Furthermore, 12 students were interviewed with semi-structural procedure
according to qualitatively different meanings found in their essays. The six categories of
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description as the results of the analysis and the whole research process are evaluated in terms of
understanding phenomenography. Furthermore, educational implications and aspects for further
research are considered.
Researching an essay: A phenomenographic study
Mandy Lupton, Australian National University
Over the last decade, information literacy has emerged as an agenda in all sectors of education.
Dominant models of information literacy in formal education consist of standards and process
models that are based primarily on the librarians’ expert perspective. Alternative models that
explore the information users’ experience are based on phenomenographic studies. This paper
describes a study of undergraduates’ ways of experiencing information literacy through
researching an essay. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 20 students enrolled in a
first-year environmental science course. An outcome of this study is that information literacy is
framed as a learning approach. These results have significance for students, teachers, librarians,
academic skills advisors, academic developers and administrators in higher education.
The development and facilitation of reflective thinking
Helen Krige & Sarah Gravett, Rand Africaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa
Since the first democratic election in South Africa, a new curriculum (Curriculum 2005) has been
developed within the South African Education system. An important outcome is the use of
outcomes based principles to enable all learners to reach their maximum learning potential. The
National Curriculum Statements (2002) claims that in adopting integrated and applied competence,
an integrated learning of theory, practice and reflection can be promoted. However, how reflection
can be developed to improve learning is not explained. The purpose of this paper was to explore
and describe within an Action Research design, the development and facilitation of reflection of
undergraduate student teachers. These students participated in e-learning discussions, which is a
compulsory component of their course. The results indicated that e-learning could be a useful tool
in the development of reflection if the necessary supportive tools are utilised.
Paper session 5: Elaboration & Language
Concrete elaboration measured by read/think aloud protocols
Herman Jonker & Jos Beishuizen, Leiden University, The Netherlands
In order to study the relationship between concrete elaboration and the role of main ideas and
examples in study texts, we first need to establish a reliable and valid instrument to assess concrete
elaboration. Concrete elaboration has been defined by Vermunt (Vermunt & Van Rijswijk, 1988)
as “relating course contents to concrete things that are already known, such as personal
experiences, concrete visual images, events in daily reality, practical applications”. A subscale of
Vermunt’s Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) is intended to measure concrete elaboration. In the
context of the research reported here we needed an assessment procedure in which text
comprehension was directly monitored and recorded. We designed an experiment in which
participants had to think aloud during reading an expository text. The text consisted of theory
paragraphs and example paragraphs. The think aloud protocols that the participants conveyed were
scored on a slightly modified version of Vermunt’s taxonomy (1988). Which processes, that we
accounted for in our scoring sheet, can be regarded as predominantly apparent during or directly
after reading example paragraphs and which ones predominate in theory paragraphs in relation to
concrete elaboration, as measured by the ILS subscale from Vermunt. Thirty seventeen-year old
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secondary school pupils were included by having them fill in the concrete elaboration subscale of
the ILS. It was expected that high concretisers would come up with examples when reading a
theoretical paragraph. Whereas low concretisers were expected to naturally focus on example
paragraphs and start elaborating form there. A further aim of this study was to examine the
proportions of frequencies of the processes accounted for, for further hypothesis formation.
Spelling difficulties in French learners: Psycholinguistic analysis and educational perspectives
Julie Franck,University of Geneva, Switzerland
George Hoefflin, High school for pedagogy, Lausanne, Switzerland
A number of French speaking children show difficulties in developing writing abilities given the
high complexity of the orthographic system. In order to shed light on the nature of these
difficulties, the present research examines the written productions of 7 children (mean age 10) in
comparison to a control group of 22 age-matched normally developing children. Orthographic
errors produced by the two groups in a dictation task are analysed according to the linguistic
classification of Catach (1986). Analyses reveal: (1) important difficulties with grammatical
morphology, both in the control group and in the impaired group, (2) a globally higher error rate
for impaired children as compared to the control group (above 2 SD), and (3) a predominance of
phonetic errors in the impaired group, while these are nearly inexistent in the productions of
normally developing children. Importantly, the proportion of phonetic errors in impaired children
was found to vary as a function of the global error rate. Our results underline the importance to
provide explicit phonetic instructions on the side of morphographic teaching to children with
spelling difficulties.
Assessing and evaluating beliefs about language and their influences on language competencies
Nina Jude, German Institute for International Educational Research
One important factor of language competence is language awareness, which is traditionally
assessed through tests of pragmatic and grammatical language competencies. So far, empirical
evaluation rarely considers beliefs about language, an additional part of the traditional language
awareness approach, to be a relevant factor influencing language competencies. This includes
knowledge and beliefs about formal, pragmatic and socio-linguistic features of language use. In
this empirical research, the following questions are investigated: Are there different beliefs about
language in 9th grade students that can be assessed by a newly designed questionnaire? How do
these beliefs influence students’ competencies in German as their mother language? Empirical data
of 261 9th-grade students from a nation wide representative language assessment in Germany were
used in the study. Students worked on reading, vocabulary, and grammar tests in German, in
addition, a new designed questionnaire on language-related beliefs was administered. Different
language related beliefs were compared to student’s language proficiency.
Paper session 6: Social context in learning
Supporting pre-service teachers’ self-regulated learning: An activity theoretical perspective
Stefanie Chye, National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Teaching itself has today, become a learning profession. This suggests that supporting teachers’
self-regulated learning (SRL) is now an educational imperative. Over the last decades,
individualistic views have dominated studies in this area. With the advent of social and situative
perspectives of learning, studies need to take up the analytic challenge of portraying the settingrelated factors that matter most in facilitating teachers’ SRL. To address these challenges, the
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theory of activity is adopted as framework. Activity theory suggests that teachers’ SRL must be
understood as embedded within the interactions occurring in the social milieu. Based on an
exploratory case study of a module aimed to facilitate SRL in pre-service teachers, this paper
reports on the results obtained through data collection strategies of a qualitative nature. The
preliminary results of this pilot study highlight the importance of features of the social context,
including the role of various modes of classroom discourse in supporting the metacognitive
aspects of SRL.
Motivation in a person-context perspective: Performer-audience relationships
Susan Beltman, Murdoch University, Western Australia
The aim of this research is to examine how person-context relationships shape the motivation of
elite athletes and musicians. Onlookers (spectators or audience) form part of the context in
performance settings (competitions or concerts). There is a lack of research regarding the
relationship between performers and onlookers and this study examines links between such
relationships and performer motivation. The use of qualitative methods addresses some of the
methodological challenges associated with capturing a dynamic, reciprocal construct. Results
showed that the nature of the relationship between performers and onlookers was shaped through
the interface of different contextual and individual factors. The nature of the performer-onlooker
relationship acted as an enabling or constraining influence in relation to participant motivation.
The study provides support for conceptualising motivation as a complex, dynamic, interactive
construct. The value of using qualitative research methods to examine person-context relationships
is discussed.
The role of exploration in the internalisation of religious beliefs: Integrating self-determination
and identity formation theories
Maya Cohen-Malayev & Avi Assor, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
The aim of this paper is to examine the process of internalising religious values in young adults.
The joint consideration of Identity Formation theories (Marcia, 1993) and Self-Determination
Theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 2000) suggested the importance of the exploration process (Marcia,
1993) to the development of successful value internalisation (SDT). The attempt to incorporate the
notion of exploration into SDT, suggested that one of the relatively high levels of internalisation
posited by SDT – identified motivation – actually includes two distinct phases or paths:
explorative and non-explorative. A questionnaire designed to assess religious internalisation and
exploration was distributed to Modern Orthodox Jews in there 20’s. Smallest Space Analyses
(Gutman, 1968) and correlational analyses supported the distinction between explorative and nonexplorative identified, and revealed the existence of several types of religious exploration.
However, the scope of the exploration, which is needed to obtain a stable religious identity,
appeared narrower then hypothesised.
Paper session 7: Professional development
University students’ narratives of qualitative changes during internship in ways of experiencing
situations’ meaning
Kicki Ahlberg, University of Goteborg, Sweden
The most advanced form of learning can be defined as qualitatively changed ways of experiencing
something. Why some individuals are able to perform an assignment better than others appears
related to in which way s/he experiences each assignment. The way an individual sees an
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assignment accordingly stipulates what competence that person is able to develop. Development of
competence thus demands the ability of changing one’s way of seeing the same assignment.
Knowledge formation of learning and competence needs to build on research into how processes
of changing ways of understanding something are experienced. The aim of this research project is
to seek knowledge about whether students experience qualitative changes in ways of understanding something as meaningful processes, if they are able to narrate the processes and if so to
obtain knowledge about what is seen to constitute such experiences. Narratives from two years
final term university students confirm that students experience changing ways of experiencing
something as meaningful processes and are able to narrate them. Phenomenographic data analyses
show that knowledge can be obtained about what is experienced to constitute such processes. Six
inclusive hierarchic categories of what is seen to constitute changing ways of experiencing
something were found: A) Restructuring of one’s Awareness as shifts in Whole/Parts, Perspective,
Comparisons and Figure/Ground and B) Addition of Something New by Achieving Results or
Receiving Information. The results lead to and are to be theoretically elucidated by Variation
Theory of Learning.
Continuing professional learning for facilitators of distance learning: A strategy towards lifelong
learning
Jean Grundling, Learning Developer at the University of South Africa (UNISA)
There is a major drive in South Africa to reshape the higher education landscape. This drive has
necessitated new development in teaching and learning practices. However, the remaining critical
question is, whether the academic staff of higher education institutions are equipped to accept all
the changes and to become effective facilitators of learning to ensure that the learners are ready to
enter the new world of work. This paper reports on work in progress in research, focussing on the
continuing professional learning in specifically distance learning institutions as a vehicle to
address some of the needs of the facilitators of distance learning. The aim of the study is to
investigate and assess the continuing professional learning needs of newly appointed, as well as
experienced facilitators of adult learning at distance learning institutions. This paper includes an
overview of the rationale of the study, a description of the need for, and significance of continuing
professional learning for distance learning facilitators, and a description of the research design and
methodology.
Practical nurses’ conceptions of personally relevant learning experiences
Katri Luukka, University of Helsinki, Finland
The study aim is to elaborate and describe practical nurses´ conceptions of personally relevant
learning experiences during their education and working in elderly care. The purpose of this study
is to increase the authority awareness of issues, which considers practical nurses choices to study
and work in elderly care. This paper considers a brief introduction to practical nurse education in
Finland and also a presentation of the preliminary research findings of the dissertation study.
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Opening Address
26th Aug
13:30-14:20
Room
PSY 2 D
The role of social dimensions into the learning processes
Luciano Arcuri, University of Padova
The learning and instruction processes does not occur in a vacuum. The way in which individuals
in a classroom perform academic tasks, perceive each other, and interact is strongly influenced by
the representation and evaluation systems of the persons themselves. On the other hand, the
educational system does not confine itself to the attitudes that students and teachers derive from
the outside. The educational system often becomes a social environment, able to reduce or enhance
the meaning, functions and trend of the processes of construction of students’ social identity. The
aim of this talk is to present and discuss conceptual aspects which refer to the overlapping zone of
the social and cognitive dimensions of the educational experience. My aim is also to consider the
results of two lines of research developed by the social psychologists of the DPSS in Padova. In
particular, in light of new approaches to the study of prejudice, data stressing the role of teachers
in organising how young students belonging to a majority group perceive and evaluate behaviours
of minority group members will be presented. Finally, results obtained in a study on school
performances of male and female students in gender-stereotypic academic tasks will be presented
and discussed.
A1
26th Aug
14:30-16:30
Room BIO G C
EARLI Invited Symposium
NEW PATHWAYS IN THE FIELD OF TEACHER EDUCATION (Part 1)
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussant:
Frank Achtenhagen, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany
Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Frank Achtenhagen, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany
Roger Säljö, University of Göteborg, Sweden
The symposium tries to bring together new approaches in the field of teacher education with the
special focus on longitudinal development of teachers’ knowledge of Science and teaching, of
Mathematics and teaching, and of improving Mathematics and Science instruction. In this context
also questions of the diagnostic of teaching competencies and of the integration of formative
assessment, teaching and learning in teacher education arise. All presentations show new and
alternative ways of how to describe, analyze and evaluate teaching behavior by concentrating on
teaching over time. This point marks a decisive step into the direction of treating teacher education
and subject didactics not under a “lesson-perspective” but under the perspective of development
over time. By that, new insights are gained which help to re-organize teacher training programs; it
is remarkable that measurement and diagnostic instruments can also be used for teacher training
purposes. Arzi & White report on interviews with Science teachers which include a period of 17
years. The results show very little development of Science teachers’ knowledge of Science.
Baumert reports on an additional study within the PISA research exercise which bases on a model
of teacher expertise that distinguishes between subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content
knowledge and general pedagogical classroom knowledge on the one hand, and declarative and
procedural knowledge and epistemological beliefs on the other – with special focus on pedagogical
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content knowledge in Mathematics. The research is done by video-taped classroom episodes which
have to be commented on by means of a computer. Prenzel and Ostermeier present findings of a
German nation-wide project to increase the efficiency of Mathematics and Science teaching. There
is a concentration on eleven modules which show the major teaching deficiencies in the subjects.
The study tries to enhance co-operation of teachers and schools for a collaborative quality
management – by 180 schools involved. Oser and Renold report on a study on standards of the
teaching profession where they try to develop a diagnostic instrument for measuring the quality of
the competence profiles of teachers who work in the field of professional learning environments.
By a Delphi study important situation related teaching acts in different fields are identified. Film
vignettes, then, shall be developed which visualize positive and negative examples for comparable
situations. These films shall then be used for stimulating teachers’ reactions to these scenes and,
thus, for training them. Shavelson focuses on formative assessment of students’ behavior and the
corresponding necessary teacher capabilities to run this assessment efficiently and effectively. All
presentations focus on empirical research and provide new insight into necessities of teacher
education. They suggest very new pathways in this field.
The time dimension in teacher education: Perspectives from a longitudinal study of science
teachers
Hanna Arzi, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Richard T. White, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
In many countries, the tertiary education of secondary school teachers occurs in three phases: (1)
pre-service acquisition of subject matter; (2) pre-service learning of didactics, history and
philosophy of education, and psychology; (3) in-service learning, either to acquire new didactic
skills, to get acquainted with new curricular materials and assessment requirements, or to refresh
and update subject-matter knowledge. The phases are sequential but not necessarily continuous.
Coordination among the phases is questionable, as they are usually planned and carried out by
different institutions or authorities. Since research on teacher education rarely extends beyond a
single phase, the total effects of the three phases remain hidden. Consequently, there is an
insufficient knowledge base for long-term planning of teacher development. Our paper is
concerned with the time dimension in teacher education and in research on teacher education. It is
based on our follow-up of science teachers from the end of their science studies (phase 1 above)
through 17 years of teaching experience. The longitudinal follow-up adopted a mixed research
design, intertwining both cross-sectional and retrospective design elements. Between 1985 and
1987, young science graduates were interviewed during their pre-service training (phase 2 above)
and then observed and interviewed during their first two years of school teaching. Nearly all
participants of the 1985-1987 longitudinal study – both those who continued teaching and those
who opted out – were traced and interviewed again in 2002. The study focused initially on change
in teachers’ content understanding, yet views on school teaching and career patterns were also
explored over time. In the paper, we will examine methodological issues in studying teachers
longitudinally. We will describe insights that could not have been gained through short-term
single-phase studies, and discuss implications for long-term teacher education.
A longitudinal study of teachers’ knowledge of mathematics and teaching
Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
The 2003 cycle of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) includes
a longitudinal study on mathematics instruction. This study aims to investigate how teachers’
declarative and procedural professional knowledge and their epistemological beliefs about learning
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mathematics affect the design of learning opportunities in the mathematics classroom and the
process of knowledge acquisition among 15-year-old students. The study is based on a model of
teacher expertise that distinguishes between subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content
knowledge and general pedagogical classroom knowledge on the one hand, and declarative and
procedural knowledge and epistemological beliefs on the other. The analyses focus on pedagogical
content knowledge in mathematics. As a means of tapping teachers’ professional expert
knowledge, a computer-based instrument was developed to involve teachers in a professional
conversation about the planning and execution of their lessons using selected mathematics tasks
and video-taped episodes from mathematics classrooms. This computer-based assessment
instrument allows three aspects of teacher expertise to be examined: (1) evaluation and manipulation of mathematical tasks presented on the computer screen; (2) coping with critical events in
videotaped mathematics lessons (unexpected ideas and student mistakes); (3) understanding
different choreographies of mathematics instruction shown on video. During the development and
testing of the instrument, it has emerged that, as well as being suitable for the analysis of teachers’
professional knowledge, the instrument can also be an effective method of teacher training. The
teacher responses produced in the study provide excellent material that can be used to prepare
trainee teachers for lesson analysis and design. Hence, the instrument represents a valuable tool for
the development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge.
Improving mathematics and science instruction: A program for the professional development of
teacher
Manfred Prenzel, University of Kiel, Germany
Christian Ostermeier, University of Kiel, Germany
As a reaction to the insufficient results of Germany in the TIMS-Study a nation-wide pilot
program to increase the efficiency of mathematics and science teaching has been started in 1998.
In the quality development program 180 schools are involved. The program draws on three central
characteristics. First, the program is highly problem-oriented and is based on relevant findings
from research on learning and teaching in math and science. At the core of the program there are
eleven modules which address the major deficiencies of science and mathematics instruction in
Germany (e.g. the type and use of tasks in math or experiments in science, support of higher order
thinking and cumulative learning). The modules sketch out approaches to teaching and learning
which can be successfully changed by the teachers. Starting points for a collaborative effort to
improve mathematics and science instruction are provided. So the second goal of the program is to
promote processes of quality development at the level of the individual school. A third
characteristic of the program is to foster the cooperation of practitioners (teachers, schools) and
researchers (research in science and mathematics education, educational psychology) in local
networks consisting of six schools. These local networks are integrated in a nationwide network
with support structures (e.g. information management, teacher training, advice, provision of tools
for self evaluation). Teachers and schools in that (also virtual) network are exchanging materials
and experiences with innovative approaches in certain formats. In a long term approach the
program aims at improving learning and teaching processes as well as outcomes, and with that, at
the professional development of science and math teachers. Data from different approaches to
evaluate the program show evidence for an ongoing progress in the collaborative quality
development. Indicators for the acceptance of the program and the development of multiple
cooperations between teachers in and between schools, changes in the professional understanding
and in the teaching and learning approaches will be presented and discussed. Data from latent class
analysis also show that there are differences between teachers in their approaches to innovation:
teachers gathering and claiming for information, teachers claiming for guidance, and teachers who
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explore new approaches with high interest and engagement. These different types of teachers have
to be supported in specific ways. The paper will discuss the data and experiences from the program
and consequences for a nation-wide dissemination of that approach to improve math and science
education in a collaborative effort.
On the diagnostic of teaching competencies
Ursula Renold, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
In a new and comprehensive study on the standards of the teaching profession we try to develop a
diagnostic instrument for measuring the quality of the competence profiles of teachers who work
in the field of professional learning environments. First, in a Delphi study, we categorize important
situation related teaching acts in different fields, such as teacher-learner-interaction, discipline
problems, motivational problems, learning strategies, didactics etc. In a second step we will film
vignettes in which these teaching acts are clearly represented in a positive and negative way. These
filmstrips will be of high representational quality, and its function will be to stimulate reactions by
experienced teachers, reactions that solve the respective situational problem, which is inherent in
each filmstrip. Criteria for the choice of the situations are standard-orientation, instructional
situatedness, content transparency, high possibility for a value judgement, transferability into
testsettings, high representativity and exemplarity, good relatedness to professional acting etc. In a
next and central part of our study we develop a diagnostic instrument that is of high reliability and
validity. The basic idea is that teachers react in a certain way on the teaching vignettes and that
these reactions can be systematized and valued on the basis of a theory on teaching standards.
There are at least three cognitive framings of the vignette by a teacher, namely a) the description
of the case, b) the judgment and justification of that judgment, and c) the proposed action
alternatives. In a first phase experts must judge the same vignette with high interraterreliability.
Here it is important that professionals differ significantly in their judgment from novices or from
non-professionals with respect to declarative, procedural and strategic aspect of the respective
teaching-learning situation. The tested person thus has two reference points, a) the expert and b)
the non-expert. Adaptation to the situation means that their must be developed an coefficient on
the distance from these two poles. In a second phase there will be developed an extern validation
of the testing procedure. With the help of computer oriented working through the vignette the
consistency of the behavior pattern of the respective teacher will be measured. With our test
instrument we will be able to evaluate in an ecologically valid way teaching competencies of
experienced teachers, then to plan interventions for the enhancement of the competence profiles of
that teachers and finally to conceptualize new modules for teaching training situations of becoming
teachers.
On the integration of formative assessment teaching and learning in teacher education
Richard J. Shavelson, Stanford University, USA
In at least US and British education, student assessment is seen as something outside the regular
course of teaching. Often it is done for summative purposes to provide grades or to inform and
sometimes placate parents. The assessment stepchild is also apparent in teacher education
programs where perhaps a “lecture” is given to teachers-in-training on “testing and assessment” or
even a course is allocated, but the course conveys a very traditional notion of assessment, mostly
teacher made tests and summative uses of tests. This situation is currently changing with the
recognition of the importance of formative assessment in the improvement of student learning
(especially as documented by Black and Wiliam in Britain). Two joint projects on formative
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assessment, one between Stanford and King’s College, London, and the other between Stanford
and the University of Hawaii seek to devise ways of enhancing teachers’ capabilities to carry out
formative assessment. The former focuses on teacher development of “informal” formative
assessments, clinical assessment of students’ understanding in the ongoing flow of classroom
activities. The other links such activities with “formal” formative assessment where assessments
are designed on a conceptual model of achievement in a domain and embedded in curricular
activities. In both cases, concern is with maximizing information gained by the teacher to bring
about students’ understandings and conceptual changes by providing immediate feedback to
students and teachers and focusing on reducing the gap between where the student is and where
the student is to end up. Training, implementation, qualitative and randomized-trial data will be
brought to bear on teachers' development of their assessment practices in the talk.
A2
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G D
Symposium
MOTIVATION IN EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS - ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO
LOOK AT WAYS OF ACTING FROM A MOTIVATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Doris Lewalter, University of FAF Munich, Germany
K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, USA
The aim of this symposium is to introduce a broad variety of new, even provocative ideas with
respect to mainstream research on motivation. Traditional research has been concentrated on
individual psychological processes of motivation in learning and they have been very seldom
situated in classroom contexts or in processes of learning and instruction and can be also criticized
not be solving real problems in educational settings (e.g. to optimise teaching and learning in
certain classes or in new more flexible and open learning environments). In mainstream research
on motivation there has been a tendency to investigate correlations in between motivational
variables and achievement indicators and find in principle nothing real new: the relation is
moderate high, and cannot be used to explain inter- and intraindividual differences in learning and
achievement. All this is useful to understand the basic processes of human motivation and, indeed,
there is plenty of studies to explore these kind of empirical relations. What is much more important
is the question, how learning-related aspects of motivation can be fostered during teaching and
learning process, in variety of learning environments and in education general as well as how
motivational factors become a more or less integrated part of a persons self concept or identity.
The research presented within the symposium particularly focus on social and content-related
aspects of the educational contexts investigated.
Students’ motivation and cognitive self-regulation in a new pedagogical culture – Context oriented
and mixed method approach
Hanna Salovaara, University of Oulu, Finland
The aim of this paper is to study secondary school students’ cognitive and motivational selfregulation in computer supported collaborative context. Our assumption is that the new social and
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collaborative practices, with and without technology, challenges traditional motivation and selfregulation research by focussing on students’ engagement in the dynamic social activities in the
immediate context of learning. This paper describes the results of the analysis of three years
process-oriented interview data concerning secondary school students' goals and strategies in
different computer supported collaborative inquiries. By looking at the ways secondary school
students (N=18) at the age of 13-15 interpret and explain the different situations in new
pedagogical context we are able to find out their subjective and context specific explanations. A
mixed method model was used to compare the qualitative content analysis of interview data in
different inquiry situations by non-parametric statistics. The data show how students’ explanations
and interpretations of their goals and strategies vary in different inquiries. It can be concluded that
the students seem to develop individual and contextual goals and strategies to self-regulate in the
new pedagogical culture.
Using multiple measures to assess students’ perceptions of classroom goal structures
Tim Urdan, Santa Clara University, California, USA
Achievement goal theory has become one of the preeminent theories of achievement motivation
yet there are features of the theory that create significant measurement challenges for researchers.
For example, it is not clear whether the goals that students pursue in a given situation are
determined by relatively stable goal orientations held by each student or by specific situational
demands. Similarly, research examining the influence of the learning environment on students’
goal pursuits has to date not adequately addressed how students attend to, interpret, and internalize
multiple and ambiguous goal messages in the classroom or why students differ in their responses
to the same goal messages. In the present study, I used a combination of methods to assess
students’ goals and their perceptions of the goal messages in their classrooms. Using surveys,
videotapes of classroom sessions, and interviews with teachers and students, I found that teachers
rarely make their goals explicit, often present multiple goal messages, and that students often
perceive the goal messages in the classroom differently than previous research would suggest. Age
and achievement level differences in the interpretation of classroom goal messages are discussed.
The influence of context and content on motivational orientations and emotional experiences in
vocational education
Doris Lewalter, University of the FAF, Munich, Germany
Andreas Krapp, University of the FAF, Munich, Germany
Based on theoretical considerations developed in the area of interest research (“person-object
conception of interest”, POI; Krapp, 2002) it is assumed that there is no general but a contentspecific influence of learning contexts on motivation and motivationally relevant emotional
experiences. To explore this assumption we investigated the impact of the learning context in the
area of vocational education (training on the workplace vs. lessons about certain subjects in the
company) on intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations and selected, motivationally relevant
emotional experiences. In both contexts we distinguish between the assessment of the general
contexts and the assessment of specific learning sequences. We are presenting results from an
empirical study with trainees from 13 training groups within seven insurance companies (N=113).
The students completed questionnaires assessing different motivational variables at the beginning
and at the end of a sequence of about two weeks of vocational training. In addition experiencesampling-method was used to assess the emotional experience during the content-specific training
situations. In accordance with our theoretical assumptions, the findings indicate only small
differences with respect to intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations when the context is
– 25 –
taken into account at the level of general characteristics. However, when comparing the effects at
the level of specific sequence of teaching we find significant differences for content specific
intrinsic motivational orientations and motivationally relevant emotional experiences. The results
will be discussed with respect to theoretical and practical consequences.
Engaged participation: A stridently sociocultural alternative to intrinsic motivation
Daniel Hickey, University of Georgia, USA
Sociocultural perspectives have been influential in efforts to broaden the study of achievement
motivation. This presentation will explore the implications of the fundamental sociocultural
assumption that knowledge resides in the context of its use. This “participatory” view of knowing
and learning will contrasted with more conventional “acquisitory” views, and used to define a
stridently sociocultural approach to engagement. Prior behavioral and cognitive views will be
contrasted with the sociocultural notions of engaged participation in the co-construction of
standards and values in learning contexts and maladaptive non-participation. This approach is
compared to other ostensibly similar approaches that embrace some sociocultural assumptions
while maintaining an acqusitory view of knowing and learning. The potential value of a strident
approach will be explored with new data from a three-year classroom study that uses multiple
perspectives to explore persistent tensions between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and between
formative and summative assessment.
A3
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G A
SIG Invited Symposium
THE BACKWASH EFFECT OF ASSESSMENT ON LEARNING
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Mien Segers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Kari Smith, Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel
David Nevo, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Alternatives in assessment have received much attention in the last decade and several forms of
assessment have been introduced in various levels of education. Leading experts on learning and
assessment are claiming the era of testing has changed in recent years into an era of assessment
(Birenbaum, 1996). This change can be described on six dimensions: (1) from decontextualized to
contextualized assessment, (2) from single numbers of measures to multiple number of measures,
(3) from low levels of comprehension assessed to high levels of comprehension, (4) from few
dimensions of intelligence to many dimensions of intelligence, (5) from isolated assessment to
integrated assessment, (6) from teacher-centred assessment to student-centred assessment. The
fifth dimension refers to the main function of assessment. In the so-called assessment culture,
assessment procedures are seen not only as tools for crediting students but also, and to a growing
importance, as valuable for monitoring and supporting students’ progress. It is expected that new
modes of assessment will stimulate effective learning, as characterized within recent constructivist
frameworks on learning. According to Moss (1995), Linn et al. (1991) and Haertel (1991), this
backwash effect of assessment on education is an essential interpretative criterion for monitoring
the quality of new modes of assessment, referred to as the consequential validity of assessment. To
a growing extent, researchers in various contexts are exploring the backwash effects of new modes
of assessment on learning. This symposium intends to present four research studies that contribute
– 26 –
to the insight in the direct and indirect, intentional and unintended influences of new modes of
assessment on student learning.
Improving student learning through changing assessment – A conceptual and practical framework
Graham Gibbs, Open University, United Kingdom
Ranald Macdonald, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom
A three year research study at the Open University and Sheffield Hallam University, in the UK,
has been examining the way the design of assessment on a wide range of science courses affects
the ways students go about their studying. Its starting point has been a set 11 conditions under
which assessment best supports learning, based on theory and on empirical evidence from studies
of strategic changes in assessment (Gibbs,1999; Gibbs, 2002; Gibbs and Simpson, in press). These
conditions concern how assessment captures students time and effort and distribute it across a
course, how assessment generates productive learning activity, how assessment provides sufficient
prompt feedback, the quality of feedback, and how students respond to feedback and use it to
inform subsequent learning. The way these characteristics of assessment systems operate in
practice has been explored through interviews with students on a series of science courses at the
Open University. The development of an ‘Assessment Experience Questionnaire’ (AEQ), which
measures the extent to which the 11 conditions are met on courses, will be described. The AEQ
has been administered to students on 14 Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy and Bioscience courses,
each with different patterns of assessment. Problems have been identified in the volume and
distribution of student effort and in the use students make of feedback. The project will go on to
implement principled changes to assessment design on these courses and to study the impact of
these changes on students’ responses and study patterns using the AEQ and other evaluation
evidence.
Do new assessment forms meet the expectations with regard to consequential validity?
Sarah Gielen, University of Leuven, Belgium
Sabine Dierick, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
In line with the paradigm change in student evaluation matters, new assessment forms are studied
from the perspective of (the awareness of ) the consequential validity. The research question is
whether the characteristics of assessment are supporting the new key functions of assessment, and
whether students recognised these advantages in there experiences with the assessment system.
This study examined the consequential validity of a portfolio-based assessment, combined with
formative peer-assessment, introduced in a first year teacher education program. The students
(N=155) were asked what they thought the good features of this assessment were, and which
suggestions they would make to improve it. Open questions were used and the answers were coded
by two researchers. In reaction to the assessment, in which important characteristics were student
involvement, authentic tasks, and integration into learning, students recognised all of the new key
functions of assessment. The assessment was found to be valid and reliable as a markinginstrument. Moreover, students described the assessment as a tool to generate appropriate student
learning activity, capture student time and attention, provide timely help and feedback, help
students to internalise discipline’s standards and foster cooperative learning. They also appreciated
strongly the clear relevance of the tasks for their professional apprenticeship and practice. Almost
half of the respondents answered they would not change the assessment system; others had mainly
practical remarks. A more fundamental suggestion of approximately 25% of the students was that
they wanted even more feedback. We concluded that the theoretically assumed effects of
– 27 –
assessment are found in practice, and that students recognise its new key functions as being
fulfilled.
A framework for project-based assessment in science education
Yehudit J. Dori, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Israel and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, USA
The project-based assessment framework has emerged as a common thread throughout three
studies to be described in the symposium. In the project-based framework, new modes of
assessment were woven in a way that constituted a natural extension of the learning itself rather
than an external add-on. In three project-based learning studies, students were responsible for their
own learning, teachers oversaw student teamwork, and community stakeholders were involved in
school curriculum and assessment. In a school environment like this, higher order thinking skills
and autonomous learning skills developed to a greater extent than in traditional learning settings. In
the elementary school, the high level assignments, developed as research instruments, required a
variety of higher order thinking skills and can therefore serve as a unique diagnostic tool. In the
“Matriculation 2000” Project teachers improved students’ learning outcomes and shaped
curriculum and instruction decisions at the school and classroom level through changing the
assessment culture. The reform is a prelude to a transition from a nationwide standardized testing
system to a school-based assessment system. The study that involved teachers has shown that
projects can serve as a learning and assessment tool not only for students but also for teachers.
Incorporating project-based assessment is recommended for both pre- and in-service teacher
workshops, not only for serving as assessment means to evaluate teachers, but also for exposing
them to new modes of assessment and encourage them to implement it in their classes. The
findings of these studies indicate that project-based assessment when embedded throughout the
teaching process has the unique advantage of fostering and assessing higher order thinking skills.
The effect of assessing problem-solving skills on learning and teaching: The case of the overall
test
During the past decade, the assessment of students’ performances has been changed towards more
accent on cognitive competencies such as problem solving and on assessment in an authentic
context. It was expected that this change would have positive backwash effects on learning and
teaching. In this presentation, the backwash effects of the OverAll Test, a case-based assessment
instrument aiming to assess problem solving skills, are presented. First, semi-structured interviews
with groups of students and teachers focussed on what students understood to be required, how
they were going about the assessment task(s) and what kind of learning they believed was taking
place. Second, a student survey measured the students’ perceptions of different quality aspects of
the problem-based learning environment. The results indicated that the students as well as the
teachers recognized the key goals of the OverAll Test and their relevance for the problem-based
curriculum. However, despite the problem-based learning curriculum and the OverAll Test as part
of it, the students did hardly engage in problem-solving activities. Students as well as teachers
referred to the poor quality of different aspects of the learning environment. These findings
indicate that the subjective learning environment seems to play a mediating role in the backwash
effect of assessment on learning. Although new modes of assessment are expected to encourage
learning activities such as problem solving, the quality of the learning environment as perceived by
the students plays a crucial role in the extent to which students really engage in these kind of
learning activities.
– 28 –
A4
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G B
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING BETWEEN IDEOLOGY AND REALITY
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussants:
Hans Gruber, University of Regensburg, Germany
Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University, The Netherlands
Professional learning extends far into or even over the whole period of professional life; formal
and informal further education is of increasing importance due to considerable changes in the
working life, e.g. technology-based changes. Especially during more advanced stages, professional
learning and acquisition and tuning of expertise is mostly experience-based, less school-based or
course-based. Consequently, many attempts can be identified to transfer “classical” theories of
learning and instruction into the field of professional learning and development. The
responsibilities for implementing educational approaches in professional life frequently are not
held by a scientific community of experts, but by employers or professional organizations (e.g.,
companies, hospitals, the medical society). Thus, an increasing number of rules and regulations
apply to traditional professionals. Many of them have left their independent status behind and
more and more often work in organizations that claim to provide educational programs. Critics say
that the processes these organizations introduce are merely symbolic, only meant to be able to call
themselves “learning organizations”, whereas in reality professional learning does not play a major
role. In the invited SIG 15 (Learning and Professional Development) symposium, four distinctive
researchers discuss the question of “Professional learning between ideology and reality”.
Innovative and provocative impulses for the development of professional learning in research and
practice are to be expected from the contributions of Helmut Heid (former president of the DGfE,
German Society for Education), Erno Lehtinen (EARLI president), David Berliner (former AERA
president), and Robert-Jan Simons (former EARLI president).
Myths and truths about professional learning - A critical perspective
Helmut Heid, University of Regensburg, Germany
The field of professional learning is dominated by concepts that are highly appreciated and receive
commonly shared acceptance. On the one hand, changed and permanently changing demands
referring to globalization and economic and technical development are emphasized as initial points
for (lifelong) professional learning. On the other hand, professional education is suggested to
follow certain mechanisms, e.g. equity of chances, achievement principle, highly oriented towards
requirements. However, a critical discuss of the use of these concepts is lacking that pinpoints the
gaps between programmatic statements and educational reality. The presentation intends to start
such a discussion, exemplified by the German employment system. Two basic difficulties are
identified: (1) The purpose of referring to highly appreciated concepts in professional learning
frequently is the legitimization of selection and allocation of narrow goods. This can mask
underlying processes of individual decisions; (2) The use of highly appreciated concepts in
professional learning supports the objectification of individual perceptions and interpretations.
This immunizes against criticism. It is argued that a major task for forthcoming educational
– 29 –
research is to investigate these problems in more detail in order to clearly define myths and truths
about professional learning.
Professional learning as building networked expertise?
Erno Lehtinen, University of Turku, Finland
Tuire Palonen, University of Turku, Finland
Kai Hakkarainen, University of Helsinki, Finland
We summarise main findings of a larger research project, which aimed at examining the
challenges of working-life in the age of networks and knowledge society. By relying on
psychological, sociological and educational literature, a framework for examining human competence is presented. We elaborate the concept of Networked Expertise that is aimed at
characterising the emerging features of professional activity in current and future working life.
Networked expertise is relational in nature; it is constituted in interaction between individuals,
communities, and larger networks supported by cognitive artefacts and it coevolves with
continuously transforming innovative knowledge communities. We argue that a fundamental
challenge of the knowledge society is to facilitate social transformations that support deliberate
advancement and building of knowledge and the development of expertise. On the basis of the
theoretical analysis and empirical findings we claim that expertise needed in knowledge society
cannot be understood by referring only to a sum of individual cognitive competencies. Characteristic of the emerging types of expertise is also joint or shared competence manifest in dynamic
functioning of communities and networks of experts as well as technical artefacts supporting
communication and knowledge building. There is a large number of studies that focus either on
examining individual expertise, workgroups, or organizational practices. However, these levels are
hardly ever linked together in the same study. More studies in which the individual and communal
aspects meet are needed. It seems to be the only way to catch such a complex issue, as the
expertise in knowledge and network society.
Professional development of teachers in the USA: How to do it wrong!
David C. Berliner, Arizona State University, USA
Research supporting the position that professional development for teachers is a worthwhile
investment strategy that pays off in terms of student achievement will be examined and discussed.
This will be followed by an examination of what occurs in such professional development
programs, demonstrating that most programs are designed merely to be symbolic acts of
professional development, often programs without much substance. It has been found that the
primary purpose of much professional development is to help teachers receive more pay. Teachers'
salaries in the USA are tied to courses and units taken, not to competencies demonstrated in the
classroom or ratings by knowledgeable others. The more courses and experiences a teacher can
acquire, the more money a teacher can earn, up to the limit of the pay schedule. This results in a
profusion of professional development experiences many of which are only tangentially related to
genuine problems of pedagogy. Some of these experiences are clearly worthless others are at best,
motivational, with little concern for measuring change. A good deal of professional development is
not derived from good theory, and these programs do not have the kinds of follow-up needed for
mastery of what is to be learned. The kinds of professional development programs that might meet
minimum standards for affecting student outcomes will also be noted.
– 30 –
Differing colors of professional learning
Robert-Jan Simons, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
P. C. Ruijters Manon, Twynstra Gudde Management Consultants, The Netherlands
Recently, De Caluwe and Vermaak published a book in which they defined five different, implicit
theories of change. The implicit blue theory about change is that people and organizations change
when there are clear goals and plans (blueprinting). The yellow theory is that people and
organizations change through coalitions and political force. The red theory of change is that people
and organizations change when there is a supporting and rewarding climate. The white theory
focuses on inspiration and flow: people and organizations change in dynamic open situations. The
green theory is the learning perspective: people and organizations change when learning is
supported and facilitated. In our work with professionals, we found that the colors are very
effective aids for communication about change. Professionals readily understand the colors and
start to use them within minutes. It is a new language that helps them to understand their own
views about change, their organizations' views and the discrepancy between the two. Furthermore,
the colors help people to explicate their implicit metal models about change. The question we try
to answer in this paper is whether we can also define five colors of learning that fulfill similar
functions as the colors of change. A conceptual system of five learning colors will be proposed as
well as an overview of dilemma's we encountered in designing this system. Distinctions between
ways of learning as defined for instance by Sfard and Bereiter are included in the system. The blue
color of learning refers to transmission and acquisition. The yellow color of learning focuses on
observation and imitation. Red is the color of participation and communication. The white learning
theory emphasizes feeling and understanding. Finally, the green theory is about experimentation
and reflection. In the paper, we will report about our experiences with these colors of learning and
the relations between change colors and learning colors.
A5
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 L
Symposium
TRANSLATING BETWEEN MULTIPLE REPRESENTATIONS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussants:
Shaaron Ainsworth, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Richard Cox, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Peter Reimann, University of Heidelberg, Germany
When people are learning complicated new ideas, interacting with multiple forms of representation
such as diagrams, graphs and animations can bring unique benefits. Unfortunately, there is
considerable evidence to show that learners can fail to exploit these advantages and often this has
been shown to be rest on a lack of understanding of the relation between representations. This
symposium aims to discuss the state of the art in understanding the nature and importance of
translation between representations as well as how systems should best support this complex
process. It will present four papers which have used a variety of innovative methodologies to
understand (a) the processes by which learners come to understand the relation between
representations, (b) the roles of learners’ goals and strategies when they interact with and relate
multiple representations; and (c) the way that modern software extends the scope of
representations and how it should best be designed to support users at varying levels of expertise.
The issues involved in translating between representations are highly relevant to researchers and
– 31 –
developers interested in designing effective multi-representational software, psychologists
concerned with the cognitive and motivational effects of learning with multiple representations
and teachers who have to support their pupils when faced with the complex tasks involved in
multi-representational learning.
Keeping track: Coordinating multiple representations in programming
Pablo Romero, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Benedict du Boulay, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Rudi Lutz, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
A computer program is a complex object with both static and dynamic properties that can be
viewed from a number of different perspectives. These perspectives include the functional
relationship between different parts of the code and what they do, flow of control information
about the sequence of events when the code executes, the nature and evolution of data structures
built dynamically during execution, etc. Modern software development environments exploit their
graphical interfaces to provide varied notations and modalities to visualise these and other
perspectives. One dimension of this variability is modality, e.g. from mostly textual to mostly
graphical. An effective programmer, using a software development environment well, is able to
coordinate the various representations available in a way that suits both the particular constraints
of the kind of programming task in hand (module design or debugging, say) and the context in
which it is being undertaken, as well as any personal preferences for, or expertise with, particular
representations. This paper compares how programmers of varying expertise coordinate four
simultaneously available representations of a Java program they are debugging. These representations are the code of the program, its flow of control, its data structures and its printed output.
The paper explores which representations get used and when, the switches between representations, the effects of individual differences in preference for particular modalities or in
expertise in switching between modalities, and the relationship of these factors to debugging
performance. The paper describes a novel method of tracking the programmer’s focus of attention.
A microgenetic approach to understanding the processes of translating between representations
Nicolas van Labeke, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Translating information between representations has been shown to be both one of the most
complex aspects of learning with multiple representations and in many cases one of the most
crucial as well. Previous work has addressed factors that influence the effectiveness of
representational systems for supporting translation, individual differences in translating between
representations and has produced computational models of multi-representational reasoning.
However, very little research has related learners’ goals and strategies to their use of multiple
representations. Consequently, papers may claim that learners find translating between
representations complex when instead learners may not even have tried to translate between
representations. To address this issue, we have conducted a microgenetic investigation of students’
use of a dynamic simulation of predator-prey relationship. Information is presented in many forms
of representation (e.g. tables, time-series graphs, phase-plots, animations, equations). Learners
chose which representations to interact with and can ask the system to dynamically map between
representations. This study shows that by taking detailed protocols over a number of sessions, we
can explicitly relate learners’ use of representations with their statements of the purposes for
choosing and interacting with such representations. It also provides further evidence about the
– 32 –
cognitive processes involved in translating between representations and the activities that learners
engage in as they learn to relate representations.
Supporting the translation between multiple representations
Jan van der Meij, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Ton de Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Modern, computer based, learning environments often embrace a multitude of representations.
Research with learning environments that contain multiple representations has revealed that
learning with multiple representations can lead to deeper understanding but also that processing
different representations can be a demanding process. In a multi-representational learning
environment the learner has to understand each representation and, when the representations are
(partially) redundant, has to translate between the representations. The current study is the first of a
series of studies in which the translation between representations is studied within a simulation
based learning environment. Students can be supported in this translation process by linking
representations dynamically (which means that concurrent changes occur in separate representation) or spatially (which means that related representations are linked in place). In the present
study three versions of the same simulation were compared: a simulation with dynamically linked
integrated representations, a simulation with dynamically linked separated representations, and a
simulation with non-linked separated representations. Eighty-nine Dutch students from four
middle vocational training schools participated in the experiment. Subjects worked with a
SimQuest simulation in which they studied the behaviour of moments in mechanical engineering.
The experiments were held at the four participating schools and consisted of three sessions: pretest, working with the simulation, and post-test. Three types of items were used in the tests: items
on subject matter content, items on translation between representations, and items on transfer
problems. The paper will present the results of these experiments to examine how different forms
of translation influence learning.
Training and situational help for coherence formation in learning with multiple representations
Tina Seufert, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Modern learning environments often use multiple representations with different representational
properties, e.g. different representational codes or sensory modalities. The integration of
information from different sources requires local coherence formation, i.e. learners have to
understand each of the representations as well as global coherence formation which requires them
to interconnect and translate between representations. Previous research shows that learners and
especially those with little prior knowledge have difficulties in mapping between the representations and fail to construct a globally coherent mental representation. Therefore two experimental
studies were conducted to investigate different ways to support coherence formation in a multirepresentational learning environment: The first study evaluated the effectiveness of a structure
mapping training conducted before the learning unit. Analysis revealed that trained learners compared to an untrained control group - act more strategically and performed better, especially in
higher order cognitive tasks. The second study investigated the effects of situational help presented
within the learning phase, which was either directive or non-directive and was presented in either
visual or auditory format. The results indicate a superiority of directive help and an interaction
between the directivity and sensory modality of help: non-directive help is more effective if it is
presented visually. Furthermore, learners with middle levels of prior knowledge particularly
profited from help, whereas help overloaded learners with insufficient prior knowledge. The
results are discussed with respect to theoretical aspects as well as practical consequences.
– 33 –
A6
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 A
Symposium
INTRODUCING ICT AND PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION INTO HIGHER
EDUCATION: THE RECRE@SUP PROJECT
Organiser and Chair:
Discussants:
Bernadette Charlier, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Carmen Vizcarro, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Rupert Wegerif, Open University, United Kingdom
Every HE institution in Europe is concerned by the uses of ICT in teaching and learning and by the
pedagogical innovation often related with these uses. In the RECRE@SUP project, teachers,
researchers and the resources centres of ten HE institutions in Europe have collaborated to
understand the innovative processes in which they were involved. Two pedagogical projects have
been selected in each institution and studied during two years by four interdisciplinary research
groups focused on complementary dimensions. Uses of technologies (WP1): Choice, implementation and uses of a virtual work environment; Pedagogical scenarios (WP2): A Tool for
Designing ICT-based Learning Scenarios; Roles of the resource centres and the teacher training
(WP4): New jobs and new structures as a result of ICT uses within higher education institutions;
Change processes in learning and teaching (WP5): Issues in the organisational and change context
for case study courses in RECRE@SUP.
WP1: Choice, implementation and uses of a virtual work environment
Daniel Peraya, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Fabrice Joye, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Bérénice Jaccaz, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Christian Depover, University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium
Bruno De Lièvre, University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium
Sandrine Decamps, University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium
The main objective of WP1 was to provide technological support to the Recre@sup community,
by creating an information-sharing tool. The implementation of this tool caused WP1 to think
about a working method for developing this type of support in similar projects, while analyzing the
notion of “adaptable campus” and its conditions of implementation and usage. Its second mission
was to develop a portal of information about the resources and results of the project for an
audience outside the community. At the end of the project, WP1 evaluated the use of the work
environment. On the whole, the users found that the platform was well adapted to their roles and
tasks within the project, but it was not integrated into their work for several reasons: the late
incorporation of the platform in the project, the absence of a situation necessitating the use of the
tools offered by this platform, the redundancy of the tools with relation to those of personal
desktops and the complexity of certain functions. With the experience acquired in this project, the
symposium will endeavor to better understand the reasons for this partial failure. It will also
propose a certain number of questions inherent to the practice of designers and community work
space users. These questions certainly do not present a typical itinerary that would indicate which
tool to use or not to use, but, in the same manner as heuristics, they favor reflection prior to this
choice.
– 34 –
WP2: A tool for designing ICT-based learning scenarios
Amaury Daele, University of Namur, Belgium
Caroline Brassard, Quebec University, Chicoutimi, Canada
Liliane Esnault, Management School, Lyon, France
Michaël O’Donoghue, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Eric Uyttebrouck, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
Romain Zeiliger, Gate-CNRS, France
The main issue we are dealing with in our research group is the analysis of the implementation of
ICT-based learning scenarios and the construction of a tool for designing consistent learning
scenarios. A learning scenario is defined as the result of the design process of learning activities. It
is implemented through a learning system which provides it human, technical and administrative
resources as well as a legal framework. We interviewed 13 teachers having implemented innovative ICT-based activities in their courses about the design, implementation and evaluation
processes they worked on. Four of them allowed us to submit a questionnaire to their students
about how they lived the learning activities. The data have been treated with a category-based
content analysis method. Thanks to our analysis of the main questions lived by the teachers and
their students, we followed and enhanced an existing tool for designing learning scenarios
(Reeves, 1996, 1997). This 18-dimensional tool is structured around practical questions teachers
and course designers could ask themselves for making choices and decisions when developing
ICT-based learning activities: what will be the roles of the teachers? how to choose the learning
goals? how will the students be evaluated? how to implement ICT tools through the learning
activities? etc. Some dimensions aim also to bring teachers and instructional designers to better
define their presuppositions about what is teaching, learning, knowing, etc. Through a reflective
view, the tool could help them to globally question teaching and learning in Higher Education.
This tool was presented to a panel of higher education teachers and instructional designers who
proposed interesting opinions for enhancing it. During next year, we will use the tool in contexts
of design, implementation and evaluation of learning scenarios in universities.
WP4: New jobs and new structures as a result of ICT uses within higher education institutions
Françoise Docq, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Marcel Lebrun, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Amaury Daele, University of Namur, Belgium
Simon Lusalusa, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
Laurence Baldewijns, University of Liege, Belgium
Ana Garcia, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
This research group analyzed how 10 Higher Education institutions reacted facing new needs
appearing as a result of ICT introduction in teaching practices. Confronted with needs for teachers
training, pedagogical consultance, technical support, innovation management, some institutions
created “ICT resources centres”. We analyzed the missions of these centres (often in a first time
more turned towards technical support and then evolving towards pedagogical support), their
structure (how many people work in the centre, which competencies…), how the centres promote
their services to the teachers and make them feel like innovating in their teaching practices.
Despite the diversity of institutional contexts, those centres face similar problems: no specific
professional status exists for pedagogical counsellors (must they be academic professors,
administrative employees, researchers?), institutional authorities want ICT change to occur
without a clear vision of all the organisational implications of this innovation, Higher Education
– 35 –
teachers are used to be self-governing in their teaching practice (they do not need to learn
teaching!). Between institutional authorities and teachers, the new ICT resources centers are not in
a secure position. We paid a particular attention to teachers training activities proposed by the ICT
resources centres. Most of the centres multiply forms of training: Lectures, teachers practice
sharing, practical workshops according their preference to project following. Teachers are often
first attracted by technical training contents (how to create web pages, how to create online
courses…). Afterwards they become interested in more pedagogical training.
WP5: Issues in the organisational and change context for case study courses in Recre@sup
Bernadette Charlier, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Joël Bonamy, Gate-CNRS, Lyon, France
Murray Saunders, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
WP5 was charged with investigating the context in which change in learning and teaching
practices might take place within Higher Education institutional environments in contexts. This
contribution examines the way in which the 20 innovative courses using ICTs embody a change
process from an enclave (maintaining cases outside the normal teaching practice of the institution)
to a bridgehead (affecting the normal practice) and eventually to embedded practices (integrated in
the normal practices which have radically changed) by analysing the characteristics of the
innovative projects, the course leaders’ change experience and identity and the institutional
support. In order to identify these change processes at the level of the course leader, we have
developed and adapted a ‘Theories of Change’ approach. It adopts the perspective of evaluation
and institutional research in which key participants are asked to consider how the activities they
are undertaking will produce intended outcomes (Carol Weiss 1995, 1997a, 1997b; Connell and
Kubisch, 1998). Thus, the analysis is based on semi structure interviews with the course leaders of
the 20 courses. These interviews were analysed using a range of interrogatory concepts
(relationship with the institution, type of innovation, change agent identity) and a range of
grounded categories (theories of change, dissemination strategies). This process has been realised
in two stages (during the first year and the second one). The communication will highlight the
typologies produced as well as configurations that characterize change processes from enclave to
bridgehead and embedded practices.
A7
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G E
Symposium
EXTENDING UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE EXPERIENCE OF UNIVERSITY
TEACHING
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Gerlese Åkerlind, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Ference Marton, University of Göteborg, Sweden
Keith Trigwell, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
These studies extend the findings of previous research (Kember, 1997; Pratt, 1999; Samuelowicz
& Bain, 2001) into university teachers’ experiences of teaching both methodologically and
substantively. Substantively, the studies give insight into the richness and complexity of the
teaching experience by looking at teaching in relation to teachers' experience of change and
development. They also highlight the typically neglected affective aspects of being a university
teacher. Through the four studies, this symposium adds to our understanding of university teaching
– 36 –
by focusing on academics’ experiences of change in understanding of the subject matter taught;
growth and development as a teacher; the focus of change in their teaching; key themes in
teachers’ awareness of teaching. Methodologically, all four studies take phenomenography as a
point of departure, by focussing on the internal relatedness of teachers’ experiences. However,
unlike traditional phenomenographic research, these different perspectives allow us to illuminate
the experience of teaching and of being a teacher at both the individual and collective level. On
this basis, the studies inform approaches to teaching development in ways which have previously
been unexplored.
Teaching and teaching development: What is the relationship?
Gerlese Åkerlind, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Over the last decade, a substantial literature has developed based on research investigating
university teaching from the perspective of teachers themselves. A consistent finding is that
academics show a range of understandings of teaching, which vary from being primarily teachingfocused to primarily student-focused in nature. A student-focused understanding is uniformly
regarded as the more sophisticated view of teaching. This paper extends existing research by
investigating academics' understandings of growing and developing as a university teacher, and
the relationship between this and their understandings of being a university teacher. The outcomes
presented are based on semi-structured interviews with 28 academics, all on teaching and research
appointments at a research-intensive university. The outcomes show that, while student-focused
understandings of one phenomenon tended to be associated with student-focused understandings
of the other, in some cases academics experienced student-focused understandings of teaching
combined with teaching-focused understandings of teaching development - though importantly,
not vice versa. These findings raise the possibility that, developmentally, a more sophisticated
understanding of teaching may precede a more sophisticated understanding of developing as a
teacher. The different combinations of understandings were further explained through the positing
of an internal relationship between understandings of teaching and understandings of developing
as a teacher, based on the holding of different aspects of the two phenomena in focal awareness at
the same time. This is in contrast to the positing of a causal relationship, which would imply a
much more one-to-one relationship between understandings of the two phenomena than was found
in this study.
Patterns of variation and change in university teachers’ ways of experiencing teaching
Jo McKenzie, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
Understanding whether and how university teachers’ ways of experiencing teaching develop or
change has potential for improving teaching and learning in higher education. This paper aims to
illuminate patterns of variation and change in university teachers’ ways of experiencing teaching.
The methodology involved a two year longitudinal interview study of 27 university teachers, with
transcripts analysed using phenomenographic and related approaches based on the two faces of
variation and the structure of awareness). Six ways of experiencing teaching were related to five
ways of experiencing change in teaching and to different patterns in the thematic fields of
teaching. Teachers who came to adopt or who maintained student-focused ways of experiencing
teaching, described change in teaching as relating teaching more closely to learning or as
experiencing teaching differently. They became more aware of understanding student learning, and
became more explicitly aware of variation in ways of experiencing teaching. Teachers who
remained teacher-focused described changes in content or teaching strategies. They focused on
students’ reactions to teaching, rather than on students’ learning, and seemed unaware of variation
– 37 –
in ways of experiencing teaching. Both groups described feeling more confident, but about
different aspects of teaching. The study suggests that teacher change is not simply a matter of
development but varies critically with the teachers’ focuses on change and perceptions of the
thematic fields of teaching.
The development of university teachers’ experiences of teaching
Carol Bond, University of Otago, New Zealand
This longitudinal study reports the dimensional aspects of university teachers’ experiences of
teaching. The sample consists of 20 university teachers who were either students in or graduates of
a postgraduate course in tertiary teaching. Data were generated from a series of two semistructured interviews in 2001 and 2002. Questions focused on the teachers’ experiences of
teaching, learning, knowledge, knowing and research. The phenomenographic notion of internal
relation was the for a hermeneutic analysis that focused on individual’s experiences. The outcome,
seven categories ranging from teaching as giving knowledge, to teaching as learning, illustrates
both the variation and extreme complexity of teachers’ experiences. Evidence of within-individual
development allowed the categories to be used as a basis for the identification of dimensional
aspects of teaching along which changes in teachers’ experiences can be tracked over time. The
research is cross-disciplinary, integrating literature from different sectors on teachers’ beliefs,
conceptions of teaching, and experiences of teaching. The elaboration of dimensions of
experiences provides a partial response to calls for more longitudinal studies of teachers’
experiences, and studies that clarify the relationship between categories, and the nature of
transitions. The results indicate that the dimensional aspects of knowledge are key structures in
teachers’ experiences, and that the teacher focused/learner centred continuum may require a
different interpretation than that suggested by some recent studies.
Change and development in teachers’ understanding of their subject matter: Satisfaction,
exhilaration, disturbance and consternation
Elaine Martin, Victoria University, Australia
Mike Prosser, Sydney University, Australia
Gillian Leukenhausen, Victoria University, Australia
This paper considers the ways in which teachers change their understandings of subject matter as a
result of teaching that subject. The paper results from a study that explored the relation between
teachers’ understanding of the subject they teach and the way that they teach that subject matter. It
builds on previous phenomenographic research describing the key ways in which change in
understanding of subject matter is experienced by teachers by using metaphor to explore the
feelings of excitement, disturbance and disruption the experiences of change of understanding can
bring to teachers. Four levels of change are explored though metaphor and discourse analysis. At
the most superficial level change is seen as a matter of keeping up to date and there is a general
sense of satisfaction. At the deepest level change comes as a disturbance to the teachers’
“constellation of beliefs” about the subject and there are significant questions posed about future
engagement with the subject, both as a teacher and as a scholar. The study on which this paper is
based provides evidence of a link between the way teachers understand their subject matter, the
way they teach it, and the ways in which they are likely to develop and change their understanding.
It is clear that teaching can cause teachers to question their own understanding of subject matter in
ways that are sometimes satisfying and sometimes exciting but may also be disruptive and
disturbing.
– 38 –
A8
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 G
Symposium
TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO WORK OR TO UNIVERSITY: MULTIPLE
THEORETICAL APPROACHES IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Olaf Köller, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Katariina Salmela-Aro, University of Helsinki, Finland
The four presentations of the intended symposium will focus on the school-to-university and
school-to-work transition from different theoretical perspectives embedded in different psychological traditions. Based upon recent work in educational psychology, Andrea D. Schwanzer and
Olaf Koeller, “Transition from upper secondary school to university: The impact of academic selfconcepts on subject choices at university”, highlight the role of academic self-concepts for subject
choices at university. The paper by Rainer Watermann and Kai Maaz, “Transition from upper
secondary school to university: An application of the theory of planned behavior”, uses
expectancy-value models in the field of social psychology to explain the intention to study at
university. Goal theory provides the theoretical framework of the third paper by Oliver Luedtke,
“Determinants of major life goals at the end of secondary school”. He focuses on how personal
goals, particularly academic goals, are influenced by educational contexts. Kai S. Cortina, Corinne
J. Alfeld and Nicole R. Zarrett, in their paper “Getting stuck on the beaten path: Antecedences of
problems in college in Germany and the United States”, take a cross-cultural perspective and look
at reasons for dropping out of university in the U.S. and the German educational system. Finally,
Katariina Salmela-Aro will discuss the four papers.
Transition from upper secondary school to university: The impact of academic self-concepts on
subject choices at university
Andrea Schwanzer, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
The current study investigated the effects of verbal and math self-concept on subject choice at
university. It was hypothesized that math self-concept should increase the chance of opting for
math/science at university while at the same time verbal self-concept should decrease the chance.
Verbal self-concept on the other hand was hypothesized to increase the chance of opting for a
university subject within the humanities, whereas math self-concept was expected to decrease the
chance of opting for such a subject. In their final school year, 2852 upper secondary school
students worked on standardized achievement and intelligence tests and questionnaires. Verbal and
math self-concept were measured by means of modified SDQ III-scales by Marsh (Cronbach’s
alphas > .80). In addition data on intelligence, coursework selection at high school, and academic
achievement (grades in math and German) were collected. University subjects were classified
according to four categories, i.e., math/science, humanities, economics/law, and others. Multi-level
multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed clear support for our hypotheses. After
controlling for gender, academic achievement, intelligence and coursework selection, a high math
self-concept increased the chance of opting for math/science and decreased the likelihood of
choosing a subject within the humanities. In contrast a high verbal self concept increased the
likelihood of opting for the humanities, while at the same time it decreased the chance of choosing
– 39 –
math or science at university. The findings underline the important role of self-concept variables
for important career decisions during the transition from school to university.
Transition from upper secondary school to university: An application of the theory of planned
behaviour
Rainer Watermann, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Kai Maaz, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
The theory of planned behaviour was applied to German upper secondary students’ intention of
going to university. The main focus of the study was to ascertain the predictive power of the focal
variables of the theory (attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control) on intention
and thus test the sufficiency of the theory. It is argued that the effects of academic achievement,
academic self-concept and vocational interests are mediated through attitudes, subjective norm and
perceived behavioural control. A total sample of 4700 students attending vocational and traditional
Gymnasium participated in the study. In their final school year, students were given a
questionnaire including all elements of the theory of planned behaviour. In addition, they worked
on standardized achievement questionnaires. Verbal, math and general self-concept were measured
by means of modified SDQ III-scales by Marsh. Vocational interests were measured by means of a
questionnaire including Holland’s Big Six domains of vocational interests. Data on academic
achievement (grades in advanced courses) were also collected. A structural equation approach was
used to test the construct validity of measures as well as the predictive validity of the theory.
Results show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control account for 40% of
the variance in the dependent variable intention. As expected, effects of academic achievement,
self-concept and vocational interests are mediated through attitude, subjective norm and perceived
behavioural control, while academic achievement (grades) still has a positive impact on intention
(b = .22).
Determinants of major life goals at the end of secondary school
Oliver Luedtke, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
The end of secondary school represents an important transition in late adolescence. Moving on to a
different learning environment in college, starting a vocational training program, or directly
entering the workforce coincides with difficult developmental tasks faced during this period of
life, namely, the ongoing development towards autonomy and the struggle to develop a personal
identity. Mastering these tasks establishes a solid basis for successful development across the
lifespan. Based on the idea that people shape their own development, it is assumed that individuals
influence their own life course through setting and pursuing personal goals. In the present
investigation, we try to identify individual- and school-level characteristics that influence the
content of the life goals that students pursue at the end of secondary education. In their final school
year, 4500 upper secondary school students were asked to write down their six most important life
goals (Little, 1983). The goals mentioned by the students were classified independently by two
assessors into four main categories (work, education, social, and self) and several subcategories.
The students’ parents completed an additional questionnaire. Multi-level analyses (Raudenbush &
Bryk, 2002) were used to separate the influence of individual-level (math and English achievement, grades, personality traits), school-level (school achievement, school climate) and parentlevel (social background, parents’ educational aspirations) variables on the content of the life goals
selected. Preliminary analyses reveal a relationship between indicators of school achievement and
the content of life goals.
– 40 –
Getting stuck on the beaten path: Antecedences of problems in college in Germany and the United
States
Kai Schnabel Cortina, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Corinne J. Alfeld, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Nicole R. Zarrett, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Cross-national developmental research on emerging adulthood typically focuses on difference in
the social and psychological adjustment in the school to work transition after graduation from high
school (Chisholm & Hurrelmann, 1995). At least across Western societies, those who move on to a
full-time college are assumed to experience similar transition problems because the career
trajectories are similar (Buechtemann, Schupp, & Soloff, 1993). However, aggregated similarities
in behavior and actual career development do not imply similarity in the way the college
environment is experienced and how students cope with specific challenges. It was hypothesized
that structural differences in the academic educational systems and differences in the social status
rather specific learning and living contexts for the students in different countries. In an exploratory
comparative study of two longitudinal data sets from Germany (N=1425) and the United States
(N=1755), students were asked at different stages of their college education what problems there
encountered in the pursuit of their studies. As expected there were no substantial difference in the
prediction of the college population: In both societies, high achievement at the end of high school,
higher socio-economic background and adjustment to academic learning settings were significant
determinants in both samples. In both societies, the immediate adjustment problem seems
comparable. Peer group change and coping with the new learning environment are relevant for
most freshman in Germany as well as in the U.S. However, while orientation problems prevail in
the German sample over a longer period, U.S. students often report financial problems. The
findings indicate that postponing graduation and drop-out of college have different causes in both
countries.
A9
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 4 R
Symposium
INVESTIGATING DOCTORAL ASSESSMENT
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Sid Bourke, University of Newcastle, Australia
Gerry Mullins, University of Adelaide, Australia
This symposium consists of five papers that examine the issue of doctoral thesis assessment. In the
UK, Australia and New Zealand examiners normally provide written reports on doctoral theses
submitted. These reports contain more than evaluative information alone, also addressing
disciplinarity, academic reciprocity and networking, and standard setting. In Australia, a doctoral
thesis is normally examined by three independent examiners who are external to the university.
Although many of these examiners are staff at another Australian university or research institute,
Australian universities particularly are known to select a high proportion of overseas examiners,
especially from the USA, United Kingdom, Europe, Canada and New Zealand. Each examiner
provides a written report and a recommendation of a result for the thesis. A university committee
receives examiner reports and makes a decision on each thesis. Work to date on the content of
examination reports for two universities utilized text codes developed around four main domains – 41 –
examiner and process, assessable areas covered, dialogic elements and evaluative elements. These
codes have been further developed and used to indicate the presence and relative proportions of
different elements of the core text coding. The ways in which the nature and voice of the
comments indicate the roles taken by individual examiners are investigated. These characteristics
of examiner reports are used to identify what may be the most important qualities of a thesis,
particularly thesis originality, significance and contribution. The study being undertaken is of
mixed methods design, with approaches ranging from replicable, statistical analyses to purely
interpretative approaches. The overall aim of the investigation is to contribute new knowledge
with strategic significance for research pedagogy, doctoral studies, and doctoral examination.
Emphases in 603 doctoral examination reports
Allyson Holbrook, University of Newcastle, Australia
Kerry Dally, University of Newcastle, Australia
The written examination reports on research theses are idiosyncratic and individualistic
documents, despite efforts to standardize or structure them. However, an analysis of 603 reports
utilizing 5 text analysis software has allowed us to identify the spectrum of difference and the
degree of consistency in examiner emphasis. This consistency extends to what examiners do not
comment on – what topics and qualities of comment are typically rare. In the report, a public
document intended to justify the rating given to the thesis, examiners rarely comment, for
example, on the ethics of the research or the initial design, but they do comment at length on the
robustness of the interpretation and demonstrated skill of the candidate in the exercise of the
techniques. With respect to these features and the candidate’s handling of the literature, examiners
can become closely engaged with the subject matter, offering instruction and advice. This paper
focuses in particular on the core of the assessment discourse in the report – the evaluative
comment, and in particular the summative elements, wherein the examiner attempts to convey in a
particularly precise way they key strengths and weaknesses of the written thesis. The analysis
captures what examiners ‘privilege’ in the assessment process.
Doctoral examination: Some relationships between content categories of written examiner reports
and overall assessments
Lorin Anderson, University of South Carolina, USA
The texts of 603 written examiner reports for 201 PhD theses at two Australian universities have
been coded and the examiner overall assessment on a five-point scale recorded. Thesis topics
range across eight broad fields of study or discipline areas. This paper will investigate relationships within these data with a focus on two main themes. (1) The extent to which the text of
individual examiner reports from the two universities form a consistent pattern of text code
grouping is investigated using a principal components factor analysis. Previously with just one
university, 23 of the 32 text codes used were located into six factors which were reasonably
independent. Other relevant considerations are discipline similarities and differences, and any
differences between examiners of different nationality and the level of assessments made.
(2) Relationships of these factors with the overall assessment are investigated through multiple
regression analysis with examiner assessment as the response variable to determine the relative
strengths of the six text-grouping factors with respect to the thesis outcome recommended. Initial
work with only one university suggested that five of the six factors were significantly related to the
outcome, but discipline was not included in those analyses. The need for multilevel analyses will
be investigated with individual examiner reports (level 1), and individual candidates (level 2).
– 42 –
Depending on the consistency of patterns of text across the two universities, it may also be
desirable to consider at least the major discipline areas at level 3 of the analysis.
Ways of knowing and styles of assessment and the supervisory role
Terence Lovat, University of Newcastle, Australia
As identified in earlier work of this study, the ‘Ways of Knowing’ thesis of Jurgen Habermas
suggests that there is a consistent pattern across discipline areas by which knowledge is revealed
and further negotiated, and that this is an important thesis for a project attempting to identify and
define patterns of research higher degree examination across discipline areas. Furthermore, this
earlier work was able to identify ways in which these patterns revealed themselves in the text of
the doctoral thesis examination report, including some case study work on re-examination reports.
In summary, this work has identified that the preponderant mode of assessment employed by
examiners conforms with Habermas’s ‘empirical-analytic’ way of knowing, complete with the
potential discouragement of both original thought and genuinely new contributions to knowledge.
This paper will re-capture the findings of this earlier work and extend the thesis to include an
exploration of their ramifications for the role played by supervision and supervisors in research
higher degree work. The perspective will be that of the examiners.
How examiners define quality in the doctoral thesis
Allyson Holbrook, University of Newcastle, Australia
Kerry Dally, University of Newcastle, Australia
Since the 1980s there has been a growing interest in the ‘visibility’ of doctoral processes,
particularly with respect to supervision, but more recently with respect to examination. Questions
are being asked that encompass a range of issues from examiner selection through to the rigour
and credibility of assessment procedures. Another vital question is what constitutes quality in
postgraduate research. Drawing on 603 examiner reports for 201 completed doctoral theses from
two Australian universities, this paper investigates the issue of what differentiates an 'outstanding'
thesis from an 'acceptable' thesis. Typically, Australian universities offer examiners five possible
categories of recommendation, ranging from accepting the thesis without amendment to failing the
thesis without the opportunity for revision. This paper focuses on the theses which consistently
received a top rating. Characteristics of the students and examiners from the group of top-rated
theses as well as core categories of examiner comment are compared with the rest of the sample.
Particular attention is given to the evaluative comment of examiners. Further analysis unpacks the
text of the examiners to identify the key indicators of ‘quality’ and how originality, significance
and contribution are construed in the context of quality.
– 43 –
A 10
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 B
Symposium
EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES: RESULTS
OF LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Benő Csapó, University of Szeged, Hungary
Andrea Kárpáti, Eötvös University, Hungary
The symposium aims to draw on recent European developments in language pedagogy. As a result
of globalization and an increase in mobility, proficiency in foreign languages has become a must
for students in public education. Now that the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages provides experts with points of departures, it is important to see how they can be
implemented in large-scale assessment projects. All four papers show innovative avenues for
educational research. The first paper examines the relationship between first- and foreign-language
competencies in Germany. The study involved 1,200 students whose language skills were tested in
German and English as a Foreign Language. Besides proficiency tests, a test of verbal intelligence
and a questionnaire on language-related beliefs were also administered. The findings indicate that
in languages awareness of pragmatics, and the knowledge of and active use of grammatical
structures define distinct hierarchies of proficiency levels. The second paper gives a detailed
account of an assessment project of 420 writings by 14-15-year-old learners’ in German as the
language of instruction. It explores how applying item response theory (IRT) has contributed to the
analysis of the data and resulted in higher validity measures. The third paper focuses on attitudinal
aspects of foreign language study and their relationship with learners’ achievements in a largescale assessment project. It provides insights into how learners’ performances relate to their
attitudes towards tasks, their frequency and work format, the starting time of their language study
and the number of weekly hours, and other classroom-related variables. The last paper looks into
how cognitive factors contribute to Hungarian learners’ development of foreign language skills. It
is unique, as it analyses not only the relationship between language achievement and cognitive
factors, but also models skill development based on longitudinal data collected in two large-scale
cross-sectional assessment projects.
Modelling first- and foreign-language competencies
Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Nina Jude, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany
A major advancement in defining sub-dimensions and levels of language competencies has been
made by the European framework for language proficiency. However, the structure of
competencies proposed by this framework is mainly based on expert ratings, not on empirical
analyses of test results. Also, the framework applies to the first (mother) language as well as to
languages taught at school, while structural similarities between first and second language are still
an unresolved research issue. An important factor that may link both language domains is language
awareness, i.e. knowledge and beliefs about formal, pragmatic and socio-linguistic features of
language use. In this study, data of 1,200 students from a large scale assessment in Germany were
used to identify the dimensions and levels of language competencies. The study addressed reading,
writing, and language skills in German and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Also, a test of
verbal intelligence and a new designed questionnaire on language-related beliefs were
– 44 –
administered. Based on item response theory (IRT) and in-depth analysis of cognitive item
demands, proficiency levels were identified. Structural relations were modeled separately for
German and EFL and compared across languages. One finding was that in both languages, (a)
awareness of pragmatics and (b) knowledge of and active use of grammatical structures define
distinct hierarchies of proficiency levels. Implications for language teaching will be discussed in
the paper.
Assessing writing proficiency in the context of educational system evaluation
Rainer H. Lehmann, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
A major component of the current study of German and English as a Foreign Language (EFL),
coordinated by the German Institute of International Educational Research (Frankfurt/Main,
Germany), relates to 14- to 15-year-old students’ ability to produce texts in German as the
language of instruction. So far, approximately 420 texts have been collected, pertaining to four
different tasks. The student responses have been coded and rated by specially trained assessors
according to a scheme which has proved to be reliable and valid in earlier large-scale assessments.
This scheme is based on 0/1 codes for expected text elements as well as ratings for content,
organization, style, and grammar/spelling. Judging by conventional standards, high levels of intercoder/inter-rater reliabilities have been attained. Whereas it does not appear necessary to seek
further improvements with respect to objective coding (e.g., pertaining to the correct format of a
formal letter), the paper will address the issue of using item response theory (IRT) to enhance the
data quality for the ratings as they are used for further data analysis. This approach to estimating
true scores in the domain of text production facilitates two major improvements over more
conventional methodologies: Firstly, it allows for the identification of proficiency levels which are
minimally dependent on individual rating tendencies and which can be validated against the
predefined rating scheme. Secondly, this approach can be expected to be associated with higher
validity indices as provided by external measures of language skills. The latter expectation can be
tested quantitatively.
Learners’ attitudes towards classroom activities and their performances on tests of English and
German as a foreign language
Marianne Nikolov, University of Pecs, Hungary
This talk explores the relationship between learners’ attitudes towards classroom tasks, their
frequencies, and their performances on English and German tests. A representative sample of year
6, 8, 10 and 12 (n>9000 per age group) students were tested across Hungary in May, 2002. The
test booklets on listening, reading and writing skills were supplemented by a questionnaire on
learners’ self-assessment, attitudes towards languages and teachers, on the frequency, likes and
dislikes of classroom tasks and processes. First, the background and the rationale behind the study
and the data collection instruments will be presented. Then, the results will be discussed based on
correlational and factor analyses across the two foreign languages, with special emphases on how
learners’ performances relate to their attitudes towards tasks, their frequency and work format, the
starting time of their language study and the number of weekly hours, and other classroom-related
variables. I will also explore how children’s self-assessment and achievements in other school
subjects relate to their performances. The results indicate, among many other findings, that
learners’ attitudes are more favorable towards English than German. As for the frequency of
classroom tasks, no significant difference was found between the two target languages: traditional
techniques, like translation and reading aloud, are more frequent than communicative tasks. The
most popular activities include listening and viewing tasks (the latter being the least frequent),
– 45 –
whereas the least popular ones are related to testing. Finally, I will discuss the limitations of the
study and areas where further research is necessary.
Cognitive factors contributing to the development of foreign language skills
In the framework of a large-scale evaluation project, over 40000 students’ foreign language skills
were assessed in April 2002. The samples of the four age groups (6, 8, 10 and 12 grades) were
representatively drawn from the schools of Hungary. Students’ reading, writing and listening skills
of English and German as a foreign language were tested on paper and pencil tests. Besides these
instruments other tests and questionnaires were also administered to the participants, e.g. a reading
comprehension test in the mother tongue (Hungarian) and an inductive reasoning test. Data on
students’ achievements in other subjects were also collected. A large proportion of the 8th and 12th
graders of the present project had been assessed in a similar manner two years earlier (when they
were in their 6th and 10th grades, respectively). In this way, the available data-sets allow modeling
the development on the basis of longitudinal and cross sectional assessments. First, the
relationships between skills development measured in the longitudinal design and estimated in the
cross-sectional assessment will be discussed. Then, the relationships between language skills and
other cognitive factors will be explored and it will be shown to which factors the gains in language
skills between the two assessment points can be attributed. Finally, complex models will be
outlined on how different developmental factors interact with one another.
A 11
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 L
Symposium
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE INVESTIGATIONS OF LEARNING
IMPROVEMENTS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Günter L. Huber, University of Tübingen, Germany
Hannu Soini, University of Oulu, Finland
The aim of the suggested symposium is to demonstrate the benefit of an integration of qualitative
and quantitative methods in educational research. Investigation and implementation of process
oriented instruction aims at inducing and fostering the learners’ active construction of knowledge.
Valuable insights have been accumulated by investigations on achievements, outcomes, and
efficiency of learning and teaching. Improving learning and teaching particularly in approaches of
active learning, however, cannot be based exclusively on research findings about outcomes. For
purposes of application conclusions from these results have to take into account additional
information on the processes of learning. Above all, information about individually available
knowledge, subjective explanations, and their possible interferences with teaching is needed.
Qualitative research methods promise to give access to the learners subjective interpretations and
experiences in instructional settings. The contributions to this symposium provide examples of the
added value of a complementary integration of qualitative and quantitative investigations.
Qualitative oriented research designs in the field of learning and instruction – Overview, examples
and combinations with quantitative approaches
Philipp Mayring, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
– 46 –
In suggesting a special interest group (SIG) within EARLI on qualitative approaches to learning
and instruction an overview on central qualitative research designs is given. It is argued, that a
qualitative orientation is not only a matter of specific research methods but of the underlying
research logic or research plan. Six different qualitative oriented research designs are discussed in
their central scope: Single case analysis aims at understanding complex relations in a holistic
framework; explorative studies try to refine research questions or find hypotheses for further
research; descriptive studies want to give an overview on a phenomenon; document analysis
interprets existing materials; action research integrates analysis and intervention in a discourse
situation with practitioners; qualitative evaluation research finally tries to accompany practice
projects in an open consultant process. Examples from educational psychology for those six
qualitative oriented research designs are given, which can show their special merits. In refining the
logic and elaborating the course of these designs we can define specific criteria for reliability and
validity. It leads us furthermore to discover the possibilities of a combination and integration of
quantitative steps of analysis. This approach of mixed methodologies seems to be fruitful for
relevant and substantial research. An example from ongoing research in learning processes is
given.
Qualitative oriented approaches in research on learning and emotions
Michaela Gläser-Zikuda, University of Education Ludwigsburg, Germany
Learning as central concept in education and educational psychology is conceptualized as an
individual, self-regulated, cognitive and emotional process, influenced by situative and contextual
factors. Emotional aspects of learning were neglected for a long time. Recent studies show that
besides anxiety emotions like joy, anger, boredom, pride, surprise and hopelessness are reported
by students in learning and achievement situations. Most of empirical studies in research on
learning and emotions use quantitative measures. The results are often scarcely relevant for
pedagogical practice and may hardly be transferred in concrete recommendations. In the course of
the ”qualitative turn” numerous qualitative approaches have been established. They aim at
description and comprehension of individuals in every day life. Therefore qualitative studies seek
to use multiple instruments and methods in the sense of ”triangulation”. Two qualitative studies on
learning and emotions are presented. With 92 8th grade students half-standardized interviews and
diaries were conducted in the school subjects German language, Biology and Physics.
Complementary video based observations of 35 school lessons were carried out focusing on
students’ emotions and learning behavior as well as on teacher behavior and instructional methods.
Further more students answered questionnaires to different emotional and cognitive variables.
Qualitative data were analyzed with Qualitative Content Analysis, a method which allows
inductive and deductive steps of analysis and the use of different analytical techniques. Results
show that emotions are mainly related to experiences of competent and active learning. Advances
of qualitative methods and possibilities of combination with quantitative methods are discussed.
Fostering teachers’ will to learn in teacher training
The implementation of a new curriculum for elementary schools in Bavaria provided the
opportunity to study the efficency of different ways of preparing the teachers for their new tasks.
The in-service training was planned according to the approach of supporting local groups of
teachers by mentors, but was realized very differently. This contribution presents a study
comparing prerequisites and effects of in-service training in small groups working self-regulatedly
– 47 –
with mentors and in-service training organized according to the model of traditional presentations.
Six mentors working in three “tandems” with teachers of 36 elementary schools organized two
waves of training sessions at each school. Altogether 612 teachers learned about the new
curriculum in small groups under the supervision of the mentor tandems. Free written feedback
from some of the groups after the first wave was analyzed qualitatively. The results were used to
construct a questionnaire. After the training all teachers were asked to fill in this instrument. As a
control group, 300 teachers participating in traditional preparatory courses were also asked to
answer the questionnaire. While both groups did not differ in their general previous school
experiences, they evaluated their course experiences very differently. This led to markedly higher
readiness to implement the innovations and to continue to cooperate with colleagues in order to
learn more how to deal with the changes in classrooms under the condition of self-regulated
training. Thus, as additional interview data underline, only this training condition promises to fulfil
the expectation expressed in the new curriculum that the staff of each school gradually will
become a “pedagogical team.”
Exploration of humor from the teacher’s subjective perspective
Leo Gürtler, University of Tübingen, Germany
Humor research in psychology starts mostly from an outer perspective on humor. Humor is mainly
defined by using either wits or cartoons. Personal constructs of humor seldom are part of the
research framework. An investigation of humor in the field of teaching and learning to improve the
social climate has not yet been done. The main purpose of humor research is to enhance learning
performance and not to investigate social interaction in learning and instruction. The aim of this
paper is to introduce a methodological approach based on action theory. It will be shown that
without discussing and questioning belief systems of teachers, research would miss an important
resource. Additionally, to enhance and validate interviews, the research design is split into two
phases: (1) making an interview and (2) visualizing the most important concepts of the interview
to reconstruct the belief system. The process of reconstruction is done by the research object
himself/ herself. The role of the researcher is to discuss and to question the resulting
argumentation structure. Then, this can be compared with established scientific humor theories.
Mere interviewing would miss the explication of argumentation structures of what humor is and
how humor can be applied in a learning context. Without the active involvement of research
objects, research would fail to be able to work with actual subjective impressions that emerge from
long experiences as teachers. Therefore, an understanding of teacher activities in the field of
humor would be diminished.
Learning how to say what is wrong: Silence-breaking within youth groups
Mechthild Kiegelmann, University of Tübingen, Germany
The aim of this study was to gain information about adolescents’ subjective constructions of
conflicts within their peer groups. A special focus was on their experiences with conflicts about
secrets and silencing. The theoretical framework drew on social identity theory and relational
psychology. Fourteen Semi-structured interviews about group experiences, conflicts, and silencebreaking were conducted with adolescents at different youth centers in Germany. Study
participants were men and women of Turkish, Italian, and German decent who were between 16
and 18 years old. A content analysis of the data revealed a range of issues that were experienced
as silenced. Issues ranged from conflicts over where to spent leisure time to giving false testimony
during police investigation of a crime. The qualitative research approach allowed for gathering
insights into subjective meaning of challenging a peer-group. In this study, the quality of
– 48 –
friendship to the peers of participants influenced the youths’ willingness and ability to break the
silence. The existence of a competitive out-group was influential as well. This study is relevant for
education in mediation. Training programs for conflict resolution can benefit from information
about subjective construction of issues at question in peer conflicts and about conditions that help
or hinder the ability to speak up within the context of an in-group.
A 12
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 G
Symposium
PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ITS IMPACT ON
STUDENT LEARNING AND MOTIVATION
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Denis Bédard, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
Louise Langevin, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada
The quality of teaching has become a growing concern within universities. Professors, students
and administrators are more and more paying attention to the quality of teaching provided in
higher education institutions and on the impact it has on students’ learning. A lot of innovations
have been implemented in order to improve the quality of learning environments, but on the whole
relatively little is known about the actual impact of those innovative learning environment upon
student learning and motivation. Moreover, the impacts that an innovation has can be link with the
pedagogical conditions both teachers and students find themselves in. The proposed symposium
addresses these issues. It will present and discuss the results of research conducted in European
and Canadian universities that is aimed at examining the impact of innovative learning environments on student learning and motivation. It will focus more particularly on the impact of
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curricula. Implications for teaching and implementation of PBL in
Higher Education will be discussed together with the question of the development of new
competencies in this context.
New competencies in a PBL engineering curriculum
Anette Kolmos, Aalborg University, Denmark
Problem-based and project organised learning (PBL) as learning methods emphasises new process
competencies. However, practising a PBL curriculum does not secure development of these skills.
This paper presents an experiment using a group-based portfolio during the first year programme
of engineering. The students have to submit a process analysis of their process together with their
project report. The portfolio work support the development of this process analysis and is
introduced through a course that incorporates co-operation, learning, and project management. An
action-research approach allowed the students to integrate learning activities into their projects
work through experimentation and investigation of processes and outcomes. Evaluation of 30
project and process analyses indicates that students following these methods are able to reflect on
their own processes to a much higher degree and in a more systematic and comprehensive manner.
The theoretical background and methodology for the experiment as well as the empirical results
will be outlined in the paper.
– 49 –
The impact of a PBL curriculum on students’ motivation and self-regulation
Benoit Galand, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Kathleen Bentein, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Etienne Bourgeois, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Mariane Frenay, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is more and more widespread in Higher Education. Among other
advantages, PBL is assumed to foster students’ motivation and self-regulation. But empirical
evidence supporting this claim is scarce, especially at a curriculum level. The aim of this study is
to evaluate the impact of a PBL curriculum on the motivation and the cognitive engagement of
undergraduate students. The study was conducted in an engineering faculty where a new two-years
PBL curriculum has been implemented. The last cohort of students who attended the old
curriculum was compared with the first cohort of students who attended the new PBL curriculum.
Those students completed a questionnaire on perception of instructional practices, goal
orientations, self-efficacy, self-regulation strategies, and learning strategies at the end of their
curriculum (data collected in 2001 and 2002). Multivariate analyses show some positive effects in
favour of students from the PBL curriculum, but they also point to some problems linked to the
implementation of this new curriculum (work-overload, unequal contribution in teamwork,
uncoherent assessment). Perceptions of instructional practices partially mediate the PBL
curriculum effects. Implications for attempts to improve students’ engagement in Higher
Education are discussed.
Students’ learning strategies and motivation: The case of the PBL curriculum at the faculty of
medicine
The general objective of the present research was to establish the learning profile of the students at
the University of Sherbrooke. The more specific questions this presentation will try to answer are:
(1) Which conceptions do students in the Faculty of medicine have towards themselves as
learners? and (2) What impact does the Problem-based curriculum they are engaged in have on the
learning outcomes, on their learning strategies and their motivation? 4 446 undergraduate students
filled out the questionnaire. Out of that group, 240 were from the Faculty of medicine. The
questionnaire aimed not only at establishing the learning profile of the students, but also attempted
to contextualize this profile in relation to the pedagogical reality, i.e. teaching situations, used at
the University of Sherbrooke, e.g. Problem-based learning. The questionnaire proposed that the
student decide on a series of statements, which had to be scored on a Likert Scale. Among others,
results show that the students engaged in this program highly value the development of
professional competencies, though there is a significant drop for second-year students. Also,
students perceive that their control over the tasks is not very high, those number dropping as they
advance in the program. The results suggest that PBL offers a learning context that is perceived as
favorable for the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, though students still expect
coaching and scaffolding on the development of those skills.
– 50 –
A 13
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 C
Symposium
SOCIAL INTERACTION AND LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS IN
AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SWEDEN, AND THE UNITED
STATES
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia
Lieven Verschaffel, University of Leuven, Belgium
This symposium explores classroom practices, the organization of instruction, and the associated
consequences for learning in mathematics classrooms in Australia, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong,
Sweden, and the United States. The five papers that make up this symposium report results from
the Learner’s Perspective Study (http://www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/DSME/lps/) based on analyses
of sequences of ten eighth-grade lessons, documented using three video cameras, and
supplemented by the reconstructive accounts of classroom participants obtained in post-lesson
video-stimulated interviews (Clarke, 2001). Each of the papers in the symposium seeks to connect
the social interactions of the mathematics classroom with the learning that it is intended to
promote. The papers share a common method of data collection, but the authors of each paper
have adopted a different focus and a different analytical approach in order to offer complemen-tary
perspectives on the central question of the relationship(s) between social interaction and learning.
Constraints and affordances of reasoning discourses in mathematics classrooms: Examples from
Germany, Hong Kong and the United States
Eva Jablonka, Free University, Berlin, Germany
This ongoing study aims to develop a conceptual framework to describe the relationship between
culturally prejudiced and socially sanctioned forms of interaction in the classroom and associated
forms of mathematical knowledge. Reasoning discourses are the core of all mathematical
practices. It can be argued that the form taken by such a discourse in a classroom is an important
indicator of the values in operation; and these values relate to mathematical knowledge as well as
to social interaction. The overall aim of this study is to identify different “genres of reasoning
discourse” in order to contribute to an understanding of how mathematical practices are recontextualised in classrooms in different cultural environments. For the purpose of the analysis
reported here, “reasoning” indicates episodes of a discourse in which a person offers a reason for
something. These situations have in common that something is interpreted as being not evident,
doubtful or disputable and the attempt to increase evidence or acceptance has to be visible for
participants. This definition of “episodes of reasoning” includes both unsuccessful and successful
attempts to increase evidence or acceptance. In addition, it does not differentiate either between
simple and sophisticated justifications, or between mathematically correct and incorrect reasons.
To systematically analyse reasoning discourse, codes were developed on the basis of theoretical
considerations and then refined in the process of their application to a sample of lessons from the
German data. In the presentation some results of the ongoing analysis of data from German, Hong
Kong and U.S. classrooms will be reported.
– 51 –
Social formation of mathematical activity in a Japanese classroom: “Revoicing” as a unit of
analysis
Minoru Ohtani, Kanazawa University, Japan
The study reported here analyses how teacher and students determine their obligations and take
responsibility for engaging in mathematical activity. In search of a methodology that will provide a
“unit of analysis,” the study drew on “revoicing” (O’Connor & Michaels, 1996). Revoicing means
a particular kind of re-utterance of one’s contribution by another participant in a discussion.
Revoicing is a specific discourse type that supported the investigation of the social formation of
mathematical activity in a Japanese classroom. An analysis of transcripts of video-audio records
reveals that revoicing is extensively and exclusively used by the teacher during classroom
interaction. This result suggests that the teacher uses revoicing as a social resource to promote
students’ participation in communal mathematical activity. In the course of this participation,
revised definitions and conditions are progressively introduced. The teacher’s revoicing functions
to sustain mathematical dialogue and to develop shared meaning or understanding among students
with different conceptual horizons. Another important result is the dominance of revoicing in
interview exchanges that was not apparent in the lessons. In the interviews, students locate their
learning in the whole class activity and develop their understanding in relation to other peers. It
seems that the teacher’s intensive use of revoicing in the lessons and students’ privileged use of it
in the interviews may be a distinct characteristic of Japanese lessons (Ohtani, 2002).
The story of a «teacher-dominated» lesson in Shanghai
Ida Ah Chee Mok, University of Hong Kong, China
Teacher-dominated classrooms in Confucian-heritage cultures have commonly been interpreted as
an environment not conducive to learning by Western countries. However, recent studies have
shown that students learning in such classrooms can still lead to high levels of student
achievement. Therefore, it seems that simple labels, such as “teacher-dominated” or “studentcentred”, have not explained the crux of the matter. Whenever a teacher tries to teach, she/he will
try to bring the object of learning to the fore of the students’ attention. What matters is how the
object of learning is being presented to reveal its features or properties and how the students have
experienced it. The basic assumption of this approach is that a learner learns when she/he can
discern the object of learning and variation presupposes discernment. Therefore, an analysis that
depicts the dimensions of variation created in the lesson explains what students may possibly
learn. This paper reports the analysis of a single lesson in Shanghai from three perspectives. First,
the lesson was analysed to see how the object of learning was being taught and explained in the
classroom from the perspective of variation. Then, the students’ and the teacher’s interviews were
examined for their comments on what was seen as important, thus providing some triangulation in
the analysis of the lesson.
Interaction and variation of content in a Swedish mathematics classroom
Fritjof Sahlström, Uppsala University, Sweden
Sverker Lindblad, Uppsala University, Sweden
Josefin Häggblom, Uppsala University, Sweden
Jonas Emanuelsson, University of Göteborg, Sweden
The aim of this paper is to analyze learning processes in a Swedish Mathematics class in grade
eight, focusing on the relationship between the sequential interaction context of affordances for
learning, and the content variation in the construction of learning. The analysis is based on
– 52 –
scrutinizing video tapes of classroom and interview interaction, transcripts of these interactions,
and artifacts used in the interaction from two different perspectives: interaction organization and
variation theory. The preliminary and integrated results show that the construction of learning
processes is a complex, yet skilfully organized, process where issues of content and interaction
sequence both have to be incorporated. Of special interest are comparisons of classroom
interaction in different contexts. To consider this at the current stage of our research we discuss
methods and results of comparisons of recordings of mathematics lessons in grade 8 in 1994 and
2002 in Swedish comprehensive schools and comparisons with recordings from Hong Kong and
Shanghai.
Initiation and elicitation: Applying a new framework to the analysis of classroom practice in
mathematics classes in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA
Rongjin Huang, University of Hong Kong, China
This paper reports the application of a theoretical reformulation of teachers’ communicative acts in
terms of function rather than form (Clarke & Lobato, 2002) to the analysis of classroom data
collected as part of the Learner’s Perspective Study. This reformulation is founded upon the
distinction between “eliciting” and “initiating.” By focusing on function (intention, action, and
interpretation) rather than form, we overcome some of the difficulties experienced in analyzing the
efficacy of teacher practices from a constructivist perspective. Criticism of “transmissive teaching”
has an extensive history and has sometimes led to simplistic exhortations to avoid “telling”
without serious discussion of those teaching actions that involve directly introducing new ideas.
Reformulating “telling” as initiating, and conceiving of initiating and eliciting as interrelated sets
of actions resolves some of the concerns raised with regard to “teaching as telling” and helps
establish the legitimacy and the function of reformulated “telling” within a constructivist
perspective on learning. When this framework is applied to classrooms in different cultures it
offers a new perspective from which important differences in classroom practice can be identified.
In particular, analysis of the practices of mathematics classrooms in a subset of the countries
participating in the Learner’s Perspective Study reveal interesting differences in the agency
(teacher or student) responsible for the introduction into classroom discourse of new mathematical
ideas. The results problematise conventional distinctions between “teacher-centred” and “studentcentred” classrooms.
A 14
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 D
Symposium
METALEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: TAKING ACCOUNT OF THE STUDENT
PERSPECTIVE
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Lin Norton, Liverpool Hope University College, United Kingdom
Gina Wisker, Anglia Polytechnic University, United Kingdom
Norman Jackson, Learning and Teaching Support Network Generic Centre and
University of Surrey, United Kingdom
The purpose of this symposium is to bring together work that is being carried out with students
from a variety of disciplines and levels of study in the UK, Australia and Finland, to encourage a
greater awareness and understanding of themselves as learners and the requirements of higher
– 53 –
education. The symposium draws on and develops foundation work on approaches to learning,
study orchestrations and dissonance previously supported by EARLI symposia and now available
in publications. The central theme considers how the will to learn can be fostered by encouraging
students to reflect on their own learning approaches and conceptions within the context of subject
demands (metalearning). The symposium consists of five papers, which take as their starting point
the students’ perspective of their own learning processes. The presenters’ findings will be
discussed in terms of their educational significance for curriculum design, student support and
personal development planning.
Understanding students’ conceptions of learning and subject in “introductory” courses: The case
of introductory accounting
Ursula Lucas, University of the West of England, United Kingdom
Jan H. F. Meyer, University of Durham, United Kingdom
Widening participation has led to the growth of first year “introductory” modules, which are taught
to large numbers of students, including both specialists and non-specialists. This paper describes
the findings of a research study into student conceptions of the subject of accounting; a subject that
is frequently taught “en masse” to large numbers of students with varying subject specialisms. The
Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI) and a pilot form of the Expectations of Learning
Accounting Inventory (ELAcc) were administered to 1200 students (accounting and business
studies) of introductory accounting across five UK universities. The RoLI seeks to operationalise a
model of learning that is primarily defined in terms of prior knowledge and learning processes.
The ELAcc draws on phenomenographic work in accounting to operationalise conceptions of
accounting and processes of learning accounting. The findings indicate that business studies and
accounting students enter their studies with quite different perceptions of accounting, and that
these different perceptions can be differentially linked with transformative, accumulative and
pathological learning processes in a conceptually consistent manner. In particular, for business
studies students the accumulative and pathological learning processes merge and are correlated
with a negative preconception of accounting, which include worry, and a lack of interest in the
subject. The paper concludes with a proposal for the re-design of the introductory course, which
incorporates the development of students’ awareness of negative preconceptions and the
development of different conceptions of accounting as a subject.
Raising students’ awareness of their approaches to study
Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, Finland
Studying law in Finland requires a great deal of independent studying for extensive examinations.
In order to succeed well, they have to have good self-regulation and study skills. Experiences from
study counselling at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, show that some students confront
difficulties in adapting to this kind of learning environment. These students are aware that their
study practices are not ideal but they do not have tools to develop their approaches to study or to
analyse their conceptions of learning and knowledge. The participants of this small qualitative
study were eight law students who received study counselling from the author. The students
completed Meyer’s (2000) Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI). The students analysed their
conceptions of learning and knowledge as well as their study practices with the author on the basis
of the results of the RoLI. The results showed that the RoLI functioned very well as a diagnostic
tool in study counselling. By analysing their own results of the RoLI, students became more
conscious of their conceptions of learning and their approaches to studying, and they were able to
develop more efficient and functional study practices in their learning environment.
– 54 –
Encouraging metalearning in first year undergraduates
Lin Norton, Liverpool Hope University College, United Kingdom
Tessa Owens, Liverpool Hope University College, United Kingdom
Widening participation in the UK brings challenges to institutions regarding students’ expectations
about studying at degree level. If students hold views about learning which are incongruent with
learning outcomes of the subjects they are studying, then they may face difficulties (Meyer &
Kaschula, 1994). This study reports on an initiative to bring together students’ understandings of
their learning conceptions with the expectations of their academic subjects. A generic learning
module for first year students asked them to complete a number of self-assessment exercises and
instruments including Meyer’s (2000) Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI). Part of their
assessment required students to individually discuss their RoLI profiles with their academic tutor,
and write about what they had discovered about themselves as learners and how this fitted the
demands of their academic subjects. Findings from a multi-methodological approach are currently
being analysed and will be reported to look at the effects of this initiative. The implications of this
study for embedding metalearning in the undergraduate experience will be discussed in the
framework of personal development planning.
Developing metalearning capacity in first-year economics
Martin Shanahan, University of South Australia, Australia
Congruent with the University of South Australia’s mission to widen access, first year business
students enter the university with a wide range of educational backgrounds and experiences.
Earlier work by the present authors revealed that such students vary considerably in their views
about what learning is, and how they engage learning as well as what Economics is, what
Economists do, and so on. Students whose conceptions of learning are at odds with the demands of
the institution, or whose conceptions of their academic discipline (in this case Economics) are
incongruent with fundamental conceptions associated with the discipline (for example, they hold
misconceptions of economics) are likely to face difficulties. This paper discusses the development
of discipline specific processes to assist students in developing their metalearning capacity and so
deal with these challenges. The processes aimed at enhancing students’ metalearning included the
design of a discipline-sensitive learning inventory, the development of a web-based platform for
the inventory; using resultant data to inform students on an individual basis about themselves as
learners in context, using (variation in) inventory data to inform the course curriculum, the design
of course materials, and academic staff development. A quantitative analysis of various aspects of
the impact of this integrated program is presently underway (N>800) and will be reported,
including analysis of measures of academic performance. The paper reports on the theoretical and
practical issues and outcomes of incorporating metalearning processes among staff and students in
an undergraduate course in a business school.
Achieving a doctorate: Supporting international postgraduate students studying at a distance
Gina Wisker, Anglia Polytechnic University, United Kingdom
Ongoing research at APU, UK, aims to identify: (1) postgraduate research students’ learning
approaches, preconceptions, and misconceptions; (2) learning, support and supervisory strategies
at key moments which empower international postgraduates’ success in achieving doctorates.
Quantitative and qualitative methods in an action research framework, involve postgraduates and
supervisors as collaborators, encouraging metacognitive awareness. Meyer’s (2000) reflections on
– 55 –
learning inventory (roli) identifies research students’ learning approaches and those 'at risk' taking
dissonant approaches. focus groups, interviews, supervisory dialogues and analyses following
research method development workshops, identify successful strategies supporting students’
doctoral achievement. Earlier papers (Wisker, Robinson, Trafford, in press) considered
postgraduates’ choice of methods. This paper focuses on the final stages of their work, tracking
changes in approaches to research-as-learning, and identifying development of successful
strategies. International postgraduates, especially those studying at a distance, present a challenge
for universities in terms of growing numbers and cultural differences. Differing learning
approaches and preconceptions are a special case (Asplund, & O’Donoghue, 1994). This study
identifies learning approaches, requirements and successful practices of support, development and
supervision empowering students to achieve doctorates.
A 15
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 I
Symposium
LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING IN VIRTUAL TEAMS
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussant:
Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands
Joseph Kessels, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Päivi Häkkinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
There are sufficient reasons to conclude that virtual education is not just a hype. There are among
others economic motivations such as bringing one learning module to a larger audience of learners,
and pragmatic reasons such as achieving flexibility in time and space for learning, which is
especially important for adult learners. However from a didactic point of view there are some
doubts. We noticed for example that current technologies are designed for collaboration, e.g.
sharing documents, but mostly they fail to support learning and understanding, e.g. understanding
each others work, in virtual teams. In order to understand virtual teams, we need to know how we
can study learning and understanding in virtual teams. Interesting research questions are: Which
concepts are important in understanding virtual teams? How can we measure those concepts, and
in what type of setting (e.g., experimental study, case study)? The aim of this symposium is to
provide and discuss concepts and pragmatic insights in research on learning and understanding in
virtual teams.
Understanding designers, designing understanding
Ingrid Mulder, Telematica Institute, The Netherlands
Janine Swaak, Telematica Institute, The Netherlands
Understanding each other is not a trivial matter, both in face-to-face situations and in technologymediated situations. When group members are globally distributed and their communication
depends completely on technology, it is even more difficult. The current work draws upon three
research approaches: explorative, design, and hypothesis testing. First, we explored how virtual
design teams work and learn together. Based on theoretical insights we observed and assessed
shared understanding and group learning in a virtual design team during four months. Our major
conclusion was that shared understanding was sub-optimal; mainly due to the effect that hardly
– 56 –
any questions were raised and answered. We theorised that stimulating questioning behaviour
results in more reflection, and thus in more learning and understanding. Secondly, we took a
design approach to find out how we can support people in asking questions. On the one hand,
prototypes of a design workshop were evaluated in a user pilot, and resulted in the development of
a tool that supports questioning behaviour. On the other hand, we investigated the role of a
facilitator. Finally, we validated if stimulating questioning behaviour really increases learning and
understanding in virtual design teams. In other words, we studied if either the tool (technological
support) or a facilitator (social support) stimulated reflective behaviour and therefore learning and
understanding in distributed teams. In the presentation we explain the objectives and outcomes of
our research.
Determining sociability, social space and social presence in (a)synchronous collaborating teams
Karel Kreijns, Open University, The Netherlands
The effectiveness of group learning in asynchronous distributed learning group depends on the
social interaction that takes place. This social interaction affects both cognitive and socioemotional
processes that take place during learning, group forming, establishment of group structures and
group dynamics. Though now known to be important, this aspect is often ignored or forgotten by
educators and researchers who tend to concentrate on cognitive processes and tasks contexts. This
‘one-sided’ educational focus largely determines the set of requirements in the design of CSCL
environments resulting in “functional” CSCL environments. Our research is aimed at the design
and implementation of sociable CSCL environments which increase the likelihood that a sound
social space will emerge. It is based upon an ecological approach to social interaction centering on
the concept of social affordances, the concept of the sociability of CSCL environments, and social
presence theory. The hypothesis is that the higher the sociability, the more likely that social
interaction will take place or will increase, and the more likely that this will result in an emerging
sound social space and a community of learning. In the present research the variables of interest
are sociability and social presence. Our research examines how software technology can be used to
augment CSCL environments with social affordances devices that stimulate social interaction for
socio-emotional processes and thus create sociable CSCL environments. The present study deals
with the construction and validation of three instruments to determine sociability, social space and
social presence in (a)synchronous collaborating teams.
Creating meaning through a community of collaborative learners
Karen Littleton, Open University, United Kingdom
Denise Whitelock, Open University, United Kingdom
In this paper we will draw on data derived from an ongoing study of students enrolled on the Open
University's MA in Open and Distance Learning. This course is delivered exclusively on-line, to
an international cohort of students. These students are from wide-ranging academic backgrounds
and an analysis of their collaborative work affords a distinctive opportunity to understand the
means by which such students negotiate shared understanding and support each other in the
process of learning at a distance. In this context, drawing on contemporary socio-cultural theory
and research, we will also explore the salient input of the moderator and the role the moderator
plays in supporting joint meaning making and fostering a collaborative community of enquiry.
– 57 –
Supporting social and task regulation of learning interaction in collaborative writing tasks
Chiel van der Puil, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Jerry Andriessen, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Collaborative writing as a learning task should generate learning interactions, among which
argumentation, as well as negotiation and sharing of meaning. To set up collaborative writing,
synchronous (electronic) interaction and text- production are perceived as excellent vehicles for
knowledge co-construction. To achieve constructive interactions is not an easy task for secondary
school students; they have to combine cognitive as well as collaborative skills in a new
pedagogical environment. We focus on the value of social- and task-interaction as regulative
processes in achieving constructive interactions, that is, interactions that mediate learning in some
way. The underlying pedagogical idea is to scaffold setting the stage for learning interaction
without scripting the collaborators’ own pedagogical initiatives. Two studies explore the quality of
learning interaction episodes in relation to the uses and effect of supporting the collaborative
process through the communication-interface. To analyze the regulative qualities of social and task
interaction, episodes were scored on their contribution to these aspects. The main goal is to create
a dialogue-history score for learning interaction episodes. However, how an episode affects
following episodes is unclear: do first impressions determine the process or do episodes scored
simply add up (cumulative contributions), or do their effects for instance fade out after a while,
and is then reinforcement of the collaborative relation needed? Another question that arises is how
social and task aspects interrelate, are they interchangeable or are these aspects interdependent in
promoting an effective climate for learning interaction?
A 16
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 C
Symposium
FOSTERING STATISTICAL LITERACY
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Arthur Bakker, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Koeno Gravemeijer, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Richard Noss, University of London, United Kingdom
The growing acknowledgement of the importance of statistical literacy as a key ability for citizens
and employees of information-laden societies has created the need to develop statistical education
in new directions  both theoretically and in practice. Developing education for statistical literacy,
however, is a complex task, since it aims at the actual use of statistics in society. This implies that
it has to address both issues concerning the development of statistical interest, and issues such as
modelling, tool use, and information technology. In this symposium, Cobb and Hodge will address
the former when they speak about classroom instructional design that focuses on the issue of
statistical interests. Bakker and Gravemeijer will both address the latter, while discussing
classroom instructional design that focuses on statistical reasoning. Research on instructional
design in statistics, however, cannot limit itself to what happens in classrooms. Rather, it needs to
address the cultural practices in which statistical thinking  however defined  takes place. This
aspect will be addressed by Hoyles, who will present research on the use of statistics in
commercial and industrial settings.
– 58 –
Cultivating students’ mathematical interests: The case of statistical data analysis
Paul Cobb, Vanderbilt University, USA
Lynn Hodge, Vanderbilt University, USA
In this paper, we frame two classroom design experiments in which a teacher successfully
cultivated a diverse group of middle-school students’ interests in analysing statistical data as a case
in which to make an initial contribution to a prospective design theory of mathematical interests.
The first design experiment was conducted in a seventh-grade classroom in the United States and
the second, follow-up study was conducted with a smaller contingent of the same students a year
later. The perspective that we take when speaking of students’ interests is compatible with that of
Dewey and refers to activities that the students came to view as worthy of their engagement.
Dewey argued that attention to students’ interests should not be restricted to the starting points for
instruction. Instead, it should also encompass the cultivation of students’ interests in engaging in
the activities of particular disciplines as an explicit goal of instructional design and teaching. We
operationalise this notion of mathematical interests by defining them as patterns of engagement in
collective and individual activity. In the analysis, we document a two-step approach that involved
first cultivating students’ pragmatic interests in an issue under investigation (e.g. AIDS, salary
differences), and then secondly cultivating students’ statistical interests in which the statistical
issues that arose while comparing different analyses became objects of interest in their own right.
This process of cultivating students’ statistical interests has implications for instructional design in
mathematics education more generally, and for equity in students’ access to significant
mathematical ideas.
Emergent modelling as a heuristic for instructional design in data analysis
In this paper, we look at one of the two design experiments that Cobb and Hodges speak about,
from the perspective of instructional design heuristics. The corresponding instructional sequence
had as its goal that students would come to see distributions as object-like entities. The instructional design heuristic that underlies the design of the instructional sequence is called ‘emergent
modelling’. This design heuristic offers an alternative for instructional approaches that focus on
teaching ready-made representations. In relation to this, a distinction can be made between
modelling as ‘translation’ and modelling as ‘organizing’. Emergent modelling fits the latter.
Within this perspective, the model and the situation modelled are mutually constituted in the
course of modelling activity. This gives the label ‘emergent’ a dual meaning. It refers to both the
process by which models emerge, and the process by which these models support the emergence
of more formal mathematical knowledge. This design heuristic also influenced the design of fitting
computer tools. In line with the emergent modelling design heuristic, software tools were
designed, which could be used for exploratory data analysis on an elementary level, and were
tailored to the reinvention of the conventional inscriptions and tools. Analysis of the teaching
experiment shows how the very act of structuring data sets with those computer tools fostered a
process by which the students shifted from viewing a data set as a plurality of values to coming to
view a data set as an entity that is distributed within a space of possible values.
Diagrammatic reasoning about growing samples
Arthur Bakker, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Dissatisfaction with the procedural way of teaching measures of centre and graphing techniques
has led researchers to focus on overarching ideas in statistics, such as variation, distribution and
– 59 –
sampling, also for students with hardly any prior knowledge of statistics. The question of the
research reported here was how students aged 12 and 13 could learn to reason with these ideas in a
coherent and meaningful way, such that it would contribute to statistical literacy. Design research
with teaching experiments was carried out in four seventh-grade classrooms and one eighth-grade
classroom in the Netherlands. Data collection included video recording, interviews, observations,
student materials, tests and the documented changes in the instructional materials with motivation.
From the cumulative design research cycles, one instructional activity emerged as particularly
promising, namely that of growing samples. Students first predict a small sample and invent a
graph to display their prediction; then they compare their graph with a real sample of that size. The
cycle of prediction, production, and reflection is repeated several times for larger and larger
samples. This activity engaged students in statistical reasoning in a way they had now shown
before, probably due to its creative and playful character. In this paper we analyse this growing
samples activity as an instance of what Peirce calls ‘diagrammatic reasoning’. It is shown how the
interplay between graph production and conceptual development led to coherent and meaningful
reasoning about variation, distribution and sampling.
Mobilising statistical literacy in the workplace
Celia Hoyles, University of London, United Kingdom
Following case studies of companies in a variety of skill sectors, we have identified a major
challenge facing industry and commerce in the ‘knowledge economies’ as the need for managers,
in the context of analytical decision-making, to develop some understandings of the IT-based
models that are increasingly part of their working practice. This means developing competence in
Techno-mathematical Literacies (TmL): Technically-orientated functional mathematical knowledge, grounded in the context of specific industrial or commercial situations. We have documented
and categorised episodes from our observations and identified one facet of TmL as statistical
literacy. From this analysis, we have shown how manufacturing companies now employ quite
complex models of production that include variables, relationships, thresholds and constraints, and
managers are therefore required to take decisions based on output from these quantitative models,
whilst simultaneously taking account of qualitative and grounded information, such as production
capacity and the current “industry climate”. The presentation will illustrate how TmL is mobilised
by reference to examples of decisions taken in the companies and recalled during in depth
interviews with managers following observation. The analysis will illustrate the complex interplay
of statistical literacy and experience of the work practice, which points to challenges in the
instructional design of training modules in TmL that will allow time-served employees to learn
these new skills.
A 17
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 E
Symposium
THE SOCIAL MEDIATION OF MATHEMATICAL LEARNING IN MULTI-ETHNIC
SCHOOLS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Guida de Abreu, University of Luton, United Kingdom
Ed Elbers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
– 60 –
The unprecedented levels of migration in most European countries have substantially changed the
ethnic composition of the school population. This ethnic diversity within schools poses a major
challenge to education in Europe. Multi-ethnic classrooms have to deal with the social, cultural and
linguistic heterogeneity of their students. Research into the learning and development of students
in multi-ethnic schools is however, an area that has received less attention than it deserves. This
symposium aims to offer a contribution to this area by examining empirical research conducted in
Portugal, Greece, England, Spain, and the Netherlands. Though the studies were conducted
independently they have in common (i) a socio-cultural approach (defined in a broad sense and
drawing from different traditions and disciplines), (ii) a focus on the specific case of mathematics
classrooms (iii) a focus on processes of social mediation. While recognising the cultural nature of
mathematics the contributors explore social mediation from different angles. A focus on the microcontexts enabled van Eerde and Hajer to explore issues of language, Planas and Gorgorio issues of
communication, and Chronaki issues of identity development. On the other hand, focusing on the
macro-context resulted in O’Toole and Abreu exploring the role of parents, and Cesar and Oliveira
the curriculum as a mediational tool. In addition to the analysis of explicit processes (what is
physically or verbally expressed) several of the contributions also explore symbolic social
mediations. That is, the social valorisation of knowledge that may constrain social mediations but
are of an implicit nature.
Ways for developing mathematical literacy and constructing learning identities: The case of a
young Roma girl
Anna Chronaki, University of Thessaly, Greece
It is well argued that mathematical literacy can enable people for a democratic participation in their
communities, and for gaining control over their own lives in an increasingly technology-based
world. Whilst formal learning of mathematics is mainly a matter of school practice, children of a
Roma ethnic background often reject going to school despite parental encouragement. There is no
doubt that the transition from home to school is not only conflicting but emotionally traumatic.
This paper aims to explore what are the types of learning identities that these children construct
and how they gain competence on school mathematical practices. In order to characterise in depth
the individual’s learning path in these circumstances an ethnographic study of a 9 year-old Roma
girl who experienced difficulties at school and denied going back was conducted. Data collection
involved observation, diary notes, interviews with the girl, her mother and her teacher and focused
sessions where the girl and the researcher were engaged in solving school mathematical problems.
A basic assumption in the present study is that human development is interweaved with the use of
cultural tools and that social mediation is not a neutral cognitive process but a value-laden activity.
Specific questions guiding analysis include: What are the meanings that Roma children bring to
school mathematical practices; What might be the role of an experienced ‘other’ in helping them to
use appropriately cultural tools for their learning of mathematics; How the child experiences and
values the social mediation of tools and practices.
The curriculum as a mediational tool for inclusive participation: A case study in a Portuguese
multicultural school
Margarida César, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Isolina Oliveira, University of Lisbon, Portugal
In urban areas of Portugal, namely in Lisbon, schools became deeply multicultural. In these
schools some pupils are quite distanced from the school culture and many repeat various school
grades. In these contexts the curriculum may emerge as a way of (re)organising an inclusive– 61 –
shaped schooling practice. The principles of inclusive schooling promote the right to be diverse.
They also consider the need to listen not only to the voices but also to the echoes that exist in a
learning community who must establish an intersubjectivity (Wertsch, 1991) in order to
appropriate knowledge and give a meaning to their school practices. Furthermore, the sociocultural approach (Vygotsky, 1978) stresses that appropriating knowledge and mobilising
competencies is a complex process which includes social, emotional and cognitive elements that
interact in a dialectic way. In this action-research project an alternative curriculum was developed
in a class (5th and 6th grades), in a school from a poor and multicultural area in Lisbon. This
curriculum was conceived as a mediational tool for inclusive participation. A follow-up was
implemented investigating processes of change and its impact on the learners participation in their
school practices. Data were gathered through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires
and several documents. In this presentation we will examine changes in the students' academic and
social competencies. Outcomes highlight that if we change our practices and teaching strategies
during compulsory education many students attain both achievement and a better socialisation. So,
the curriculum proves to be a strong mediational tool for an inclusive participation.
Parents past experiences as a mediational tool for understanding their child’s current
mathematical learning
Sarah O’Toole, University of Luton, United Kingdom
This paper seeks to understand the ways in which parents use their own past experiences as a
mediational tool for understanding their child’s current school learning. Supported by sociocultural
theory, culture is seen as historically evolving, resulting in the person building upon and redefining
the representations of the past. It is suggested here that parents’ own experiences make a symbolic
transition through time from past to present, as well as utilising the future projected for the child in
order to make sense of their child’s educational experience. We will expand on the notion of
prolepsis (Cole, 1995) whereby the past, present and future forms, mediates and constrains the
world of the present. Exploring these issues in multiethnic communities is complex. The parents
and children within the classroom come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and have different
educational experiences. Our analysis draws on 21 interviews with parents whose children were
from two schools with different ethnic compositions, in a town in the Southeast of England. The
children whose parents we spoke to came from year two (6/7 years-old) and year six (10/11yearsold). We will discuss parents’ academic references to their own past, highlighting those instances
where references to their child in the present were made. It emerged that parents utilised their
positive or negative experiences to try and create more positive circumstances for their children. It
is within this process that parents projected a future ideal for their child, which was either
congruent or discordant with their own past.
On how cultural and social distances mediate the transition processes of immigrant students
learning mathematics
Núria Planas, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Núria Gorgorió, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
This presentation examines how the cultural and the social distances emanating from interactions
in a mathematics classroom influence the transition process of immigrant students to the point of
non-participation. Drawing on socio-cultural theory we understand (i) cultural distance as different
interpretations of the norms that regulate the dynamics of the mathematical classrooms, and (ii)
social distance as resulting from the different ways participants value each other and the
– 62 –
knowledge exhibited.The empirical basis of our analysis is a study conducted in three classrooms
in urban high-schools in Barcelona, Spain, with students aged 15-16. Most students came from
very low socio-economic backgrounds and many of them were immigrants. Micro-ethnographic
data were obtained through video-taping focussed on the students who exhibited a higher number
of breakdowns in their classroom participation. Our findings show that the difficulties in
communication originating from cultural and social distances become obstacles to the students’
participation. These resulted in asymmetric social interactions, to the point that the students’ nonparticipation can be understood as an active contest of the norms and the perceived valorisations.
How the students construe meanings for the classroom episodes, how they value others and the
knowledge construed, and how they perceive themselves to be valued, mediate their transition
process. Not only is their construction of mathematical knowledge mediated by the sociocultural
processes, but more than that, their individual creation of mathematical meanings is subordinated
to their capacity of making compatible their perception of the immediate sociocultural contexts
and the identities they want to develop.
From observation to creation: A developmental study of mathematics teaching and learning in
multi-ethnic classrooms
Dolly van Eerde, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Maaike Hajer, University of Professional Education, Utrecht, The Netherlands
This paper explores the relation between teaching and learning mathematics and mathematics
related language in multi-ethnic mathematics classes, based on two subsequent research projects.
Dutch mathematics education has been strongly influenced by Realistic Mathematics Education,
which builds on social interaction between teacher and students. This interaction puts high
demands on students’ language skills. Theoretical assumptions have been made on the symbiosis
of mathematics and second language learning, building on three essential factors. First, the
exposure to new concepts and language input while orientating on mathematics problems, second
the opportunities for language production in the interactive process of meaning construction, and
third feedback on mathematics content and linguistic form of student utterances. Two studies in
lower secondary education addressed this symbiosis in teaching practice. The first is an explorative observational study on interaction in multi-ethnic mathematics classes, which revealed that
fruitful conditions for both mathematics and language learning were not all met by the teachers.
The second developmental study builds on these findings, by developing educational software and
teaching materials that promote comprehensible orientation, interaction and feedback to support
mathematics teachers in language sensitive content instruction. Observations of teachers and
learners showed whether these materials promote the mutual reinforcement of mathematics and
language teaching in multi-ethnic classrooms. Interview data were used to improve our
understanding of (changes in) teacher’s cognitions while working with the materials.
– 63 –
A 18
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 F
Symposium
STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE STUDIES IN THE FINAL YEARS OF
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
John Ainley, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia
Frank Naylor, University of Melbourne, Australia
In many European countries there has been a decline in the proportion of young people taking
science subjects in the upper years of secondary school. This symposium will examine aspects of
the uptake of science studies in four countries: Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United
Kingdom. The papers use statistical analyses of large national data sets to explore the relationships
between science uptake (including biology, chemistry, physics and other science studies) and
student and school characteristics in these countries. Smith and Hannan examine differences in
school and student influences on the uptake of different science subjects in Ireland. Beavis shows
how the interests of students direct them through school and university courses into congruent
sectors in the world of work and so to attain an occupation. Elsworth and Ainley use longitudinal
data from Australia to investigate the ways in which interests and achievements influence
participation in science and technology (in conjunction with background and school characteristics). Coe and Daly investigate changes in the pattern of the influence of student and school
characteristics on the take-up and achievement in science subjects for advanced level students in
the UK over recent years. Van Langen, Dekkers and Bosker examine the choice of mathematics
and science subjects by students in higher secondary education in the Netherlands using data at the
level of the student, the family and the school. They also relate cross-national data on participation
to information about social contexts. The discussion integrates findings on science participation
from these countries with theoretical perspectives on the uptake of science.
Individual and school level influences on the uptake of biology, chemistry and physics in Ireland
Emer Smyth, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland
Carmel Hannan, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland
Recent rapid changes in the world economy have highlighted the need for a workforce that is
numerate and scientifically literate. However, concern has been expressed internationally about the
decline in young people taking scientific subjects in secondary and tertiary education. In the Irish
context, there has been a decline since the early 1990s in the proportion of young people taking
science subjects within upper secondary education. This is likely to have significant consequences
for educational and occupational choices on leaving school. The take-up of science subjects can be
seen in relation to the influence of student characteristics (both objective and subjective), school
organisation and the approach to science teaching within the school. Studies of subject take-up
within second-level education have tended to focus on student-level characteristics and have rarely
attempted to take account of the broad variety of ways, formal and informal, in which schools can
constrain or facilitate particular subject choices. In contrast, this paper explores both the school
and student factors shaping the take-up of Biology, Physics and Chemistry at upper secondary
level. In addition, it explores whether schools promote take-up across all three subjects or whether
there is a trade-off, for example, between taking Biology and Physics. It draws on detailed
– 64 –
information on almost 4,000 students in 100 secondary schools and supplements these data with
in-depth case studies of science teaching within eight schools.
The attainment of social status in Australia: Interests, education, skill and sector of work
Adrian Beavis, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia
This paper argues that there are five sectors in the world of work that are related to Holland's
RIASEC theory of work environments. Evidence is presented from Australian, USA and Canadian
data to show that these sectors exist and are associated with different levels of socio-economic
status. A brief description is given of a typology of school course types developed by Ainley
(1994) and of university course types developed by Elsworth (1986) and how these relate to the
RIASEC classification. The paper then shows how the interests of students direct them through
school and higher educational courses into congruent sectors in the world of work and so to attain
an occupation with a given level of socio-economic status. The data support the view that interests,
and types and level of educational courses chosen or preferred (plus the skill level of occupations)
are the strongest predictors of the attainment of socio-economic status in Australia. The model
includes measures of family background (educational level of parents and socio-economic status)
plus gender). This effect is strongest for Investigative interests which are strongly associated with
the uptake of science school subjects, science-type university courses and Investigative
occupations. Data are taken from a large nationally representative study of Australian families,
The Family and Lifestyles study (more than 6000 respondents), and a survey that examined
demand for higher education (2,000 respondents). These data are analysed by structural equation
modelling techniques.
Patterns of interest, aptitude and background in participation in science and technology in the
final year of secondary school
Gerald Elsworth, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
This paper examines the influence of earlier interests, gender, socioeconomic background and
earlier achievement on participation in science and technology. It is based on a longitudinal survey
of a nationally representative sample of 5,000 students who were first contacted when in Grade 9
during 1995 and who reached Grade 12 in 1998. Influences on participation in biology, chemistry,
physics and technology during Grade 12 are examined using structural equation modelling and
multilevel analysis. Interests are based on inventories that reflect the six RIASEC scales from the
Holland theory of vocational choice as measured in Grade 10. Achievement in reading and
mathematics was measured when the students were in Grade 9. In addition the influence of several
school-level variables is examined. Structural equation models confirm that there are gender,
socioeconomic status, earlier achievement and interest influences on participation in these sciences
and in technology. Participation in physics and chemistry is strongly influenced by high levels of
earlier achievement in mathematics and high investigative interests. Participation in biology is
strongly influenced by social interests (which are themselves influenced by gender) and directly by
gender. Multilevel models incorporate the clustering of students by state (there are differences
between states) and school and reveal a number of within-level and across-level interactions. The
results of these analyses indicate that interests are important for explaining educational choices and
provide mediating effects for the influence of both gender and socioeconomic status. Alternative
interpretations of the effects of these variables on subject participation are discussed.
– 65 –
Influences on student uptake of science in the final years of school in the United Kingdom
Robert Coe, Durham University, United Kingdom
Peter Daly, Queen's University Belfast, United Kingdom
This paper presents evidence on the take-up and achievement in science subjects for advanced
level students in the UK, and the changes in these patterns over recent years. It draws on data
collected as part of the A Level Information System (ALIS), a monitoring project for performance
in the final years of school, in which currently over 1200 schools and colleges participate annually.
Relationships between individual student level factors such as sex, socio-economic status, prior
achievement and attitudes with take-up and achievement in science within the ALIS sample are
presented. Associations with school level factors are also considered, including the type of
institution, the relative proportions of students within different departments in it, and
compositional factors. The stability of these relationships over time is examined using data from
the same schools across different cohorts. Finally, we look at trends in the take-up of science
subjects over time, against a background of curriculum and other change.
Interdisciplinary explanations for differences in choice of mathematics and science subjects
Annemari van Langen, University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Hetty Dekkers, University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Roel Bosker, University of Twente, The Netherlands
The choice of mathematics and science subjects by students in Dutch secondary education differs
strongly by gender, with girls choosing these subjects to a more limited extent than boys. Over the
past few years, a declining interest in mathematics and science subjects has also become apparent
for boys. Selection differences were also found to depend on ethnicity and, to a lesser extent, on
level of parental education. International comparison figures show these differences to not be
equally large across Western countries. The paper describes the results of our interdisciplinary
research on these differences that consisted of two parts. The first part concerned the choice of
mathematics and science subjects by students in higher secondary education in the Netherlands.
Multilevel analyses were conducted on data at the level of the student, the family and the school.
In such a manner, we could study the interaction between different factors while also taking the
hierarchical levels of the factors into consideration. The second part concerned the influence of the
social context. Explanations for the differences between countries with respect to the choice of
mathematics and science subjects must be situated in the social contexts within these countries
including the educational systems. An inventory has first been made of the participation figures in
mathematics and science subjects in secondary education for a number of Western countries. In
three of these countries, further in-depth study was undertaken. Interviews were conducted with
key-figures (government officials, researchers, providers of educational services and so forth) to
identify explanations for the cross-national differences.
– 66 –
A 19
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 I
Symposium
GETTING A GRIP ON GRAPHS: FOSTERING CHILDREN’S DIAGRAMMATIC
UNDERSTANDING AND REASONING
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Anja Felbrich, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany
Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Graphs and diagrams are valuable tools for reasoning, problem solving and communication of
knowledge. They allow for an externalising and restructuring of knowledge and provide new
information - these affordances of graphs are highly valued by experts. Though graphs are said to
be too abstract for young children, several studies have shown that even pre-schoolers can
correctly read off simple information from graphs. On the other hand, several studies revealed that
the use of graphs for displaying non-spatial concepts is difficult to acquire and misconceptions
concerning the interpretation of graphs remain even after classroom instruction. Given these early
competencies and later deficits in visual reasoning, it seems advisable to draw on early knowledge
and to develop a good understanding of representational systems. But how this can be achieved
and which factors are essential for developing a sound understanding of graphs as representational
forms and reasoning tools is an open question. The symposium organises four papers which shed
light on this issue from various points of departure. The presentation by Kramarski reports effects
of a metacognitive instruction in a cooperative learning setting on alternative graph interpretation
and alternative graph construction. The Mevarech and Kramarski paper furthermore uses discourse
analysis to explain why this metacognitive instruction was successful. Felbrich and Stern report on
the effects of different contrasts for highlighting important principles of graphs. Finally, the paper
by Koerber et al. shows that an intervention as early as forth grade can have sustainable benefits
for graph understanding and its use in problem solving contexts.
Making sense of graphs: Does metacognitive instruction make a difference on student’s
mathematical conceptions and alternative conceptions?
Bracha Kramarski, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Graphs are central in literacy of reading, sciences and mathematics, they are equated with the
ability to use written information to function in society. Graph sense represents certain ways of
thinking rather than bodies of knowledge that can be transmitted to others (NCTM Standards,
2000; OECD, 2000). Making sense of graphs appears to be more complex than once thought. It
was found that students hold alternative conceptions regarding graph interpretation (e.g.,
Leinhardt et al. 1990) as well as alternative conceptions regarding graph construction (e.g.,
Mevarech & Kramarski, 1997a). The use of the term conceptions denotes to students’ knowledge
that is in accord with the accepted meanings and alternative conceptions denotes to description of
knowledge that differs from that which is to be learned. The present study investigates the
differential effects of cooperative-learning with or without metacognitive instruction on making
sense of graphs. The metacognitive instruction was based on the IMPROVE method that
emphasizes the use of self metacognitive questioning (Mevarech & Kramarski, 1997b).
Participants were 196 eighth-graders who studied in six classrooms. Data were analyzed by using
quantitative and qualitative methods. Results indicated that students who were exposed to the
metacognitive instruction within cooperative learning (COOP+META) significantly outperformed
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their counterparts who were exposed to cooperative learning with no metacognitive instruction
(COOP). The positive effects of COOP+META were observed on both graph interpretation and
graph construction with regard to alternative conceptions. Furthermore, observations indicated
differential characteristics of discourse behaviors during small group interaction under these
methods. The practical implications of the study will be discussed on the conference.
Effects of metacognitive discourse on learning graphs
Zemira Mevarech, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Bracha Kramarski, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Research in the area of mathematics emphasizes the importance of discourse as an integral part of
doing mathematics (The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000). The discourse in
mathematics classrooms includes at least two factors: mathematical discourse and metacognitive
discourse. Mathematical discourse includes the abilities to construct mathematical conjectures,
develop and evaluate mathematical arguments, and select and use various types of representations.
Metacognitive discourse refers to using self-regulating behaviors. The present study investigates
the discourse in mathematics classrooms under two conditions: cooperative-learning with or
without metacognitive instruction. The metacognitive instruction was based on the IMPROVE
method (Mevarech & Kramarski, 1997). Under this condition, students were guided to activate
metacognitive questions in small groups that focus on: (a) the nature of the problem/task (b) the
construction of relationships between previous and new knowledge; (c) the use of strategies
appropriate for solving the problem/task and understanding why; and (d) reflection on the solution
process. Participants were 122 eighth graders who studied Linear Graphs. Two group problem
solving tasks were administered: a graph interpretation task and a graph construction task. Data
were video-taped and analysed by using qualitative and quantitative methods. Students’
mathematical discourse was classified into four criteria: Vocabulary; Fluency; Strategies
Explanations; and Metacognitive expressions. Discourse analyses indicated different discourse
characteristics under these two conditions. Students who were exposed to the metacognitive
instruction within cooperative settings were better able than their counterparts in the cooperative
condition to express their mathematical idea. Their mathematical discourse was more fluent and
involved logic-formal explanations. In addition, their discourse was based on self-regulating
behaviors (e.g., prove, check) than students who studied in cooperative settings with no
metacognitive instruction. The practical implications of the study will be discussed on the
conference.
Effects of different contrasts on understanding the slope of line graphs
Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany
Efficient graph readers know which concepts may be mapped to visual space, and how. With line
graphs one has to understand that complex information not represented by either axis may be
inferred from the slope of the graph. In a distance-time-graph, the slope corresponds to speed,
integrating information from both axes into a new concept. One successful method of learning
about such abstract concepts is using contrasts. Contrasting cases, as been shown, facilitate insight
and abstraction. The contrasts used, however, have to be finely tuned to the learning goals, since
the specific nature of the contrast will highlight different information and properties. Two kinds of
contrast potentially appropriate for learning the concept of slope have been explored in an
experimental training study with 40 sixth grade students. Students in the content-contrast group
learned to map two concepts from different domains to the slope. This contrast highlights that
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different proportional concepts can be mapped to the slope, but the direction of this mapping is not
attended to. Students in the structure-contrast group mapped the concept of speed to the graph’s
slope twice - once with axis description in line with graphing conventions and a second time with
(unconventional) reversed axis descriptions. Therefore students in this group had the opportunity
to directly observe how reversal of axis assignments changes the meaning of the slope from
“speediness” to “slowliness”, while the context remains the same. Results from transfer to new
domains indicate that students learning with the structural contrast develop a deeper understanding
of slope than students learning with the content contrast.
Understanding Cartesian graphs in elementary school: Long-term effects of a short training
Susanne Koerber, University of Munich, Germany
Ilonca Hardy, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany
Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany
The goal of the present study was to investigate children’s early competencies in effectively using
(line) graphs in order to overcome misconceptions in proportional reasoning. Generally children
beyond secondary school are not ascribed with an ability to flexibly and effectively use graphs.
Here we present data of a training study with fourth-grade students and a follow up study two
years later, in which we show that it is not only possible to meaningfully introduce line graphs
already in elementary school but that this also yields immediate and sustainable effects on
understanding proportional reasoning two years later. In a two-afternoon training, fourth graders
were taught to use a conventional graph or a graph adapted to the context of the training content
(juice mixtures) as reasoning tool for understanding proportions. A third group was trained with a
balance beam, displaying proportions with weights. The training was designed so that recognition
of the multiplicative relationship between ratios proportional to each other was facilitated by
interpreting the slope of the graph thus supporting conceptual change if holding a misconception.
Apart from significant immediate effects of this training on understanding proportional reasoning,
the two graph groups showed sustainable beneficial effects on proportional reasoning in
comparison to the group working with the balance beam, as well as in comparison with at base
line group who did not take part on the training two years before. Moreover, the group previously
working with the conceptualised graph was especially apt in using the graph for reasoning in new
contexts.
A 20
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 H
Symposium
METACOGNITION AND EMOTIONS - METAEMOTIONS, EMOTIONAL
COMPETENCE AND EDUCATION
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Ottavia Albanese, University of Milan “Bicocca”, Italy
Louise Lafortune, University of Quebec, Trois Rivières, Canada
Marcel V.J. Veenman, Leiden University and University of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
Metaemotions and emotional competence as social emotional regulation are very important issues
in order to understand different concepts and relations among critical thinking, judgement and
metacognition. Some contributions from Switzerland, US, Canada, France and Italy suggest
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actions, strategies and interventions to promote psychological awareness in subjects. The first
study assesses children’s general understanding of emotions by using a Test of Emotion
Comprehension after a training phase with a teaching program about emotions. The following
study elaborates and validates a program including the affective domain in mathematics; the
activities are carried out by parents and children at home. The third research suggests a
philosophical dialogue among peers enabling five-year-old children to understand emotions; the
basis is the emphasis on the cognitive level by some attachment theories. The following study
focuses on emotional awareness and metaemotional competence because the positive emotions and
affects could be a protective factor in adolescence; data are analysed with a coding system
stressing gender differences. The fifth study investigates the guilt influence on self regulatory
cognition according to the theory on affect as information view; the subjects wrote about either
negative or a positive life event and then they received an attribution reminding that thinking about
event could contribute to their feelings. The last study focuses on the strong difficulty of subjects
suffering of eating disorders in recognising and discriminating body sensations, feelings, and
emotional states; research is carried out in relation to attachment theory as well. Finally, the
educational implications of all results will be discussed.
Teaching emotions understanding
Pierre-André Doudin, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Paul L. Harris, Harvard University, USA
Francisco Pons, Harvard University, USA
The main goal of this research was to asses whether it is possible to help children develop their
general understanding of emotions. Thirty – six nine - year old children divided in two groups
were examined using a pre-test/train/post-test design. The emotion understanding of the two
groups was measured in the pre- and post-test phases using the test of Emotion Comprehension
(TEC). The experimental group received a teaching program about emotions during the training
phase: School Matters In Lifeskills Education (SMILE). The control group received no special
teaching about emotion during this phase. Results showed that the level of emotion understanding
in the experimental group improved significantly between the pre- and post-test whereas no such
change occurred in the control group. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are
discussed.
The development of emotional competence in using interactive-reflexive activities as a familyschool educative assistance program in mathematics
Louise Lafortune, University of Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Canada
In a research funded by the Human Science Research Council of Canada, we are elaborating and
evaluating interactive-reflexive activities in mathematics which can be carried out by parents and
children at home. We validated the program in presenting various activities including activities
touching the affective domain in mathematics to teachers, pupils (9 to 12 years old) and parents.
Some results of the first stage of our research is that the teachers find it essential that the activity
be prepared in class and that there be a follow-up be done in class, to show to the pupils that work
done at home is as important as work done in school. The parents show an open mind towards the
activities, but they do not want do be powerless in embarrassing situations or in situations which
depart too much from their usual practices. The pupils don’t want their parents to give them
answers, but they do want to be given clues which can help them solve by themselves their math
problems. The second part of this research is the implementation process of the program that will
be finished in Spring 2003. In our presentation, we will present results concerning the reactions of
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pupils, parents and teachers when interactive-reflexive activities are used in doing mathematics at
home. As some of these activities concern the affective domain in mathematics, we will discuss
the results concerning the development of emotional competence arising when the children are in
interaction with their parents at home about mathematics.
Emotions and philosophical dialogue among peers
Marie-France Daniel, University of Montreal, Canada
Michael Schleifer, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada
Martine Quesnel, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada
Emmanuelle Auriac-Peyronnet, IUFM, Auvergne, France
Among the approaches used to study the emotions of children, some ensue from attachment
theories whereas others place stronger emphasis on the cognitive level. We place ourselves in the
latter perspective. In 2002-2003, we conducted a research with eight groups of five-year-old
children in Quebec and in France, totalling 140 children (including experimental and witness
groups). One of the objectives of this research consisted in studying the extent to which a
philosophical dialogue among peers enables a five-year-old child to understand emotions with
greater subtlety and fair-mindedness. Methodology: Semi-directed individual interviews were
carried out with the 140 children, both at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Each
week, during a one hour period, the experimental group children were invited to participate in a
group dialogue on concepts related to the body, to violence and to the emotions experienced by
imaginary characters (either children or animals) in philosophical tales adapted to their age group.
Six discussions were recorded and subsequently analysed. In this paper we will present
preliminary results stemming from this analysis, on the one hand, of some children’s dialogues
which took place during the year and, on the other hand, some semi-directed interviews that
account for the evolution and comprehension (recognition and justification) of emotions by the
children.
Awareness of positive emotions in Italian adolescents: Gender differences
Ilaria Grazzani Gavazzi, Catholic University of Milan, Italy
Developing general understanding of emotions in young people by valid instruments is a crucial
problem for educational interventions. We present a research that is part of a larger project aimed
to investigate emotional awareness and metaemotional competence in life span development. The
research focuses on positive emotions as an aspect of subjective well-being and as a protective
factor in adolescence. To this purpose a 5-page diary on positive moments and related emotions
experienced in everyday life was designed both in English and Italian version. The sample
consisted of two hundred and fifty (250) adolescents (range: 16 to 19 yrs. old; mean age: 17,5)
recruited in Milan and Monza from four high schools. Participants were asked to complete a diary
page when they experienced a positive moment, describing the situation (for instance, whether
they were alone or with others, whether they were at school or at home), labeling any
accompanying emotions, recording their intensity and specifying whether they talked to others
about their experiences and emotions. They were also asked to record their life satisfaction on a
Likert scale from 1 to 7. Data, consisting of about one thousand episodes, were analysed using the
coding system elaborated by Duncan and Grazzani Gavazzi (2002). Information regarding the type
of positive emotions experienced, their intensity, the type of event eliciting positive emotions, the
context of episodes were available. Results will be presented describing adolescents’awareness of
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positive emotions (type, context of emotion, and so on), and stressing gender similarities and
differences.
Guilt-as-information mechanism
Francesco Mancini, School of Cognitive Psychotherapy, Rome
Amelia Gangemi, APC, Rome
According to the affect-as-information view, affective cues influence judgments when they are
experienced as providing judgment-relevant information. People often ask themselves: "How do I
feel about it?", when making evaluative judgments. At that point, any available affective cues may
influence judgment. In keeping with the affect-as-information approach, we propose that guilt
would influence self-regulatory cognition through the operation of an affect-as-information
mechanism. Consequently, we assume that when an attribution is made salient for negative affect,
affective influences on self-regulatory cognition would be reduced. An experiment with voluntary,
young adult subjects will be conducted. It will investigate how trait guilt may influence how state
guilt is used as information on judgment of risk (likelihood and severity of a negative outcome),
and on evaluation of performance. To this aim we will observe how low- and high-trait-guilty
individuals would use negative (guilt-affect) and positive affect (pride-affect) induced in the
laboratory. Affect will be manipulated by having participants write about either a negative or a
positive life event. Afterward, half of the respondents will receive an attribution manipulation
reminding them that thinking about the event could contribute to their feelings. In negative affects,
this attribution should reduce the apparent relevance of unpleasant feelings, decrease risk
estimations, increase performance evaluations. In positive moods, this attribution should reduce
the apparent relevance of pleasant feelings, increase risk estimations, decrease performance
evaluations. Trait- and state-guilt will be assessed by Guilt Inventory. The educational implications of the obtained results will be discussed.
Cognition of emotion in eating disorders
Maria G. Strepparava, University of Milan “Bicocca”, Italy
According to the cognitive-constructive model the dynamic between feeling, describing what is
felt, integrate experiences in a coherent whole, is the core of human meaning making. A basic
aspect of Eating Disorders [ED] - anorexia, bulimia, obesity – is the strong difficulty for those
patients to recognise and discriminate body sensations, feelings, emotional states. This is due,
according to clinical researches, to a developmental history with an intrusive and ambivalent
attachment figure, whose behaviour prevent the child from freely exploring its own feelings and
emotions. In a recent research a sample (116 subjects) of first grade children (8 to 10 yrs) was
asked to describe events in which they felt anger, fear, sadness and joy. Situations eliciting
emotional reaction were quite different in obese, normal weight children with an incoherent
perception of their body shape (e.g. a thin boy or girl saying he/she is overweight), normal weight
children without any weight, dieting or bodily concern. For example, in obese children, there was a
higher rate of sadness and fear related to being physically hurt, but very few subjects identified
sadness or fear as emotions related to separation from the attachment figure. Therapeutic
intervention with ED adults and adolescents is based also on helping them to better focalise on
their internal states and reconstruct the link between an event and the related emotion. To enhance
and support children’s guided exploration, observation and reflection on their own emotional life
could be a fruitful prevention activity for the early onset of ED.
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A 21
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO Aula Magna
Symposium
SELF AND OTHERS IN THE REGULATION OF LEARNING
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Anastasia Efklides, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Markku Niemivirta, University of Helsinki, Finland
This symposium aims at showing that students’ self-regulated learning is the outcome of the
effects of personal factors as well as the effect of the responses of others to the students’ learning.
The papers to be presented go beyond the dichotomy of intrinsic-extrinsic regulation as suggested
by the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and focus on the processes that underlie
students’ self-regulation in situations where the other person may be physically present or not, yet
the student is aware of the other’s response towards his/her learning. The others’ response can be
direct through the feedback they provide and this may cause changes in the students’ cognitive,
affective, and metacognitive state. Or it can be indirect through parents’, teachers’, or society’s
expectations and values, which influence students’ self-concept, motives, and affect. The five
papers of the symposium show how others’ feedback responses or expectations interact with the
students’ ability, self-concept, goal orientations, metacognition, and affect from the beginning of
the students’ school career. Specifically, Dermitzaki’s paper deals with young childrens’ selfregulatory behavior whereas Iiskala and Vauras’s contribution deals with shared regulation in a
collaborative mathematics learning situation. Efklides and Dina deal with the effect of positive or
negative extrinsic feedback on students’ metacognitive experiences and self-concept, whereas
Antunes and Fontaine follow longitudinally the effects of parents’ expectations and attitudes on
students’ self-concept. Finally, Tanaka and Yamauchi show how culturally rooted self-construal
affect students’ achievement goals.
Second graders’ self-regulated learning and self-concept: Their relationship to achievement and
goal orientation
Irini Dermitzaki, University of Thessaly, Greece
The first purpose of the present study was to investigate the self-regulative learning strategies that
second graders use more frequently for effective problem solving. The second purpose was to
investigate whether self-regulative learning behavior is related to the students’ academic selfconcept, level of academic performance and goal orientation. In the first phase of the study, 312
second graders from different Greek city schools participated in the study. The students’ school
achievement was examined with a performance test including Greek language and mathematics
exercises designed according to the national curriculum. The students’ goal orientation was also
assessed using the Motivational Orientation Scales for 2nd graders. From the initial subject pool, 28
students were selected according to their achievement test results (high/low) and the combination
of the two types of goal orientation (high/low task and ego orientation) thus forming four different
groups. The purpose of this selection was to find out whether students’ self-regulative behavior
was differentiated as a function of their achievement and goal orientation. During the second phase
of the study, the previously selected students were individually examined for their academic selfconcept and their self-regulative behavior in a construction task. Each student was video-recorded
during the construction task. The frequency of different self-regulative behaviors such as planning,
persistence, monitoring, detecting and correcting errors was recorded on a structured observation
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form. Upon completion of the task, each student was interviewed: student’s metacognitive
experiences, awareness of the construction process and evaluation of the final product were
recorded. The relations between self-concept, metacognition, motivation, and self-regulatory
practices will be discussed.
The role of metacognition in students’ peer learning in the computer supported learning
environments
Tuike Iiskala, University of Turku, Finland
Marja Vauras, University of Turku, Finland
Little attention has earlier been paid to cognitive functioning in interaction with others (see more
Levine, Resnick & Higgins 1993), although much of learning also occurs in social settings
(Karabenick 1996). Typically, also metacognition is viewed from an individual’s standpoint. Our
aim is to focus on how student pairs together can regulate their problem solving process in a
metacognitive way in the computer supported learning environment. Four high-achieving, 10-year
old student pairs (eight students) solved mathematics word problems in the computer-aided
mathematics learning game in the spring 2001 for eight weeks, twice in a week, 30-45 minutes at a
time. The problem solving sessions were videotaped. The researcher interviewed the pair before
and after the game period and during and after every game session to get more information about
the pair’s collaboration connecting metacognition under working. Verbal communication of the
pair during the sessions (including interviews) is transcribed and non-verbal communication is
written down. Time on task was measured. In our paper, we present case analyses of the pair’s
joint regulation focusing on metacognition. According to our preliminary analyses, the student pair
can regulate their problem solving process in a metacognitive and multilevel way.
Feedback from one’s own self and from the others: Their effect on affect
Dina Fotini, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Research in the regulation of affect often implicates extrinsic feedback (EF), in the form of
knowledge of results, as a factor determining one’s affective state. It has been found that EF
effectiveness diminishes when self processes are involved. Our study aimed at investigating if the
effects of EF on performance, self-concept, and state anxiety in students are mediated by
metacognitive experiences, which provide intrinsic feedback regarding the task-processing.
Participants were 183 students of 5th grade of both genders in 3 groups. The first group received
positive EF, the second negative EF, and the third no feedback. The feedback did not necessarily
match the students’ performance in the first two groups. Students were tested with tasks of
mathematical ability, a Self-concept in Mathematics Questionnaire, Anxiety Questionnaire (trait
and state), a Metacognitive Experiences Questionnaire, and math problems. Students were tested
with the same tasks, questionnaires, and problems twice. A series of ANOVAs showed that EF did
not influence performance and self-concept but influenced anxiety state and metacognitive
experiences as well as the relations of metacognitive experiences with self-concept. Path analysis
showed that the effect of EF was particularly evident when EF was negative or inconsistent with
students’ performance. In such cases, students developed feelings and judgments that counteracted
the negative or inconsistent EF so that self-concept remained intact. Besides this negative EF
effect on self-concept, negative EF increased anxiety state, that is, intrusive thoughts over possible
failure in solving math problems. The implications of these findings for educational practice are
discussed.
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Adolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ attitudes regarding academic success: Its influence on
academic results academic self-concept and self-esteem
Cristina Antunes, Nursing School Vila Real, Portugal
Anne Marie Fontaine, University of Porto, Portugal
By the end of secondary school, academic results are highly valued both by students and their
parents, in Portugal. It is therefore natural that parents get strongly implicated in the process of
learning and in the academic results of their children, although this implication can have
consequences on adolescents’ self-concept and self-esteem. Using a sample of about 800 students
of both genders attending the two last years of secondary school, tested twice with one year of
interval, the authors try to analyse the nature of the relationship between the variables: academic
results, academic self-concept, self-esteem, and adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ attitudes
regarding academic success. Academic results were assessed through self-reported final grades of
previous year; self-concept and self-esteem were assessed using Marsh’s SDQ–II (SelfDescription Questionnaire for adolescents) and adolescents’perceptions of parents’ attitudes were
assessed with a 20 item Likert scale, which was developed by the authors. This scale assesses two
different attitudes regarding children’s academic success, which are called result-centered and
process-centered. LISREL structural equations were used to test the models of causal ordering.
The second wave data are now in the phase of analysis. The authors assume that parents’ processcentered attitudes influence more positively academic self-concept and self-esteem than resultcentered attitudes.
Socio-cultural antecedents of achievement goals
Ayumi Tanaka, Doshisha University, Japan
Hirotsugu Yamauchi, Doshisha University, Japan
Individuals’ achievement goals have been shown to play important role in determining the
direction and quality of self-regulation. The purpose of this report was to investigate socio-cultural
factors as antecedents of achievement goals in the classroom. Participants of our study were 172
Japanese college students. The interrelated influences of culturally rooted self-construal and
several motive dispositions on achievement goals were examined. As a result of factor analysis of
antecedent variables, individualistic, collectivistic, and fear of rejection factors were identified.
Individualistic factor contains measures of Individualism, Independent self-construals, Work and
Mastery orientation and Competitiveness, and Behavioral Activation System sensitivity.
Collectivistic factor contains measures of Collectivism, Interdepen-dent self-construals, Need for
affiliation, and Work and Mastery orientation. Fear of rejection factor contains measures of Fear of
Failure, Sensitivity to Rejection, and Behavioral Inhibition System sensitivity. Multiple regression
analyses showed that approach-avoidance goals were related to the collectivistic and the fear of
rejection factors; the collectivistic factor was related to approach forms of achievement goals
(mastery-approach and performance-approach), and fear of rejection factor was related to
avoidance forms of achievement goals (mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance). It was
also found that the individualistic factor was related to performance-approach and performanceavoidance goals. The interrelation of cultural-ly rooted self-construal and motive disposition and
the importance of considering socio-cultural factors when examining achievement goals are
discussed.
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A 22
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 E
Symposium
STUDENT AND TEACHER LEARNING IN PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Diana Dolmans, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Cees van der Vleuten, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Arie C. Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Jan Vermunt, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Contemporary constructivist approaches to learning and instruction include an emphasis on
learners constructing their own knowledge and stress the importance of self-directed and
collaborative learning (Ertmer & Newby, 1993; Harris & Alexander, 1998; Simons, 2000).
Problem-based learning (PBL) is built on these principles and is consistent with the constructivist
view on human learning. PBL has gained a foothold within many schools in higher education. In
this symposium, several studies on student and teacher learning in PBL are presented. Both
students and teachers are viewed as active constructors of meaningful knowledge. Central element
in the papers is to demonstrate how constructivist theories can be used to stimulate student and
teacher learning in PBL. Stromso and Lycke conducted a study together in which they investigate
differences in interactions between a face-to-face PBL environment and computer supported
distributed PBL. Stromso focusses on student explanations and Lycke investigates the tutor’s role
in knowledge building. Visschers-Pleijers’ study is aimed at validating a questionnaire to identify
interactions in PBL that stimulate deep learning. Nieminen developed a questionnaire to measure
key elements of PBL and focusses on group functioning and its relation to academic achievement.
Finally, Tigelaar developed a teacher portfolio prototype and asked experts to assess whether the
prototype is appropriate to stimulate teacher learning and for summative teacher assessment. These
studies provide us with better insights into the processes of student and teacher learning in PBL in
particular and constructivist learning environments in general, based on which suggestions can be
drawn for improving these environments.
Student explanations in face-to-face and in computer supported problem–based learning
Helge Strømsø, University of Oslo, Norway
Kirsten Hofgaard Lycke, University of Oslo, Norway
Per Grøttum, University of Oslo, Norway
The generation of explanations is regarded as central in processes of knowledge construction. In
problem-based learning (PBL), a problem is supposed to trigger explanations in the group. The
problems are of a complex nature, open to many different explanations. Several studies indicate
that computer mediated group work implies efforts to increase the efficiency of communication
and a decrease in the amount of interactions (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000; Jonassen &
Kwon, 2001). This study focuses on the effect of computer-mediated communication on the
number and richness of student explanations generated in both PBL (face-to-face) and computer
supported distributed PBL groups (DPBL). Medical education at the University of Oslo is
problem-based. In addition, DPBL was introduced in the program. 61 students were divided into 8
groups with 8 tutors. Students worked on 5 cases, two in a DPBL environment, two in face-to-face
PBL groups, and one in a combination. Three groups were selected for inspection of differences.
Activity in synchronous discussions on the two DPBL cases were logged and analysed. The faceto-face activities concerning the two PBL cases were video and tape-recorded, transcribed and
– 76 –
analysed. The first analysis indicated that the DPBL environment seems to generate a lower
number of student explanations and less task-related student explanations than the PBL
environment, although the student explanations were more equally distributed in the DPBL
environment. These results indicate that DPBL cannot replace PBL as an environment initiating a
rich set of explanations in the group.
Tracing the tutor role in knowledge building: Analytical phases and results
Kirsten Hofgaard Lycke, University of Oslo, Norway
Helge Strømsø, University of Oslo, Norway
Per Grøttum, University of Oslo, Norway
PBL tutors are more facilitators or coaches than conventional teachers. This indicates major tasks
for tutors in problem-based learning: a) to secure a systematic progression of the group work, b) to
support productive group interactions, c) to stimulate knowledge building, and d) to evaluate the
processes (Lycke, 1997; Schmidt & Moust, 2000). This study is aimed at examining differences in
tutor participation and the tutor’s role in knowledge building in problem-based learning in face-toface (PBL) and computer-supported groups (DPBL). Medical education at the University of Oslo
is problem-based. In addition, DPBL was introduced in one term. 61 students were divided into 8
groups with 8 tutors. Students worked on 5 cases, two in a distributed PBL environment, two in
face-to-face PBL groups, and one in a combination of PBL and DPBL. Three tutors were selected
for closer inspection of interaction patterns in both environments. All tutors were experienced as
PBL tutors, whereas it was the first time they participated in DPBL. Activity in synchronous
discussions on the DPBL cases were logged and analysed. The face-to-face activities concerning
the PBL cases were video and tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed. Our first analysis showed
that tutors are more active in the PBL than in the DPBL environment. Tutors took the lead in PBL.
The second analysis showed that tutors’ interventions in PBL are more directed at knowledge
building and less at other tasks as compared to the DPBL environment. The conclusion is that
relatively less knowledge building takes place in DPBL than in PBL.
Development and validation of a questionnaire to identify interactions that promote deep learning
in PBL
Astrid Visschers-Pleijers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Ineke Wolfhagen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
In problem-based learning (PBL), the importance of interactions to promote deep learning is
emphasized (De Grave, et al., 1996; Savery & Duffy, 1995). However, tools for analyzing
interaction processes are still scarce (Van der Linden et al., 2000). Therefore, new instruments are
required (Van der Linden et al. 2000; Dillenbourg, 1995). In addition, available instruments
usually are observational instruments, which are relatively complex, time-consuming and
sometimes hard to manage. There has been no evidence yet, whether it is possible to measure
interaction processes by means of an instrument that is easier to manage and prevents timeconsuming observations and resource intensive, complex coding procedures. This study was aimed
at developing and validating a questionnaire to provide insight into interactions oriented on
learning in PBL. First, the questionnaire was tested and modified in a pilot study. Then, it was
administered to all 240 second-year Medical students in the PBL curriculum of the Maastricht
University. It contained items on three dimensions of interactions that are assumed to promote
deep learning: critical engagement, cumulative reasoning and resolving conflicts (Van Boxtel,
– 77 –
2000; Mercer, 1995). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a regression analysis were carried
out. The results of the analyses (N =174) indicated that the three-dimension model was adequate
and that the factors critical engagement and cumulative reasoning explain 26% of the variance in
tutorial group’s productivity. This implies that the questionnaire is rather valid. The questionnaire
can provide insight into strong and weak aspects of interactions in tutorial groups.
On the relationship between group functioning and academic achievement in PBL
Juha Nieminen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Pekka Sauri, University of Helsinki, Finland
Kirsti Lonka, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
In PBL, the discussion in the tutorial group plays a central role in stimulating student learning (van
Berkel & Schmidt, 2000). Problems are the major input for stimulating the discussion. The quality
of the discussion is assumed to influence student learning and in the end student achievement. This
study is aimed at reporting on the development and reliability of scales to measure group
functioning in PBL and the relationship between group functioning and academic achievement.
The study was conducted in the PBL curriculum of the Medical School of the University of
Helsinki. First-year medical students (N = 132), forming 12 PBL groups, filled in a questionnaire,
containing 21 items, on aspects of a PBL session. At the end of the unit, a course exam was
administered to the students. Reliability analyses were conducted and correlations were computed.
The results demonstrated that the items represented three scales, measuring 1) the performance of
the tutor (4 items), 2) the quality of the case (3 items), and 3) the quality of group functioning (two
versions, 14 and 4 items). Further analyses of the group functioning scale revealed that a four-item
version measuring students’ perceptions of group functioning was more reliable than the longer
version, measuring several aspects of group functioning. In addition, group functioning was
strongly correlated with students’ grades in a course exam. Further, group functioning and the
quality of the case were strongly associated with each other. Our findings raise interesting
questions about the relationships between group functioning and academic achievement.
The development of a prototype for a teaching portfolio
Dineke Tigelaar, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Ineke Wolfhagen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Portfolios are often used to stimulate teacher learning and to improve teaching practice (DarlingHammond & Snyder, 2000; Zeichner & Wray, 2001). One important dilemma is how standardized
a portfolio procedure must be (Elshout-Mohr & Oostdam, 2001). This implies that some choices
concerning the purpose, structure, assessment and use have to be made when developing a
portfolio. Moreover, the coaching of portfolio composers is important (Wolf, 1994). In a former
study, a teaching competency framework with five domains was developed. For each domain,
guiding questions were formulated and taken as a point of departure for the portfolio prototype. In
this study, a prototype for a teaching portfolio was developed. The prototype will be used to
encourage teacher learning and reflection (formative) and for promotion decisions (summative) in
a student-centred higher education context, e.g. PBL. Research question: To what extent is the
portfolio prototype appropriate for its purpose? Experts (N=8) on assessment, most of them
specialised on portfolio-assessment, were interviewed to comment on the prototype, i.e. its
purpose, structure, assessment and use, as well as coaching of portfolio composers. In general, the
experts judged the portfolio prototype as appropriate for its purpose. Discussion topics in the
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interviews were the relation between formative and summative assessment, how to find a right
balance between the analytical and global approach to portfolio-assessment and how to implement
the portfolio in the organization. This research provides insight into the use of portfolios as a tool
for teacher learning in student-centred higher education.
A 23
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 4 S
Symposium
ADVANCING USABLE KNOWLEDGE: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
THAT CONNECT RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
Organiser:
Chairs:
Discussants:
Fritz C. Staub, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Mary Kay Stein, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Lauren B. Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Noel Entwistle, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Research is believed to produce knowledge that will contribute to improving educational practice.
Traditionally, this belief is based on a view of educational improvement that is linear and driven
by findings of fundamental research. This view of a linear movement from research based
knowledge to practice, however, is increasingly called in question. Examinations of successful
work has revealed processes that are much more complex, interactive, and recursive. What then is
the role of research vis-à-vis practice, if it is to be in the service of improved learning? Over the
past decade a growing number of daring researchers began to closely collaborate with actors in
fields of educational practice. The researchers’ role in this uncharted terrain, however, is still
largely undefined. The symposium brings together projects in educational research and
development that all try to make - in various ways – direct connections between research and
practice. The symposium begins with Stein and Coburn setting the stage: Their differentiation of
genres of improvement efforts did already guide the search for the kind of projects to be discussed
in this symposium. In the tradition of the design experiment Gomez, Bryk, Bransford and Stein
analyze work on transforming schools through information technology. Staub and Bickel analyze
underlying development knowledge and design problems to be solved when aiming for large-scale
professional development. Minnaert and Boekaerts present an account of a project, which focuses
on fostering self-regulated learning in schools Kiyomi Akita closely looks at how japanese
teachers share their practical knowledge in lesson research.
Toward producing usable knowledge for the improvement of educational practice: A conceptual
framework and typology
Cynthia E. Coburn, University of Pittsburgh, USA
In this overview paper, we will set the stage for the four symposium presentations by (a) briefly
reviewing challenges to the linear unidirectional model of the transfer of research into practice
(Sabelli & Dede, 2001; Stokes, 1997); (b) presenting a conceptual framework that provides an
alternative way to conceptualize the relationship between research and practice; and (c) identifying
four genres of approaches to research and educational improvement that differ along salient
dimensions of our conceptual framework. Our typology of approaches was developed by
reviewing literature related to how research and practice interact, by conducting in-depth literature
– 79 –
reviews of several school improvement efforts that had strong ties to research and by reflecting on
our early efforts to understand two projects currently underway as part of a MacArthur Foundation
funded Network in which we participate. The genres that we have identified differ with respect to
1) the degrees to which they draw on research, development, and practitioner knowledge; 2) the
degrees to which they seek to contribute to research and/or school improvement; 3) the way local
context is used and/or situated within the overall work; and 4) the extent to which researchers
actively intervene to improve practice. By putting forth a provisional typology of ways in which
research can be reconceptualized vis-à-vis practice, we have articulated a set of dimensions that
can be used to systematically articulate and investigate a variety of projects that have similar aims
but go about their work in different ways. Our goal is to eventually refine the typology into a
theory or the relationship between research and practice.
Transforming schools through information technology
John Bransford, Vanderbilt University, USA
Louis Gomez, Northwestern University, USA
Anthony Bryk, University of Chicago, USA
The purpose of this project is to develop an instructional information infrastructure whose design
principles start with the concern to support the improvement of teaching and learning in
disadvantaged urban schools. Moreover, in the design experiment tradition, the investigators are
committed to taking advantage of the opportunity provided by their active intervention in schools
and classrooms to study the change process and to generate basic knowledge about teaching and
learning, the effective organization of schools, and the constructive roles that policy can play in
school improvement. The project is in the first phase of a two-phase cycle. As such, investigators,
in collaboration with school-based personnel in three sites, are designing existence proofs,
technological infrastructures to assist teachers and administrators with the effective implementation of ambitious, student assessment-driven literacy programs. In the next phase, researchers
will adapt (rather than design) tools for a much wider range of schools. Throughout, the emphasis
will be not only on the design of technology per se, but also on the way in which the introduction
of technology transforms social interactions and work roles such that schools become more
professionally driven and tightly coupled. This project involves cutting-edge American design re
searchers, as well as some of their best-trained research assistants. They are undertaking this work
with a commitment to — not only creating the best possible technological designs — but also to
learning how to improve the field of ‘design science”; as such, they have initiated processes of
self-documentation on the processes of ”doing” design research which will be discussed as well.
Developing content-focused coaching in elementary literacy: A case study on designing for scale
Donna DiPrima Bickel, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Content-Focused CoachingSM (CFC) is a professional development model for the advancement of
student learning and teaching by having a coach and a teacher jointly plan, enact and reflect on
lessons. The model consists of a specific activity setting and a set of theory-based conceptual tools
assisting coaches and teachers in conducting content-focused coaching dialogues (Staub, West, &
Miller, 1998; Staub, 2001). Its most advanced existence proof has been accomplished at over the
past 5 years in Community School District 2 in New York City for the teaching of elementary and
middle school mathematics (West & Staub, in press). Based on the framework and the general
tools of CFC in 2000 University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Learning began to develop and
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implement CFC for the teaching of elementary literacy in other large urban school districts. The
goal of this case study is to reconstruct the tool development and implementation work involved in
arriving at a model of CFC for the teaching of elementary literacy. The case is based on interviews
with tool and staff developers, notes on pivotal deliberations within the design team and between
designers and district personnel, and formative evaluations on the implementation of CFC in the
districts. The study contributes towards making explicit the kind of expertise required for
transferring CFC to a new subject matter area and for bringing it into large school districts. More
generally, it begins to make transparent the kind of emerging design problems to be solved when
designing for scale.
The need for research-practice partnerships between teachers and researchers in an ongoing
innovation program
Alexander Minnaert, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Since 1995, we are engaged in a large-scale innovation program in vocational schools: namely the
Interactive Learning groups System (ILS). The aim of this program is to change the behavior of
students, teachers, and managers in an attempt to improve students’ self-regulatory skills. At the
start of the program, a wide array of reform ideas obscured teachers’ view of the actual
competences that they would need to translate instruction - set up according to the principles of
social constructivism - into everyday practice. Partnerships were set up between researchers and
advanced practitioners to help teachers acquire these competences, to promote dynamic interaction
between colleagues, as well as the exchange of ideas and products. Advanced practitioners
provided an on-the-job training to train teachers in the use of ILS instruction principles (target
instruction strategy). Our basic assumption was that all ILS teachers’ behavior would mirror the
target instruction strategy. This assumption was, however, often violated. Teachers took note of
some of the principles (e.g. organize the classroom in interactive learning groups and provide
resources for group assignments), but reported feelings of incompetence in relation to other
principles (e.g. provide students process-oriented feedback and stimulate reflective thinking). In
response to these shortcomings, we developed an assessment instrument to register the waxing and
waning of students’ appraisals of cognitions and feelings about the quality of the learning process.
The information collected with this instrument was used to provide feedback to each group
member and to the teacher. The effectiveness of this instrument will be discussed with respect to
the dynamics of research-practice partnerships.
How Japanese teachers share their practical knowledge in lesson research
Kiyomi Akita, University of Tokyo, Japan
The ”lesson study” of Japan has recently become a central focus for some educational researchers
in the US and in Europe. Japanese lesson study has a history of more than one hundred and thirty
years as an approach to professional development. In Japan, however, the use of lesson study has
drastically declined during the past 20 years and the formalized styles of lesson study has been
changing. Through research comparing how expert teachers and novice teachers watch the same
video of lessons and verbalize their thought processes, five features of practical thinking styles
have been identified for Japanese expert teachers: impromptu thinking, situated thinking, multiple
thinking, contextualized thinking and reframing strategies (Sato, Akita, and Iwakawa, 1993). How
do younger teachers learn these practical thinking styles? The discussions after lessons among
elementary school teachers were recorded and analyzed. One characteristic of teachers’ discourse
is that they mutually appropriate key word of evaluation into their talks. Younger teachers use the
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evaluation words used by expert teachers and begin to think like these. The second one is that
some expert teachers use metaphors expressing the children’s learning situation and teacher’s
activity. (e.g. not get on the stage, teacher’s push). These metaphoric phrases work as frames for
less experienced teachers to reflect on their own lessons. The third characteristic is that expert
teachers narrate to make connections between various children’s activities and teacher’s activity in
a lesson and make children’s learning processes visible through discourse.
A 24
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 4 P
Symposium
ACHIEVEMENT AND
ENVIRONMENTS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussants:
MOTIVATION
IN
COMPUTER-BASED
LEARNING
Susanne Narciss, Technical University Dresden, Germany
Caroline Dupeyrat, University of Toulouse “Le Mirail” France
Nathalie Huet, University of Toulouse, “Le Mirail”, France
Learners’ initial motivation and the motivational factors of the learning process are of crucial
interest for the effective design of computer-based learning environments. However in general,
research on the benefits of multiple instructional strategies in computer-based learning
environments focuses on cognitive effects such as knowledge acquisition, retention and /or
transfer. Thus, motivational and achievement data are rarely analysed in the same experimental
instructional context. Hence, the purpose of this symposium is to discuss studies investigating both
achievement and motivation data collected in computer-based learning experiments. Specifically,
the aims of the different papers are to contribute findings to the following issues: (1) How do
individual motivational characteristics such as epistemological beliefs or goal orientation
influence achievement and motivation in computer-based learning enviro-nments? (2) What is the
role of initial motivation in computer-based instruction? (3) How can effective instructional and/or
motivational strategies be designed and implemented in computer-based learning environments
and how do they affect achievement and motivation?
Motivational beliefs and electronic discussion engagement in a project based learning
Christian Escribe, University of Toulouse “Le Mirail”, France
Claude Navarro, University of Toulouse “Le Mirail”, France
This research examines the relationship between two motivational variables “epistemological
beliefs” (Schommer, 1990) and “achievement goals orientations” (e.g. Dweck, 1986) and students'
engagement in a project based learning using new technologies and students' perception of this
pedagogy requiring collaborative work. A first objective was to examine whether sophisticated
beliefs in learning and knowledge and learning goal (students seek to improve their competence)
were related with a high rate of engagement and a cooperative perception of pedagogy. A second
purpose was to explore the change in the epistemological beliefs at the end of the program.
Subjects were 28 technology-oriented students in a course applying project based teaching and
requiring participation to electronic discussions forum. Epistemological beliefs were assessed
using a French version of the Epistemological Questionnaire (Schommer; 1990) at the beginning
and at the end of the learning. A French version (Dupeyrat & Escribe, 2000) of the Achievement
Goal tendencies Questionnaire (Hayamizu and Weiner, 1991) was used. Pedagogy perception was
– 82 –
assessed by a questionnaire. The total number of messages sent in electronic discussion were
counted as a measure of engagement. Performance was assessed by the mark assigned to the
project deliverables. Correlation and regression analysis revealed that students who showed a
naive view of learning and knowledge did not participate to electronic discussions, displayed low
performance. Cooperative perception was positively associated to a high learning goal. At the end
of the program, some epistemological beliefs (e.g. ability is innate) were less naïve than at the
beginning.
How students with different initial goal orientations are coping with computer-supported
collaborative inquiry learning?
The instructional design used in this study, inquiry learning, differs from a traditional classroom
situation in many ways. The design contains processes of constructing of knowledge characteristic
of scientific inquiry. It guides, for instance, students to generate their own research problems and
intuitive theories. Furthermore, all elements of inquiry are to be shared among the participating
students, and a technologically sophisticated collaborative learning environment can provide
advanced support for the process. Participation in this kind of process strongly emphasizes
cognitive reconstructing; the shift from teacher centeredness towards students’ activity presupposes strong self-regulative efforts from students, and at the same time offers more space for
individual’s activities. This may help students to increase their intrinsic motivation, but new
cognitive responsibilities and collaborative interaction can also be quite demanding for some
students. A case study was conducted to investigate what kind of individual differences students
exhibit when they cope with inquiry learning situations. 21 students (age 10) and one teacher
participated in the study. Two types of data were collected: 1) Students self-reported questionnaires on goal orientations, 2) Video data on the students’ learning processes and social
interaction. The results revealed the importance of a situative perspective in instructional design,
since the students not only differed in their coping attempts regarding their initial motivational
orientation but also according to their individual situational interpretations that mediated their
coping attempts.
Motivation and learning with a multimedia program
Anja Görn, University of Potsdam, Germany
Regina Vollmeyer, University of Potsdam, Germany
Falko Rheinberg, University of Potsdam, Germany
The aim of our study was to demonstrate how motivation affects multimedia learning using our
cognitive-motivational process model (Vollmeyer, & Rheinberg, 1998). This model assumes that
initial motivation affects learning through mediating motivational state and strategy. Initial
learning motivation includes four motivational factors measured with the Questionnaire on Current
Motivation [QCM]; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, & Burns, 2001): anxiety, challenge, interest, and
probability of success. To study the effects of motivation on learning, we used a multimedia
program describing the outbreak of World War I. 104 participants had about an hour to fill out the
QCM, work 24 minutes with the multimedia program and answer a knowledge questionnaire. As
mediating variables we measured their motivational state during learning and we examined
average time per page as indicator of strategy. Finally we applied a performance measure: a
multiple-choice knowledge questionnaire in which we formulated questions regarding the
presented pages in the program. Learners’ initial motivation can be described depending on the
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combination of the motivational factors. We found highly motivated learners HL (i.e., interest,
challenge, probability of success are high, anxiety low), lowly motivated learners LL (i.e., interest,
challenge, probability of success, anxiety are low), and anxious learners AL (i.e., challenge,
anxiety are high, probability of success low). If HL have the most positive motivation and AL the
most negative, regression analysis demonstrated that, as expected, initial motivation affects
knowledge through motivational state. However, strategy can not be regarded as a mediator, but as
a predictor for knowledge.
The impact of bug-related feedback on achievement and motivation in a computer-based learning
environment
Katja Huth, Technical University Dresden, Germany
Feedback is considered to be an important factor to promote learning and motivation with
computer-based training tools. However the findings of studies on the effectiveness of feedback
are rather inconsistent. One reason for these inconsistent findings might be that the implementation
of feedback is more based on intuition than on well-founded design principles. Thus, the aims of
the present studies were (1) to develop theoretical well-founded elaborated feedback forms for a
procedural skill like written subtraction, (2) to implement them in an adaptive feedback algorithm
that induces the mindful processing of feedback, and (3) to evaluate this elaborated feedback
regarding its impact on learning and motivation. Using results from prior feedback research and
from cognitive task and error analysis of written subtraction tasks we selected information relevant
to the correction of typical systematic errors (e.g. location of error, source of error, type of error
and hints to the correct solution strategy). This information was used for designing different types
of bug-related feedback messages. These different feedback messages were arranged in an
adaptive bug-related algorithm presenting three levels of feedback with increasing informational
value supporting the learner in finding the correct solution on his own. In two computer-based
learning experiments with 30 respectively, 44 forth-grade students with learning difficulties in
written subtraction, cognitive and motivational effects of this bug-related feedback algorithm were
compared to the effects of a standard Knowledge of Result-Knowledge of Correct Response
feedback algorithm. Results indicate that bug-related feedback has significant positive effects on
achievement and motivation.
A 25
26th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 F
Symposium
COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION: DOMAIN-SPECIFIC
ISSUES
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Carla van Boxtel, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland
The symposium’s goal is to bring together and discuss work that investigates discourse and
conditions for collaborative learning in a specific subject. The papers deal with collaborative
learning within the domain of mathematics, music, history and social sciences. The symposium
departs from the idea that in the study of collaborative learning, it is important not to lose sight of
the specific features of the domain and the content of the task. The variety of domains and activity
– 84 –
settings reported on in the papers deepen our insight into the conditions for collaborative
knowledge construction. The following key questions will be addressed 1) What kind of student
talk should be promoted to learn within the specific domain? 2) How do we analyse and relate the
content-related and more general communicative aspects of collaborative knowledge construction
3) How can we provoke and support a productive peer interaction?
Collaborating on music technologies – Supporting and fostering talk and creative thinking
processes
Teresa Dillon, Open University, United Kingdom
Within the area of collaborative learning, much work is carried out in the traditional subjects, such
as the sciences, where solutions are often fixed or predetermined. Although such work provides
valuable insights into learning and development, it fails to question whether the thinking and
knowledge promoted in these areas is applicable to other subject domains. To address this, the
study examines through analysis of the verbal dialogues, young peoples’ (13-16 years)
collaborations on music technologies. The study draws on two contexts a formal school, and a
non-formal, camp environment. In both situations participants (total of 13 groups, 30 participants)
collaborate using eJay, music software. Video transcriptions of the verbal dialogues is analysed
using a coding scheme developed by the author (Dillon, 2002). Through statistical and
interpretative analysis of the dialogues similarities and differences to other collaborative subject
areas were found. For example, suggestions, extensions and positive support were found to be the
most dominant types of talk. This is similar to collaborations in the sciences and humanities;
however these categories of talk are articulated and co-constructed differently when collaborating
on music tasks. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of investigating music and
other domains so as to provide a clearer picture of the types of talk and creative thinking skills and
processes that are necessary in supporting broader and cross disciplinary collaborative skills. The
domain of music also addresses the importance of creative thinking when collaborating and how it
can be fostered, supported and promoted.
Communicational conflict and learning agreement: What turns obstacles to mathematical
communication into effective triggers for learning?
Anna Sfard, University of Haifa, Israel
What is it that turns an act of communication with others into an opportunity for learning? Why do
some students capitalize on these opportunities whereas many others regularly miss them? In order
to answer the questions, I will be looking at brief episodes coming form mathematics classrooms
and featuring different types of classroom interactions. In the analysis of the data, I will be guided
by the basic tenets of communicational approach, according to which thinking is a special case of
communication and school learning can be thought of as a change and extension of particular types
of discourse. Taking these two assertions as a point of departure, I will define a communicational
conflict – a conflict that arises whenever interlocutors differ in their use of the same words or in
their interpretations of the same routine procedures. It will be claimed that communicational
conflicts, while being obstacles to communication, are also valuable opportunities for learning. On
the other hand, the mere existence of a conflict is certainly not enough to ensure the occurrence of
learning. This point will be illustrated with several of my classroom examples. The concept of tacit
learning agreement will then be introduced in order to account for the difference between
successful and unsuccessful attempts at resolving communicational conflicts. Finally, the question
will be addressed whether learning agreement can be expected to be equally frequent in the two
– 85 –
basic types of classroom interactions: in interactions with peers and in interactions with the
teacher.
Supporting historical reasoning within CSCL
Jannet van Drie, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Gellof Kanselaar, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
This paper aims to discuss the conditions which promote historical reasoning within a computer
supported collaborative writing environment. The CSCL environment used, enabled students to
collaborate on a historical inquiry task and in writing an essay together. In two experimental
studies we supported collaboration and historical reasoning by using different kinds of graphical
representations, such as an argumentative diagram and a matrix. The studies focus on two main
questions. First, what kind of peer interactions promote historical reasoning? Second, how can we
provoke and support such interaction? We analysed the dialogues, the use of the graphical tools
and we evaluated the quality of the texts produced, and the scores on a pre and post test. The
development of our analytical tools was guided by three distinct perspectives: a domain specific
perspective, an elaboration perspective and a co-construction perspective. It will be argued that
especially episodes that reflect elaborated historical reasoning and in which both participants
equally contribute to the reasoning (co-elaborated historical reasoning) are valuable for learning
history. Furthermore, the results of the study show that tools to support collaborative learning
within a specific domain must be evaluated according to their potential to support domain specific
reasoning, elaboration and co-construction.
Collaborative knowledge construction: Effects of scripted cooperation in the domain of education
Frank Fischer, University of Munich, Germany
Armin Weinberger, University of Munich, Germany
Heinz Mandl, University of Munich, Germany
University students of education show severe difficulties in applying theoretical concepts to case
problems. Empirical studies have begun to explore instructional interventions to enhance our
understanding of the phenomenon and to improve practice. Especially, structured forms of small
group collaborative learning can be regarded as promising approaches. However, approaches to
structured cooperative learning (e.g., scripted cooperation) so far confounded the content-related
guidance and the interaction support provided by the script. To find out about the relative effects
of content-oriented vs. interaction-oriented components of scripts on important aspects of
collaborative knowledge construction we conducted an experimental study varying the two factors
independently in a 2X2-factorial design. 96 university students of education participated in groups
of three. The scripts were realised in a computer-based environment as prompts and a as a
sequencing mechanism. The participants had to apply theoretical concepts from attribution theory
to authentic cases. Results show, that the content-oriented script led to a narrowing of the focus in
the process of case analysis. This was often related to a highly efficient collaborative problemsolving activity. However, individual transfer from collaboration was low with the content-related
script. On the other hand, the interaction-oriented script led to both, improved processes of
collaborative knowledge construction and higher individual transfer. We discuss possible reasons
for the differential effects of the content-oriented script on problem-solving on the one hand and
learning on the other hand. Moreover, the possible domain specificity of these findings is
discussed. Finally, consequences for research and for practice are drawn.
– 86 –
Keynote Addresses
Room
26th Aug
17:00-18:00
BASSI 3 F
Innovations in problem-based learning from a managerial perspective
Arie C. Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Key elements of problem-based learning (PBL) are activation of prior knowledge, contextspecificity and collaborative and active learning. The student rather than the teacher is at the centre
of this educational process. In addition to the learning process, the learning environment and the
way the learning is organised are determining factors for the success of this educational approach.
It has become clear that PBL is one face but not necessarily the only face of student-centred
learning. Dependent on the disciplinary context a variety of approaches can be applied to reach
effective learning. Furthermore, ICT enables not only extension and easy accessibility of learning
resources but also intensification of student-student en student-teacher communication. These
developments require tailored adaptations in the curriculum design and university infrastructure.
To this end, central co-ordination and a clear description of strategic and operational objectives are
essential.
Room
BASSI 2 D
Multiple Goals and Multiple Pathways in the Development of Motivation and Self-regulated
Learning
Paul R. Pintrich, The University of Michigan, USA
Goal orientation theory has traditionally focused on two general goals for learning and
achievement, mastery and performance. Mastery goals, where the focus is on learning and
improvement, are generally seen as adaptive, while performance goals, where the focus is on
besting others and competition, are predicted to be maladaptive. However, recent work from a
multiple goals perspective suggests that this generalization may not be accurate for all
performance goals, especially performance approach goals. A general model of multiple goals
will be presented that includes both approach and avoidance forms of mastery and performance
goals. The role of these multiple goals in facilitating or constraining the development of different
motivational, cognitive, affective, and achievement outcomes will be discussed.
Room
BASSI 3 E
Knowledge restructuring as a powerful mechanism of cognitive development: How to lay an early
foundation for conceptual understanding in science and mathematics
Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
In research on child development, the importance of domain-specific knowledge for cognitive
growth is now widely recognized. Children’s particular difficulties with formal tasks seem to be
due to their limited access to learning opportunities – the child can be seen as an universal novice
– rather than to more general constraints on cognitive functioning. Research on expertise, too,
emphasizes the crucial role of prior domain-specific knowledge – many years of deliberate
practice are necessary to achieve excellence in complex content areas. These results suggest that
to learn science and mathematics at school students should, from the very beginning of their
school career, be afforded the opportunity to acquire the domain-specific knowledge which lays
– 87 –
the foundation for advanced competencies in these areas. My own longitudinal data on science
and mathematics learning show that elementary school students who show advanced domainspecific conceptual knowledge enjoy a long-term head start. Research on learning and instruction
has to meet the challenge of explaining how early conceptual knowledge is restructured to
provide an elaborated and flexible understanding as a function of instructional input. I will
discuss this issue by referring to cognitive theories of analogical thinking, symbolic reasoning,
conceptual change, and constructivist learning. Moreover, I will present results from
experimental training studies exploring how to stimulate elementary school students’ scientific
and mathematical reasoning.
– 88 –
B1
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO G C
NEW PATHWAYS IN THE FIELD OF TEACHER EDUCATION (Part 2)
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussant:
Frank Achtenhagen, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany
Frank Achtenhagen, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany
Gavriel Salomon, University of Haifa, Israel
The symposium tries to bring together new theoretical and practical concepts for teacher
education. Nuthall discusses the problem that teacher educators are not clear about what kind of
generalizable research-based professional knowledge preservice teacher should acquire. New
proposals are proved with regard to their ability to link theoretically and practically teacher
education and effective teaching. Pellegrino & Goldman present a longitudinal research project
designed to understand the preparation of teachers to integrate technology effectively into their
pedagogy. It focuses on the multiple forms of knowledge and skills teachers have to acquire for
running their instruction efficiently. As the investment in teaching technology is increasing this
research is decisive with regard to the optimal use of technology in the classroom. Achtenhagen
discusses the consequences of the use of computer-based complex teaching-learning environments
for teacher training, but also subject didactic. As such environments need instructional support via
system-like procedures and guided as well as self-organized exercises, the corresponding
instructional means will be presented together with data. Kansanen demonstrates by which
measures under which goals a coherent model of teacher education programs should be developed
and indicates at the same time the advantages of a corresponding research driven curriculum.
Berliner discusses consequences of strategies which cope with teacher shortage caused by low pay
and pure working conditions: allowing out-of –field training, designing faster alternative methods
of teacher education, and allowing untrained people with college degrees to teach. By an empirical
study on the effects of these measures with regard to student achievement can be shown which
demonstrate many negative influences of these teacher hiring strategies. The presentations as a
whole combine basic assumptions about the goals and need of teacher education with empirical
data which demonstrate positive, but also negative effects of different concepts.
Relating research on teaching to teacher education
Graham Nuthall, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Virginia Richardson (editor of the latest Handbook of Research on Teaching) argued in her vicepresidential address at the 2002 meeting of the American Educational Research Association that
we lack a center to research on teaching - a research-based theory of the relationships between
teaching actions and student learning. This lack is reflected in current research on teacher
education. A survey of recently published research on teacher education indicates that there is little
theoretical understanding of the ways in which teacher education programs affect the teaching
effectiveness of beginning teachers. In this paper I will argue that the "lack of center" that
Richardson identifies in her analysis of contemporary research on teaching has handicapped and
continues to handicap teacher education programs. It is not clear to teacher educators what kind of
generalisable research-based professional knowledge preservice teachers should acquire. Oser &
Baeriswyl's model of the relationship between teaching and learning provides a useful basis for
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describing the "center" that research on teaching and consequently teacher education lacks. When
Oser & Baeriswyl's model is related to recent research on teachers' classroom decision-making, it
is possible to describe the research-based professional knowledge that should be the central
theoretical and practical link between teacher education and effective teaching.
Teaching teachers to use technology: Understanding what works and why
James W. Pellegrino, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
This presentation will focus on the initial phases of a longitudinal research project designed to
understand the preparation of teachers to integrate technology effectively into their pedagogy. We
begin from the position that information technologies can support fundamental change in teaching
and learning at all levels, but to do so they must become more ubiquitous and productive in
educational settings. Teachers need to have mastery over multiple forms of information
technology, in addition to principled understanding of subject matter areas and how learning
occurs in those domains, and they need to know how to effectively use technology in support of
pedagogy and student learning. If information technology investments are to pay off in improved
educational outcomes, teachers must be technology-proficient educators who know learning theory
and how to use modern learning tools to help students meet high standards. We cannot expect
teachers to create effective learning environments in their K-12 classrooms if they have not had
opportunities to experience such environments themselves. Although institutions of higher
education are attempting to provide teacher candidates with opportunities to acquire the
appropriate knowledge and competencies, there are many challenges associated with doing so. We
will describe a theoretical framework on learning, teaching and technology that is being applied to
an analysis of the learning environments experienced by teacher education candidates. The work
focuses on selected U.S. institutions where a major investment has been made in the integration of
technology into the teacher education program structure. Initial outcomes of the research effort
will be reported, including implications for teacher education program design.
The increasing use of complex teaching-learning-environments – Consequences for subjects
didactic and teacher education
Frank Achtenhagen, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany
Newly developed complex teaching-learning environments show success with regard to an
improvement of learning results – e. g. in the areas of strategic or metacognitive knowledge,
motivation and emotion or intercultural competence. But this success depends upon the
reformulation of the corresponding subject didactics and also teacher education. Complex
Teacher-Learning-Environments are not "self-runners" that means effective and efficient without
any instructional support. The book "How People Learn" defines basic principles for the design of
complex teaching-learning environments: They should be learner-, knowledge-, assessment- and
community-centered. The presentation will show how these generally formulated principles can be
exemplarily operationalized and which consequences for subjects didactics and teacher education
have to follow. The examples are chosen out of the field of economic and business education and
the corresponding teacher education. They have to be treated together, but are separated here for
emphasizing different aspects which have to be taken into account. With regard to the categories
"learner-centered" and "assessment-centered" it will be shown in which way a mastery-learning
approach can be run with remarkably heterogeneous classrooms (with regard to age, but also
branch and/or success of a training firm): With regard to the category "knowledge-centered" the
curricular goals and the content are differentiated according to various kinds of knowledge:
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declarative, procedural, strategic and metacognitive. Especially, the training of teachers to cope
with strategic and metacognitive knowledge becomes an increasingly important task. The
promotion of the "community-centered" aspect of complex teaching-learning environments deals
with the formation of communities of practice with regard to intercultural learning. It will be
demonstrated how these different examples lead to consequences for the programs of subject
didactic and teacher education. New system-like procedures and guided as well as self-organized
exercises are necessary to cope with these changed challenges of teaching for improving
cognitively and motivationally learning.
Constructing a research-based program in teacher education
Pertti Kansanen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Recent trends in international teacher education seem to develop towards different directions.
Integration of theoretical and practical studies, the problem of knowledge base and its relation to
pedagogical content knowledge, and the role of research in the curriculum get different solutions.
Teacher education of a country always follows its political, social and economic foundations. This
might also be a reason for different results in teacher education. In addition to this, some formal
features guide the building of a teacher education program. Individual viewpoints emphasize an
experiential starting-point. Without any steering it is to be feared that it leaves things too much to
chance. Increasing guidance in schools programs get characteristics of a school-based curriculum.
Emphasizing systematic elements, on the other hand, programs develop towards a unit-based or
problem-based curriculum. Combining the best parts of the programs a research-based curriculum
can be accomplished. There is also a certain hierarchical order between the different bases. They
can be combined or subsumed under each other in various ways and this depends on the base we
select to function as a main organizing idea. In this paper I try to build a coherent model of teacher
education programs and indicate the many advantages a research-based curriculum might have as a
main organizing idea.
The dangers of some alternative pathways to teacher certification
David C. Berliner, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA
In the USA three solutions are used to cope with a teacher shortage caused by low pay and poor
working conditions: allowing out-of-field teaching, designing faster alternative methods of teacher
education, and allowing untrained people with college degrees to teach. This paper documents the
dangers in all three approaches, focusing on a recent empirical study that assessed student learning
associated with teachers who enter the profession through alternative programs of teacher
education, or who enter the profession without any formal teacher education at all. Recently hired
un-certified and certified teachers from five low-income school districts were matched on a
number of variables (N=109 matched pairs). At the end of the year, on mandated state
achievement tests in reading, language, and mathematics, it was found that the students of
alternatively trained teachers did not perform significantly different from students of teachers who
had no training at all. Further, the students of regularly trained and fully-certified teachers
significantly out-performed the students of teachers who did not receive regular teacher training.
Effect sizes favoring the students of certified teachers were substantial. On all tests these students
outperformed the students of un-certified teachers by about 2 months on a grade equivalent scale.
Students of un-certified teachers make about 20% less academic growth per year than do the
students of teachers with regular certification. Un-certified teachers, hired for the poorest schools,
were found to increase the differences in achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged
children.
– 91 –
B2
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO G A
EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY AS OUTCOMES OF SCHOOLING
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin,
Germany
Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin,
Germany
Jaap Scheerens, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Reaching a balance between excellence and equity as outcomes of schooling presents a continuing
challenge to educational systems across the world. It comprises a variety of facets and levels, some
of which will be addressed in this symposium. Educational systems respond to the challenge of
opening up educational paths to higher-level qualifications while ensuring minimum standards
associated with these qualifications in different ways. This is the subject of the contribution by
Watermann et al., which is based on data from the large-scale study “Transformation of Secondary
School Systems and Academic Careers”. Using the example of vocational upper secondary
schools, they examine effects of opening up alternative paths to university in terms of excellence
and equity. Schoon also addresses effects of increasing participation in education on equity, yet
she focuses on success after the transition to working life. This study, which is based on data from
the 1958 British Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study, asks whether
increasing participation in education weakens the link between socio-economic background and
career success. The contribution by Baker and Goesling addresses the equality of distribution of
educational resources. Using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study,
the authors take an international perspective to identify system characteristics associated with
resource inequality. Schümer and Stanat, finally, investigate individual-level and school-level
determinants of performance among students from less privileged social backgrounds and
immigrant students. Drawing on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA), they ask to what extent factors such as the composition of the student population influence
the level of performance within a school.
Educational resource inequality: Cross-national evidence from forty-seven nations
David P. Baker, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Brian Goesling, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Mass education has spread throughout the world, and schooling is prominent in stratification
processes in modern society. Given this, differential access to quality schools is a central
theoretical and policy issue in the creation of social inequality. Although state-sponsorship of
mass schooling officially intends to minimize unintentional resource inequality, preliminary
analysis suggests that most national systems produce a substantial degree of inequality in school
quality. The study examines the degree to which educational resources are unevenly distributed
within forty-seven nations and the consequences for national levels of mathematics and science
achievement. Using methods developed for the analysis of comparative income inequality, the
study undertakes two analyses. First, summary inequality indexes measure national levels of
inequality across three types of basic school resources that have been shown to influence school
quality and educational outcomes. The degree of cross-national variation in educational resource
– 92 –
inequality is estimated and described. Second, a number of sociological arguments about national
and international factors associated with cross-national variation in resource inequality are
modeled. These arguments include the relative effects of organizational complexity, political and
governance structures, adoption of mass education, and economic development. Educational
resource data that reflect school quality for nationally representative samples of middle schools in
47 nations are found in the 1994 Third International Math and Science Survey (TIMSS-94) and its
1999 replicate study TIMSS-99. Additional international sources of data on education,
governance, history of mass schooling, economic development, and demographic process in each
nation are used in multi-level models. The results are theoretically significant and relevant to
education policy discussion.
Opportunity structures, academic achievement, grades, family background and self-concept: How
they impact on academic ambitions at the transition to university
Rainer Watermann, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Ulrich Trautwein, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
School systems in modern societies must find a balance between two challenges: providing equal
educational opportunities to students with different backgrounds on the one hand, and allocating
such educational opportunities based solely on academic merit on the other. In several European
countries, vocational upper secondary schools have been established to open up a non-traditional
path to university, providing broader academic opportunities especially for students with less
privileged family backgrounds. Using data from the large-scale project “Transformation of
Secondary School Systems and Academic Careers” (TOSCA) (N=4,700 students from 149
schools), this paper examines effects associated with the establishment of vocational upper
secondary schools in Germany. We expected to find several differences between traditional and
vocational upper secondary schools. Among other things, it was predicted that (1) vocational
schools would attract more students with non-academic family backgrounds and (2) achievement
levels of students in vocational schools would be lower. In addition, we explored how the two
school types influence academic ambitions at the transition from school to university. Results from
structural equation modelling and multi-level analyses indicate that offering alternative paths to
university leads to higher participation rates among students with less privileged family
backgrounds. However, achievement outcomes and grading standards were found to differ
markedly between the two school types. Furthermore, the decision to proceed to university is
determined by a complex interplay among family background, cognitive abilities, achievement as
well as factors related to school type such as differential grading standards in traditional and
vocational upper secondary schools. The discussion focuses on questions of compatibility of
opportunity and excellence as goals for upper secondary education.
Persisting inequalities in the transition from school to work: Evidence from two British birth
cohorts
Ingrid Schoon, City University, London, United Kingdom
This paper investigates the role of family social position, individual academic attainment and
educational aspirations in predicting adult occupational status in a changing socio-historical
context. The study draws on data from two British cohorts: the 1958 National Child Development
Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. Cohort members grew up in a period when British
society witnessed considerable changes in ways of living, socio-economic structure and
educational opportunities. The paper assesses to what extent these changes have influenced the
– 93 –
transition from school to work, by contrasting the experiences of young people who turned 16 in
1974 and 1986 respectively. A longitudinal approach is adopted to link data collected during
adolescence to outcomes in mid adulthood. The results indicate that increasing participation in
education did not lead to a process of equalisation between social groups. Young people from the
most disadvantaged backgrounds with above average academic ability do not reach the same levels
of occupational status as their more privileged peers. The results are discussed with regard to their
implications for theories of social inequality, merit selection, and the life course perspective of
human development.
Predicting achievement of immigrant students: The role of student background at the level of
individuals and schools
Petra Stanat, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
In Germany, differences in school success between students with and without immigrant
backgrounds are pronounced. Even if they have attended German schools since first grade,
children from immigrant families have a considerably lower chance of entering higher tracks after
elementary school than their non-immigrant peers. Findings from PISA and other studies indicate
that these disparities are primarily due to differences in German language skills, such as reading
literacy. Using a subset of data from the German sample in the Programme for International
Student Assessment (approximately 15000 students from 770 schools), this paper explores the role
of individual background factors and school-level differences for achievement of immigrant
students. In a first step, it examines the extent to which differences in reading literacy between 15year-olds with and without immigrant background can be predicted by features of the immigration
situation, family and motivational factors. The findings show that motivation does not contribute
to the explanation of these differences. The role of aspects of students’ immigration situation (e.g.,
age of arrival in Germany) and of family factors (e.g., parental academic interest), on the other
hand, varies considerably across different immigrant groups. In a second step, multi-level analyses
are performed to analyse differences in achievement of immigrant students between schools.
Among other things, these differences can be predicted by the composition of immigrant and nonimmigrant groups within schools. Overall, the pattern of results suggests that schools may not
adapt sufficiently to the differential needs of students with varying immigration backgrounds. The
findings are discussed in terms of micro-level and macro-level adaptation processes within the
school system.
Social composition of school populations as predictors of student achievement
Gundel Schümer, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
The first OECD publication on results from PISA-2000 reports that the social composition of the
student population within schools covaries with student achievement (OECD, 2001, p. 198ff.) and
that the relationship is particularly pronounced in Germany. However, findings by Baumert and
Schümer (2001) show that this result is based on an incomplete model which does not account for
effects of ability tracking inherent in the German school system. When students’ mental ability and
school-type attendance are controlled within a correctly specified multilevel model, the
relationship between social composition of student populations in schools and test performance
disappears. In similar analyses examining effects of the proportion of students with immigrant
backgrounds in schools, however, Stanat (in preparation) identified a non-linear pattern suggesting
that the initial impact levels off after the proportion of immigrant students reaches about 20-25
percent. Thus, by focusing on linear associations, Baumert and Schümer (2002) may have
overlooked significant student composition effects. Using data from approximately 35,000
– 94 –
students in about 1,500 schools assessed in PISA Germany, the present paper tests the hypothesis
that the aggregate impact of students’ social background on achievement at the school level shows
a non-linear pattern. More specifically, hierarchical linear modelling was applied to examine how
closely test performance is related to a) students’ mental ability and family background on the
individual level and b) the composition of student populations in schools with regard to such
characteristics as socio-economic and socio-cultural background. Results are discussed in terms of
possible mechanisms underlying the school-level composition effects.
B3
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO 1 D
Symposium
TECHNOLOGY-RICH LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: EXPLORING THEIR
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WILL TO LEARN
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
John Andrew Clarke, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Mohammed Chaib, HLK, Jonkoping, Sweden
A central feature of the transformation of educational practices being bought about by the
influence of the knowledge-based society is the substantial investment in technology-rich learning
environments (T-RLEs) which are characterised by a decrease in face-to-face teaching and an
increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This rapid evolution of
T-RLEs is largely driven by economic and commercial forces along with technological advances
and while advocates of T-RLEs claim enhanced learning outcomes in these environments, there is
little critical understanding of how these outcomes are achieved and what form they take. This
symposium attempts to redress that situation by reporting a series of research projects aimed at
developing data-based critical understandings, from both teachers’ and learners’ perspectives, of
just what is or should be happening in T-RLEs and how that influences students’ learning. The
contribution from Singapore is a multi-method exploration of teacher education students’ and their
lecturers’ experiences of the integration of several ICTs into their program. The Australian
contribution, also multi-method, examines from the students’ perspective, the nature and locus of
learner agency on a purpose-built technology-rich university campus. The Hong Kong contribution
reports on a case study of how teachers can effectively introduce educational design principles into
T-RLEs. While each contribution has a unique cultural perspective, the common thread is one of
students either demonstrating a willingness to engage enthusiastically and positively with such
learning environments or being provided with optimal conditions to allow them to do so.
The Singapore experience: Emerging technologies in pre-service teacher education
Lim Cher Ping, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
New ICTs such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and General Packet Radio Services
(GPRS) have become pervasive information and communication tools in Singapore over the last
few years. To explore the opportunities and limitations of these new technologies in teacher
education, the National Institute of Education (NIE) embarked on two projects: “Supporting EDiscussions with WAP Technologies in Learning Communities” (completed) and “Anywhere/Anytime Handheld Computing in Teacher Education” (on-going). Based on the collective
case study of the two projects, this paper provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how
the new technologies (WAP and GPRS) are integrated in teacher education to enhance the learning
– 95 –
experiences of the pre-service teachers. The research design draws upon both qualitative and
quantitative methods – focus group discussions with pre-service teachers, face-to-face interview
with instructors, reflective journals, discussion discourse analysis, and questionnaire surveys. The
account in this paper highlights what works and what appears right in particular settings, the
problems encountered and addressed in particular situations, and the sociocultural perspective
from which the setting is construed. It provides guidelines for the integration of new technologies
into teacher education.
The Hong Kong experience: The design of ICT-supported learning activities, communities, and
environments
Cameron Richards, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China
Kar Tin Lee, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China
Robert Fitzgerald, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China
This presentation reports a project exploring the pedagogical design requirements of effective TRLEs. ICT integration in education tends to have either a technology focus (e.g. web-based tools
and network infrastructure) or a models of learning focus (e.g. social constructivism). The idea
being explored here is that ICT in T-RLEs requires the effective harnessing of educational design
principles. The project investigates how teachers might effectively harness the educational
implications of ICT as designers of ICT-supported learning activities, communities and
environments which provide appropriately meaningful pretexts for interaction, communication and
the transformation of either information or skills into applied knowledge. In this way, the project
aims to identify and address the missing links between pedagogy and technology, and outline
principles for the effective educational use of new technologies. The presentation will refer to both
the project case study (an experimental teaching module about T-RLEs) and associated critical
inquiry into: (a) Different modes of ICT-supported learning; (b) learning with ICT as an activityreflection cycle; (c) the requirements of developing a more integrated approach (e.g. ICT as a
vehicle for across-the-curriculum literacy) beyond an oppositional perspective (e.g. technology vs.
social constructivism, transmission vs. student-centred); (d) relevant notions of learning community grounded in the effective use of ICT in education. The project aims to incorporate relevant
practice and theory of effective designs for learning within a larger convergent model. The
presentation has a focus on a Hong Kong context in terms of the relation between individual
learners and various notions of ICT-supported learning community and environment.
The Australian experience: Learner agency in technological learning environments. What
influences their willingness to learn?
Hitendra Pillay, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Peter G. Taylor, Bond University, Australia
Learner agency is a combination of learners’ self-efficacy in working in a learning environment
plus their desire to become proactive in engaging with it. In the urgency to develop innovative
teaching learning practices, the learner agency to engage with T-RLEs has not been well
researched. This paper draws on data from a longitudinal 2002-2004 project currently in progress
and reports on the nature and locus of learner agency in participation in a particular T-RLE. The
research site is a purpose-built flexible learning mode university campus where Web-based
resources augment on-campus face-to-face activities. Given that individuals’ engagement in any
activity is significantly influenced by their perceptions, attitudes and beliefs about the activity, the
total project is focusing on students’ developmental patterns as they proceed through their degrees.
– 96 –
Data collection involves annual measures of learning approaches, perceptions of learning
environments and epistemological reflections, along with biannual group interviews. The 2002
data indicate a high level of voluntary engagement in specific elements of the T-RLEs, especially
the ICTs and associated formal and informal group activities, suggesting that these students have
experienced a relatively successful transition to these T-RLEs. Students seem to have found new
opportunities for learning through accessing these particular features of the T-RLEs. The results
reflect a locus of learner agency not evident in previous literature and which has potentially
significant pedagogical implications.
B4
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO G D
LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION: A DIALOGIC INQUIRY IN THE DISCURSIVE AND
INSTITUTIONAL WORLD - QUESTIONS REGARDING QUALITATIVE STANDARDS
WHEN INVESTIGATING SOCIAL INTERACTION
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussants:
Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, Leiden University, The Netherlands
This invited symposium portraits contemporary research of social interaction in learning and
instruction. While viewing learning and instruction as highly socially and institutionally embedded
practices, the papers of this symposium all share a common interest to examine the conditions and
processes of meaning-making and knowledge construction in and through social interaction in the
institutional context of education. The paper of Pontecorvo investigates the conversational habits
of “doing school”. In her analysis embedded in the ethnomethodological approach, she illuminates
the ways in which classrooms operate as social institutions in which knowledge construction is
socially mediated. The paper of Anderson and his co-researchers focuses on the social influences
on children’s development of reasoning within the context of small-group discussions of texts. By
their microgenetic analysis of the uptake of argument stratagems, the authors map the moment-bymoment dynamics of the social propagation of children’s reasoning. The paper of de Vries
investigates student dialogues in the social context of a design-based learning situation embedded
in the use of a computer-assisted design program. While investigating the processes of
collaborative construction of external representations mediated by the learning situation and its
specific aftefact, her analyses are directed to the representational and communicational aspects of
students’ social interaction. In his paper, Arnseth maps out trajectories of knowledge formation
during collaborative learning practices. The specific focus of this paper is on the rhetorical and
institutional characteristics of students’ text and talk as well as on the ways in which knowledge
and agency are translated and transformed across contexts and media. As the short overview of the
symposium indicates, there is richness and variability of the nature of research questions and
methodological frameworks applied in these papers. This gives evidence of the multivariete
endevours and challenges research on social interaction in educational contexts currently
confronts. Instead of providing mere answers, the papers of this symposium also open up new
windows for future research on learning and instruction.
– 97 –
Discourse as a mediator between instruction and learning
Clotilde Pontecorvo, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy
In order to understand which learning is going on within the school classrooms is to take into
account and analyze the types of educational and instructional discourse that is used in schools.
Our main idea - in beginning a new research endeavor in this domain - was to find out those
conversational habits of “doing school”, in everyday classroom interactions, assuming discursive
activities as the main mediator of school learning (Pontecorvo, 1997). In this field, important
changes of perspective were introduced by the ethnomethodological approach, supported by the
tools of conversational analysis (CA), that resulted in giving particular attention to all the
dimensions of discourse (including intonation, pitch and pauses), that could clarify the ways in
which classrooms operate as relevant social institutions where knowledge construction is
collectively construed in interrelation with power distribution (including factors as attributed
intelligence, gender, cultural identity: see Davies, 1997) and diverse communicative strategies
used by teachers-and-students. Observing a number of fourth and fifth grade Italian classrooms
(located in diverse sites of the country) in a quasi-experimental setting (similar requests were
addressed to the teachers whose lessons were observed, video recorded and fully transcribed with
CA method), we aimed at identifying the interactional processes – mainly activated by the teacher
- that developed students speech and contained learning mechanisms, signaled by the presence of
verbal elaboration relevant to the topic. Students’ free participation is an explicit indicator of their
motivation, a necessary precursor of meaningful learning.
Social influences on children’s development of reasoning
Richard C. Anderson, Kim Nguyen-Jahiel, Archodidou Anthi, Il-hee Kim, Li-jen Kuo and AnnMarie Clark, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
This paper summarizes a line of research examining social influences on children’s development
of reasoning. The setting is natural: small-group discussions of texts children have read in their
classrooms. The texts raise significant issues that interest children. Discussions take place in a
format called collaborative reasoning, during which children take positions on the “big question,”
provide reasons for their positions, use story information and personal experience as evidence,
present counterarguments, and respond to counterarguments posed by other children. Discussions
feature open participation, meaning that children can communicate freely, without raising their
hands and waiting to be called on by the teacher. We are attempting to trace the moment-bymoment dynamics of the social propagation of argument stratagems. Argument stratagems are
recurrent patterns of talk that serve conceptual, logical or social functions in discussions. A major
finding is that the use of argument stratagems snowballs. Analysis of a large corpus of discussion
transcripts shows that, once a child introduces a useful stratagem, it tends to spread to other
children and occur with increasing frequency. We see snowballing, not only in oral face-to-face
discussions, but also in written Web discussions including children from distant classrooms.
Stratagems acquired during discussions appear in the persuasive essays that children write. The
growing edge of this research is microgenetic analysis of the uptake of stratagems. Our approach is
two-pronged: case study and quantitative modeling. Data are aggregated and modeled using event
history analysis, which enables the evaluation of factors that converge at a moment to influence
the likelihood of a stratagem. The approach permits estimation of the influence, not only of
antecedent factors - such as children’s gender, ethnicity, academic standing, and social status - but
also concurrent factors, such as the immediately preceding rhetorical moves by other children or
the teacher.
– 98 –
Trajectories of knowledge formation in collaborative learning
Hans Christian Arnseth, University of Oslo, Norway
In this paper I examine trajectories of collaborative knowledge construction among students in
upper secondary school. I am interested in the rhetorical and institutional characteristics of
student’s text and talk at different junctures in their work, and the way knowledge and agency are
translated and transformed across different contexts and media. In my analysis I build on
analytical insights from discourse analysis and science and technology studies. The emphasis is on
collaborative learning as something that is constituted in and through participants’ situated actions
- actions that are mediated by semiotic and material artefacts. It is through locally negotiated forms
of ordering actions as well as semiotic and material tools, that students agency towards some
knowledge objects are established. These temporally stabilised forms of ordering both constrain
and afford students’ participation in the guided construction of knowledge in the classroom.
Studying student dialogues to uncover representational and communicational aspects of the
instructional use of computer-assisted design programs
Erica de Vries, University of Grenoble II, France
This paper studies the collaborative construction of external representations with a computerassisted design (CAD) program in a design-based learning situation. In the light of a situated
cognition approach, appropriate learning contexts resemble professional contexts. However, in the
current context, such an approach encounters two types of difficulties. First, whereas in professional settings the use of CAD programs aims at representing (elaborating and drawing) objects for
later production, several learning objectives constitute the rationale in educational settings, e.g.
becoming skilled in using the program itself, learning to collaboratively construct solutions, and
gaining knowledge about design practice in general. Second, very large disparities exist between
the knowledge and skills of designers and learners especially regarding design processes, technical
knowledge, computer use, and CAD programs. Still, design-based situations are considered a
privileged context for learning on grounds related to the predominant role of representational
activities. First, constructing on’'s own representation as opposed to merely using pre-fabricated
representations is an integral part of any design task. Furthermore, designing with CAD programs
involves simultaneously elaborating and drawing solutions as opposed to merely drawing solutions
previously elaborated on paper. Finally, the external representations created with CAD programs
are interactive and dynamic. In our presentation, we will analyse student dialogues to exemplify
these representational aspects of the instructional use of CAD programs. Implications for the
creation of design-based learning situations will be discussed.
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B5
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 2 A
Symposium
LEARNING WITH ANIMATION
Part 1: Using animation in multimedia learning environments
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Richard Lowe, Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
This symposium is part I of a two-part symposium that aims to clarify and integrate the major
themes of current research into learning with animation. It will explore requirements for the
principled design of learning resources that make use of animation either to present content or to
support more effective learner engagement with content. Animation is becoming a pervasive
feature of online learning resources and similar technology-based educational environments.
However, recent research has cast doubts on simplistic assumptions about the intrinsic efficacy of
animation in teaching and learning. Rather, it seems that some aspects of animation may have
potentially negative effects on learning because of the processing demands they involve and the
way they are approached by students. There is currently a dearth of principled design guidance
available to practitioners involved in producing educational animations. Such guidance should be
based upon a detailed understanding of how learners come to develop understandings when they
work with animations. This first part of the combined symposium presents research on the use of
animations in multimedia learning environments with the goal of exploring the effectiveness of
various approaches. Characteristics of both animations and the learners who use them will be
addressed. An important benefit of bringing these two major themes of animation research
together is that it will help to reveal ways in which design features of animations such as
sequencing, segmentation, and interactivity can be manipulated to better suit learners who differ in
their domain background knowledge, processing strategies, and learning goals.
Animated pedagogical agents: How do they help students construct knowledge from interactive
multimedia environments?
Roxana Moreno, University of New Mexico, USA
Can animated pedagogical agents be used to promote learner understanding of scientific
explanations? In this paper, I examine two potential roles that animated pedagogical agents may
have in instructional technology: a motivational role, in which animated pedagogical agents
promote understanding by engaging students in the learning activity, and a guidance role, in which
animated pedagogical agents promote understanding by facilitating the cognitive processes
necessary for students’ understanding. After presenting a constructivist theory of how people learn
from agent-based multimedia environments, I report a set of studies that tested the motivational
and guidance roles of an animated pedagogical agent who teaches undergraduate students about
botany in a multimedia game. First, to examine the animated agent’s motivational role, I present a
set of four studies that tested a social-cue hypothesis according to which pedagogical agents that
include social cues (such as having an animated visual representation and a human voice to
communicate with the student), help students’ learning by promoting interest in the learning task.
Second, to examine the animated agent’s guidance role, I present a set of two studies that tested a
cognitive-guide hypothesis according to which it is not the social cues of the animated agent but
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rather the cognitive function of the agent during the process of knowledge construction that
promotes students’ learning. The findings of these studies are compared to those of similar
research in the area of animated agents and practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Turning the tables: Investigating characteristics and efficacy of student-authored multimedia
Teresa Hubscher-Younger, Rensslear Polytechnic Institute, USA
N. Hari Narayanan, Auburn University, USA
The literature on multimedia learning is replete with investigations of expert-created
representations. However, constructionist theories hold that learning will be deeper if students
develop and share their own diverse understandings of a concept. If students gain their
understanding from the same expert-created materials, they will likely develop a uniform
understanding rather than a diverse set of insights. We summarize six experiments that probed this
issue. The first was an observational study of computer-science students learning algorithms from
typical instructional materials. Subjects prematurely converged on a representation that they
perceived to have the most "authority". This blinded them to the limitations of that representation
and impeded learning. So we investigated whether diversity is encouraged, and learning improved,
when students author their own multimedia explanatory representations. A system called
CAROUSEL was designed to aid students in sharing their creations with others, engaging in
discussions about these representations, and rating them in six dimensions: familiarity, salience,
usefulness, understandability, originality and pleasure. We found that authoring representations
significantly improved learning. Students constructed a richer and more diverse set of
representations than those found in typical instructional materials. Contrary to the conventional
wisdom that youngsters like glitzy media, we found that while the addition of simple graphics,
sound and animation to text improved a representation's overall rating, the presence of hypermedia
and complex graphics had the opposite effect. Salience, pleasure and familiarity ratings had
significant positive impacts on student learning. Originality had a significant negative impact.
These findings point to desirable characteristics of multimedia representations, and suggest that a
peer-to-peer approach to learning, in which students create and evaluate their own multimedia
representations, can be quite effective.
The use of instructional texts and animations during learning and problem solving by students
with low and high pre-knowledge
Rolf Ploetzner, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Daniel Bodemer, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Sieglinde Neudert, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
A frequent observation in research on learning is that students process dynamic visualizations such
as animations only superficially. Students may undervalue the information included in animations
or may lack the pre-knowledge necessary in order to process animations effectively, for example.
In order to better understand how students with low and high pre-knowledge in different
application domains make use of instructional texts and animations during learning and problem
solving, we investigated two groups of students in an experimental setting. While one group was
made up of eight psychology students in the third semester, the other group was made up of eight
physics students in the first semester. Both groups took advantage of two different computerized
learning environments, one about statistics and one about physics. Each learning environment
consisted of an instructional hypertext and various dynamic and interactive visualizations. With
respect to each application domain, the students processed a pre-test, the textual and graphical
learning materials, a set of problems and a post-test. While the psychology students started to work
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with the learning environment on statistics and – within one week – proceeded to work with the
learning environment on physics, the physics students dealt with the two learning environments
the other way round. In our analyses, we contrast the use of instructional texts and animations by
students with low and high pre-knowledge and relate the observed differences to the students’
learning success.
The role of study strategies in comprehending animated documents
Jean-Francois Rouet, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France
Sylvie Merlet, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France
Elfie Richard, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France
Christine Ros, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France
We investigated the effects of animated diagrams on the comprehension of scientific phenomena
by adult learners. We designed static and animated versions of a series of documents dealing with
specific topics (e.g., how sounds get to your brains). In the first experiment, 24 adults read the
documents in one of the two versions, with the purpose of verifying a set of assertions. The
animated versions took more time to study, but did not result in any improvement of verification
accuracy. In the second (ongoing) experiment, we manipulated the participants' study purposes
(i.e., easy vs. more difficult comprehension tasks), and we measured participants' level on a
metacognitive knowledge task. Furthermore, the animations were redesigned so as to decrease
split attention effects. The results are being analyzed at the time of submission. Our main
expectation is that demanding comprehension tasks may trigger more focused study strategies,
which in turn could interact with presentation format and students' metacognitive knowledge.
Documents that include well integrated animated illustrations could improve comprehension in
students with better metacognitive control, under the more demanding study conditions.
Enabling, facilitating, and inhibiting effects in learning with animations
Animated pictures can have different functions in the process of learning. They can have an
enabling function if they allow the learner to perform a higher amount of cognitive processing than
static pictures. They can also have a facilitating function if they make specific cognitive processes
easier to perform through external support. Two experiments were carried out which investigated
differences between learning from animated and learning from static pictures and which analysed
whether different kinds of animation have different cognitive functions for different kinds of
learners. Results indicate that manipulation pictures have primarily an enabling function for
learners with higher prior knowledge, whereas simulation pictures have primarily a facilitating
function for learners with lower prior knowledge. This facilitating function is not necessarily
beneficial, because unneeded external support can hinder learners to perform relevant cognitive
processes. The different functions of animations seem to be associated to different cognitive
prerequisites. High prior knowledge learners seem to benefit primarily from the enabling function
of animations. Low prior knowledge learners seem to benefit primarily from the facilitating
function of animations. The facilitating function of animations can be helpful for learners with
very low prior knowledge who would not be able to perform the corresponding mental simulations
without external support. However, the facilitating function of animations can also be harmful for
learners who would be already able to perform the mental simulations by themselves but make use
of the unneeded external support and, thus, perform less cognitive processing.
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B6
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 3 F
Symposium
COGNITIVE AND CULTURAL FACTORS IN NUMERACY DEVELOPMENT
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Ernest van Lieshout, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
Although much research has been done to delineate the development of numeracy, many factors
that influence this development are still not well understood. One of the topics is the question
whether this development depends only on cognitive factors that have their own autonomous
development, excluding cultural influences. Although numeracy development is seemingly
uniform in many children, different environments and cultures can have an influence. A second
topic is the question whether the factors and processes in numeracy development are uniquely
connected to this development. There are many reports some of the factors and processes that
influence reading development influence numeracy development as well. The four papers of this
symposium will cover these two topics. Hidetsugu Tajika will review is work on comparisons of
Japanese and U.S. students in mathematics and will explain differences in math performance in
terms of cultural influences on cognitive processes. Margarida César will also deal with cultural
factors, although, in this case, cultural diversity in the sense of microcultural environments
differing from the mainstream culture were the object of study. Studies of the influence of nonmathematic factors in numeracy development will be presented both by Spyer and Van Lieshout.
Spyer studied the cognitive processes that can explain why some childeren experience both
mathematic problems and reading problems. Van Lieshout devided math abilities into early
learned skills (number facts) and advanced skills to study the existence of processes that these
skills have in common with reading skills.
Differences in mathematical problem-solving skills between Japanese and American children
Taijka Hidetsugu, Aichi University of Education, Japan
The aim of the presentation at the symposium was to compare the mathematical problem-solving
skills of Japanese and American children who were matched for basic mathematical knowledge.
Three types of tests were used: an 18-item word problem-solving test, a 15-item mathematical
achievement test, and a 5-item logical problem-solving test. The 18-item word problem-solving
test tapped translation, integration, and planning skills as described by Mayer, Tajika, and Stanley
(1991). The 5-item logical problem-solving test measured the efficiency of children's hypothesis
testing strategies on a task involving mathematical reasoning. Each test was produced in Japanese
and English versions. Participants were fifth-grade children in both countries. We carried out two
studies. The number of students were 110 (females: 53; males: 57) in Japan and 132 (females: 62;
males: 70) in the U.S.A in the first study, and 68 (females: 32; males: 36) in Japan and 72
(females: 32; males: 40) in U.S.A. in the second study. The results showed that children in Japan
were more mathematically knowledgeable than were children in the U.S.A., but that mathematically knowledgeable children in the U.S.A. schools were better problem solvers than
correspondingly knowledgeable children in Japanese schools. The results are discussed in terms of
cognitive differences in mathematical problem-solving skill and instructional differences in
schools in both countries.
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Giving voice to the echoes: A study about numeracy in micro-cultures
Margarida César, University of Lisbon, Portugal
In urban areas schools became deeply multicultural. Pupils from different cultural groups but also
from diverse micro-cultures co-exist in the same school. Some of these micro-cultures are quite far
from the mainstream one and those pupils usually experience underachievement and great
difficulties in socialisation. Knowledge appropriation and competencies mobilisation are conceived as complex processes under the influence of social, emotional and cognitive elements
interacting in a dialectic way. The principles of inclusive schooling (Ainscow, 1999) shaped our
participation, stressing the need to listen not only to the voices but also to the echoes (Wertsch,
1991) that exist in a learning community as a way of empowering them. This study began as an
action-research project (an alternative curriculum) implemented in two classes (54 pupils) during
the 3rd cycle in a school from a multicultural area in the surroundings of Lisbon. These pupils
came from disruptive families, belonged to micro-cultures quite far from the academic one and
risked to drop out school before accomplishing the 9th grade. A follow-up was implemented ten
years later to assess its impact, namely in terms of numeracy. Follow up data were gathered
through narratives, interviews and informal conversations. Results show stressing examples
concerning how this project shaped these participants’ lives. They allowed for a reflection
concerning not only knowledge appropriation in mathematics but also something broader: the
access to numeracy. The analysis of some selected cases show how relevant can educational
practices be to promote numeracy even among those who usually reject academic knowledge.
Differences between children with reading or arithmetic difficulty and both reading and arithmetic
difficulty
Ginny Spyer, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Evelien Dirks, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jan Geelhoed, Het Pedagogical Institute, The Netherlands
Pieter Reitsma, Het Pedagogical Institute, The Netherlands
In general, studies on learning difficulties focus on one subject domain, e.g., reading difficulties or
arithmetic difficulties. Although co-occurrence of reading and arithmetic difficulties is widely
recognised, little is known about the magnitude of the coexistence and the characteristics of
children with both reading and arithmetic difficulties versus those with only one of these. In a
preliminary study we selected elementary school children, from third through sixth grade, whose
achievement was below the 25th percentile in single-word decoding ability and/or in computational
ability. Of the 65 children (mean age:125.4 + 15 months; mean IQ: 100.6 + 12.8) selected, 33.8
percent proved to have difficulties only in reading (RD), 21.5 percent only in arithmetic (AD), and
44.6 percent in both reading and arithmetic (RAD). The three groups were subsequently compared,
along with a normal achievement group (NA), on 7 subtests of the WISC-R. The main findings
were as follows: the AD group performed more poorly, when compared to the NA and/or the RD
groups, primarily on measures of visual-spatial ability (Block Design, Object Assembly, Picture
Completion, Spatial Ability Factor); the RAD group, when compared to the NA group, showed
more general problems (verbal: Information, Digit-Span; and nonverbal: Coding, Block Design);
the RD group only differed from the NA group on Digit-Span.Both the high incidence of children
with coexisting reading and arithmetic difficulties (RAD) in this preliminary sample and the
observed differences in performance between the groups underscores the need for differentiation
among mixed learning difficulties and those in one subject.
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The relation between reading and math explained by memory functions and rapid automatised
naming
Annemiek Spiekerman, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ginny Spyer, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Often a correlation is found between reading and math performance. One of the explanations (e.g.
by Swanson, 1994) is the common dependence on short-term memory (STM) and working
memory (WM). However, the results reported in the literature are equivocal. This study tried to
clarify these relations by making a distinction between automatised basic skills and more advanced
skills that require strategy knowledge and comprehension. It was expected that automatised
academic knowledge would depend on STM and rapid automatised naming (RAN), whereas more
advanced skills would depend on WM. Thirty-nine primary school students (22 boys and 17 girls,
mean age 12.33, SD=0.53) from grade 6 were presented with several tests for academic skills,
namely a test for knowledge of simple addition and subtraction number facts, a word decoding
test, a general mathematics ability test and a general reading ability test. Besides, the children were
presented with naming speed tests, measures for short-term memory and two measures for
working memory. Simultaneous regression analyses showed that in accordance with the
hypothesis naming speed had a significant effect on automatised arithmetic and reading
performance. Contrary to the hypothesis STM did not have any effect. As expected, in the same
type of regression analyses WM turned out to be an important predictor for general math and
reading comprehension tests (which tap more advanced academic knowledge). The results
corroborate most of Swanson’s findings. Besides it shows that making a distinction between basic
automatised knowledge and more advanced knowledge helps to delineate the differential influence
of RAN, STM and WM.
B7
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO G E
Symposium
TEACHER TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Steven Janssens, University of Leuven, Belgium
The four papers in this symposium focus on different stages in the professional development of
teachers: the initial training (Kirschner and Schelfhout), the growth into the profession as a
beginning teacher (Janssens) and the in-service training (Charalambos). The common denominator
is the implementation of constructivist principles in the support of teachers during various stages
of their professional development. The main characteristic is that student teachers and teachers
build their own professional knowledge. Therefore, support should not just concentrate on how
student teachers and teachers can perform their tasks, but get through to the underlying
assumptions and beliefs about learning and teaching and about oneself as a teacher. During the
symposium, we will discuss how this can be implemented in general as well as with reference to
specific issues such as the use of ICT. Another topic for discussion is the role of ICT in the support
of student teachers and teachers.
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The growth of beginning teachers into their profession
This study is about beginning teachers who recently finished their training and who are currently
working in the upper years of a secondary school. Emphasis is put on the support they got during
the induction period, the problems they experienced as a beginning teacher, their personal frame of
reference (subjective theories, professional self) and their micro-political insights and skills. On
the basis of an extended literature review, an interview guide has been drawn up. Thirty beginning
teachers have been interviewed, of which 10 are teaching an “exact sciences” subject, 10 a
“biomedical sciences” subject and 10 a “social sciences” or “humanities” subject. First, the
answers of each interviewee have been analysed individually. In this ‘vertical’ analysis, the
protocols were restructured in a common ‘format’. The second step was a ‘horizontal’ analysis:
similarities, differences and recurring patterns were traced in the profiles of the interviewees. The
results show that beginning teachers get too little structural support. The quality of the support
they get depends primarily on the person of the “godfather”/“godmother” who has been assigned
to them within the school. Moreover, “working” support, focusing on how to perform their duties
as a teacher gets the upper hand. “Learning support”, focusing on their personal frame of reference
hardly occurs. Hence, that personal frame of reference evolves scarcely during the first year as a
teacher. On the other hand, they learn how to keep a group of pupils under control. Finally,
beginning teachers primarily worry about the classes they have to teach. They adapt themselves
seamlessly to the school culture and hardly stand up for their professional interests.
The state of affairs of teacher education with respect to ICT: ICT3 - ICT in teacher training
Iwan Wopereis, Open University, The Netherlands
If the Internet is an information superhighway, then teachers just might be the road-kill on the
asphalt of the information superhighway. Possibly, for the first time in history, students are more
adept at using the tools necessary for acquiring and transmitting knowledge than are their teachers.
Children everywhere are creating their own virtual communities through the use of new
technologies. They make use of chat facilities (MSN®, ICQ®, etc) to stay synchronously in touch
with both old and new friends and email and short message services (SMS) to stay in touch with
asynchronously. They take part in discussion groups, navigate through virtual worlds and
assimilate new hardware and software as if it were a second nature. In many ways they are lightyears ahead of their parents and teachers with respect to the possibilities of ICT. As a result
students are getting bored and frustrated and teachers are getting frustrated and distraught. To try
to remedy this, the Educational Technology Expertise Center of the Open University of the
Netherlands lead an international review study on good practices with respect to the integration of
information and communication technology (ICT) into the mental and physical toolbox of both the
aspirant teacher (pre-service) and practicing teachers (in-service) and to try to draw from this
preliminary curricular benchmarks for teacher colleges. The study was carried out in a virtual
project environment by a network of teacher training and ICT-experts throughout the world. The
study was carried out with the aid of evaluation / description instruments which were based upon a
collaboratively agreed upon theoretical reference framework. The good practices were then
subjected to a meta-analysis with respect to premises, goals, methods, pedagogical principles and
curricular set-up. This resulted in five benchmarks for ICT-training in teacher colleges, namely: (a)
personal ICT competency; (b) ICT as mindtool; (c) pedagogical use of ICT (adOpting ICT and not
adApting education); (d) ICT as teaching tool (integral and NOT add-on); (e) social aspects of ICT
use (values, norms, uses, traditions). This contribution will present the results of this research on
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good practice and benchmarks for calibration and/or modelling of an ICT-teacher training along
with a number of pedagogical and policy repercussions of their adoption.
Issues in the design and evaluation of online professional development
Charalambos Vrasidas, Intercollege, Cyprus
Michalinos Zembylas, Intercollege, Cyprus
Angelides Panayiotis, Intercollege, Cyprus
Richard Chamberlain, Western Illinois University, USA
During the last five years we have been developing online professional development for teachers.
We have prepared large-scale projects that served thousands of teachers (e.g. STAR-online stands
for Supporting Teachers with Anywhere-Anytime Resources and can be found online at
http://www.star-online.org). We are currently developing a new project that consists of a set of
online modules designed to train teachers how to design and teach online classes. This new project
is titled “Teaching and Learning Online” and is a collaboration among 4 Universities in Europe,
Latin America, and the U.S. During this presentation we will discuss findings from evaluations we
conducted and share lessons we learned from our experiences as developers of online professional
development. A sample formative evaluation of project will be presented. The main goal of the
evaluation was to improve the project. Data were collected from teacher interviews, focus group
discussions, observations of development meetings, and survey questionnaires. Descriptive
statistics from the surveys were calculated and data were analysed following content analysis
procedures. During the discussion we would like to address the following: (a) Briefly present
samples of our online projects designed for in-service teacher training; (b) discuss issues relating
to curriculum development of online modules and effective strategies for e-learning; (c) discuss
issues relating to assessment of online learning and the use of digital portfolios; (d) present
findings from evaluations we conducted of various online programs; (e) provide suggestions for
practitioners and policy makersinstructional strategies for online learning.
Educating for constructivist teaching: Determinant factors and successful learning environments
in teacher education
Wouter Schelfhout, University of Leuven, Belgium
Eline Sierens, University of Leuven, Belgium
Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
A moderate constructivist view on learning and instruction will require a different educational
approach from teachers, and thus from teacher education. In this research we investigate the
influence of different approaches within existing teacher training institutions on the (moderate
constructivist) teaching behaviour of prospective teachers. During our research in three different
teacher training institutions (N=10, N=8 and N=5), we searched for the educational approach
within these institutions by means of questionnaires to be filled in by prospective teachers,
interviews with teacher educators and content-analysis of the notes of students and for the
conceptions about learning and teaching of the prospective 3rd year teachers, teacher educators and
mentors by means of questionnaires. As dependent variable we evaluated the degree of
constructivist teaching of the 3rd year teachers during practice teaching by means of a
questionnaire to be filled in by teacher educators, mentor and the pupils within that class. Our
research confirmed the hypothesis that an educational approach oriented towards moderate
constructivist teaching must be far-reaching to be able to influence prospective teachers towards
putting these principles into practice. This influence is mediated by the conceptions of the
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prospective teachers and of their mentors on teaching. A broad educational approach involves a
moderate constructivist curriculum ànd way of teaching. An inductive approach in which practice
experiences, reflection on these experiences, structuring new insights and applying these insights
are well sequenced, seems a promising approach. In our opinion, design experiments in which this
comprehensive approach will be elaborated as far-reaching as possible, seem necessary to get a
clearer view on the way in which it can influence prospective teachers to change their educational
behaviour towards a moderate constructivist one.
B8
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 4 P
Symposium
INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT COMPARED:
CLASSIFICATION, PREDICTION AND THE INFLUENCE OF NON-COGNITIVE
FACTORS
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Marco G. P. Hessels, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Wilma C. M. Resing, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
Jerry Carlson, University of California-Riverside, USA
Performances on different kinds of tests are influenced by the individual’s environment and by
previous (learning) experiences. In this symposium, it is shown that learning potential assessments
can provide more accurate estimations of persons’ cognitive abilities than traditional intelligence
tests, and that these are less influenced by environmental factors, such as socio-economic status
(SES) and conative and affective factors. In the first study, Beckmann and his colleagues discuss a
comparison of testees’ performance on Raven’s CPM and a dynamic measure, showing that the
results on the first are much influenced by SES. The authors discuss what this means for clinical
diagnostics. In her study, Fernández-Ballesteros applies a battery of learning test to healthy
participants, participants with mild cognitive impairments and participants with mild Alzheimer.
Contrary to what is generally expected, Alzheimer disease participants could benefit from training
in almost all conditions. Furthermore, Learning Potential scores nearly classified all cases
correctly. She discusses her results from a theoretical as well as practical point of view. Woide and
her co-authors research the effects of conative and affective factors in testing situations. In an
experimental design, they analyze the effect of feedback upon performance in reasoning tests, in
relation to intellectual ability and non-intellective personality traits. Woide discusses the implications for the potential design of dynamic testing procedures. Hessels addresses some of the
shortcomings of learning potential procedures. Few standardized tests with good psychometric
qualities have been published and these are sometimes perceived as time consuming and difficult
to interpret. In his present project he tries to develop a test for group wise assessment, that has the
favorable characteristics of a learning potential measure, but is more economic. Some results of his
first investigations will be presented.
“Tell me where you live and I will tell you your IQ”. The impact of socio-economic differences
upon the assessment of intelligence
Jens F. Beckmann, University of Leipzig, Germany
H. Beyer, University of Leipzig, Germany
Jürgen Guthke, University of Leipzig, Germany
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It is widely accepted that the assessment of fluid intelligence should be fair in the sense that test
performance should be independent of cultural and/or educational influences. For this reason,
Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) are commonly accepted tools for intellectual
assessment. In the framework of dynamic testing, so called learning tests are widely held to be
superior to traditional static cognitive measures in that by familiarising testees with test techniques
and providing contingent feedback, socio-economic factors may prove to have less influence upon
performance. To what extent, however, might a learning test prove superior to the CPM in this
respect? This paper reports findings from a study of 164 Brazilian first graders from varying social
backgrounds. The study compared performance on a traditional intelligence test (CPM) with that
on the Leipzig Learning Test: in particular, the extent to which performance on each could be
predicted by testee’s socio-economic background. The results indicated that performance on the
static CPM test procedure could be predicted by the child’s background to a considerably greater
extent than for that the dynamic learning test. In the light of this finding, the implications for
clinical diagnostics are discussed.
Learning potential in healthy subject, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease
(AD) patients
Rocio Fernández-Ballesteros, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Learning Potential can be considered as a relatively new concept which is based on a “dynamic”
assessment (test-training-retest). But, LP was defined long time ago by Vygostky in 1939 as the
“distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving
(including psychometric intelligence measurement devices) and the level of potential development
as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable
peers”. Along history, this construct has been tested across young or adolescent samples trying to
predict the impact of environmental conditions in education. Although, during the last twenty
years, this concept has been also tested in older subjects, a very new context refers to the clinical
field of dementia in old age. Several authors emphasised the lack of capability in learning of those
people diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, at least when cognitive strategies are used. In order to
test this hypothesis a battery of learning test have been developed based on task assessing those
impaired cognitive abilities in dementia: visual memory, verbal memory, executive learning and
verbal fluency. These four learning tests were administered to healthy subjects (N=97), and
subjects diagnosed as MCI (N=44) and mild AD (N=39). Although dramatic differences between
these three groups were found, Alzheimer disease subjects could benefit from training in almost all
conditions. When discriminant analyses were performed, Learning Potential scores classified
correctly 98% of cases. Results are discussed from a theoretical as well as practical point of views.
Effects of feedback – What a difference feedback makes
Nadin Woide, University of Leipzig, Germany
Jens F. Beckmann, University of Leipzig, Germany
Julian G. Elliott, University of Sunderland, United Kingdom
Dynamic testing procedures, it is widely contended, offer a more appropriate diagnostic approach
to the assessment of cognitive ability. In contrast to traditional intelligence tests (static tests)
testees are given the opportunity to learn and improve their intellectual performance during the test
application by the provision of contingent feedback and hints. Conative and affective factors,
while seen as important by advocates of dynamic approaches, have rarely been differentially
assessed. This study represents an attempt to redress this shortfall. This paper will report findings
from a study analysing the effect of feedback upon performance in reasoning tests. In examining
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testees’ ability to profit from feedback, we considered not only intellectual ability but also nonintellective personality traits (e.g. academic self-concept, goal orientation, effort, anxiety,
attribution). Utilising an experimental design, 400 students in a mainstream English secondary
school (aged 13 to 15) were variously presented differing series of computerized reasoning
problems (number series and figural series). In each grouping, some students received feedback as
to the accuracy of their responses while others gained no information about their performance. In
the light of the findings from the study, implications for the potential design of dynamic testing
procedures will be discussed.
Group wise assessment of learning potential of pupils in mainstream primary education and
special educational classes
Learning potential assessment has often been criticized for its highly clinical nature and/or lack of
reliability and validity. European learning potential assessment, however, has always had a strong
focus on the development of highly standardized procedures that met with general accepted
psychometric standards. These studies also more and more come to show they have a greater
predictive validity than traditional intelligence tests. This observation applies to the general
populations researched, but even more so for special or ‘at-risk’ populations. Even though
standardized learning potential tests clearly have their benefits, they still seem too rarely employed
in practice. One of the reasons for this is that the implementation of these tests can be time
consuming. Most tests require individual administration, whereas a group wise administration
procedure would render the test more useful for, e.g., general screening purposes. The aim of my
present project is to construct a general learning potential test in the domain of inferential thinking,
that can be administered both individually and group wise. The test will be developed on the basis
of a large Rasch-scaled item bank. Different administration procedures will be scrutinized and the
reliability and validity will be evaluated. Some first results of a sample of 121 children in
mainstream primary education, with regard to intelligence, learning potential and the relationship
with achievement in arithmetic and teachers’ evaluation will be presented.
B9
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO 1 M
Symposium
FLUID VALIDITY: ON THE EMPIRICAL FOUNDATION OF THE DYNAMIC ASPECT
IN INTERACTIONS BETWEEN COGNITIVE AND MOTIVATIONAL VARIABLES
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Andreas Frey, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Peter Nenniger, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Marold Wosnitza, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
With the notion of “Fluid Validity” we would like to point to the problem of alterations in the
validity of concepts related to cognitive x motivational interactions over time. Initially stated
concepts tend to change in their qualitative foundations during the course of the research period
due to the experience of the subjects made over time. Such changes can be attributed to several
reasons. On the one hand methodological conditions in the planning and execution of research may
be a source from which the appropriate grouping of the subjects in an experimental design or the
structure of the measuring model may become inadequate. On the other hand, during the period of
investigation, because of a particular intervention or simply by chance subjects may alternate or
– 110 –
construct their own (new) interpretation of the concept under consideration and thus change their
perception and reaction towards the measuring instruments. We might start in our research, for
example, with a concept of two motivational and three learning-strategy dimensions. But over time
and due to our intervention, the motivational dimensions may be differentiated so that the second
dimension will be split into two dimensions and, with respect to the learning-strategies, our
concept may shrink to just one dimension: The dimensional validity of our initial concept became
fluid. Thus, if we find out that the two initial motivational dimensions have increased and the three
learning strategy dimensions have tended to a decrease, our interpretation becomes insignificant
because of alteration of the initial concepts and in consequence loss of validity. Based on empirical
work at several fields and in several research areas we would like to discuss this problem first in
its theoretical and then in its methodological aspect and try to determine some consequences in the
treatment and in the interpretation of such phenomena. In the first paper Alonso-Tapia contributes
from a primarily theoretical viewpoint to the aspect of consistency and reliability of the concepts
he used in his empirical research and raises the question in how far multiple examination could
help in the reconstruction or modification of concepts. Outcomes from previous studies were
compared with the results of a recent research with students from three different schools, that were
based on questionnaires about different learning environment characteristics aimed at enhancing
learning motivation and about learning orientation, performance orientation and avoidance
orientation. Although from (the comparison of the actual outcomes) support of previous results
was expected with respect to the extent of interest and learning motivation arisen by these
characteristics, the findings point also to the fact that motivational traits and orientations mediate
the motivational value attached differentially to the characteristics assessed. In the second paper
Klaus Breuer and Balthasar Eugster explain problems coming from fluid validity and contributing
to misinterpretations of developmental concepts within an explanatory model of the subjects’
target seeking process within the period of research. Based on data from a longitudinal evaluative
study about the impacts of the new vocational training approach of the Asea Brown Boveri
Learning Centres in Switzerland, results concerning aspects of the perception of the instruments
applied, as well as aspects of the development of self-regulation abilities will be presented. The
changes in perception and abilities during the course of the training and the eventually related
alterations in the validity of the concepts over time will be interpreted as elements and instances of
a target-seeking process. In the third paper Lars Balzer, Andreas Frey and Peter Nenniger
primarily discuss the problem of the appropriateness of models of measurement for the
conceptualisation of evaluative purposes from a methodological point of view. From a two years
evaluation of apprentices related to 4 instants of measurement within the reform period of Swiss
business education, data regarding several dimensions of cognitive and social competences and
regarding a number of subjective aspects of the learning environment were analysed. For this
purpose a number of questionnaires regarding several dimensions of cognitive and social
competences on the one hand, and a number of subjective aspects of the learning environment
(including expectancies and further motivational aspects) on the other hand were submitted to
1000 apprentices in the German, French and Italien speaking regions of Switzerland. In the
interpretation of the results, questions about the impact of different research perspectives applied
to the course of development and about fluid validity of the underlying scales are discussed in
view of the possible influence of different ways of scaling and of grouping persons and their
relation to a pedagogically appropriate formulation of concepts and of the evaluation goals. In the
forth paper Jaap Roeleveld, Thea Peetsma and Reinoud Stoel raise question about the extent
missing-data problems can be a source of distortion that decreases validity of developmental
concepts offer some possible solutions in handling with cases. The starting-points of their
contribution are marked by problems of a recent study on the relationship of motivation with
language achievement in elementary education. However the applied longitudinal design that
– 111 –
should serve for the analysis of intra-individual growth as well as inter-individual differences
between subjects, was plagued by missing data and measurement invariance. In presenting
selected results of some analyses the authors will first describe the way they treated several types
of missing data, offer a more general approach to handle such problems, discuss the consequences
of the outlined approach for parameter estimates and interpretations of the results and demonstrate
some consequences with respect to a reduction of fluid validity. In the concluding remarks and
discussions with Marold Wosnitza the notion of “Fluid Validity” will be addressed in an
integrative view. Combining the theoretical with the methodological perspective and referring to
some of the common characteristics of the different contributions, a first attempt will be made in
order to structure this concept in a way that allows a further development of theoretical
explanations as well as methodological models.
Assessment of learning environment quality from the point of view of secondary and high-school
learners
Jesús Alonso-Tapia, Auonomous University of Madrid, Spain
There is a growing body of knowledge about the effectiveness of learning environments in which
learning motivation and self-regulation can best be enhanced. However, an important number of
questions about the general effectiveness of educational interventions and also about the scope of
and the reasons for such effectiveness remain without reliable empirical support. In particular,
consistency regarding the following two questions needs to be achieved in order to improve such
environments: “How much motivational value do students attribute to each particular component
of these environments?”, and “In what degree is such value mediated by students' motivational
orientations?” In order to improve the empirical basis an effort was made in direction to replicate
the respective studies and to compare the results with outcomes from the previous studies (Alonso
Tapia & López, 1999). In the particular research 630 students, 15 to 17 years old, from three
different schools were given two questionnaires. The first included different learning environment
characteristics aimed at enhancing learning motivation. Students had to declare how much interest
and learning motivation was arisen in them by these characteristics. The second assessed students'
motivational traits and orientations: Learning orientation, performance orientation and avoidance
orientation. Mean and multiple-regression analysis are being performed to answer the questions.
Outcomes from this replicative research are expected to support previous results concerning the
first question. However, we expect also that motivational traits and orientations mediate the
motivational value attached to the different characteristics assessed. Referring to the general theme
of the symposium, the issue of this presentation contributes from a primarily theoretical viewpoint
to the aspect of consistency and reliability of concepts of empirical research and to the extent
multiple examination would contribute to its modification.
The development of self-regulation abilities based on self-evaluation questionnaires
Klaus Breuer, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
Balthasar Eugster, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
The fostering of self-regulation abilities has become a widely shared objective of vocational
education. Self-regulation abilities are considered to be prerequisites for qualified vocational
performance as well as for self-directed life-long learning activities. The development of such
traits can be evaluated be means of longitudinal studies only that may however run into obstacles
of methodology. Most commonly abilities of self-regulation are depicted by self-rating
instruments. Applying such instruments may however result in processes of self-reflection and
thus result in modified scale perceptions, if trainees become aware of the notion of self-regulation,
– 112 –
start elaborating on their individual perception and develop their different notions of such abilities.
Considering such elaboration processes, we have to keep track of the validity of our measurements
and to monitor the development of the constructs over time, because fostering development from
such a perspective may not simply mean to boost values on scales, but to promote adequate
perceptions of the individual abilities. Based on results from a longitudinal evaluative study about
the impacts of a new vocational training approach with 133 trainees of the Asea Brown Boveri
Learning Centres in Switzerland (during a period of 3 years and measures at 4 instances
concerning various work and personality related cognitive, motivational and social concepts),
aspects of the perception of the instruments applied, as well as aspects of the development of selfregulation abilities will be presented. The respective changes during the course of the training and
the eventually related alterations in the validity of the concepts over time will be interpreted within
the frame of a target-seeking process. Referring to the general theme of the symposium, the issue
of this presentation primarily contributes to the theoretical aspect of the problem. In particular it
discusses problems of validity that may contribute to misinterpretations of developmental concepts
in research on motivation.
Development of expectancies, motivation and competence: About the moderating role of the
research perspective on validity
Lars Balzer, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Andreas Frey, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Peter Nenniger, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
One of the main objectives in evaluating the reform of the New Basic Business Education in
Switzerland considered the development of competences required for self-directed problemsolving as a widely shared objective in vocational education. In this context, among others,
motivational aspects of the learning environment and individual expectancies were expected to
play an important role. For this purpose a number of questionnaires regarding several dimensions
of cognitive and social competences on the one hand, and a number of subjective aspects of the
learning environment (including expectancies and further motivational aspects) on the other hand
were submitted to 1000 apprentices in the German, French and Italian speaking regions of
Switzerland at four instants of the two years’ reform period. In the interpretation of the data
analyses, questions about the impact of different research perspectives on the course of development and the validity of the underlying scales were raised. Within this context results about the
influence of different ways of scaling and grouping persons are presented and discussed with
respect to pedagogically appropriate formulation of concepts and goals of measurement, as well as
with respect to some consequences for the evaluation of the reform. Referring to the general theme
of the symposium, the issue of this presentation contributes primarily to the methodological view
of the problem: The appropriateness of models of measurement for the conceptualisation of
evaluative purposes.
Issues in longitudinal research on motivation
Jaap Roeleveld, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Thea Peetsma, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Reinoud Stoel, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In the last decade there has been an increasing amount of studies on motivation that use a
longitudinal design. Longitudinal designs may provide information for answering questions
regarding intra-individual change, or growth, as well as inter-individual differences between
subjects. However, the longitudinal data coming from such a design are often plagued by factors
– 113 –
that may lead to biased estimates of the interesting parameters. This contribution discusses two
issues that popped up in a recent study on the relationship of motivation with language
achievement in elementary education. The first issue is related to missing data, the second issue to
the measurement structure of repeatedly measured variables, so-called measurement invariance.
As is frequently in the case with panel data, some of that data were missing in our study. A part of
the missing data was due to selective mortality in the panel, an other part concerned the usual
“coincidental missings” and a last part was missing by design. Thus, we will first describe the way
we handled these missing data, and discuss the consequences of our approach for parameter
estimates and interpretation of the results. Regarding the second issue, measurement invariance
ensures a comparable definition of the latent construct over time. Violation of measurement
invariance may render it impossible to assess change within a subject, because this change will be
confounded with the change in meaning of a construct over time. Although the same indicators
were used at each occasion, their measurement properties had slightly changed. Here also, we will
discuss the peculiarities of the problem and offer a way we tackled this problem. Referring to the
general theme of the symposium, the issue of this presentation contributes to the methodological
aspect of the problem. In particular it offers some possible solutions for problems that most
commonly are a source of distortion that decrease validity of developmental concepts.
B 10
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO 1 H
Symposium
PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF LESSON STRUCTURE IN
MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS IN GERMANY, JAPAN, THE USA, AND AUSTRALIA
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The
Netherlands
This symposium reports recent research into the structure of eighth-grade mathematics lessons in
Australia, Germany, Japan and the USA. Stigler and Hiebert (1999) identified «lesson patterns»
for Germany, Japan and the USA, suggesting the teachers’ adherence to a culturally-based
“script”. The four papers in this symposium, which report results of the Learner’s Perspective
Study (LPS, see http://www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/DSME/lps/), challenge the contention that
teaching in each of the three countries could be described by a «simple, common pattern» (Stigler
& Hiebert, 1999, p.82). The reports are based on analyses of sequences of ten lessons of teachers
judged competent by their local communities, documented using three video cameras,
supplemented by the reconstructive accounts of classroom participants obtained in post-lesson
video-stimulated interviews. This methodological approach (Clarke, 2001) has the potential to
address each of the following issues, which are the focii of the papers that make up this
symposium: (a) The degree of variation in lesson structure in the practices of competent teachers
within a given culture and across cultures; (b) the legitimacy of international (cross-cultural)
comparisons of lesson structure; (c) the extent to which any variation of lesson structure over a ten
lesson sequence is linked to the location of the lesson in the instructional sequence and to the
teacher’s instructional intentions; (d) students’ awareness of the lesson structure and how this is
related to their perception of significant educational moments in the lesson and to their subsequent
learning.
– 114 –
The problematics of international lesson structure comparisons
This paper will raise four issues related to international comparisons of lesson structure in
mathematics based on classroom video data. First, for whom is the lesson the most appropriate unit
through which to analyse instruction: the teacher, the student, the researcher, or the stakeholders of
a particular culture? It will be suggested that even the answer to this question is a cultural artefact.
Second, how is the distinction between public and private talk to be accommodated within any
consideration of lesson structure? If instructional practice encourages or simply tolerates studentstudent interaction or one-on-one teacher-student interaction, then to what extent should the
embracing lesson structure accommodate the detail of such sub-structures? Third, to what extent
can a common coding scheme be developed to systematically analyse classroom data from several
culturally-distinct countries. Specifically, such a scheme presumes legitimate reference to a
common “metric” although the meaning, purpose, and even the practice of any coded event or
activity (such as “presenting the problems for the day”, “practicing”, or “checking homework”) can
vary significantly from culture to culture, and arguably from classroom to classroom within the
same culture. Fourth, if comparison at the level of code for events and activities is problematic, can
classroom structures be compared internationally at another level or in another way? It will be
argued that useful comparison of lesson structure can be made at a level “above” that of the
constituent codes in the form of patterns of participation that apply to entire lessons or to
instructional units within or beyond a single lesson. Also, important and informative fine-grained
comparisons can be made of the culturally-specific enactment of superficially-similar lesson
elements.
Lesson patterns in superficially similar cultures: The USA and Australia
Carmel Mesiti, University of Melbourne, Australia
Joanne Lobato, San Diego State University, USA
The TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study reported the United States lesson pattern as: (a) reviewing
previous material by checking homework or doing a warm-up; (b) demonstrating how to solve the
problems for the day; (c) practicing; and (d) correcting seatwork and assigning homework (Stigler
& Hiebert, 1999). For the purpose of identifying the extent to which this lesson pattern is reflected
in two sets of ten consecutive US lessons from the Learner’s Perspective Study (LPS), a coding
system was developed that was based on the categories used in published accounts of the TIMSS
Videotape Classroom Study. The resultant diversity of lesson structure challenged the notion of a
typical lesson pattern. It became clear that this system of codes had to be extended if the analysis
was to give adequate recognition to the complexity of the structure of U.S. mathematics lessons
evident in the LPS data. This complexity is particularly graphic when one considers a set of ten
consecutive lessons in each classroom rather than the set of single lessons collected for the TIMSS
study. Results from U.S. schools reveal significant differences in the lesson patterns between
schools, variability of lesson structure within a school, and important differences from the lesson
script identified in the TIMSS study. The same approach was employed with data from Australian
schools. It appears that while it may be inappropriate to postulate a single lesson pattern as
nationally characteristic, there is still significant difference in the nature and deployment of the
constituent elements from which a lesson is constructed; even for such superficially similar
cultures as the USA and Australia.
– 115 –
Cross-national elements in lesson structure
Eva Jablonka, Free University, Berlin, Germany
The descriptions of the lesson patterns of German, Japanese and U.S. lessons based on the data
from the TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study employ culture specific descriptors of segments of a
lesson that are highly interpretive, such as warm-up, reviewing a quiz, or seatwork (Stigler and
Hiebert, 1999; Stigler et al., 1999). For the purpose of cross-cultural comparison the use of such
terms would be extremely problematic if it served to subsume unfamiliar events under a category
that might not be part of the local vocabulary and of the conceptions used to plan and organise
lessons. However, it is reasonable to search for elements of lesson patterns that are reported as
being characteristic for one of the three countries by Stigler and Hiebert (1999) in the data from
the two other counties in the Learner’s perspective study, in order to look more closely at how
these are enacted in the classrooms, if such elements occur. An analysis based on this rationale
shows the frequent occurence of activities that were reported as typical in Japanese lessons (“presenting a thought-provoking problem,” “working on the problem in groups,” and “presentation by
students”) in U.S. lessons and the typical Japanese activity of “highlighting and summarising the
main points” in German lessons. In a significant proportion of the lessons from one U.S. classroom
the teacher engaged in an activity, which can be called “guided development”. This activity is very
similar to the one found in German classrooms in both the TIMSS and the LPS projects: “Fragendentwickelndes Unterrichtsgespräch” (questioning-developing classroom talk).
Contrasting teacher and student perceptions of lesson structure in Japan
Yoshinori Shimizu, Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan
This paper examines how Japanese teachers approach teaching mathematics in a way that is frequently
referred to as “the structured problem solving mode” and how their students perceive such a lesson
structure. Findings from an analysis of sequences of ten consecutive mathematics lessons in public
schools in Tokyo, monitored as part of the Learner’s Perspective Study (LPS), will be reported.
Particular attention is given to how the teacher intended to structure the lesson and how the students
perceived classroom events within the lesson structure. First, the Japanese lesson pattern, as identified
by the analysis of a set of single lessons in the TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study, is examined by
comparing it with the analysis of ten consecutive mathematics lessons from the LPS. The results suggest
the need to identify an overarching feature of the “lesson structure in the sequence” as contrasted with
the lesson pattern identified by the analysis of a set of single lessons. Second, based on the analysis of
video-stimulated post-lesson interviews, discrepancies in perceptions of classroom events between the
teacher and the students are described. Finally, some issues raised as a consequence of the results of this
analysis are discussed.
B 11
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 2 B
Symposium
HETEROGENEITY OF DISCOURSES AND PRACTICES IN INSTITUTIONAL
SETTINGS
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Michèle Grossen, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Harry Daniels, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
– 116 –
This symposium starts from the assumption that institutions play an integral part in the
construction of identity, in social practices and in the individuals’ everyday (inter)actions.
However, individuals do not simply take on predetermined roles, or conform to preformed
institutions, they interpret them according to previous experience and use them as resources in
their present activity. Moreover, they have to deal with institutions which have heterogeneous, and
sometimes conflictual, discourses and practices. Drawing upon cultural psychology and other
related theoretical frameworks, the papers collected in this symposium raise three series of issues:
1) How do participants in an interaction use institutional categories to make sense of the situation
and orient their actions? For example, to which categories do parents and teachers refer when they
“talk about” the child? Which institutional categories do vocational guidance officers invoke when
they have to answer job applicants’ requests? 2) How do members of the school institution
interpret and appropriate institutional tools, practice and discourse? Namely, how do teachers
interpret new educational settings and how do they transform them through their practice? 3) How
do individuals deal with heterogeneous institutional discourses, tools and practices? For example,
how are school teaching practices taken up by parents in their everyday interactions with their
child? Different social and institutional practices are scrutinised: Teaching-learning situations between teachers and students, parents and child, or between peers; vocational guidance where officers have to orientate job applicants; parent-teacher communication concerning the child/student's
school achievement and behaviour at school.
Institutional framing: Co-constructing children with special needs during parent-professional
“talk”
Juliet Choo, Griffith University, Australia
Peter Renshaw, Griffith University, Australia
Helena Austin, Griffith University, Australia
In this paper we examine how specific institutional categories are deployed by parents and
educational specialists with regard to children with special needs from diverse cultural
backgrounds. The participants were educational specialists (classroom teachers, psychologists, and
special educators) and the parents of children with moderate to severe disabilities attending
schools in a suburban area of Brisbane, Australia. In planning and conducting the educational
program for the special children, parents and the educational specialists at the schools employed a
“communication booklet” that was sent back and forth each day with the special child. The data
for our paper is based on an analysis of the alternating sequences of messages that form an
extended conversation between the parents and specialists about the children. We draw upon both
sociocultural theory and ethnomethodology in framing our project. We are interested in the
everyday, more experiential categories that parents employ to “talk” about the children, in contrast
to the more abstract, institutional categories employed by the professionals. In their alternating
conversation in the booklet, parents and specialists construct a particular version of the special
needs child in relation to the distinct and at times conflicting requirements of the institutions of
schooling and the family. Our data show that children’s characteristics – how “bright” they are, or
how compliant, or how moody or calm – are constructed in relation to specific institutional
requirements and activities. The alternating “talk” is shown to be a powerful social process in coconstructing the special child as an unusual member of the institution of schooling.
– 117 –
Categories as contextualising tools: Approaching participants interaction in institutional settings
Åsa Mäkitalo, Göteborg University, Sweden
Analysts interested in learning, sense making and knowledge production in institutional settings,
face an interesting dilemma when it comes to the problem of how to account for the relationship
between structural and enduring features of institutions and interactional dynamics. At a general
level, this issue concerns how talk is occasioned by organisational context, and precisely what is
‘institutional’ about talk. In the literature, the “study of institutional interaction has been the site of
some fierce debates between ethnographers, discursive psychologists and conversation analysts”,
and in this discussion the “nature and relevance of the context of institutional interaction has been
a key issue” (Silverman, 1999, p.401). The aim of this paper is to document how institutional
categories are invoked to index what is relevant situated knowing in interactional sequences where
there is a need to bridge the gap between action and expectation. This general problem of
relevance to learning and reasoning has been studied in face-to-face interactions between job
applicants and vocational guidance officers in a public institution. The claim is that to understand
sense making and co-ordination of perspectives, as an analyst, in the study of institutional settings,
the role of ‘categorial’ knowledge must be attended to. In this setting, institutional categories are
not invoked as fixed and ready-made entities, rather, they work as flexible tools generated from a
living tradition of argumentation that allow the participants to recontextualize and negotiate the
issues at stake.
The institution of schooling and teaching-learning practices in a native American village
Mariëtte De Haan, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
This paper addresses the role of the institution of formal schooling in a Native American
community that has a teaching/learning tradition relatively different from that of traditional
schooling. In this community there is a large variety with respect to the amount of years that
people have attended school. Also, their experience with schooling seems to turn out in different
ways when it is applied to their informal teaching practices. The data we present show interaction
patterns between parents and children in a teaching-learning situation. In the presentation we will
focus on the differences between parents with practically no schooling and those who attended
school for a longer period. The analysis shows that the differences in teaching-learning practices
between those two group are more related with the attitude they have towards their child’s school
career than with schooling per se. Also, the analysis shows that parents use teaching patterns
characteristic for formal schooling in interaction with their children but adapt them to purposes
that are related to traditional teaching. We will discuss these results in the light of the question
how institutions are (re)presented in everyday interactions between people and how institutional
rules are reinterpreted in specific sociocultural contexts.
Peer-tutoring as an educational setting for students in difficulty: Institutional discourse and
practices
Karin Bachmann, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Despite its long-lasting history, peer-tutoring as a means for helping students with learning
difficulties regularly reappears under new forms. So was it in the five Swiss secondary schools in
which our study was carried out. In these schools, peer-tutoring was introduced on the basis of
some general guidelines, for example that “good” students would be tutors and “poor” students
– 118 –
tutees — an option which is far from evident in the light of research into peer-tutoring. Each
school was then responsible for the concrete implementation of this educational setting. As a
consequence, “peer-tutoring” took different forms from one school to another; for example, the
role of the teacher who supervised the work carried out in the tutor-tutee dyads was different and
revealed diverging conceptions about peer collaborative work. Drawing on cultural psychology,
we shall consider that: 1) this setting is an institutional tool that individuals use according to their
own representations and goals, and to contextual constraints; 2) as soon as it is contextualised and
used, this institutional tool becomes a tool-in-use which is liable to transform the prescribed
educational project. On an empirical level, analysis of official documents written by the schools,
ethnographic observations, and analysis of tutor-tutee interactions will enable us to show how
“peer-tutoring” as a tool-in-use has been interpreted by the teachers in the different schools, and
what representations of learning can be inferred from these variety of practices.
B 12
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 3 H
Symposium
INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY AND STUDENT MOTIVATION IN MATHEMATICAL
LEARNING: RESULTS FROM INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research,
Frankfurt, Germany
Kurt Reusser, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research,
Frankfurt, Germany
Andreas Krapp, University of Bundeswehr, Munich, Germany
Research on classroom instruction has recently made considerable progress in terms of theoretical
foundations and empirical methods. Multiple criteria of instructional quality are addressed (student
motivation as well as student achievement), and the domain-specificity of teaching and learning is
taken into account. The papers presented in this symposiums use motivational theories (such as
self-determination theory or expectancy theory) and constructivist conceptions of learning to
develop hypotheses about processes which mediate the relation between classroom practice and
cognitive/affective outcomes. Special emphasis is given to the development of students’ domainspecific interests. These hypotheses are tested with data from large-scale, cross-national studies,
i.e. the OECD-PISA and the TIMS-(repeat)-video-studies (Stigler et al.). Within the German and
the Swiss samples, the scope of these studies has been extended by additional questionnaires and –
for the video studies – by longitudinal designs and high-inference ratings of instructional quality.
Researchers from both countries have been cooperating in developing designs and analytical tools.
Instructional processes and effects are studied from multiple perspectives (students, teachers and
observers) at multiple levels (individual, classroom/school, and national).
Profiles of instruction and student outcome: Multi- level analysis of data from Pisa-2000
Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Katrin Rakoczy, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany
According to self determination theory (Deci & Ryan), the development of subject-related interest
is dependent on the social integration of the students, the autonomy they experience, and their
experience of competence. We assume that the quality of both teacher-student and student-student
– 119 –
relations directly determine the extent of social integration, while non-directive forms of
instruction will promote the experience of autonomy, and an individual frame of reference for the
grading of student achievement can promote individual students’ experience of competence. These
features of instruction are integrated into the construct “student orientation”, and it is hypothesized
they will foster students’ domain-specific interests. Based on classical instructional research and
constructivist ideas, it is assumed that clarity and structuredness, cognitively demanding tasks and
high-level classroom discourse will foster students’ understanding of mathematical concepts.
These features are described as “cognitive activation”, and it is hypothesized they will foster
students’ mathematical competence. Within the German extension to PISA-2000 (Baumert et al.
2002), both student orientation and cognitive activation in mathematics classrooms were
operationalized by scales from the student questionnaire. Multi-level-analyses including 409
Gymnasien (highest track of secondary schools) prove that even if general cognitive abilities are
controlled for, student orientation is in deed linked to high interest in mathematics, while cognitive
activation is linked to higher levels of mathematical literacy. Some of the instructional quality
scales can also be compared cross-nationally within PISA-2000. The profile of instructional
quality corresponds to national cultures of mathematics education.
Insider’s and outsider’s perception of instructional quality in classrooms with different
achievement levels and motivational patterns - Results from the Swiss video study
Monika Waldis, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Urs Grob, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Christine Pauli, University of Zurich, Switzerland
In the context of the Swiss participation in the cross-cultural TIMSS-R Video Study (J.W. Stigler
et al., Los Angeles), a representative sample of 150 videos of eighth grade mathematics lessons
have been collected and analyzed. In addition to the international setting video data were
complemented with national teacher and student questionnaires and achievement tests. The wide
data corpus allows for the combination of different perspectives in analyzing instructional quality
and effectiveness: The perspective of observers, students and teachers. To identify instructional
quality in Swiss classrooms, characteristics of perceived (insider’s perception) or judged
(outsider’s evaluation) instruction were combined with multidimensional outcome criteria.
Teaching practices in classrooms with highly motivated students with high achievement scores
were compared to classroom practices in low motivated classes showing rather low math
performance. As a general result, teaching practices of successful classes got better ratings or
judgements. Furthermore, the observers’ judgements on instructional quality showed a certain
correspondence with the students’ perceptions. This finding is remarkable as the expert judgements rely on one single video-lesson, whereas the students’ perceptions mirror their long-time
experience with particular patterns of classroom teaching. However, these results need to be
carefully interpreted. Teaching behavior and student/class characteristics should be understood as
interacting with each other. Findings from our extended investigations on the interplay between
instructional patterns, teacher and student characteristics, context variables and learning outcomes
will be presented.
Causal beliefs: A neglected aspect in the analysis of teaching-learning processes?
Alex Buff, University of Zurich, Switzerland
– 120 –
Emotional and motivational consequences of attributional processes are considered central
dimensions of learning and achievement behaviour. Attributions as actual cognitions in single
situations are influenced not only by the characteristics of the situation, but also by dispositional
characteristics of the person. In this case our interest focuses on causal beliefs, which can be
regarded as subjective theories about the causes of (own, real life) successes or failures, e.g. in
mathematics. The development of causal beliefs is generally influenced by ontogenetical processes
as well as experiences in everyday life. Apart from studies on goal-oriented interventions, e.g.
attributional retraining, little is known about the second mechanism, i.e. the influence of latent
context characteristics - like specific aspects of teaching arrangements - on the development of
causal beliefs.Based on a subsample of the Swiss video study (Reusser, Pauli, Grob, Waldis,
Hugener, & Krammer, 2001) with more than 1200 8th grade students from 72 classes, we first
examine associations between characteristics of teaching culture and causal beliefs for good,
respectively poor grades. We ask the question: which everyday characteristics of the teaching
culture correspond with more or less favourable causal beliefs referred to further learning? Apart
from intelligence and prior knowledge, interest and control beliefs are crucial variables for
mathematics achievement. For this reason we are also interested in the network of specific aspects
of teaching arrangements, causal beliefs and motivational consequences, i.e. so called performance
mediators like interest and control beliefs. We suspect that the influence of teaching characteristics
on interest and control beliefs is mediated to a great extent by causal beliefs. Should that be true, a
stronger consideration of causal beliefs in the analysis of teaching-learning processes seems to be
appropriate for the future.
Highly structured classrooms and self-determination: Can effective classroom management
support the development of domain-specific interest?
Mareike Kunter, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
This presentation investigates whether “classical” aspects of instructional quality that focus on
discipline, rule clarity, and effective use of time are also beneficial for interest development. From
the perspective of self-determination theory, a teacher-centered, pre-structured learning environment may reduce students’ sense of autonomy, and thus undermine the development of intrinsic
motivational tendencies such as domain-specific interest. Conversely, explicit rules and prompt
feedback on inappropriate actions may enable students to predict the consequences of their own
behavior and provide them with reasonable action alternatives, thus fostering their feelings of
competence. This hypothesis was tested in two studies with students in secondary school
mathematics classrooms. In the first, cross-sectional study, students completed questionnaires on
their math teachers’ strategies, and on their own experience of self-determination in the classroom.
Results show little association between effective classroom management and sense of autonomy,
but high correlations between classroom management and feelings of competence. Moreover,
autonomy and competence were highly related to interest in math. The second, longitudinal study
employs data from the German TIMSS video survey. Observational data from 82 mathematics
classrooms are used to examine the effect of classroom management strategies on interest
development. Using hierarchical linear modeling, it is tested whether features of instructional
quality on the classroom level can predict individual students’ interest development from grade 7
to grade 8.
– 121 –
B 13
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 2 D
Symposium
DEVELOPING MOTIVATION AND SELF ESTEEM THROUGH WORKING WITH ICT
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussants:
Paul Brna, Northumbria University, England, United Kingdom
Benedict Du Boulay, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Kim Issroff, University College, London, United Kingdom
Aims: to examine the assumption that ICT can support the development of self esteem in different
educational contexts for learners with different levels of achievement; to consider methods of
assessing motivation and self esteem; to consider mechanisms which may account for the ways in
which ICT may assist in the growth of self esteem. Scientific and Educational Relevance: ICT is
an important component of education for all stages of formal education as well as for lifelong
learning and informal learning. The interaction with ICT and the various ways in which motivation
is constructed within the learning context may well promote learning of knowledge, skills, social
awareness and self awareness. It is believed that self esteem has an important impact on learning
and motivation but there are challenges that need to be met in relation to how to measure self
esteem within a real world context, how the motivational mechanisms both support the learner in
developing self esteem and in learning, and how to support learners across a wider range of
achievements, abilities and skills.
Learning to love ICT in teaching and learning: The significance of staff and student esteem
Bridget Cooper, Northumbria University and Leeds University, United Kingdom
This paper considers the role of design and research methodology, teachers and ICT itself in
building esteem for both staff and students. It examines data from a current project, ICT and the
Whole Child sponsored by The Nuffield Foundation which seeks, over two years, to evaluate the
effects of high quality ICT provision embedded in infant classrooms, on achievement, esteem and
classroom relationships. Using participant design methodology and claims analysis, the project
aims to meet needs closely and analyse them deeply with data from different perspectives. The
paper focuses on the early staff interviews and ongoing field notes. It examines the way in which
staff nurture and promote esteem in students and understand the role of ICT in raising esteem. We
argue that an empathic design methodology also supports staff esteem and motivation and that
such an approach can support a positive emotional response to the change inherent in the
implementation of new ICT systems, dissipating anxiety and dissolving defensive barriers. Staff
esteem is supported by both the methodology, the researchers attitudes and the also their
successful acquisition of cross-curricular ICT skills which they see as directly beneficial to
students. Staff esteem and enthusiasm is likely to generate student esteem and enthusiasm and
allow the confident take up of new skills in a positive atmosphere. The paper considers the
theoretical role of affect in learning for staff and students and concludes that both people,
computer systems and the method of their design and implementation have a significant role to
play in the emotional scaffolding of learning.
Creative learning architectures for self-expression, inclusiveness and self-esteem
Lisa Gjedde, Danish University of Education, Denmark
– 122 –
There is in Denmark concern about a considerable percentage of students not succeeding within
the main Danish educational framework, thus being excluded during the primary and secondary
school years for a variety of reasons. This calls for a focus on how to provide a learning
environment that allows for greater differentiation and greater inclusiveness and how the use of
ICT may play an important role in this approach. This research is focusing on the use of creative
self-expression through narrative in 5 primary school classes, comprising more than a hundred
students ages 10-13 and 5 teachers during a year. It is done as action research involving useroriented content development of software. Main points of focus for the research is how the use of
ICT in this process may influence the role of students and teachers, and thus the learners sense of
involvement, collaboration, responsibility and self-confidence. The research is also looking at how
the experience of identity and self-esteem for the learners may be enhanced by a learning
architecture that allows for the creative expression of the learners supported by the software and
the use of different modalities in the learner’s creative expression. It is further discussed how the
preliminary findings from this study, may provide models for learning scenarios using ICT, that
may be applicable to different learning situations in order to provide scaffolding and
differentiation relative to learners needs and thus allow for development of an inclusive sense of
accomplishment and expression.
Why don’t learners ask for more help? Exploring young learners attitudes to tackling challenges
and seeking assistance
Rosemary Luckin, University of Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Software scaffolding has been successfully employed within educational technology to help bridge
the recognition-production gap between what learners want to be able to achieve and what they are
able to effect themselves without. This work has however concentrated on scaffolding the learner
at the domain level with less attention to the potential for providing explicit support at the
metacognitive level. Evidence from previous research into learners’ use of scaffolding assistance
has indicated that less able and knowledgeable learners are ineffective at selecting appropriately
challenging tasks and seeking appropriate qualities and quantities of support and guidance. But
how can we make learners more effective at reflecting on their own needs, at seeking appropriate
challenges and appropriate support? This is where we are using a variation of participatory design
to assist learners into the design process. We discuss our empirical work with 10 and 11-year-old
children in which we have been exploring their attitudes towards tackling challenging activities
and asking for help. If they donít like asking for help why is this? If they are willing to have a go at
a challenge and accept that they may not succeed the first time, what gives them the confidence to
have a go? These are the sorts of questions our studies try and investigate as part of our work on
the development of the Ecolab software, which offers children scaffolded investigations of food
chains and webs.
Enhancing classroom learning through live interactions with field trips
Nick Hine, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
Ros Rentoul, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
Susie Schofield, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
The research seeks to explore the enhancement in learning that can arise from multi-site
international mobile collaboration between field trips and classrooms, and the associated use and
production of reusable learning objects. The learning will involve the exploration in context
guided by professionals and experts, and the collaboration between peers distributed between the
– 123 –
classroom and field. In addition to measuring increased knowledge and more informed and
organised thinking, the research will consider the aspects such as motivation and self-esteem that
arise from successfully outworking roles in the field and in the classroom in support of a
comprehensive interactive experience. These aspects will be measured by analysing the
interactions that take place between the children and by determining the change in the coherence
and breadth of the presentations made by the children following the field trip events. Two key
effects are expected to arise from the participation in the experience, whether in the classroom or
the field. The first is the clarification of the nature of the vocational aspects of the professions
involved in the field (historians, chemical engineers, biologists, artists, etc) and the potential that
this has in helping the children to make informed and motivated career choices. The second is the
increasing integration available for students with disabilities as they can play an equal part in
significant roles in the classroom or the field.
B 14
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 3 G
Symposium
PROMOTING TOLERANCE AND THE PRACTICE OF CITIZENSHIP IN YOUNG
PEOPLE
Organisers:
Helen Cowie, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Rosario Ortega, University of Seville, Spain
Chair:
Discussant:
Maria Luisa Genta, University of Bologna, Italy
There has been a growing concern worldwide during the past decade to identify children’s rights
and to create contexts in which those rights can be safeguarded and enhanced. Specifically, the 54
articles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1991) have
been categorised as: (a) Protection: of children and young people from violence and abuse; (b)
Provision: for children and young people of a reasonable quality of life, involving state care,
education, health services and social security; (c) Participation: of children and young people in
decision-making on matters affecting them, either directly or through representation. Despite these
commendable aims, many young people still experience unacceptable levels of violence and abuse
in their homes, schools and communities. Bullying and social exclusion are experienced daily by
many children, despite years of research and policy-making to counteract the problem. Violence
in society is a growing issue and too many children feel unsafe and unprotected in their own
communities. There is widespread stigmatisation of young people who are experiencing some
form of mental health difficulty. Thus, for many children, particularly those in vulnerable or at-risk
groups (including those who have special educational needs, those from minority groups, those
with mental health difficulties, asylum-seekers, those from impoverished families) society and its
social, health and educational services are failing to provide a reasonable quality of life.
Furthermore, there are very few opportunities for children to engage in any real form of
democratic participation in decision-making processes that affect them directly, or to be
represented on decision-making bodies. In this symposium the authors of each paper indicate ways
in which pro-social behaviour and active citizenship in schools may be fostered through methods
that include whole-school policies such as in-service training of teachers (UK) or the development
of a system of discipline and behaviour management (Spain), out-of-school activities (Italy),
– 124 –
classroom interventions focussing on co-operative group work (Spain) and the understanding of
individual student participant roles in relation to others in the peer group (Italy). Naylor and Cowie
evaluate the impact on relationships and general school ethos of a two-year intervention in the UK
that trained teachers in basic counselling skills. Del Rey and Ortega explore the ways in which
Spanish school systems of discipline and behaviour management are perceived and explore
differences of perception on the part of students who are involved in violence, whether as
aggressors or victims, in comparison with other peers. Argenton, Boscolo and Zambelli investigate
the impact of out-of school activities involving the arts in Italian schools on students’ attitudes
towards their environment and the implications that this may have on their sense of responsibility
towards their cultural heritage. Ortega and Fox (Spain) evaluate the effect of a programme of cooperative group work on the attitudes and behaviour of students nominated by their peers as
aggressors, victims or defenders. Finally Ferrazzuolo, Menesini and Cowie (Italy and UK) explore
the different narratives of students in a range of participant roles, including bullies, victims,
outsiders and defenders. The implications for citizenship education in a European context are
discussed.
The impact of a teacher counselling scheme on a comprehensive school
Paul Naylor, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
The aim of this study was to assess the impact on a London, UK, comprehensive school of every
teacher in the school being trained in basic counselling skills. The expectations of this programme
of training were that it would result in: (a) a decrease in anti-social pupil behaviour such as
bullying, vandalism, graffiti and disruptive behaviour in the school; (b) an increase in pro-social
pupil behaviour marked by a greater respect and concern for and care of others within the school;
(c) positive shifts in teachers’ and pupils’ attitudes towards the school; (d) improvements in
‘outcome’ measures such as attendance rates, pupil suspensions and exclusions, bullying rates and
public examination results. There were three data collection phases: baseline measures gathered by
May 1999 before the training of teachers in counselling skills began; mid-term monitoring of the
impact of the programme completed by July 2000; evaluation of the impact of the programme
completed by July 2001. The design also permitted the cross-sectional comparison of the 1999
cohorts of pupils with subsequent pupils of the same age. In general, teachers had positive and
improving attitudes towards the school. For the school as a whole, authorised and unauthorised
absences showed a decline over the five years from 1996 to 2001. The Year 9 National
Curriculum Test results 1998 and 2000 showed an improvement in each of the three subjects,
particularly in English. For the GCSE results, over the period 1994 – 2000 the school’s GCSE
results have shown an improving trend. As a percentage of the pupils on roll, there has been a twofold increase in suspensions and a one-third reduction in exclusions. There are indications that the
counselling scheme has resulted in teachers’ heightened awareness and sensitivity of the needs of
their pupils. Teachers became more willing to listen to and deal sympathetically with pupils’
concerns and anxieties. We argue that a longer-term view of the impact of changes in teacher
attitudes and behaviour on pupil behaviour and achievement should be taken in order to enhance
citizenship education in schools.
– 125 –
Secondary pupil’s perceptions about the school discipline
Rosario Del Rey, University of Seville, Spain
The establishment of a method of school discipline is an important way of preventing school
violence, as was found in an earlier analysis (Ortega, Del Rey, & Fernández, 2002) of Spanish
recommendations on interventions against school violence. The present study aimed to identify
what were the perceptions of Spanish pupils about discipline in their schools using a sample of
1,764 secondary school pupils (12 to19 years old) from nine schools in the Andalusia region as
part of the International Survey of School Climate, using the Secondary School Students’ Questionnaire (Debarbieux, 1996), translated and adapted – including new questions - by our research
group (Ortega & Del Rey, 2001). Students from a range of socio-economic backgrounds were
included and there was an equal balance of boys and girls in the sample. The aspects evaluated in
relation to discipline included: knowledge of rules, sanctions and consequences of not following
them, personal experiences of the discipline system, and perceptions about the teachers’ responses
in conflict situations. In this paper, we present the results of this survey and discuss in particular
the differences in the responses of pupils who are involved in violence as victims, as aggressors, or
as bully-victims in comparison with peers. The implications for future citizenship education are
discussed.
Achieving a sense of citizenship through art and environment education
Alberto Argenton, University of Padova, Italy
Pietro Boscolo, University of Padova, Italy
Franco Zambelli, University of Padova, Italy
In Italian schools, helping young people achieve a sense of citizenship is a very important
educational goal. One aspect of citizenship education regards students’ appreciation of works of
art and the environment. Many educational projects aimed at fostering students’ interest in and
appraisal of the arts and the environment have been undertaken, particularly in elementary and
middle schools. These projects usually include various out-of-school activities for teachers and
students, such as visits to museums and monuments, and trips to historic and artistic cities and
towns. These activities are aimed at leading students towards an aesthetic appreciation of works of
art and the environment. However, the effect of these experiences on the development of young
people’s sense of “belonging” to a community have been scarcely investigated. The study to be
presented was aimed at investigating the ways students of different school level – from elementary
to high school approach their environment: it was hypothesized that young people’s appreciation
of art and the environment develops through different phases: a) knowledge of the arts and salient
aspects of the environment; b) aesthetic appreciation; c) the sense of participation in common
property which must be preserved and protected. On the basis of preliminary interviews, one
questionnaire was prepared and administered to 500 students from elementary, middle and high
schools in Padova. The questionnaire data were integrated by more fine-grained analyses based on
repertory grids carried out on specific monuments and works of art. Although analysis is still in
progress, from collected data the hypothesis of a hierarchical relationship between different levels
of art appreciation seems to be confirmed. The relationship between students’ experiences of art
education and their attitudes to the arts and environment is a major focus of the study. The
implications for fostering students’ sense of citizenship will be discussed.
– 126 –
Destabilization of the bully’s roles through the Learning Together Second Language programme
Thomas Fox, University of Seville, Spain
This paper reports the results of a programme designed to prevent school bullying as part of the
Seville SAVE anti-violence project (Ortega, 1997). This programme, Learning Together Second
Language Programme, was developed and implemented in English Language classes in secondary
schools. The programme related, on the one hand, to the emotional life of the group, through the
development of positive attitudes and cooperation among group members, and, on the other hand,
to the development of the abilities to resolve conflicts, violence and bullying. The programme was
developed in four classes of a Secondary School with 12 to 15 year old pupils and evaluated using
an adapted version of the Participant Role Questionnaire (Salmivalli et all, 1996) designed by
Sutton and Smith (1999). This instrument was administered before and after the intervention. After
the intervention, the number of pupils not involved in school violence had increased, as had the
numbers of those involved in the role of defenders of victims. In addition, the numbers of
aggressors and their supporters was reduced. In summary, we found a significantly different
pattern of participant roles after the intervention from the one that existed before the introduction
of a cooperative and narrative curriculum.
Evaluating the different narrative styles and patterns related to the participant roles of
adolescents involved in bullying using the SCAN cartoons
Stefania Ferrazzuolo, University of Florence, Italy
Ersilia Menesini, University of Florence, Italy
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the different narrative styles and patterns related to the
participants’ roles of adolescents involved in bullying. From a potential sample of sixty interviews by
SCAN cartoons (Almeida & Del Barrio, 2000) six were selected: A defender, an outsider, a victim, an
individual who played an interchangeable role, and a male and a female bully. A case study analysis on
the selected interviews revealed interesting patterns regarding personality characteristics, narrative style,
attribution of emotion, perception, and empathic skills related to each participants’ roles. The defender
demonstrated a high sensitivity in perceiving others’ feelings, motivations, and relationships, as well
awareness of her own feelings. She showed developed observational and empathic skills and was able
to focus on and report her own and others’ experiences throughout the interview. The outsider tended to
be a detached and objective reporter of the scenarios. She gave a detailed description of the story and
listed distinct emotions and motivations related to the behavior of the cartoon characters. The victim
focussed attention only on the main characters in the story: the victim and the bully. He described their
feelings and motivations briefly, as if he lacked empathy. Furthermore, although he attempted to be an
impartial narrator, he showed prejudice against the bully, portraying him as a tough and vicious person
who found in the victim an easy scapegoat for his nasty behaviors. The male and female bullies
revealed common characteristics, such as lack of empathy, the tendency to minimize the effects and
consequences of bullying, and the denial of responsibility by blaming the victim. The main feature of
the case study designed as “interchangeable role” was the process of liberation from the role of victim.
He was firstly an outsider, secondly a defender, and thirdly a victim. Through a global analysis of the
interview with him, and a comparison with the shared and different traits displayed in the previous
cases studies, it was possible to summarise the elements that revealed this process. There are useful
implications to be drawn from this study about the development of student awareness of the effect of
participant roles on the emotional climate of the group and of the potential for change that individuals
possess.
– 127 –
B 15
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO Aula Magna
Symposium
MULTIPLE GOALS AND SELF REGULATION
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
A variety of goal frameworks are available in the personality and social psychology literature.
These models reflect some differences but also many similarities in focus. In most models a
distinction is made between goals that individuals pursue because they have attached value to them
and goals that individuals pursue because somebody else has deemed them important. A great deal
of student behavior that we see in the context of the classroom reflects the students’ willingness to
comply with the goals of somebody else (imposed goals). In order to understand why students
pursue some goals and neglect other goals, but also why they show persistence in one situation and
avoidance in another situation, it is essential that one has insight into the students’ goal structure
and into the self-regulatory processes that they perform to make their goal structure consistent and
coherent. Despite the high potential of the goal construct for explaining motivated engagement in
every day learning contexts, students’ pursuit of multiple goals has received scant attention. A
handful of researchers have tried to put multiple goals on the research agenda in educational
psychology. They have argued that the content of students’ goals is highly informative to explain
and predict their behavior in a given situation, mainly because it reflects their unique needs,
temperaments, and social experiences. Accumulating evidence reveals that students’ ability (1) to
keep their goal structure coherent and (2) to navigate their goals in the intended direction may well
explain why some students are successful at school and enjoy the learning environments that are
created there, and others do not. In the symposium, three different approaches to the study of
multiple goals will be presented. After these presentations, a discussant will comment on the three
different approaches and invite the audience to participate in the discussion.
The goal priorities of first year university students, and their relation to successful adaptation
Marina Serra de Lemos, University of Porto, Portugal
Within a larger research project on students’ successful adaptation to university, in this paper we
focused on students’ personal goals for attending university courses. Both the literature on
developmental tasks, and the acknowledgement of the multidimensional nature of the university
context suggest that, besides academic achievement, young adult students will also pursue social
and relational goals. Based on the view that goals are individual purposes, steering and directing
motivated activity, evaluating students’ goal priorities is specially relevant to the understanding of
their interests, engagements, performance, and outcomes. More specifically, in the study that will
be discussed we analyze the relationships between, on the one hand, the salience of various goals
and, on the other, students’ academic, social, and biopsychological adaptation to the university.
The study had 3 main aims: (a) to empirically examine the relative importance attached by
university students (494, 1st year university students) to academic, social, and relational goals, (b)
to analyze differences in goal priorities of different groups of students (defined by gender, age, and
enrollment in different academic programs, and (c) to analyze the relationships between students’
goal priorities, their satisfaction in the different goal-relevant domains, and indicators of
adaptation such as academic interest, achievement, and well-being.
– 128 –
School motivation in cultural context: Psychometric perspectives
Dennis McInerney, University of Western Sydney, Australia
School motivation and achievement for an individual are the products of a complex set of
interacting forces which include the individual’s conception of what is appropriate, what other
people pressure him or her to do, how much he or she enjoys or dislikes the behavior, what
consequences are seen to be connected with the behavior, and how much these consequences are
valued. Social and cultural norms, values and beliefs impact on these and help determine an
individual’s norms, values and beliefs. As such, this interplay of various forces may be differential
for individuals and across social and cultural groups. This paper reports on a series of studies
which examine the multidimensional nature of achievement motivation across a range of social
and cultural groups, the determinants of this achievement motivation, and the relationship of
achievement motivation to criteria of school success, such as attendance, retention, achievement,
further education and occupational choice. In particular, the research looks at the correlates of “at
risk” school behavior such as poor attendance, poor academic achievement and “dropping-out”. It
addresses the issue: “Does cultural background really make a difference?” by comparing the
achievement motivation profiles of a wide range of groups including Anglo Australians and Anglo
Americans, Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians and Immigrant Australians. A particular
focus of the paper will be an examination of the multi-method and psychometric approaches used
to ensure the validity and reliability of the information obtained, and will pay special attention to
the etic-emic considerations important in cross-cultural research.
Toward an integrated model of student goals
In order to contrast the behavior of students who can and those who cannot navigate successfully
in the direction of academic success, many psychological constructs have been evoked. It is
generally accepted that individuals steer and direct their behavior in the direction of valued goals
and away from non-valued goals. Educational researchers find it hard to explain why some
students do not value academic goals and seem to act in the service of keeping their socioemotional goals consistently in the right direction. They argued that students meet many unpredictable forces, which make it hard to steer behavior in the intended direction. At such a point,
different reactions can be seen: Some students will us will power to keep on course, others will put
their academic goals on hold, intending to come back to these goals later, while still others will
abandon goal pursuit altogether. I will argue that a complete understanding of students’ behavior
in the classroom requires a conceptual framework that casts student behavior in terms of the selfregulatory processes that constitute the pursuit of desired end-states and the avoidance of
undesired end-states. An integrated model of student goals will be presented, focusing explicitly
on the interactions between goals, and between goals and elements in the social environment that
facilitate or frustrate the pursuit of salient goals. Gaps in our knowledge of these relationships will
be pointed out.
– 129 –
B 16
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO G B
CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACHES – STILL POWERFUL FRAMES FOR
IMPROVING INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE?
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussants:
Reinders Duit, University of Kiel, Germany
Ference Marton, Göteborg University, Sweden
Richard White, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Present attempts to improve instructional practice are based – at least to certain extent – on
constructivist views of teaching and learning of some kind. Quality development programs on
improving science and mathematics instruction that have been developed in many countries due to
insufficient results in international monitoring studies like TIMSS and PISA, for instance, usually
explicitly draw on constructivist views. However, there appear to be serious problems with these
constructivist views. First, there are many variants of such views discussed and used. Is the
common core a small set of ideas only that is psychological and educational common sense?
Second, whereas recent developments of inclusive constructivist views appear to allow
understanding teaching and learning processes more adequately, the gulf between research
knowledge and what teachers may set into practice becomes deeper. These two issues are addressed in the four contributions of the symposium and by the discussants. On the one hand research
findings on improving practice of teaching and learning are presented. On the other hand, research
on the reality of instructional practice in schools and possibilities to improve this practice by
constructivist approaches are discussed. There is a certain focus on science education here. Science
education clearly is a domain in which much constructivist research on teaching and learning,
often under the heading of conceptual change, has been carried out. It is also the domain where
cognitive psychologists and science educators closely co-operate.
Constructivist research on teaching and learning – A cognitive psychology view
Heinz Mandl et al. University of Munich, Germany
Research based on constructivist approaches on teaching and learning show how learning
environments can support the construction of knowledge. Such approaches were based on studies
on reciprocal teaching of reading skills (Palinscar & Brown, 1984), procedural scaffolding of
writing (Scardamalia, Bereiter & Steinbach, 1984), improvement of learning transfer (Beach,
1999; Cox, 1997) and learning in communities of practice (Lave, 1991). The community of
practice model has become a successful model for learning because it enables shared knowledge
construction within groups. Furthermore it expands the perspective of individual knowledge
towards shared knowledge (Resnick, Levine, & Teasley, 1991). These constructivist-oriented
approaches are subsumed today under the collective term “situated learning” (Gerstenmaier, 1999;
Greeno, Collins & Resnick, 1996; a critical perspective on this topic by Anderson et al., 1995a,
1995b, 1997; Klauer, 1999). Analyses of situated learning preferably focus on the analysis of
effective learning environments and their characteristic. Some of these characteristics have been
realized in the “cognitive apprenticeship approach” (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989), the
approach “collaborative learning culture” (Brown, 1997) and the “authentic learning approach”
(Bruner, 1990). The main focus of the presentation concerns examples from our research on IT
– 130 –
learning environments in the domain of medicine and knowledge management. They show that
constructivist approaches may improve instructional practice.
Conceptual change approaches for improving teaching and learning science in the schools
Stella Vosniadou, University of Athens, Greece
The main conceptual change approach to teaching science is usually identified with the work of
Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (1982). They have argued that there are four fundamental
conditions that need to be fulfilled before conceptual change can happen: (1) there must be
dissatisfaction with existing conceptions, (2) a new conception must be intelligible, (3) a new
conception must appear initially plausible, and (4) a new concept should suggest the possibility of
a fruitful research program. They also argued that cognitive conflict should be the main
mechanism for bringing about conceptual change. This theoretical framework became the leading
paradigm that guided research and instructional practices in the science education profession for
many years, but also became subject to a number of criticisms, that current research in science
education is attempting to answer. Some of these questions are the following: How productive is
the analogy between students and scientists? How coherent and resistant to instruction are
students’ initial conceptions about the physical world? Is cognitive conflict a good strategy to
produce conceptual change? Should science education aim at producing “conceptual change” or
towards fostering the use of “multiple representations?”. The above mentioned questions will be
addressed on the basis of our current theoretical and empirical understanding of how conceptual
change happens and we will discuss the specific instructional implications that spring out from this
research.
Improving science learning and teaching
Peter W. Hewson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
A great deal of research in science education over the past 25 years has been spurred by a belief in
the failures of didactic, content-oriented, teacher-centered instruction in science: far too many
students leave science classrooms with a patchwork of disconnected facts that make little sense to
them. This research has focused an students’ conceptions and teaching approaches that explicitly
address these conceptions. In many innovative learner-centered, inquiry-oriented science classrooms, extraordinary learning outcomes have been documented, as students have demonstrated
deep scientific understanding. This research has been informed by different theoretical approaches
that address science, learning, curriculum, and instruction in fundamental ways. Many of these
practices and principles are now reflected in standards and curriculum documents around the
world. Yet the adoption in practice of these new approaches is not widespread: the didactic,
teacher-centered instruction that spurred much of this research is still very prevalent. I will present
an overview of these research approaches that highlights the complex, systemic nature of science
teaching, learning, and teacher education, and raises questions about the disappointing influence
on practice.
Constructivist views and teaching and learning practice - Teachers’ views, classroom behaviour
and instructional results
Ari Widodo, University of Kiel, Germany
In the other presentations of this symposium it is argued that constructivist views may provide
powerful frameworks for improving practice. In the present presentation the argument put forward
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by Peter Hewson that actual school practice is not significantly informed by theses views so far
will be further discussed. A video-study on “normal” introductory physics instruction in Germany
has shown that most teachers’ subjective theories of teaching and learning physics and also their
actual teaching behaviour are usually not informed by constructivist views. Their considerations
on physics instruction are very much topic oriented and do not include issues of how students may
learn what is presented in class. Further, most teachers are not familiar with key views of
conceptual change and major research findings. The video-study includes an instrument to code
key characteristics of “Constructivist Oriented Science Classrooms” as documented in the actual
teaching behaviour and in teacher interviews (developed by Ari Widodo). Therefore, it is possible
to investigate teachers’ subjective theories and actual teaching behaviour from the perspective of
constructivist oriented science classrooms and also to analyse in which way certain teacher
“profiles” lead to better development of cognitive and affective outcomes of instruction.
Constructivist oriented teaching usually results in better cognitive outcomes. Interestingly, a
number of teachers who are not informed about constructivist ideas and approaches nevertheless
show certain “constructivist orientated” teaching.
B 17
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 4 S
Symposium
KEYSTROKE LOGGING: A WINDOW ON ON-LINE WRITING PROCESSES
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Eva Lindgren, Umeå University, Sweden
Marie Stevenson, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Kirk P. H. Sullivan, Umeå University, Sweden
Sven Strömqvist, Lund University, Sweden
Keystroke logging is a data collection technique that is gaining increasing popularity in writing
research. The writers’ computer keystrokes are registered, enabling on-line writing processes to be
studied with greater precision and detail than is otherwise possible. The changes to the text that a
writer makes throughout the text creation process can be tracked. Moreover, a variety of language
production fluency measures such as pause durations and size of language production chunks can
be collected in a form which is easily accessible to analysis. Through such research applications,
the use of keystroke logging techniques can provide information that is valuable for writing
instruction, and some logging techniques can also be employed directly as teaching tools.
Teaching insights may be of benefit in either the native language (L1) or in the foreign language
(FL) classroom. The objectives of this symposium are to introduce key-stroke logging to a wider
audience, to facilitate discussion between those already working with this technology and to
establish the educational implications and applications of research in this area. The symposium
starts by presenting methodological considerations and their relevance to data collection before
moving on to examples of how keystroke logging can be used in educational research and applied
in instruction as a tool to support learning.
What is a pause when you are learning to write?
Åsa Wengelin, Lund University, Sweden and Florida Atlantic University, USA
Pauses in language production are often associated with planning, encoding and monitoring of
linguistic messages and are therefore viewed as an important window to the mental processes
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underlying language production. One important tool for the analysis of pauses in writing is
keystroke logging. With keystroke logging all keyboard and mouse events are recorded with high
precision, allowing locations, durations and frequencies of pauses to be investigated. However,
keystroke logging has one important drawback: people have different typing skills. A pause for
one writer may not be a pause for another. While the spoken signal is continuous and therefore all
silences could be counted as pauses, a typed message consists of discrete keystrokes where each
transition between two keys is a possible pause candidate. Obviously not all such transitions are
pauses. Intuitively a pause should be an interruption of the writing which is longer than a normal
transition between two keystrokes. How long this interruption should be to count as a pause is
probably individual and depending on the typing speed of the writer. In research on adult writers it
is easy to choose subjects whose typing speed falls within a certain range. However, in dealing
with children or people with learning disabilities this is not an option. This paper will review
existing pause criteria and, based on different empirical datasets, suggest how the transition times
of each person could be used to set individual pause criteria and how writers could be compared to
each other despite having different pause criteria.
Pausing, productivity and the processing of topic in on-line writing
Kristyan Spelman-Miller, University of Reading, United Kingdom
A fundamental issue for those of us engaged in the study of writing in real time is how we describe
and measure the stream of language produced. Relatively little attention has been paid within the
psycholinguistics literature to principles underlying the description, and ultimately quantification,
of language production within the context of writing research. The opportunity for the
pausological study of on-line writing afforded by keystroke logging methodology prompts timely
reflection on this neglected area, and forms the background to this presentation. In this paper we
discuss ideas for the extension and modification of existing schemes for the identification of pause
location, which have traditionally focussed on the grammatical characterisation of units of
production. The development we propose is to view pause location in terms of boundaries of
language units which serve a potential role in the development of topic within the discourse. In
other words, pause location is related to the function of the units of language produced in
introducing, maintaining and developing topic in the discourse. A number of “framing device”
categories, including subject theme and a range of thematised structures, are proposed as a way of
interpreting pause location from a discourse oriented perspective. One of the questions which our
keystroke study of L1 and L2 writers addresses is whether features of pausing behaviour may be
associated with writers' processes in handling topic introduction, maintenance and development in
real time. Our analyses reveal interesting, but subtle, differences between writers in their pausing
at framing device locations, suggesting some potential for a more discourse-sensitive interpretation
of where and why pausing occurs.
A comparision of writing processes in L1 (Dutch) and FL (English) using keystroke logging
Marie Stevenson, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
For learners at elementary and intermediate levels of FL proficiency, foreign language writing is
likely to be an effortful process. It may require conscious attention to retrieve words and
structures, leaving little attention available for addressing concerns such as global informational
content and organization. Thus, it could be expected that there will be differences between first
language (L1) and foreign language (FL) writing in regard to process measures such as fluency of
language production and revising behavior. In this paper, the writing processes of high school age
writers in L1 (Dutch) and FL (English) will be compared. Firstly, students’ degree of writing
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fluency in L1 and FL will be compared, using data from keystroke logfiles. Secondly, students’
on-line writing revisions in L1 and FL will be compared, using keystroke-logging data collected
with the programme, Trace-it. The relationship between these writing process measures and text
quality will also be examined. The results will be discussed in the light of the hypothesis that
writers reduced fluency in FL writing will affect both the kinds of revisions which writers carry
out and the resulting quality of their texts. As the ability to revise problems in texts is commonly
considered to be an important skill for young writers to develop, the relevance of the findings to
FL writing instruction will be discussed. In addition, practical and theoretical problems associated
with keystroke logging will be highlighted.
Using key-stroke logged writing as a learning and research tool in the classroom
Eva Lindgren, Umeå University, Sweden
Mats Deutschmann, Umeå University, Sweden
This paper discusses two application areas for key-stroke logging: learning and research. Needless
to say, the applications for key-stroke logging in writing research are many. We will give
examples of some of those before we move on to focus on key-stroke logging in relation to
language learning research and corpus methodology. Examples will be given from a study in
which key-stroke logging was used to enhance awareness of writing and language. Results showed
that young writers improved their texts significantly in both their first and foreign languages after
reflection and discussion of the key-stroke-logged writing sessions. Furthermore, revision of textbased features increased significantly after the treatment, indicating a raised awareness of content.
Finally, we will discuss the initial stages of a project with the primary aims of forming a corpus of
key-stroke-logged writing sessions and applying the corpus in an educational setting.
B 18
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO 1 E
Symposium
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN COMPLEX DOMAINS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Ton De Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Stephen Alessi, University of Iowa, USA
Experiential learning has since long been seen as a powerful way of learning in which a learner
constructs knowledge and skills from direct experience. Theories on experiential learning, or
learning by doing, emphasise the larger involvement and commitment of learners, (e.g., Rogers),
the necessity to reflect and make abstractions from the experience (e.g., Kolb or Freire) or the role
of feedback (e.g., Anderson). In line with these starting points fruitful experiential learning
depends on the reality level of the available learning material, the design and sequencing of the
cases, and the support and feedback given to the learner. ICT nowadays helps to realise the goals
of experiential learning by modelling and shaping reality in for example, video’s, animations, and
simulations, by enabling a flexible and dedicated presentation of the cases, and by offering the
possibility to provide learners with adaptive and just-in-time feedback. The presentations in this
symposium try to shed more light on the process of experiential learning, both by looking at
design characteristics of experiential learning environments and by examining in a detailed way
processes that learners employ while engaged in experiential learning. The presentations in this
– 134 –
symposium take there examples from a diversity of complex domains: medicine, physics, and
psychology. The discussion will frame the contributions in a taxonomy of overt and covert
learning processes for experiential learning.
Experiential learning in medicine: Methods, prospects, and limitations
Birgit Hawelka, University of Regensburg, Germany
Wilhelm Stolz, Munich-Schwabing Hospital, Germany
Several studies on medical expertise show that the development of central clinical competencies
requires extensive experience. In consequence, new concepts of medical education emphasize the
importance of experiential learning. The idea of these teaching methods is to offer students a
learning environment where they can have experience with multiple cases and reflect their results
and mistakes with the aim to generalise abstract concepts of clinical knowledge. The opportunities
of making experience by bed-side teaching are very limited, however. For example, the
demonstration of some diseases could compromise patients. Moreover, learning from mistakes can
not occur at real patients. To overcome these difficulties, a virtual dermatological training
programme called “Dermatology2000” based on experiential learning theory was designed at the
university of Regensburg. In this virtual hospital students’ task is to construct the medical history
and to develop diagnoses of different dermatological patient cases. The students are supported by
an virtual coach who requests them to articulate and reflect their input. To ensure the quality and
the effect of this programme, it has been formatively evaluated in a field study. Main results of this
study are: (1) Tthe multimedia and interactive case-representation was rated as highly realistic; (2)
the students estimated the possibility to doing mistakes and (3) benefited from the opportunity do
reflect their actions; (4) Particulary cognitive aspects of clinical competence were supported.
These results show that even if virtual training can only provide simulated experience, it can
contribute to further clinical competence by experiential learning.
Diagnostic reasoning through multiple clinical cases: What do students learn from their
experiences?
Margje van de Wiel, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Nicolaas Schaper, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Research on medical expertise has shown that experienced physicians have developed a large body
of integrated knowledge that allows them to diagnose clinical cases accurately and fast using highlevel clinical concepts. Medical students, in contrast, use more biomedical knowledge in
diagnostic reasoning. It is supposed that through the repeated use of knowledge in diagnosing and
treating patients elaborate networks of biomedical knowledge become encapsulated into more
comprehensive clinical concepts. In the present study, the effect of repeated reasoning through
related cases was investigated in fourth-year medical students. The students were asked to thinkaloud while diagnosing a large series of written clinical cases. The only feedback they received
was the correct diagnosis after each case. Data analysis of nine cases of heart disease revealed that
students needed less time to diagnose the successive cases and used fewer words in their protocols.
However, diagnostic accuracy did not increase with number of cases reasoned through. More
detailed protocol analysis will have to show whether biomedical lines of reasoning helped them at
first to relate signs and symptoms to diagnostic hypotheses and were left out too early.
Subsequently, qualitative analysis of the knowledge used will be related to diagnostic
– 135 –
performance, metacognitive awareness and self-explanatory behavior. The data will suggest how
expe-riential learning from multiple cases may be enhanced.
Using heuristics to facilitate experiential learning in a simulation-based discovery learning
environment
Koen Veermans, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Wouter R. van Joolingen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Learners are often reported to experience difficulties with simulation-based discovery learning.
Heuristics for discovery learning (rules of thumb that guide decision-making) can help learners to
overcome these difficulties. In addition, the heuristics themselves are open for transfer. One way to
include heuristics in a discovery learning environment is to incorporate them implicitly, i.e.
building in the decisions that can be derived from the heuristics. While this supports learning
domain knowledge, it doesn’t necessarily elicit the experiential learning needed for transfer.
Communicating the heuristics explicitly in addition to the implicit heuristic support is more likely
to trigger reflection on and conceptualization of the heuristics, and potentially transfer to other
situations. In an experimental study these two ways of including heuristic support were compared
in terms of their impact on the learning process, and learning outcomes. The domain to be learned
was from physics, the learning environment was a simulation based discovery environment. The
results showed considerable domain knowledge gains in both conditions from pre- to post-test, but
no differences between conditions. Differences were found with respect to the learning process.
Especially at the beginning, learners in the explicit heuristics condition exhibited more selfregulatory behavior, which is an indication of experiential learning. It seems these learners
reflected on the heuristics, made their own conceptualizations, and based their decisions on these
conceptualizations. Including heuristics explicitly in discovery learning environments seems a
promising approach to elicit experiential learning that deserves further exploration.
Experiential learning in psychology: The ZAP project
Tessa Eysink, Twente University, The Netherlands
Casper Hulshof, Twente University, The Netherlands
Sofie Loyens, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
The ZAP (‘very active psychology’) project aims at developing a set of interactive computer
programs (ZAPs) to allow students to experience psychological phenomena in a vivid and selfexplaining way. This provides a way of learning in which students are invited to actively engage in
the subject matter. Interaction with ZAPs can foster experiential learning in two ways. Students
can either take the role of subject and experience phenomena themselves (e.g., by taking part in
experiments), or they can take the role of researcher and learn by discovery (e.g., by performing
experiments with a dog to learn about classical conditioning). To examine whether students were
able to work with ZAPs, three measurements were used. First, navigation through ZAPs was
examined by registering students’ actions. Second, students’ appreciation was evaluated by a
questionnaire. Both measurements were taken during two sessions of 90 and 65 students who
completed six ZAPs in total. Third, by having students think aloud, their reasons for performing
operations within ZAPs were determined. Two groups of ten and eight students respectively
completed two ZAPs each. Results show that students experienced ZAPs as an interesting and
enjoyable way to learn about psychology. The students were highly motivated to actively engage
in the subject matter. It can be concluded that ZAPs provide added value to existing learning
materials about psychology and that they can be used to elicit experiential learning activities.
– 136 –
Interaction strategies which facilitate or hinder experiential learning
Stephen Alessi, University of Iowa, USA
If experiential learning is learning by doing, then a key to its effectiveness lies in what the learner
is doing. Whether the methodology is simulation, laboratory work, or role-playing, the type of
learner actions and interactions is critical to learning outcomes. Furthermore, both overt
(observable) and covert (internal) activities are critical. Computer simulations typically depend on
four types of overt activity: selecting, assembling, activating, and controlling. Non-computer
methodologies add some additional activities: speaking and writing being two of the most
important. Designers of experiential learning environments include such activities with the
intention that they promote critical thinking skills such as diagnosis, experimentation, and
maintenance. Learners often fail to achieve desired goals because they can engage in the required
covert activities without engaging in the desired covert activities. Better outcomes depend on
designing interaction sequences (action, reaction, judgement, feedback) which ensure the desired
covert activities (observing, reflecting, evaluating, remembering). Heuristics are suggested, and
examples given, for facilitating particular covert actions with patterns of overt interaction. These
heuristics and examples follow from the author’s taxonomy of learning interactions, which include
not only on-line interactions, but overt and covert off-line interactions, collaborative interactions,
and meta-interactions (such as “gaming” and “experimenting”). A primary argument is that many
learning environments fail because designers assume learners will be motivated to engage in the
desired covert actions. Learning activities will be more successful if they are designed to ensure
those actions, rather than assume they will occur.
B 19
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 2 E
Symposium
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
Part 1: Technologies for visualizing complex and abstract knowledge
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussants:
Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Friedrich Hesse, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Jeroen van Merriënboer, Open University, Heerlen, The Netherlands
Recent developments in information and communication technologies have resulted in a variety of
tools that are supposed to possess an enormous educational potential for individual as well as for
collaborative learning. However, although advances in technology-based instruction allow to
deliver to students information in ways that teachers cannot, in many cases there is neither
convincing theoretical nor empirical evidence from a psychological perspective to support the
claim that the use of advanced technology is more effective than more traditional educational
approaches. In particular, it is not clear (1) which psychological processes relevant to learning may
be facilitated by different advanced technologies, (2) which instructional goals may be more easily
achieved by them, and (3) for which learners as well as (4) under which circumstances they may
be beneficial. In response to this state of the field this symposium brings together conceptual as
well as experimental contributions that provide insights into the prospects and drawbacks of up-to– 137 –
date instructional devices. In particular, there is a focus on those features that are unique for
particular technologies and that may be responsible for learning outcomes not easily obtained with
already well-established types of multimedia instruction. The first part of the symposium will deal
with individual learning scenarios based on technologies for visualizing complex and abstract
knowledge. These technologies comprise mapping tools, 3-dimensional information spaces, virtual
reality as well as interactive hypervideo.
Organization, representation, and localization of knowledge with mapping tools
Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Heiko Haller, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Whereas traditional concept mapping tools only offer possibilities to map conceptual knowledge,
more advanced computerized mapping tools also allow for the efficient organization,
representation, and localization of knowledge about contents and resources. It is suggested that
these tools may augment the capacity of the human brain and may support students in managing
knowledge in complex cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, web-based
studying, or hypertext writing. The goal of this presentation is to analyze the rationale and the
potential of using computerized mapping tools for supporting aspects of individual knowledge
management in complex self-regulated learning scenarios as well as the conditions under which
they may be successfully applied. In this analysis we will focus on three types of mapping tools:
Concept Mapping, Mind Mapping, and Spatial Hypertext. Firstly, the theoretical basis and the
conceptual rationale for the use of mapping tools in e-learning scenarios are presented and the
requirements for a cognitive mapping of conceptual, content, and resource knowledge are outlined.
Secondly, the different types of computer-based mapping tools are analyzed with respect to their
potential to meet requirements for effective knowledge organization, representation, and
localization. Thirdly, the rationale of different tools as well as their functions for fostering aspects
of knowledge management are juxtaposed, compared, and discussed with respect to their
contribution to support students in coping with complex and knowledge-rich cognitive processing
tasks. Finally, shortcomings in using computerized mapping tools as well as requirements for
empirical research are highlighted. Recommendations for the use of computerized mapping tools
in e-learning scenarios are given.
Using 3-dimensional information spaces for information retrieval and learning
Tanja Keller, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Matthias Grimm, Computer Graphics Center, Darmstadt, Germany
The availability of vast amounts of information in today’s information society (e.g., large
databases, WWW) makes it necessary to develop efficient devices to structure and organize these
huge and complex information sets. To achieve this goal, there is currently a strong trend towards
information visualization, in particular with regard to abstract data structures that have no natural
visual representation in the real world. Information visualization aims at conveying a mental
representation of data structures which in turn allows for an efficient retrieval and utilization of
this information. An important discussion in the field of information visualization focuses on
whether 3-dimensional information spaces are superior compared to more traditional non-spatial
visualizations with regard to the representation of information structures as well as with respect to
information-retrieval tasks. Recent research demonstrates that information spaces could in
principle have potentials that are not offered by non-spatial information visualizations. For
instance, one important advantage of information spaces may be that the representation of
– 138 –
information can be adapted to natural (spatial) experiences of the users. In this presentation we
will discuss cognitive processes involved in how users interact with information spaces when they
employ these environments for information retrieval and learning. A focus will be on how users
construct mental models of 3-dimensional information environments and how they navigate
through them. Furthermore, the question will be addressed whether information spaces may not
only be beneficial for facilitating information retrieval but whether they are also suitable for
information visualizations in learning scenarios.
Viewpoints in 3D-environments: Implications for learning and knowledge acquisition
Stephan Schwan, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria
Bärbel Garsoffky, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
With the development of new graphical capabilities like virtual realities, new types of learning
scenarios emerge. These scenarios situate the learner within a three-dimensional arrangement of
dynamic, manipulable learning objects and allow her/him to interactively navigate through this
arrangement. Therefore, from the standpoint of instructional design, a number of questions
concerning the spatial arrangement of the learning episodes and its cognitive processing come into
play. Firstly, to what extent does learning and understanding of a given three-dimensional
information presentation depend on the specific viewpoint from which it is observed? Secondly,
given the viewpoint-dependence of learning and understanding, do specifically suited, so-called
canonical viewpoints exist, which foster the understanding of the presentation? Thirdly, if so,
should the media author predefine possible viewpoints according to these canonical viewpoints, or
should s/he leave decisions concerning the viewpoint to the learner? For all three mentioned
problems, the empirical literature both from traditional audiovisual media like educational movies
as well as from new media like virtual realities is reviewed. Additionally, findings from a number
of empirical studies conducted in our own laboratory will be discussed. They show that learning
and understanding is influenced by viewpoint and that it can be facilitated both by providing
multiple perspectives and by choosing canonical viewpoints. Additionally, it bears the danger of
disorientation and cognitive overload when learners have to determine the viewpoint for
themselves. As an outlook, against the backdrop of these findings, a number of issues for the
design of three-dimensional learning environments are specified and discussed.
Learning with interactive hypervideo
Carmen Zahn, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Matthias Finke, Computer Graphics Center, Darmstadt, Germany
Stephan Schwan, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria
Non-linear information structures are not confined to texts, but can be applied to audio-visual
presentations, too. As a result, new variations of interactive video arise, called hypervideo (Locatis
et al, 1990). Hypervideo structures are expected to contribute to learning, because they combine
dynamic visualisations with the interactive features of complex hypermedia; thus supporting both,
experiential and reflective modes of cognitive processing (Guimarães et al., 2000; Norman, 1993).
It is still open, however, how single parameters of designing instructional hypervideo might affect
knowledge acquisition. Within a 2x2-factorial experimental design we investigated how the factors
‘number of hyperlinks’ (high vs. low) and ‘position’ (sequentially integrated vs. grouped) would
influence navigation and learning in an individual learning situation. The investigation was based
on four hypervideo versions, each containing videoclips and texts about a biological topic. 74
subjects, who had performed a pre-test assessing their prior knowledge, were asked to work with
these hypervideos for about 90 minutes. During learning, navigation activities of the learners were
– 139 –
recorded in computer log files. Knowledge acquisition was assessed by comparing pre- and posttest results. Results indicate that subjects working with the different hypervideo versions could
substantially increase their knowledge. On an individual level, indicators of navigation activities
(e.g. extent of using interactive functions) were significantly and positively correlated with
knowledge acquisition. However, neither navigation activities nor knowledge acquisition were
significantly influenced by the between-subjects factors. Thus, evidence signifies that all four
hypervideo designs potentially could support knowledge acquisition for individuals. Future work
now includes investigating appropriate designs for collaborative learning scenarios.
B 20
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO 1 L
Symposium
EMOTIONS AND MEMORY IN LEARNING ACTIVITY IN THE LIGHT OF
PROBABILISTIC PROGNOSIS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Josef Feigenberg, Jerusalem Interdisciplinary Seminar, Israel
Onno G. Meijer, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Peter (Rodler) Ferdinand, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
The aim of our symposium is to discuss possibility of using the Probabilistic Prognosis (PP) [1-3]
for more effective learning process. The presented reports are based on investigation and on
college and school experience of teaching science (physics and mathematics), foreign language
and motor training in sport [4-6]. The new concrete teaching methods are elaborated on this basis
with promotion of the students’ emotional reaction, such as selective mobilization of students’
attention. The structure of memory will be analyzed from this point of view as the basis for PP.
Probabilistic prognosis and emotions in purpose-oriented learning activity
Josef Feigenberg, Interdisciplinary Seminar, Jerusalem, Israel
Tatiana Olevsky, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Eugenia Kaplan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Both biological and social development of life on the Earth, take place in the probabilistically
determined environment. Thus, the consequences of the events that require one’s exact, quick, and
purposeful reactions, are neither finally determined on the one hand, nor chaotic and unpredictable
on the other. As a result of acting in such an environment, animals have developed a function,
which we call probabilistic prognosis (PP). PP is an ability to foresee what events will follow the
existing state with a greater probability. This prognosis is based on the probabilistic structure of
previous experience, contained in memory, it seems to be one of memory’s most important
functions. On the basis of PP there develops a presetting - a “preparation” for future actions that
are relevant to a predicted state. The presetting helps organisms to get ready for the change of the
coming situation. The reaction started in advance to the according external state becomes more
exact, quick, economical, and purpose-oriented. On this symposium we will discuss how PP is
related to the learning activity and creation of students positive emotional reactions. Several
methods of teaching, based on PP, which promote to the change of the concepts within the
student’s consciousness, will be presented here. An approach to learning, based on PP, proved to
be successful in the teaching of science, languages, and sports.
– 140 –
Motivation and emotions in active learning: Probabilistic prognosis and selective attention’
mobilization in science teaching
Lea Valentina Lavrik, Michlelet Lifshitz Teachers Academic College, Israel
Efficiency of the lesson is a function of a series of factors, but to a large extent it depends on the
students’ motivation and attention. One of the pedagogical technique aiming at emotional
activation and increasing motivation is the selective mobilization of attention which based on the
knowledge of the typical misconceptions in the content of the teaching material and using the PP
theory. This technique is efficient in cases when the lesson deals with something, on which the
students have preliminary knowledge (even at the level of everyday routine), while for some of
them this knowledge may be erroneous. At the very beginning of the lesson the students are asked
a question related to the material to be taught. The question is formulated in accordance with the
principle of multiple choice, while characteristic misconceptions should be presumed as possible
answers. After the student made his choice, he is immediately responded and provided with the
correct answer. The discrepancy between the student’s opinion (in case he was wrong) and the
correct answer arouses an emotional reaction and increases his attention that very moment, when
the teacher begins his discussion of the issue, which was misunderstood by the student. Several
video-documented examples of this technique will be done in reference to mathematics and
sciences teaching in colleges. Results of our investigation and teaching perspectives will be
discussed.
Probabilistic prediction (PP) in teaching and mastering foreign language
Nelly Krelenshtein, Moskow‘s monthly pedagogical newspaper in Germany “Der 1 September”
Teaching foreign languages, PP is very essential in the lexical region - to provide an understanding
of the sense of unknown words in context without appealing to a dictionary. The PP makes it
possible to avoid a complicated memory process when teaching free reading, speech and
synchronous translation. The PP of the meaning of unknown words is based on the fact that in oral
message every word is tied by many threads with neighboring words and the context. This contact
is often based on psychological associations. Appealing to PP in learning process, we are able to
develop psychological characteristics of students, which attribute to understanding of those
connections. The perception of speech in native language always involves PP, usually intuitive
one. Teaching a foreign language, it is necessary to transfer those skills into it - making PP
conscious by means of corresponding training. PP of words meaning is determined by the
macrocontext (titles, paragraphs, preceding and subsequent text, background knowledge) and the
microcontext (word combinations).Understanding of the grammatical carcass of a sentence is a
necessary condition in the PP. Therefore, teaching the PP is possible only at both a certain level of
the grammatical knowledge and vocabulary of 500-700 words. The educational value of the
method consists in the perception of language as a pithy whole, in elevation of the interest to the
language and in development of intellectual activity.
Prognosis in sports training
Roman Golemba, Interdisciplinary Seminar, Jerusalem, Israel
Prognosis of your partner’s activities and their development in a fighting situation in the course
of sports coaching is considered in the present report. The model of Eastern mutual fighting art
training is used as an example. A reliable prognosis is necessary in any fight to provide fast and
accurate activities both in defense and attack. Unlike J. Feigenberg, who considers the prognosis
as based on the probability of the origin of certain situations, which took place in one’s past
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activity, this work considers the prognosis as based on the recognition of any early stages of the
partner’s activities, those of his movements (often hardly noticeable) that precede his main
movement, constituting the “nucleus” of his attack. These peculiar “pre-signals” allow a welltrained sportsman certain ground for the prognosis of any further motions of his partner and for
the initiation of his own adequate activities in proper time. The author has developed a new
method for coaching sportsman, its basis being the prognosis of partner's movement. Most
encouraging results have been obtained. It’s interesting to note, that’s the coaching aimed at the
improvement of prognosis of the results in some particular kind of sports, calls forth the
improvement in the results of the same sportsman in other kinds of sports.In his report the author
wishes to present the account of the main principles of his methods in sports’ couching.
Probability prognosis and structure of memory in learning activity
Vladimir Maharik, Tel Aviv University, Israel
The author of the current report has constructed a logical model of memory following ideas
presented by J. Feigenberg in a number of publications. His main assertion is that the memory
being a product of evolution and developing from primitive forms to the very sophisticated
constructions, never loses its utilitarian purpose. The memory is storing data and provids access to
them. However, the data storing is useless (and the useless has no chance to evolve in the process
of evolution) unless it provides better adaptation tools in the conservative or changing
environment. As soon as similarities to the past occur, the correspondent patterns of reactions that
have been successfully tested in similar cases, are reproducing themselves. In other words, the
memory is a technique of prognosis. Our model of the memory consists of scripts each one being a
link of episodes of behaviour. First, the memory model is capable of calling some script by its
initiating episode. Second, it is able to create new scripts, thus educating itself. Third, it can forget
(but not forever), and forth, it can recover forgotten pieces under urge. The model contains the
concept and algorithm of learning.
B 21
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 4 R
Symposium
A BETTER LOOK AT INTELLIGENCE AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Johannes E. H. van Luit, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Johan H.M. Hamers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
In this symposium the main theme concerns the study of the relations between how students with
learning difficulties learn and the cognitive processes included in the Planning, Attention,
Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) theory. This kind of assessment gives teachers insight in
adequate instruction for low performing students. The paper ‘Cognitive processes and learning:
Planning and potential learning relations’ of Taddei (Università di Firenze, Italy) shows a better
understanding of the relations between planning and learning development with particular
attention to potential learning. The paper ‘When cognitive education is successful: Reading
disability and a program for cognitive enhancement’ of Das and Papadopoulos (University of
Alberta, Canada & University of Cyprus, Cyprus) shows the relation between theory and
educational practice, in specific the translation of theory into a program for cognitive enhancement
in reading. The paper ‘Cognition an instruction: A summary of research using PASS theory and
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math’ of Naglieri (George Mason University, United States of America) shows the connection
between the PASS theory and classroom instruction in arithmetic computation. The paper
‘Mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes’ of Kroesbergen and Van Luit
(Utrecht University, the Netherlands) presents the results of a study aimed to investigate the
relationship between mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes. In the
symposium discussion a critical reflection will be given on the relations between PASS processes
and effective instruction, particularly with respect to the abilities of students with learning
disabilities.
Cognitive processes and learning: Planning and potential learning relations
Stefano Taddei, University of Florence, Italy
The paper of Taddei is about the fact that in the past decade, both the methods of instruction and
the assessment of students’ performance have changed considerably. One element of this change is
the accent on cognitive competencies such as problem solving. In conjunction with this change,
new modes of assessment were implemented such as process assessment and learning capacity.
The conceptualization of intelligence called Planning, Attention, Successive and Simultaneous
Theory (Das, Naglieri, & Kirby, 1994) is one of the more interesting tools implemented. Moving
from the evidence that planning processes are related to school achievement (Naglieri, 1999), the
aim of this study is to understand the relations between planning and learning development with
particular attention to potential learning. A sample of 48 children of First (10 males and 6 females)
and Third grades (14 males and 17 females) of an Italian elementary school was examined by the
Italian version of Secret Write Test (SWT) (Veggetti & Taddei, 1995) and a paper and pencil
version of Planned Codes and Matching Numbers from the Cognitive Assessment System
(Naglieri & Das, 1997). Correlation indexes between planning tests and SWT were calculated, and
variance analyse were realised using different levels of transfer ability scores in the SWT as an
independent variable. Results underlying the relation between process assessment and learning
capacity are discussed.
When cognitive education is successful: Reading disability and a program for cognitive
enhancement
Jagannath P. Das, University of Alberta, Canada
Timothy C. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
The paper of Das and Papadopoulos presents an innovative remedial program structured around a
theoretical core for enhancing reading ability. The roots of the "PREP" program, its philosophical
foundations, and the design of both 'global' process training and 'bridging' activities are described
in Part 1, while in Part 2, essential elements of the program are presented. References are given to
support the efficacy of the program for cognitive enhancement. It is suggested that no single
program will provide a remedy to all of the varied problems expressed by children with reading
difficulties. But if reading and cognitive deficits are linked, as in PREP, we can assist children in
improving word reading and passage comprehension.
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Cognition and instruction: A summary of research using PASS theory and math
Jack Naglieri, George Mason University, Virginia, USA
The paper of Naglieri concerns children who perform poorly in arithmetic computation and may
be deficient in both knowledge of facts and problem solving skills (Das, Naglieri, & Kirby, 1994).
Direct instruction of skills and teaching problem solving can improve performance, especially
when the child’s cognitive characteristics are taken into consideration (Naglieri, 1999). This is
particularly so if a new conceptualization of intelligence called the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) Theory (Das, Naglieri & Kirby, 1994) is used. These processes are:
Planning (provides cognitive control, development of strategies and plans, self-regulation);
Attention (focused cognitive activity, resistance to distraction); Simultaneous (integration of
information into inter-related groups); and Successive (integration of information in a specific
linear order). The connection between this theory of intelligence and classroom instruction in
arithmetic computation will be presented. The connection between PASS and interventions for
children with learning disabilities was suggested by studies that focused on Planning by Cormier,
Carlson, and Das (1990) and Kar, Dash, Das, and Carlson (1992). This foundational research
method stimulated children’s use of planning based on the assumption that planning processes
should be facilitated rather than directly instructed. Their studies were extended by Naglieri and
Gottling (1995, 1997), and Naglieri and Johnson (2000) who demonstrated that an intervention
that facilitated planning led to improved performance on math calculation for those with low
scores in planning, but minimal improvement was found for those with high planning scores.
Thus, learning disabled students benefited differentially from the instruction based on their PASS
scores. Matching the instruction to the cognitive weakness of the child was shown to be important.
These studies will be summarized and implications discussed.
Mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes
Evelyn Kroesbergen, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
The paper of Kroesbergen and van Luit presents the results of a study aimed to investigate the
relation between mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes. The CAS, which
measures Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive processes (PASS; Naglieri & Das,
1997), was administered to a group of 267 students with math learning difficulties, attending either
regular or special education. It was studied if these students have other PASS-profiles than their
normal achieving peers. The students’ math performance was measured with three math tests for
basic skills, automaticity, and problem solving (Kroesbergen, Van Luit & Naglieri, 2002). The
results showed that students with math difficulties perform lower than their peers on all of the four
PASS processes. Furthermore, it was found that in this group relatively many students have a
specific cognitive weakness in Planning or Successive processing. In addition, those students with
specific difficulties with the acquisition of basic math facts were found to score particularly low on
the Successive processing scale; those students with automaticity problems produced particularly
low scores on the Planning, Attention, and Successive processing scales; and the group of students
with difficulties solving word problems produced relatively lower scores on the Attention and
Successive processing scales. Since it has been shown that students with specific cognitive profiles
benefit from specific interventions, these results have significant implications and relevance for
remediating math learning difficulties.
– 144 –
B 22
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 2 C
Symposium
TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE SELF- REGULATION OF
THEIR LEARNING
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Monique Brodeur, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada
Colette Deaudelin, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
Julien Mercier, McGill University, Canada
Since the work of Kremer-Hayon and Tillema (1999), the bridge between teachers’ professional
development and the self-regulation of their learning has been clearly established. Descriptive
studies have been conducted and others are necessary to better understand this new domain, which
is very important in these days of curricular reforms and professionalization of teaching. Recently,
experimental studies attempt to design and evaluate interventions aimed at enhancing this selfregulation, during both initial and continued training. The suggested symposium is important to
allow researchers to share their work and orient upcoming research, in order to better understand
and maintain the development of teachers’ self-regulation of their learning, ultimately to the
advantage of the students.
Self-regulated learning as a learning object and a learning strategy in the context of teachers
training
Olivier Dezutter, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
Jean-Claude Kalubi, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
Self-regulated learning (SRL) has been recognized since many years as an important field of
knowledge and inquiry related to education and training. More recently, this concept is being used
in the context of teachers’ learning. Beside that, SRL is increasingly integrated to distance
education courses as an essential component. It enables the fostering of general skills as well as
various communication abilities that are typical of the contemporary teacher. Theses abilities are
the target of a series of courses provided through “ le Canal Savoir “ (a television programs
production and broadcasting organism) This series is complemented by a website facilitating the
supervision of the student. These courses have been developed through an experiment of
integrating innovations to preservice teacher training programs (preschool, primary and secondary
school, and special education) In this context, SRL is conceived of both as an object of learning
and a learning strategy. Thus, in each 30-minute program, the concepts of metacognition and SRL
are presented using examples taken from real-life classrooms, previously videotaped. Learning
activities over the Internet are designed to guide the students in their analysis of the video
sequences and in their reflexive thinking about their teaching practices. This projects leads to
multi-level outcomes: at the level of teachers working in their classrooms and preparing to be
filmed, and at the level of preservice teachers taking the targeted training programs. This talk
reports on a pre-experimentation of this training device and proposes a discussion regarding the
various strategies put to contribution in its development.
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Self-regulation and collaborative learning in teachers’ professional development
Deborah L. Butler, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
In the past decade, concerns have been raised about traditional models of professional
development and the assumptions on which they are based. For example, problems have been
noted with top-down transmission approaches to disseminating knowledge (e.g., Gersten et al.,
1997) and the ability of one-stop workshops to promote meaningful learning (e.g., Palincsar,
1999). Alternative conceptions of teaching and knowledge construction have led to professional
development models that emphasize both individual and collaborative learning processes. On the
one hand, teachers are engaged in constructing, trying out, and evaluating instructional
approaches, all activities definitional of “self-regulated learning” (e.g., Butler et al., in press). On
the other hand, teachers are supported in the context of collaborative learning “communities” (e.g.,
Lave & Wenger, 1991). Given the advent of these blended professional development models, the
research described in this presentation was conducted with two complementary aims: (1) to assess
the outcomes associated with use of an integrated professional development model; and (2) to
examine the respective roles of collaborative and individual learning in teachers’ professional
development. To trace both outcomes and processes, in-depth case studies of the process of
professional development were conducted for teams of middle school teachers across 6 schools.
Data were collected through classroom observations, gathering of documents (e.g., instructional
materials), and semi-structured interviews. The report of findings will focus on both learning
outcomes and processes, and will have implications for how best to structure professional
development so as to promote teachers’ sustained collaboration and self-regulation in the context
of professional practice.
A study of self-regulated learning among pre- and primary school teachers engaged in lifelong
learning
Marc Dussault, University of Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Canada
Julien Mercier, McGill University, Canada
We present a study of socio-cognitive factors, regarding preschool and primary school teachers’
lifelong learning, as part of a professional development activity concerning the educational
integration of ICT. The 95 participants, split up into an experimental and a control group,
participated in an action research. Measures of self-regulated learning (SRL), self-efficacy and
organisational commitment have been collected at the beginning of the project and then, eight
months later. These measures have been carried out using scales developed and validated
especially to this end. Results reveal that the participants in the experimental group benefited from
the professional development activity with respect to 9 of the 12 dimensions of SRL considered in
this study. Concerning self-efficacy about the integration of ICT in the classroom, the participants
in the project obtain mean scores significantly higher than those of the control group with respect
to efficacy espectations as well as outcome expectancies. Regarding organisational commitment,
only 2 of the 6 dimensions are significant (continuance and towards students). This study shows
that a professional development activity integrating SRL has an impact on socio-cognitive
dimensions among teachers, in a relatively short time. Future studies are required to isolate the
specific contribution of SRL training to the outcomes of a professional development activity.
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Self-evaluation: A critical process in self-regulatory strategy use and professional development
Carolyn Orange, University of Texas San Antonio, USA
Traci Hodges, St. Louis University, USA
The aim is to provide evidence that students low in self-evaluation process will show lower selfregulatory strategy use than students that are high and to discuss the implications. Sixty-eight preservice teachers were given the Self Regulation Inventory. Exploratory factor analysis identified
common factors from the SRI , using a Varimax rotation. New variables Help Seeking, Managing
Distractions, Self Monitoring and Self Pacing. were created to represent latent indicators for high
SRI variable loadings on common factors. Nonparametric tests, Kruskal-Wallis and Median test
analyzed differences between groups identified by low, average or high score on Self Evaluation.
Test results indicate significant differences and support the hypothesis. Groups low on self
evaluation used fewer self - regulatory strategies than the high group, which could affect their
immediate and future achievement outcomes. The differences in groups may be explained by
outcome expectations in Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1986). Professional development of the
pre-service teacher should teach students how to self-evaluate, offer social comparison using
exemplary peer models, create awareness of self-regulatory deficiencies, promote having an
internal locus of control, help maintain self-evaluative expectations, teach more problem-focused
strategies to improve coping efficacy, encourage realistic barrier perceptions and outcome
expectations, provide opportunities to practice self-checking and to develop personal learning
goals that promote self-efficacy and self-regulatory competence.
B 23
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room PSY 3 I
Symposium
TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE BUILDING CULTURE: KNOWLEDGE FORUM ACROSS
CONTEXTS AND CULTURES
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Stefano Cacciamani, University of Valle D’Aosta, Italy
Robert-Jan Simons, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
The main purpose of this symposium is to analyse how a Knowledge building theoretical
perspective can be applied in different contexts and cultures using the collaborative on line
environment called CSILE- Knowledge Forum. From a common theoretical background, the
contributes highlight how different situational conditions with different problems (either in
educational or professional fields) require to create new strategies to apply the knowledge
building community idea and the knowledge building practices.
How is a knowledge building community different from a learning community?
Marlene Scardamalia, University of Toronto, Canada
Although the terms “knowledge building community” and “learning community” are often used
interchangeably, they refer to approaches that differ profoundly in goals and dynamics, even
though they both fall within the broad category of constructivist approaches. The differences
follow from the difference between learning and knowledge building: Learning is an internal,
unobservable process, that results in changes of belief, attitude, or skill. Knowledge building, by
contrast, is an overt, deliberate process that results in the creation or modification of public
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knowledge. Whether they are scientists working on an explanation of cell aging or first-graders
working on an explanation of leaves changing color in the fall, knowledge builders engage in
similar processes with a similar goal. That goal is to advance the frontiers of knowledge as they
perceive them. They may at the same time have personal learning as a goal; human beings, unlike
machines, are fully capable of simultaneously pursuing multiple goals. But the knowledge building
goals and the learning goals are not the same. A program might succeed in one yet fail in the other,
although the two kinds of goals should be mutually supportive. Several differences that have
consequences for practice will be elaborated in this presentation: (1) The difference between a
community that attaches primary value to idea improvement and one primarily concerned with
warranted belief; (2) the difference between problems of understanding and problems of prediction
and control; (3) the difference between shared responsibility for knowledge advancement and
shared responsibility for project work.
The computer screen as a cultural meeting place
Carl Bereiter, University of Toronto, Canada
In CSCL and CSCW, the computer screen is the place where people come together as a
community of practice to do work — to learn, to solve a problem, to advance the frontiers of
knowledge, or whatever their mission. With the rise of distance education, the computer screen
also becomes the place where the community itself is formed. This larger cultural aspect of
interface design has received relatively little attention, compared to the attention devoted to more
elementary issues of usability.In the discussion forums commonly used in education, the main
thing the computer screen presents to the participants is a list — the familiar indented list of
postings in a threaded discussion. As a cultural meeting place, this design leaves much to be
desired. An informal search of Internet forums has failed to turn up discussion that would support
the formation of a knowledge building community. By and large, so-called “forums” are not really
forums but bulletin boards that serve purposes of question-answer exchange and expression of
opinion. Throughout almost 2 decades of development, the CSILE/Knowledge Forum team have
experimented with ways to make the computer screen serve as a place where communities and
subgroups can form around knowledge building goals. Experimentation continues and I will be
presenting recent developments that highlight the empowerment of users to craft a communal
knowledge building space.
Progress toward knowledge-building inquiry
Kai Hakkarainen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Marianne Bollström-Huttunen, Helsinki City Department of Education, Finland
Riikka Pyysalo, University of Helsinki, Finland
The purpose of the present article is to analyze progress toward Knowledge-Building Inquiry
(KBI) in the context of computer-supported elementary-school classroom in Finland. The article
describes a process of moving from project learning towards KBI, by introducing the pedagogical
model of progressive inquiry and examining through a series of elementary school students' CSCL
projects the nature of their inquiry (e.g., the role of question transformation and pursuit of
explanation) and to what extent their educational activities represented various elements of
knowledge-building (e.g., symmetric knowledge advancement, constructive use of authoritative
sources). Qualitative analysis of the content of students' productions, social network analyses of
their discourse interaction, and videotaped participant observations (as well as interviews) are used
to analyze the study material. Teacher-researcher dialogues are used to illustrate psychological,
socioemotional, and social challenges involved in facilitating KBI in education; we aim at making
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explicit the multi-voiced characteristics of our joint efforts to improve the quality of learning and
instruction with the help of collaborative technologies. The paper arise a number of questions and
challenges that we have encountered while facilitating knowledge building in elementary school
education in Finland, such as the optimal relations between face-to-face and virtual working,
integration of students own hands-on field working with conceptually-oriented knowledge
building, and scaffolding of cognitively and motivationally diverge groups of students.
Changing pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning through knowledge building
discourse
Carol Chan, University of Hong Kong, China
This study investigated pre-service teachers’ collaborative knowledge building in a computersupported learning environment called Knowledge Forum. Pre-service teachers tend to hold
traditional beliefs about teaching and learning; we argue that the opportunity for them to work with
pedagogical ideas and practice as conceptual artifacts in a knowledge-building environment may
help them change their beliefs and make collective knowledge advances. Accordingly, the
objectives of the study are: (a) to design a learning environment that fosters the development of
knowledge building discourse; (b) to assess and characterize knowledge building inquiry and
discourse among pre-service teachers; and (c) to investigate whether pre-service teachers changed
their beliefs and develop deeper understanding. Participants included 210 pre-service teachers
taking a course in educational psychology at the University of Hong Kong. The instructional
design included engaging students in collaborative problem-centred inquiry on Knowledge Forum;
asking them to work as experts specializing on different problems (views); and using constructivist
assessment to scaffold collaborative knowledge construction. Analyses using Analytic Toolkit
(ATK) indicated that pre-service teachers were actively engaged in computer database usage; they
changed their beliefs about teaching and learning shifting from a transmission to a constructivist
view of learning; and students’ use of knowledge-building indices assessed by ATK was
significantly related with portfolio-assessment scores. Qualitative analyses were also conducted to
characterize the nature of knowledge building in this community; specifically, knowledge-building
episodes exemplifying different knowledge-building principles (Scardamalia, 2001) were
identified.
Knowledge forum in Italy: Overview and future perspectives
Maria Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, Italy
Donatella Cesareni, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy
Knowledge Forum (KF) has been introduced in Italy more or less a decade ago. In this
presentation we will give a short overview of the different projects within which KF has been
embedded and the distinctive features of its application in the Italian educational contexts. We
found that the introduction of KF in Italy has been characterized by the following aspects: (a)
tendency to integrate KF with other web based software (web-sites, data-bases, three-dimensional
software); (b) thus, the type of knowledge built through KF has been enriched by the knowledge
built through other software (conceptual knowledge building with the collaborative construction of
products); (c) it has been mainly a tool to support collaboration at a distance, between users
located in distance sites (same course attended by students from different cities or different
countries); (d) it has been tested as support for university courses to combine scientific thinking
with co-construction of argumentation. (e) Based on the results gathered with these experiences,
uses and applications of KF will be extended in the Italian scenario. The Collaborative Knowledge
Building Group (CKBG) has been established lately to promote the use of KF also in new
– 149 –
educational contexts - beside university and primary education. The CKBG is aimed at introducing
and experimenting the KF as a tool for discussion and knowledge building among educators,
teachers, and researchers.
B 24
27th Aug
8:30 - 10:30
Room BIO 1 G
Symposium
ENHANCING UNIVERSITY TEACHING-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS TO IMPROVE
STUDENT LEARNING
Organiser:
Chairs:
Discussant:
Noel Entwistle, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Max Scheja, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
This symposium focuses on ways in which university teaching-learning environments may be
improved so as to increase student engagement and the quality of learning outcomes. All the
papers have their origins in the developing research approach described as Student Learning
Research (SLR). One paper comes from The Netherlands and reports attempts to improve the level
of self-directed learning within Problem-Based Learning (PBL), and demonstrates the importance
of precision in the degree of ‘forced self-direction’ that can be used to improve the quality of
student learning. The other papers in the symposium introduce preliminary findings from a crossdisciplinary British study which involves collaboration with staff in five subject areas and some 15
higher education institutions. Given the focus on subject-specific teaching-learning environments,
it seemed important to present three such examples, relating to biology, economics and history,
while the first paper introduces the project as a whole. The symposium will provide a valuable
opportunity to discuss university learning environments, both generically and in relation to
contrasting traditions of academic scholarship.
University teaching-learning environments and their influences on student learning
Noel Entwistle, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
This paper will outline the research design, methods of data collection and analysis, the initial
conceptualisation and some preliminary findings of a major four-year research study within the
British Teaching and Learning Research Programme, entitled “Enhancing teaching-learning
environments in undergraduate courses” (the ETL Project - http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl). The main
purpose of the study is to investigate ways of enhancing student engagement and the quality of
learning within contrasting university subject areas and across a variety of different course
settings, focusing systematically on the important differences in teaching and learning that occur
across subject areas and course settings. The project involves analysis of the literature on teaching
and learning in each subject area and, within each course setting, analysis of curriculum materials,
in-depth interviews with staff and groups of students, and questionnaire measures of students’
approaches to studying and their perceptions of teaching-learning environments. These data are
collected in successive academic years. During the first year, base-line data is collected within a
particular course unit. That evidence is then used to negotiate research-informed changes in that
environment for the following year, designed to improve student engagement and the quality of
learning being encouraged. The data collection is then carried out again in relation to the modified
course unit and differences between the two years explored. This paper will set the scene for the
– 150 –
next three papers which are looking at the teaching-learning environments being provided within
the subject areas of biology, economics and history.
Final-year biology courses as teaching-learning environments
Dai Hounsell, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Velda McCune, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
This paper reviews emerging findings on key aspects of teaching-learning environments in
undergraduate Biology, with particular reference to three final-year, Honours-level course options
with a combined intake of about fifty students. In contrast to the first-year course units which are
also being investigated by the project, these typically have a tightly-knit course team and relatively
small intakes of self-selected students. The central concern of the paper will be with how highquality learning is defined, pursued and supported in these three course settings. Biggs' concept of
'constructive alignment' is used to examine these settings as teaching-learning environments,
exploring the 'goodness-of-fit' between high-quality learning outcomes and various contextual
features, including the nature of the student intakes, curriculum design, teaching-learning
activities, and assignments and assessments. As a proxy for high-quality constructivist learning
outcomes, the concept “'ways of thinking and practising in the subject” is introduced. This
encompasses not only knowledge and understanding but also skills, values and forms of discourse
which are regarded as central to graduate-level mastery of a discipline or subject area. The data on
which the paper draws chiefly comprises semi-structured interviews with students and with staff,
analysis of course documentation, and questionnaires, informed by a review of the literature on the
teaching and learning of biology in higher education.
Teaching-learning environments in economics
Nicola Reimann, University of Durham, England, United Kingdom
This paper will offer a description and analysis of teaching-learning environments in economics,
thereby contributing to an increased understanding of the subject-specific nature of such
environments. Evidence will be derived from two kinds of sources: a review of the disciplinespecific literature in economics education at university level as well as qualitative and quantitative
data (interviews, field-notes, questionnaires, documentary evidence) collected in six course units
in three UK economics departments as part of the ETL Project. Where appropriate, insights gained
in economics will be related to the generic characteristics of effective teaching-learning
environments which research on student learning has identified. Both the literature and the
empirical data suggest that teaching-learning environments in economics tend to follow a fairly
standard format across institutions and even across different countries. This applies in particular to
the selection of curriculum content and to the teaching-learning activities, tasks, materials and
assessments which are used on undergraduate economics programmes. Differences, on the other
hand, can mainly be attributed to variation within the wider environment, in particular the
institutional context and the kinds of students which the institution and the department recruit.
Alignment to students has therefore been found to be an important concern when designing
teaching-learning environments, particularly in those institutions which recruit students from more
varied, less traditionally academic backgrounds.
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Making history: Engaging students in the values and practices of a discipline
Kate Day, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Charles Anderson, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
This paper concerns the understanding of teaching and learning environments for undergraduate
history. It will pay particular attention to the ways in which the values and central practices that
characterise a disciplinary community shape teaching and learning practices. It will move on to
examine how the goal of enabling students to engage with these central disciplinary concerns is
instantiated within specific course/module settings, taking account of the local constraints and
affordances. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives on learning and development, existing
literature on teaching and learning in history, a corpus of interview data with history lecturers and
their students and the experience of involvement in collaborative initiatives to enhance the design
of individual history courses, this presentation will focus on: (1) Delineating the central developments in understanding of the purposes and nature of history, in perspective-taking skills and
reflexivity that history lecturers wish to foster in their students over the course of their university
career; (2) considering learning, teaching and assessment approaches and activities that can help
students to achieve these ways of thinking and a sense of confident engagement with the purposes
and values of the discipline; (3) illustrating the ways in which skilled history lecturers take account
of the academic background and life circumstances of their students in their design of learning,
teaching and assessment activities; (4) identifying the ways in which resourcing, degree structure
and other institutional level ‘environmental’ factors impinge on course design and everyday
practice.
Improving problem based student learning through self-directing study teams
Han Dahlmans, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational method in which students work in small groups at
trying to understand and explain real-life problems. Although PBL claims to stimulate selfdirected learning, in our view this only holds to a certain extent: the unchanging nature of the
method throughout the curriculum prevents a growth in self-regulated student learning beyond a
certain level. Therefore, in a second year block of a Faculty of Health Sciences, self-directed study
teams were introduced. Problems were made bigger and more complex, one tutorial meeting a
week was replaced by study team meetings. Moreover, study teams had to document their progress
and approach to team learning in a group portfolio. Measurements were conducted with regard to
learning strategy use, time spent, achievements, appreciation of the course, etc. The results showed
that students had spent more time on this block than on previous, classical PBL blocks. Moreover,
students developed a far less reproduction directed way of learning than before. Meaning directed
students appreciated this newly designed block much more than other students. There was also a
paradox in the results. Many students felt that external regulation had actually increased through
the introduction of self-directing study teams. It was concluded that in a next run study teams
should get more freedom to determine their own way of working and there should be less demands
for products to be put into the portfolio. Theoretically, the study points to the importance of
precision in the degree of ‘forced self-direction’ that can be used to improve the quality of student
learning.
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C1
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room PSY 2 B
Paper Presentation
GOOD TEACHING AND GOOD TEACHERS
Chair:
Theo Bergen, University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands
New learning and the arrangement of learning environments by secondary teachers
Jos de Kock, University of Nijmegen and KPC Group, The Netherlands
Peter Sleegers, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Rinus Voeten, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
In this study a new classification scheme of learning environments in secondary education is
presented, which means a descriptive scheme of 14 types of learning environments that covers
existing and theoretically possible learning environments in schools. To construct the classification
scheme, recent literature on 'new learning' is discussed and existing classification schemes of
learning environments, published in the last five decades, are reviewed. The classification scheme
is based on three aspects: (a) learning goals, (b) the division of teacher and learner roles, and (c)
the roles learners have towards each other. It is argued that the classification scheme can be used
for two goals: First, as a tool for teachers in secondary education to design and evaluate their
learning environments; and second, as a research framework for a next generation of processproduct research. The special purpose of the paper session is to discuss this classification scheme
of learning environments.
The role of self-efficacy beliefs in the adoption of pedagogical innovations by prospective teachers
Thierry Karsenti, University of Montreal, Canada
Gilles Thibert, University of Montreal, Canada
Carole Raby, University of Montreal, Canada
Stephane Villeneuve, University of Montreal, Canada
The focus on information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education has shifted
towards curriculum integration. Consequently, teacher education programs need to prepare new
teachers to use ICTs in their teaching. The goal of the present study was to understand,
empirically, the impact of self-efficacy beliefs (efficacy expectations and outcome expectations)
on the use of ICTs by prospective teachers during their field practice. A questionnaire was
administered to 6987 prospective teachers in Quebec (Canada). Interviews were also carried out
with 32 participants. Statistical analyses were conducted in order to assess the impact of selfefficacy beliefs on the use of ICTs during the practicum. Our results show a strong relationship
between the belief structure of prospective teachers and their behavior (use of ICTs during their
practicum, even when they encounter various problems). These findings could have important
implications for teacher education programs, teacher trainers, universities, school principals,
school districts and policy makers.
The new teachership - The pragmatic constructivist perspective on teachership
Kirsi Pyhältö, University of Helsinki, Finland
According to the pragmatic constructivistic learning theory, learning is the most important coping
mechanism of human being both from a biological and from a social point of view. Learning is an
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active process in which the person selects, codes, interprets and tests information and the feedback
gained from her actions, in relations to her current world view (representation of reality).
Moreover, learning is assumed to be an interaction process which continues throughout the
person's life. In the present study, aspects of teachership are analysed both theoretically and
empirically within the frame of pragmatic constructivistic learning theory. Attention is paid to the
consequences of this paradigm for a) the characterization of teachership (the teacher's action
competence), and b) teacher training as a learning environment for constructivistic teaching. The
empirical observations presented, and context of their analysis, are related to teacher education in
Helsinki University.
Adaptive teaching competence
Franziska Vogt, College of Education, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Erwin Beck, College of Education Rorschach, Switzerland
In this paper, findings from a case study research involving classroom observation focusing on
science lessons, interviews and tests on teachers’ knowledge are presented. The case study
involves 8 teachers of primary and secondary schools, comparing teachers at the beginning of their
careers with experienced teachers. The research is aimed at capturing the interplay between
teacher knowledge and teacher action in enabling self-directed and understanding-centred student
learning. The construct of adaptive teacher competence is proposed to allow an understanding of
the conditions of planning and acting in instruction. We define ‘adaptive teacher competence’ as
teachers’ ability to adapt their instruction to conditions and changes in the teaching/learning
situation. The purpose of this adaptive performance is to reach an optimum in students’ learning.
Adaptivity is central to successful teaching.
C2
27th Aug
11:00 – 12:20
Room PSY 3 G
Paper Presentation
AUTONOMOUS LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Chair:
Max Scheja, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Autonomous learning zones
Peter Hughes, University of Durham, United Kingdom
This paper aims to review and clarify the theoretical and philosophical meaning of autonomous
and independent learning and to introduce the concept of “autonomous learning zones”. Enabling
students to exercise more control over their learning is one way to develop self-motivated learners.
A range of theories have been put forward to justify such an approach, however one problem that
has emerged is the tension that exists when giving students freedom within HE institutions and
disciplines that are hierarchical and that have cultural expectations as to how a student must
perform. Bey has introduced the term “Temporary Autonomous Zones” to describe spaces of
liberatory activity that act as a resistance and alternative to existing hierarchies. Drawing from this,
it will be proposed that teachers and learners can create “Autonomous Learning Zones”- spaces of
learner freedom which maximise the opportunities for the development of self-motivated,
autonomous learners.
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Survey of the learning profile of university students: Learning strategies and motivation
Karine Von Bochmann, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
Martin Couture, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
Professors, students and administrators are more and more concerned with the quality of teaching
provided in universities. But what do we really know about the students we wish to help and of the
influence of educational situations on their learning profile? The objective of the present research
was to establish the learning profile of the students at the University of Sherbrooke, Canada. This
presentation will try to answer one question: What are the patterns of causation among the set of
variables identified in the present study? The causal model that was developed proposes that the
exogenous variables (five pedagogical environments) affect the indogenous variables (motivation
and cognitive strategies), which in turn affects GPA. Path analysis was used to shed light on the
question of whether or not the causal model is consistent with the data.
Determinants of learning strategy use and academic achievement: Results of a four-year
longitudinal study with university students
Lilian Streblow, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Ulrich Schiefele, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Ulrich Ermgassen, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Barbara Moschner, University of Oldenburg, Germany
In this longitudinal study a relatively complex model of college student achievement was tested.
Specifically, it was hypothesized that effects of motivational and cognitive predictors on
achievement are mediated by the use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies. The
sample consisted of 330 German university students from eight different majors who were tested
each semester. The study began in 1996 and ended in 2001. Students were presented with the
following scales: need for cognition, study interest, intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, various
learning strategies, self-concept scales, and the final grades in high school. The findings suggest
that metacognitive strategies and effort managment are significant mediators of motivational and
cognitive predictors of achievement, the effects of scholastic ability are partly mediated by
academic self-concept, and there are interesting differences between men and women and between
the natural and the social sciences. These findings may be important for training or counseling
programs.
The effects of supporting students’ self-dependent learning in a problem-based learning
environment
Emily Teunissen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Piet van den Bossche, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
The use of problem-based learning approaches in higher education has been promoted by many
educators. However, up-to-date comparative research on the effects of PBL on learning outcomes
does not present conclusive results. Design variables are suggested as explanations of these results.
It is argued that PBL curricula, in the way designed, do not foster self-dependent learning to an
optimum level. Effective educational systems should gradually offer a higher control over the
process of learning by students. Students not experienced with self-dependent learning in a PBL
context, should be supported. The paper presents an intervention study aimed at improving firstyear students’ performances by fostering self-dependent learning. The research focuses on the
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cognitive effects of the intervention as well as on students’ perceptions of the various quality
aspects of the PBL-environment. An Untreated control group design with proxy pre-test measures
was used. The cognitive effects of the intervention were measured by the end-of-course test. To
measure students’ perceptions, focus-group interviews and a Course Experiences Questionnaire
were used. The results of this study indicate that, supporting first year students in their
development towards self-dependent learning, did not affect their learning outcomes. However, the
students perceived various design variables of the problem-based learning environment as
motivating, affecting the productivity of working/learning and stimulating to be self-dependent
learners. On the basis of the results, it can be argued that, in order to have significant effects on
students’ test results, an intervention as implemented in this study needs to be more clearly
embedded in the first year curriculum.
C3
27th Aug
11:00 – 12:20
Room PSY 2 D
Paper Presentation
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF MOTIVATION
Chair:
Andreas Krapp, University of the Bundeswehr, Munich, Germany
Fostering the will to learn: Motivation is socially shaped
Susan Beltman, Murdoch University, Western Australia
This research examines the relationship between person and social context, between an individual
and other people, in relation to motivation in sport and music. From a sociocultural or situative
perspective, other people play a crucial role as individuals appropriate norms, values and skills
through joint activity with others within communities of practice. The study reported here aimed to
explore, from the perspective of athletes and musicians, how interactions with significant others
influenced their motivation to participate. Rich descriptive data relating to motivation were
obtained from thirty participants across settings and communities of practice. Although the actions
of others were important, individual perceptions and coping strategies were also vital in affecting
the longer-term impact on motivation. The findings of this study illustrate that motivation is
complex and that it is reciprocally constructed through the everyday interactions between people
within various contexts. Both the person and the context play a part in shaping motivation.
Social and emotional processes in collaborative learning groups - Virtual changes in a real
school: Survival methods of teachers facing pressures to change
Shulamit Fisher, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Gadi Alexander, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Collaborative learning is based on various types of interactions among members in the learning
group. This study is trying to highlight the emotional relationships that develop between members
in the group and on the dynamic buildup of its social cohesion. The first author observed
interviewed and administered questionnaires to 3 different groups of girls in two schools. The
groups consisted of 7th grade girls who had previous experience in collaborative learning and were
asked to plan a mutual learning project. In the current presentation we will analyze data from the
three 52 hours observations which sheds light on the specific ways in which each group is trying to
find a modus vivendi between the different levels of collaboration. It will be demonstrated how
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each group attempts to play a different game for external and internal purposes, and how the
cognitive task is dependent upon the resolution of the emotional problems.
IRT-based scale of relatedness-related motivation in classroom language learning
Naoyuki Naganuma, Tokyo University, Japan
In this study I have developed the relatedness-related motivation scale in classroom language
learning based on item response theory, which measures positive and negative effects of
relatedness towards more general others such as classmates. Classroom language learning could be
facilitated or debilitated according to the relatedness with others. The result of factor analysis
confirms that there are two kind of relatedness-related motivation, one of which makes learners to
approach learning, while the other makes them to avoid learning. This scale is expected to
diagnose the status of motivation in a more precise way through item response theory when
learners are learning a language in a classroom. This is particularly useful in detecting learners
who have problems in classroom language learning on the basis of the balance between positive
and negative influence from peers. Further research is required to investigate how to foster positive
relatedness-related motivation.
The effects of basic psychological needs on motivation and well-being
Kiho Tanaka, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
Hirotsugu Yamauchi, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
Based on the concept of basic psychological needs in self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci,
2000), we aimed to examine the effects of psychological needs on motivation and well-being. 175
Japanese undergraduate students participated in this study. Cluster analysis showed four groups of
students that differ in the degree of need satisfaction. Comparing scores for well-being, a group of
students with full need satisfaction showed the highest level of well-being, whereas non need
satisfaction group showed the lowest level. A group of students who were not satisfied on either
one of the needs resulted in some diminish of their well-being. The results of structural equation
modeling, which was conducted to examine the effect of psychological need satisfaction on
motivation and well-being, suggested that satisfaction of psychological needs were positively
associated with well-being, partly directly and partly indirectly through self-determined type of
motivation.
C4
27th Aug
11:00 – 12:20
Room BIO Aula Magna
Paper Presentation
INTERACTION AND COGNITION
Chair:
Student interactions and learning under resource interdependence
Céline Buchs, University of Geneve, Switzerland
Fabrizio Butera, University of Grenoble, France
Two studies investigated the effect of resource interdependence during dyadic cooperative
learning. Study 1 showed that students report more efforts under interdependence, whereas
confrontations and competence are more frequent under independence. Performance is poorer
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under independence and this effect is mediated by the stake of competence. Moreover, students’
perception of their partner’s abilities to understand and explain information is positively linked to
students’ performance under interdependence and negatively under independence. Study 2
manipulated the quality of partner’s input (brilliant vs. medium) thanks to a confederate. It
appeared that the stake of competence was threatening under independence, and a brilliant partner
impaired performance compared to a medium partner. Conversely, a brilliant partner led to better
performance under interdependence. These results suggest that different dynamics of students
interactions take place in the two cooperative methods, which has implications for determining the
conditions in which cooperative learning can be more effective.
Reflecting in private, in public and together: Metacognitive strategies in interaction among
distance language-learners
Marie-Noëlle Lamy, Open University, United Kingdom
This is a study of distance language-learners interacting online. Using an established framework of
metacognitive strategies, and a method derived from conversational analysis, we study the peer
exchanges of adult learners of French working on form-focused tasks, and we examine the
relationship between private study, reporting to the forum, and sharing of metacognitive
perceptions with peers. We find that this relationship is discontinuous, and that the success of a
metacognitive conversation in attracting enduring commitment from the participants is more
closely related to the socioaffective roles that participants play successively on the forum than to
the modelling and scaffolding planned by the task designers into the reflective task. We identify
some of the conditions which encourage learners to turn individual study into interactive
metacognitive discourse, and we discuss the consequences for future task design.
How do students communicate knowledge in online groups? Impact of task type, communication
setting, and communication behavior on group performance
Manuela Paechter, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich, Germany
Karin Schweizer, University of Wuppertal, Germany
Bernd Weidenmann, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich, Germany
How do students communicate knowledge in different online-communication environments? Is
there a relationship between the type of the task and the environment? These questions were
analysed in a long-term study in which 96 students participated in an online seminar. Students
formed learning groups of four members each who met at three points in time. Each student
received joint learning material (shared knowledge) and additional material that was different for
each group member (unshared knowledge). After two weeks of individual learning the groups met
in newsgroups, chats, videoconferences, or face-to-face. They were to cooperate on different tasks
that referred either to shared or to unshared knowledge. The results show a relationship between
the task type and the communication environments. Depending on the degree to which the tasks
require the exchange of knowledge different environments proved to be useful. Besides,
communication behaviour differed in various settings and different behaviours contributed to task
performance.
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Creating powerful learning environments in the corporate world to facilitate transfer of research
on learning and instruction into practice
Peter Rosseel, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Educational research acknowledges the divide between research and practice. Problem -solving
Research and Development has been suggested as an appropriate model to bridge this gap. The
goal of this study was to introduce four topics of research on learning and instruction to (create an
environment to) solve current problems of practice in the corporate world with regard to the
human side in change processes. Results show that use and ownership by practitioners of the
research topics can be obtained. However, autonomous use to solve similar or new problems
within this domain is rare or non-existent. In this paper we will analyse the possible reasons for
this, discuss the opportunities and limitations of forms of research-practice collaboration and make
suggestions on how to compensate for some of the limitations. We will also show that the results
of our study can contribute to bridge the gap between educational research and classroom practice.
C5
27th Aug
11:00 – 12:20
Room BIO G E
Paper Presentation
CAN TECHNOLOGY FACILITATE NEW FORMS OF COLLABORATION?
Chair:
Stefano Cacciamani, University of Padova, Italy
Internet communication technology and higher education learning experiences
Heather Kanuka, University of Calgary, Canada
Integration of Internet communication technology in the learning process has been perceived as a
solution to identified problems by a growing number of higher education institutions around the
world. Implicit in the decision to use Internet technology is the assumption that the Internet has the
capacity to transform the learning experience in positive ways. While it may be true that
transformations brought about by Internet technology enhance certain aspects of the learning
experience in positive ways, it may also be true that it diminishes others. The purpose of this study
was to increase our understanding of how Internet communication technologies are reshaping
higher education learning experiences. Outcomes of this study were twofold: (1) the development
of a theoretical framework for eLearning that recognizes the non-neutrality of Internet technology
and (2) identification of ways that Internet communication technology is reshaping learning
experiences in higher education in traditional Western Canadian Universities.
Cooperation scripts – A conceptual analysis of research on traditional and computer-supported
collaborative learning
Ingo Kollar, University of Tuebingen, Germany
Frank Fischer, Eberhard-Karls-University Tuebingen, Germany
Friedrich W. Hesse, Eberhard-Karls-University Tuebingen, Germany
This paper presents a conceptual analysis of cooperation script approaches from two different
research traditions: The more traditional field of research on cooperative learning and CSCLresearch. The main questions are: (1) What are central conceptual components of cooperation
scripts? (2) In the empirical literature, what are the main objectives of providing learners with
cooperation scripts? (3) What are the specific contributions of the research traditions to get a better
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understanding of cooperation scripts and what points of cross-fertilization can be detected? In
order to answer these questions, we reviewed empirical research literature on CSCL and
instructional research on cooperative learning. As a major result, we suggest to bring the two
research lines together in order to develop cooperation scripts for CSCL accounting for both
supporting communication and inducing learning activities which are more strongly related to
higher-order thinking and learning. Consequences for research and practice are discussed.
Collaborative argumentation at secondary school: Learning argument in computer-based and
face-to-face environments
Lia Litosseliti, University of London, United Kingdom
Laurie Hirsch, University of London, United Kingdom
Jeanne Cornillon, University of London, United Kingdom
Masoud Saeedi, University of London, United Kingdom
This paper focuses on research conducted in the UK as part of a European project on the learning
of computer-supported argumentation at secondary school (SCALE). Quantitative and qualitative
methods were used, to explore students’ learning of argument in two environments: using
computers and face-to-face. Quantitative analysis examined the richness, elaboration, balance,
coverage, and coherence of students’ arguments, without showing significant differences.
Qualitative analysis of students’ interaction in both conditions focused on interaction around social
relations, interaction management, task management, opinions, argumentation, and the exploration
and deepening of the debate. A positive finding was that students engaged in more
(counter)arguments than opinions, and in more exploring/deepening than simply expressing
arguments. Further, argumentation and exploration/deepening of arguments was more extensive
face-to-face than in computer-based debates. The lack of visual cues in the computer-based
debates did not seem to hinder social relation interaction. We propose a combination of specific
computer-based and face-to-face argumentation elements, towards enhancing collaborative
learning.
Learning and development – Exploring a fifth dimension learning system
Berthel Sutter, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden
Carina Andersson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden
Rosita Andersson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden
The aim of the study is to explore how individual learning occurs in an activity system designed
for learning and how learning relates to development – how the individual participants are learning
as well as how the activity system is being developed. The individual learning trajectories of the
first grade pupils, high-school students, and the undergraduates shows that the students have been
learning during a three-months period. They cover the content of their respective curriculum, but
they learn other things as well. The development of the whole activity system during four years is
seen in several ways – more partners involved, better organisation, and becoming nodes in several
international networks of learning. A theoretical and educational contribution of the paper is an
analysis of the relation between learning actions and learning activity, and the educational
consequences this has for education.
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C6
27th Aug
11:00 – 12:20
Room PSY 2 C
Paper Presentation
STUDENTS' CONCEPTIONS IN DIFFERENT DOMAINS
Chair:
Silvia Caravita, CNR, Rome, Italy
Changes in students’ explanation of seasons during exposure to different frames of reference
Nalini Chandra, University of Toronto, Canada
This study extended previous research about misconceptions in astronomy and investigates how
students’ explanations of seasons change as they are introduced to the concept from a variety of
frames of reference over seven days. The instructional study was designed to utilize a computer
simulation that would present students with an egocentric view of seasonal change from a variety
of latitudes on earth. The results showed how students’ previous exposure to exocentric
perspectives of seasons limited their understanding and reinforced misconceptions. By day seven,
the majority of students had abandoned their misconceptions and successfully coordinated
egocentric explanations of seasons with exocentric explanations. This study showed how computer
simulations can be used to present concepts from frames of reference that would otherwise be
difficult for students to experience. In addition, it has important implications for instruction as it
demonstrated how some frames of reference may limit students’ understanding and support
misconceptions.
The particulate nature of matter: How understanding develops in 12- to 18-year old
Erzsébet Korom, University of Szeged, Hungary
Based on a large sample, the research presented used both qualitative and quantitative methods and
was extended to background variables to investigate the stages in the development of the
understanding of the particulate nature of matter and the factors influencing the process of
conceptual change. Context, misconceptions, relationships between the knowledge on particles and
other variables (gender, family background, academic achievement, and school related attitudes)
were analysed along with teachers’ judgement on their students’ knowledge. The sample (N=900)
comprised of four age groups (12, 14, 16, and 18-year-olds) and three school types (elementary,
secondary academic and secondary vocational). The instrument administered assessed the
knowledge and application of the particle model; all students received the same test. Further data
were collected through interviews and student and teacher questionnaires. The results show a
connection between the understanding of the particle model and the length of science education,
school type, attitudes to school subjects, and context. Conceptually, qualitative differences were
identified between the knowledge of 12 to 14-year olds and that of 16-year old students in
secondary academic education, but, as regards the application of the particle model, it proved to be
problematic even for 16- and 18 year-olds.
Elementary school children’s understanding of adaptation and the emergence of new species
Kayoko Inagaki, Chiba University, Tokyo, Japan
Eiji Morita, Osaka Kyoiku University, Japan
Giyoo Hatano, University of the Air, Tokyo, Japan
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This study examined the “spontaneous” understanding of adaptation and emergence of new
species in elementary school children who have not been taught evolution formally. Fifty-seven
5th-graders of an elementary school in Japan were given a questionnaire consisting of a
plausibility judgment task consisting of 20 statements regarding the evolution of animals, for each
of which respondents were asked to judge its plausibility on a five point scale, and a description
task consisting of three open-ended questions about the origins of the human species and others.
Results indicated that a majority of the children judged plausible the notion of dynamic adaptation
of animals' body structure, but did not accept the possibility of mutation nor of immediate
transmission of acquired features. It was also found that the children possessed a strong belief that
humans evolved from monkeys, not a creationist view about the origin of the human species.
Analysis of student’s conceptual patterns about human respiration: Which degree of coherence in
their conceptions?
Joëlle Vlassis, University of Liege, Belgium
Annick Fagnant, University of Liege, Belgium
We first try to find different levels of conceptual patterns from the confrontation of two questions
about the function of respiration: one open-ended (non inductive) and one closed question
(explicitly inductive). These analyses showed that students’ conceptions are spread across a
continuum which goes from initial pattern that seems to constitute the “naive conceptual framework” to “scientific patterns” where students present a coherent integration of the function of the
respiration and of the processes involved. The first pattern is characterized by a very vague
conception of the function (“we respire in order to live”), often associated with a misconception of
the role of blood and with a great importance attributed to the heart and the lungs (for example,
“the “oxygen” arrives at the lungs and the heart and, after, goes out of the body”). This pattern
evolves towards a more precise idea of the function and of the role of blood and toward a growing
move of the localization from the lungs to organs or cells. At the same time, the importance
attached to the heart decreases. Other results are actually under way.
C7
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room BIO 1 D
Paper Presentation
ASSESSMENT OF THINKING SKILLS
Chair:
Computer-supported formative assessment in mathematics – Developing skills through adaptive
testing
Andrea Kárpáti, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary
Kornél Varga, Association of Hungarian ICT Teachers, Budapest, Hungary
MOVELEX is a complex computer-based environment for constructing tasks and tests with the
use of animation and rich visual imagery. Teaching content is collected in a central database that
serves as a pool for teachers to construct different types of assessment tools. New educational
potentials of MOVELEX were revealed in a teaching experiment that will be discussed in our
presentation. In the experimental groups teachers evaluated the tests in detail, analysing the
timeline and records on trials and corrections for each item. Thus sophisticated teaching strategies
could be developed that helped overcome hidden learning difficulties. Experimental groups
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manifested significantly better results in the post test then control groups. The presentation will
describe the testing instrument for mathematics, discuss the benefits of computer-supported
assessment and provide examples for improving skills in mathematics. The experiment proved
also that the usage of MOVELEX definitely enhanced the students will and inspiration to learn.
Developing problem solving abilities in technology- supported pedagogical practices
Yeung Lee, University of Hong Kong, China
Nancy Law, University of Hong Kong, China
Problem solving is considered to be one of the most important competencies in the 21st century
identified by education policy makers all over the world (SCAN 1991, OECD 1997, NCREL,
2000). Here problem solving is not defined as the close-ended type of problem solving commonly
found in academic studies, but the kind of authentic problem solving that professionals are
expected to engage in. It is generally believed that to help students develop such abilities requires
pedagogical innovations supported by the appropriate use of technology. The key research
question for this study is to examine such innovative technology-supported practices would lead to
the development of problem solving abilities in preparing students for the challenges of life in the
21st century. Preliminarily results indicate that with the help of information communication
technology students do not only actively engage in problem solving but also demonstrate a high
level of metacognitive awareness during the process.
Assessing pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching higher order thinking
Anat Zohar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Noa Schwartzer, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
The aim of this study is to develop and validate a qualitative assessment instrument designed to
measure pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching higher order thinking. Examples of
categories include the following: Cognitive level of tasks presented to students; variety of thinking
skills addressed during the lesson; whether or not teachers engaged their students in metacognitive
thinking, and the extent to which the teacher uses the "language of thinking". Data collection took
place during two sets of classroom observations, one before the beginning of the course and the
other after its completion. Inter-rater reliability was 85% or more for all categories. A comparison
between the analysis of the early and late classroom observations showed considerable gains in all
categories, thereby establishing construct validity. The new assessment instrument may be useful
for assessing teachers' initial knowledge and for assessing the effects of professional development
courses in this field.
New teaching and learning goals in science education require alternative HOCS-promoting
assessment methodologies
Uri ZolIer, University of Haifa, Oranim, Israel
The essence of the current reform in science education, worldwide, is a purposed effort to develop
students’ HOCS capability; i.e. question-asking (QA), critical thinking (CT), system (lateral)
thinking (ST), decision-making (DM) and problem (not exercise!) solving (PS), at the expense of
the so far dominant ‘delivery’ of LOCS-oriented knowledge.In response to the LOCS teaching –
HOCS learning paradigm shift challenge, we have recently developed, implemented, field tested
and evaluated innovative, HOCS-promoting courses, teaching strategies and assessment
methodologies in science teaching. Selected “representative” research-based case studies (in Israel
and the US) and findings will be presented and critically discussed in terms of the implications for
– 163 –
future science teaching and instruction for ‘HOCS learning’ and what it should take in science
teaching and teacher education. Our research findings suggest that the switch from contemporary
LOCS, algorithmic teaching – to HOCS-promoting evaluative learning, aiming at transfer is rocky
but, nevertheless, feasible. It can and should be done.
C8
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room BIO G A
Paper Presentation
DEVELOPING TEACHING COMPETENCES
Chair:
Anna Maria Ajello, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy
Reflection across communities of practice: Similarities and differences
Catherine Beauchamp, McGill University, Canada
Lynn McAlpine, McGill University, Canada
This study addresses the disparity in the literatures on reflection by distinguishing different
communities of practice that focus on reflection. An underlying premise of this analysis is that
different communities of practice have differing purposes for and thus perspectives on reflection.
Questions considered in this study include the issue of whether there is a common framework for
reflection suggested in the literatures. The language used to define and describe reflection in texts
representing different communities was examined. The results of the study provide a conceptual
framework for reflection that distinguishes communities of practice and shows relationships in
their definitions of reflection. The value of the analysis lies in the resulting framework which
allows comparisons across the boundaries of the communities and provides a meta-language for
discussing reflection that transcends these boundaries.
Novice and expert teachers’ perceived benefits and difficulties of project-based learning (PBL)
Orna Fallik, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Bat-Sheva Eylon, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Sherman Rosenfeld, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Although PBL (Project-Based Learning) is a constructivist teaching-learning strategy with
significant educational potential, teachers need support to successfully implement this strategy in
their classrooms. Our goal was to identify the perceived benefits and difficulties of novice and
expert PBL teachers, in order to lower the teacher anxiety of novice teachers and to improve the
in-service PBL program. The study included 57 novice teachers and a seven-year case study of
expert PBL teachers. We found that after their initial PBL workshop (as learners), novice teachers
perceive many more benefits than difficulties for their students, but many more difficulties than
benefits for themselves (as teachers). These difficulties represent teachers’ anxiety to implement
PBL. However, after guided PBL implication in their school, the anxiety level of expert teachers
drops. Expert PBL teachers transform many of the perceived difficulties of the novice teachers into
challenges to be solved. This perspective leads the expert teachers to develop specific tools and
strategies for successfully managing PBL. Implications for improving professional development
programs are suggested.
– 164 –
Preservice teachers’ use of a classroom case
Angela O’Donnell, Rutgers University of New Jersey, USA
The goals of this study were to examine a) how preservice teachers actually use a case and what
kind of knowledge they use when discussing a case; b) how discussions of a case might be
influenced by the materials available; and c) how the individual contributions to a group and
subsequent recall of group discussions were related. Groups of 3 students were randomly assigned
to one of four conditions: 1) Control; 2) Behaviour; 3) Distributed; and 4) Massed. Groups differed
in the number of ideas generated and in the degree to which they shared ideas during discussions.
Discussions requiring problem solving were more extensive than those involving description and
students focused on procedural elements of the case and evaluations during discussions. The
nature of the case and additional material available influenced how students worked with the case
and influenced the nature and quantity of the discourse about the case.
Factors influencing teaching choice: Development and validation of the ‘fit-choice’ scale
Helen M. G. Watt, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Paul W. Richardson, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
Declining numbers of teachers in the teaching profession have prompted calls for research about
factors which influence people’s decision to teach. This study reports the development and
validation of the new ‘FIT-Choice’ [Factors Influencing Teaching Choice] scale, using data from
first-year undergraduate Education students (N=298) at a major university in Sydney NSW
Australia. The scale also assesses perceived deterrents to choosing teaching as a profession. Major
influences on the choice of teaching as a career are reported, as well as the extent of candidates’
agreement about ‘deterrents’ to choosing teaching commonly voiced by the media. Our scale
integrates findings from previous studies with emphases from existing motivational models
(specifically the Expectancy-Value framework), in developing factors for inclusion in the FITChoice scale, thereby providing an integrative framework based on motivational theory for future
research.
C9
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room BIO G B
Paper Presentation
EXPLORING MOTIVATION: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT?
Chair:
K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, USA
Self-exploratory motivations for learning: A new concept in motivation research
Avi Assor, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Haya Kaplan, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Yaniv Kanat-Maymon, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Ariel Knafo, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Maya Cohen, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
This study focused on three types of self-exploratory motivations for learning that were not studied
systematically until now: (1) Occupational interest exploration; (2) Occupational aptitude
exploration; and (3) Experience oriented exploration. In the first type, students study because they
– 165 –
want to know if the domain they study can interest them as an occupation. In the second type,
students study because they want to know if they have capacities that would allow them to cope
well with the challenges posed by occupations related to their studies. In the third type, students
study because they seek new experiences - with no direct implications for future oriented
decisions. 293 Israeli students completed instruments assessing the three motivations and other
variables. Results of SSA analyses indicated that students clearly distinguished among the three
types of self-exploratory motivations and various reasons or goals for learning posited by SelfDetermination and Achievement Goals theories.
Understanding student engagement as a function of the emergent structure of learning activities
Flavio S. Azevedo, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Bruce L. Sherin, Northwestern University, USA
Andrea A. di Sessa, University of California, Berkeley, USA
We model student engagement as a function of the “space of possibilities,” or the territory that
students are likely to explore in a given activity. Although such a territory is constructed by the
joint action of teacher and students, repeated trials across several contexts allow us to capture
regularities in this construction process. By developing a terminology for describing such
regularities (i.e., the activity’s territory), we seek to understand student engagement based on the
structural features of the activity’s territory, e.g., the nature of the “places” in which students find
themselves, the number of places students can “visit,” the “pathways” connecting these places, and
so on. We use our terminology to describe what features of a territory make for engaging
explorations. Lastly, we illustrate our approach by explaining differences in engagement patterns
observed in two representational design activities.
Improving learning, fostering the will to learn through engagement with school
Sue Fullarton, Australian Council for Educational Research, Victoria, Australia
While student engagement with the intellectual work of schools is a primary goal of education, it is
not the only goal. Engagement with school, in this study measured as the level of participation in a
range of extracurricular activities, can foster an attachment that is reflected in positive outcomes
both educationally and socially. This study used student and school-level data from the
Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth program to investigate the effects of background and
contextual factors such as gender and socioeconomic level, and teacher and school factors, on
student engagement. Initial analysis found that a number of background variables were correlated
with engagement. The effects of the background variables were examined using multi-level
modelling techniques, to account properly for the hierarchical structure of the data. Although the
amount of between-schools variance accounted for was not high, it was significant, and it indicates
that it matters which school a child attends.
Is believing in effort a key to improving basic abilities?
Angelica Moè, University of Padova, Italy
Francesca Pazzaglia, University of Padova, Italy
Rossana De Beni, University of Padova, Italy
Elisa Angeretti, University of Padova, Italy
The present research studies the effects of instructions which stress an entity or incremental view
of personal ability in a cognitive test measuring spatial abilities. An improved performance by
subjects induced to take an incremental view was hypothesized. 120 students were divided into
– 166 –
three groups (entity theory, incremental theory and control) following the instructions given. They
were administered the MRT (mental rotation test) in two parts. Between the two parts, they
received one of three kinds of instruction. Results confirm that subjects induced to think in an
incremental way improved their performance between the first and second administrations of the
test. This improvement was greater for subjects low in spatial abilities. While some general
differences were found between males and females, this improvement occurred independently of
gender. No improvement was observed for the entity and neutral instructions groups. Educational
implications for how to praise students are suggested.
C 10
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room BIO G C
Paper Presentation
COGNITIVE ISSUES IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION WITH TECHNOLOGY
Chair:
Campbell McRobbie, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Embodied knowing in virtual environments
Gloria Dall’Alba, University of Queensland, Australia
Robyn Barnacle, RMIT University, Australia
Educational programs in higher education have traditionally focused on imparting knowledge and
skills. More recently, this focus has been challenged. Where once knowledge was thought of as
foundational and absolute it is now seen as situated and localized into various 'knowledges'. At the
same time, the status of the body has taken on renewed significance in epistemological debates,
where the situatedness, or embodiment, of the knower has become a key factor in understanding
the nature of knowledge. In contrast, the body has become notable for its ostensible absence in
many of the virtual worlds students encounter through developments in information and
communications technologies (ICTs). Situating the body in relation to new ICTs is important,
however, if we are to understand how, and to what extent, worthwhile learning occurs in on-line
environments. In this paper, we adopt a phenomenological perspective in exploring implications of
embodied knowing for ICTs in higher education programs.
Learning-by-exploration in a hypermedia system: An exploratory study about the cognitive
prerequisites
Jérôme Dinet, University of Poitiers, France
What abilities should be initially developed by an end-user (e.g., young pupil) to use hypermedia
systems with efficacy? In a recent exploratory study, we examined relations between some
cognitive abilities (i.e., prerequisites) and performances of young learners in an information search
task in a hypermedia system. Three main cognitive abilities (i.e., cognitive prerequisites) of 31
pupils recruited in Grade 5 were assessed by three standardised tests: Intellectual abilities were
evaluated with the WISC-III (Wechsler, 1991); counting span was evaluated with the non verbal
test created by Case et al. (1982) and Siegel and Ryan (1989); reading span was evaluated with the
test called “la pipe et le rat” elaborated by Lefavrais (1989). Results showed that if learners in
Grade 5 can effectively acquire referential knowledge by searching for information in a CD-Rom,
this acquisition is significantly related to the initial General and Verbal abilities.
– 167 –
Hypertext disorientation and learning achievement: The effects of graphica overviews, prior
knowledge, and self-concept
Thiemo Müller-Kalthoff, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Jens Möller, University of Bielefeld, Germany
In a sample of 82 university students working on a hierarchically structured hypertext about the
psychology of memory, we tested how domain-specific prior knowledge and the self-concept of
computer-related ability affect perceived disorientation and learning outcomes as a function of
access to a navigational aid. The findings emphasize the need to include both learner variables in
studies investigating the effects of navigational aids. Participants provided with a graphical
overview experienced somewhat less disorientation, particularly those with high prior knowledge.
The acquisition of factual knowledge was largely dependent on the interaction of the overview
condition with the two learner variables. Access to the navigational aid was only associated with
improved retention in participants with high prior knowledge if they also had a high self-concept.
However, a deeper understanding of the subject matter (i.e., more structural knowledge) was not
achieved simply by providing users with a graphical overview.
The role of expert and novice tutors in distributed and traditional problem-based learning
Joerg Zumbach, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Peter Reimann, University of Sydney, Australia
Peter Spraul, University of Heidelberg, Germany
This study investigates the role of a tutor in traditional as well as distributed Problem-Based
Learning. We examined whether a tutor should use expertise in facilitating small group problem
discussion or not. In a first experimental condition the tutor acted as a moderator providing no
information regarding the problem. In a second condition, the tutor provided learners with his
expertise and corrected wrong statements or answered direct questions. Results suggest that
learners assessed the setting more positive and achieved higher scores in a final test when the tutor
imparted his knowledge. The motivation of the learners was generally high and there were no
differences between the two experimental groups. After the session learners were asked how sure
they are about their knowledge. We were able to show that they were more certain in the
“moderation”-condition. Results also suggest that intensive tutoring helps to overcome several
problems in computer-mediated distance education.
C 11
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room BIO 1 G
Paper Presentation
ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Chair:
Why do first-year medical students compile a portfolio?
Erik Driessen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Cees P.M. van der Vleuten, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Jan van Tartwijk, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Jan Vermunt, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
– 168 –
The ability to reflect on his own action is seen as an important skill for a doctor. A thorough
introduction of the portfolio planned in the early stages of their studies seems to be the way to train
medical students in reflection. The Maastricht Medical School designed a portfolio system by
transposing the experience with portfolio systems outside and inside medical training to a situation
of first-year medical students. During academic year 2001-2002 242 first-year medical students
compiled a portfolio. Student and mentor experience was collected by semi-structured interviews.
The majority of students were of the opinion that analysing one’s competences in a portfolio was
instructive and meaningful. With regard to learning how to reflect and recognise learning needs,
however, mentor coaching proved to be necessary. The results thus far show that the portfolio is a
worthwhile addition to existing assessment and learning tools.
How can we assess complex achievements? The case of employability in English higher education
Peter Knight, Open University, United Kingdom
Higher education is primarily concerned with complex learning. The notion of ‘complex’ learning
refers to that which is (a) advanced (b) not determinate (c) usually slow to grow. The view that
higher education should enhance student employability implies fostering those achievements that
employers value. Although certain groups — engineering, medical and legal employers, for
example, have distinctive expectations, research shows that they also value a set of general,
complex achievements. Some feel that employability and the values of higher education are in
conflict but this analysis suggests otherwise — there is no need for employability and good
learning to be at loggerheads. Two important questions for higher education remain: how to we
promote such achievements and how do we assess them? The first has been discussed elsewhere
(http://www.open.ac.uk/vqportal/Skills-Plus/home.htm). The second is the subject of this paper,
which argues for a differentiated approach capitalising on the different strengths of high-stakes and
low-stakes approaches to judging achievement.
Portfolios and the development of reflective thinking
Helen Krige, RAU University, Auckland Park, South Africa
Sarah Gravett, RAU University, Auckland Park, South Africa
This paper reports on the findings of an action research project that aimed at using portfolios to
facilitate reflection and develop a reflective disposition with the intention to foster not only
learning within the course, but also lifelong learning. The research participants were student
teachers enrolled in an undergraduate course at RAU University in Johannesburg, South Africa.
These students developed a portfolio in which they reflected on salient issues regarding their
learning. Data was collected through an analysis of the portfolios using the data analysis method of
Dick (2002). The findings indicated that the successful utilisation of portfolios involving reflection
requires that explicit guidelines be negotiated with students. Further, engaging in reflection
gradually led to a more positive attitude towards learning, which fostered ownership of learning;
promoted better understanding of the self and more informed career decisions; encouraged metacognitive thinking and self-directed learning; and enhanced deep learning enabling substantiated
opinions.
– 169 –
Factors influencing the succes of large scale introduction of electronic portfolios in higher
education
Jan van Tartwijk, Wes Holleman, Fried Keesen,Wilfred Rubens and Robert-Jan Simons, Utrecht
University, The Netherlands
Electronic portfolios are popular in higher education. However, practise is often disappointing.
Using theory on educational change, success-fail factors are identified for innovations using
electronic portfolios. Data were gathered at Utrecht University, where about 50 bachelor programs
use electronic portfolios. A smoothly operating electronic portfolio-system and management
support are important conditions for success, but are not enough. Differences between more and
less successful programs can be related to the number of students and teachers involved in the
innovation; differences in culture between the programs; and the extent to which educational
processes have been (re)designed.
C 12
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room BIO 1 E
Paper Presentation
TEACHER EDUCATION
Chair:
Michal Zellermayer, Levinsky College of Education, Israel
Students’ and supervisors’ experiences of postgraduate research
Paul Ginns, University of Sydney, Australia
Linda Conrad, Griffith University, Australia
Paul Ramsden, University of Sydney, Australia
Michael Prosser, University of Sydney, Australia
Theory in student learning at the undergraduate level justifies the hypothesis that certain kinds of
learning contexts will lead to better postgraduate research student outcomes. This paper reports
initial findings from large scale surveys of Australian postgraduate research students and supervisors, focusing on the factor structures of student and faculty experiences measured by responses to
postgraduate research experience questionnaires. Alternative models of the structures of both
instruments are described using confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability analyses confirmed that
the proposed dimensions of both instruments had good psychometric properties. Similarities
between student and supervisor experiences of the same research training environments are
identified.
Teacher applicants’ motivation for their studies and future profession: Effects of sociocultural
features
Lars-Erik Malmberg, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
The present study investigated sociocultural effects (gender, parents’ educational level, religiousethical commitment) on Finnish teacher student applicants’ motivation for their previous studies
according to the trichotomous goal theory of Elliot (1999) and their motivation for the teacher
profession on an intrinsic-extrinsic axis (the TCAM, Malmberg, 2002). Mastery approach study
goals predicted intrinsic professional motivation (e.g., enjoying teaching), and performance avoidance study goals predicted extrinsic professional motivation (e.g., earning respect and meeting
expectations of parents). Religious-ethical commitment positively and moderately predicted study
– 170 –
mastery goals, and negatively and moderately performance goals and avoidance goals, suggesting
a buffering role of belonging to a certain sociocultural educational context in which those beliefs
matter. Intrinsic teacher motivation predicted high entrance exam points of applicants. Gender and
age effects were observed, but no effects of parental educational level.
Validation of student selection process for admission to a college of teacher education
Zipora Oshrat, Gordon College of Education, Israel
Tsafrira Shur, Gordon College of Education, Israel
The process of selecting candidates for admission to institutes of higher education is a subject of
controversy for the different agencies involved: the Council for Higher Education, university and
college authorities, the Ministry of Education, the political system and other organizations
involved in the socialization and integration of groups and individuals into society. Selection
procedures vary greatly and include those that are liberal and open versus those that are
conservative and rigid, each of which is anchored in social, economic, political and other
considerations. The open approaches enable all candidates to begin their studies without having to
go through any prior selection process but demand that the students satisfy the standards the
institute sets for them. This is actually a long term self-selection process, satisfying the demands
throughout the whole period of study enables the students to complete their studies successfully
and receive a degree. This approach is mainly associated with open universities throughout the
world. At the other extreme there are institutes of higher learning that use rigid selection criteria
that include minimum scores on different kinds of psychometric examinations, minimum grades in
the matriculation certificate and, sometimes, a personal interview. The accepted premise of these
institutes is that the first two, considered to be more objective, are generally better at selecting
potential students. Colleges that use interviews generally use them to assist in the decision to
accept or reject students but not as the crucial factor in the decision.
The role of the supervising teacher: Perceptions of student teachers and their supervising teachers
Maureen Rajuan, Achva Academic College, Israel
This paper presents research based on a focus group interview technique developed for the purpose
of improving relationships between student teachers and their supervising teachers. The findings
provided the pedagogical advisor with knowledge about the needs of both parties. Two groups
(one of teachers and one of students) participated in a workshop designed to bring expectations
concerning the role of the supervising teacher to awareness. When the results of each group were
compared, it was found that both students and teachers view the giving of feedback as one of the
most important roles of the supervising teacher. However, it was also found that the teachers and
the students differ in their perspective concerning the hierarchy of the student-teacher relationship.
These seemingly opposing expectations can be seen as complementary in light of the stages of
integration into the profession of beginning teachers: a supportive relationship is a pre-requisite to
the absorption of practical and professional teaching knowledge.
– 171 –
C 13
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room PSY 2 A
Paper Presentation
STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN SCIENCE
Chair:
Kaarina Merenluoto, University of Turku, Finland
Elementary-school children’s ability to distinguish hypothetical beliefs from statements of
preference
Irene-Anna Diakidoy, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
Christos Ioannides, University of Piraeus, Greece
The study examined second- and sixth-grade students’ ability to understand hypotheses as beliefs
that can be empirically verified and to differentiate them from preferences. Students considered
scenarios of disagreement about hypothetical beliefs or preferences, decided whether the validity
of each expressed belief could be determined, and justified their decisions. Half of the cases
represented biased beliefs while the rest represented neutral beliefs. The majority of the students,
regardless of age, proposed empirical tests as a way of determining the validity of a belief
statement. However, younger students did not distinguish preferences from hypotheses and
proposed empirical but subjective tests as a way to determine their validity. In comparison, older
students were better able to recognize that preferences are legitimately variable and to propose
empirical tests for hypotheses only. Implications for the development of scientific reasoning and
the teaching of science are discussed.
Children’s roles and use of evidence in science: An analysis of decision-making in small groups
Jane Maloney, University of London, United Kingdom
Shirley Simon, University of London, United Kingdom
This paper reports the findings of a research project concerned with children engaging in scientific
argumentation. Discussion activities were designed to enable groups of children to use evidence
when making decisions. The findings show a variation in the success with which children
construct scientific arguments; some groups debate most of the evidence and consider a range of
options, whilst others explore a limited range of options and discuss only the evidence that
supports their choice. Analysis of the data indicates that the roles children adopt have an important
influence on how evidence is used. Drawing of the work of Belbin (1981), a Management Theorist
who explored the roles adopted by members of successful teams, key roles emerged and a
taxonomy of children’s roles was devised. This paper explains the characteristics of these roles and
their effect on the way the groups use evidence when making decisions in science.
Learning complex cognitive skills: The role of self-explanation in vacious learning
Silke Schworm, University of Freiburg, Germany
Research has shown that learning from worked out examples is of major importance for initial
acquisition of cognitive skills. However, the learning outcomes depend on how well the learners
explain the examples to themselves (self-explanation effect). A worked-out example can be
interpreted as the description of a problem solving process performed by an expert. The modeling
of a behavior or a cognitive process can also be understood as such an expert performance. In this
context self-explanations could be regarded as an activity to symbolically code the key behaviors
– 172 –
of a models performance. For the current study, a computer-based learning environment on
argumentative skills has been developed using video-based examples as an expert model. Different
promptings of self-explanations have been implemented to foster symbolic coding. Results show
that self-explanations foster learning of complex cognitive skills and principle based promptings
thereby showed the most favorable effects.
A longitudinal study of children’s growth in knowledge and reasoning in science
Russell Tytler, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
Suzanne Peterson, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
This paper describes results from a study which has been tracing twelve individual children's
science learning across their first four years of schooling. The paper describes children's
performance on open exploratory interview tasks which require them to generate or evaluate
knowledge claims against evidence. The findings demonstrate the nature of the interrelationship
between knowledge and scientific reasoning, and the way these change over age 5-9. This includes
the possibilities for idea-evidence coordination that open up as children acquire domain specific
conceptual and procedural knowledge, and the constraints offered by lack of these. The use of
varied, open exploratory tasks, in different content domains, over a number of years, allows
insights into the different dimensions of the way children coordinate knowledge claims and
evidence, including approach to exploration, design, and analysis. A framework describing
children’s epistemological reasoning is proposed to characterise children's changing approaches to
exploration and knowledge construction.
C 14
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room BIO G D
Paper Presentation
INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY WITH PEDAGOGY
Chair:
Päivi Tynjälä, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
An integrated model of multimedia learning and motivation
Hermann Astleitner, University of Salzburg, Austria
Evidence from multimedia research is far from being conclusive because of producing
confounding effects or of neglecting parameters. A major role within this shortcoming plays
motivation, as traditional multimedia theory is mainly based on cognitive factors widely ignoring
that motivation influences significantly learning resources. Within this paper, an integrated model
of multimedia learning and motivation is presented which is based on current research in the field
of educational psychology. The model can stimulate research, as it represents an expansion of the
most popular cognitive theory of multimedia learning from Mayer (2001). It integrates additional
variables, such as motivation, attention, cognitive engagement, and reflection. The model can also
provide instructional designers with a summary of main factors that have to be considered when
developing multimedia-based learning environments.
The creation of an Internet site for developing novel pedagogies, accompanied by a collaborative
action research
Ida Heilweil, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
Ilana Margolin, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
– 173 –
To enhance the integration of technology among faculty members in the spirit of professional
learning communities (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Grossman et al., 2000) and of CSCL
(Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994; Salomon, 2000), the Levinsky Digital Learning Center (LDLC)
was established, based on models developed by the University of Central Florida, Orlando
(CD&WS) and the University of Illinois (WTG). The center initiated the creation of an Internet
site, focusing on developing novel pedagogies for educating teachers for the 21st Century. The
site development has been carried out by a team of 25 teacher educators, led by an expert in
pedagogy and an expert in educational technology and accompanied by a collaborative action
research. Through the continuous development process, team face-to-face and digital
discussions, transcripts were qualitatively analyzed. It was found that most participants were
eager to let technology enhance their pedagogic elaborations, and that each participant defined
his/her goals for the site according to his/her own unique needs. The development of the site,
aided by the use of digital communication, helped in the creation of a community of learners
who strove together to build new pedagogical concepts.
The relevance of instructional goals for the design of instructional materials
Tina Schorr, University of Tuebingen, Germany
Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tuebingen, Germany
Katharina Scheiter, University of Tuebingen, Germany
The process of designing instructional materials is often guided by the belief that materials can be
generally classified as being good or bad. However, this appears to be too simplistic as the quality
of a specific instructional design can only be evaluated against an instructional goal. In an
experiment on mathematical problem solving with children from primary schools, we compared
two designs of instructional materials based on examples whereby the designs either emphasized
the examples’ surface or structural features. The results showed that the instructional materials
differed in their effectiveness, i.e., the surface-emphasizing example set was superior when solving
equivalent problems (i.e., same surface features as the examples) whereas the structureemphasizing example set supported transfer, i.e., solving isomorphic problems (i.e., different
surface features). Therefore, none of the designs of instructional materials could generally be
proven good or bad, rather the quality of a specific design dependent on the instructional goal.
Supporting learning from worked-out examples in computer-based learning environments
Julia Schuh, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tuebingen, Germany
Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tuebingen, Germany
Katharina Scheiter, University of Tuebingen, Germany
Gerjets, Scheiter and Tack (2000) demonstrated that learners experience difficulties in utilizing
instructional examples according to their profitability when interacting with a hypertext-based
learning environment. We conducted two experimental studies to examine instructional methods
for improving learners’ example utilization. First, we designed a linear condition of the learning
environment that contained the same information as the nonlinear-hypertext condition and
forced learners to recognize all information available in a predefined order with the goal to
reduce cognitive overload due to navigational demands. Second, we fragmentized the examples,
asked learner to complete these gaps, and gave them feedback for their answers. This procedure
aimed at improving intensive example processing as it may help learners to realize that they lack
an in-depth understanding. Providing subjects with linear hypertext increased exampleprocessing time but not their learning performance. Feedback seemed to be useful for learners
with low prior-knowledge but they did underrate its profitability.
– 174 –
C 15
27th Aug
11:00 - 12:20
Room PSY 3 H
Paper Presentation
ASSESSMENT: WHAT TYPE OF INSIGHT DOES IT PROVIDE?
Chair:
Leone Burton, Visiting Professor, King’s College, London, United Kingdom
Dimensional structure of reading assessment tasks in the IEA reading literacy study 1991 and the
progress in international reading literacy study 2001
Jan-Eric Gustafsson, Göteborg University, Sweden
Monica Rosén, Göteborg University, Sweden
The purpose is to investigate measurement properties, in terms of systematic and random sources
of variance, of the reading assessment tasks used in the IEA 1991 Reading Literacy study and the
PIRLS 2001 study. The study relies on data from the Swedish PIRLS study, which comprises
some 5 300 students in each of grades 3 and 4. As an extension to the basic design, not only the
PIRLS tasks were administered, but each student also completed one of the two booklets from the
1991 study. This makes it possible to estimate covariances among all the tasks in the two studies
through application of missing-data techniques. These covariances are then used to estimate and
test confirmatory factor analysis models of the dimensional structure of the complete set of reading
tasks. Preliminary results indicate that text type is of importance (continous text versus noncontinous text), as is response type, type of content, and speed of reading.
Criterion-referenced evaluation of basic skills as an indicator for school readiness
Józsa Krisztián, University of Szeged, Hungary
In educational systems where school entrance age is treated flexible the issue of school readiness is
of crucial importance. The aim of our research was to create an indicator for school readiness
based on the developmental level of basic skills. The mastery of skills serves as the criterion for
defining the developmental level of children. A diagnostic map of each subskill can be prepared.
Further development of basic skills can be based on this diagnosis. Our cross-sectional study
investigates the development of seven basic skills among 23 000 four- to nine-year-old children.
The development of these basic skills correlate strongly with each other. A so-called «elementary
basic skills index» was calculated to express school readiness and cognitive maturity. Individual
differences in basic skills do not necessarily denote intellectual differences. Very often, they only
signal different rates of development. This can be compensated for by delaying school entrance
and by individualized teaching methods.
Reform implementation - Understanding motivations and beliefs of participants and actors in case
of a language examination reform in Hungary
Éva Major, ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary
In Hungary political changes resulted in modernising educational policy, an important step of
which is the development of a new national examination system. This presentation outlines a
research project, connected to the examination reform in English language, which intended to
examine the attitude of participants and actors in the reform procedure. The theoretical background
is the political approach of education, which - deriving from public policy analysis - examines the
– 175 –
possibilities and techniques of influencing educational changes. The presenter - after a short
introduction on delivery and implementation theories - will describe, through the concrete
example, the process of identifying relevant actors, using empirical data to examine their
motivations, beliefs and possible sources of resistance. Finally some recommendations will be
formulated specifying the policy instruments that may be used to help successful implementation
in case of all actors of the planned reform.
Assessment of learning environment motivational quality from the point of view of secondary and
high-school learners
Jesús Alonso-Tapia, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
There is a growing body of knowledge about learning environments enhancing learning motivation. However, two questions need to be answered to improve such environments: How much
motivational value do students attribute to each particular component of these environments? In
what degree is such value mediated by students’ motivational orientations? To answer both
questions and in an effort to replicate results coming from previous studies (Alonso Tapia &
López, 1999), 630 students, 15 to 17 years old, from three different schools were given two
questionnaires. The first included different learning environment characteristics aimed at
enhancing learning motivation. Students had to declare how much interest and learning motivation
was arisen in them by these characteristics. The second assessed students' motivational traits and
orientations: Learning orientation, performance orientation and avoidance orientation. Mean and
multiple-regression analysis are being performed to answer the questions. As in previous studies,
results are expected to support predictions concerning the first question. However, we expect also
that motivational traits and orientations mediate the motivational value attached to the different
characteristics assessed.
C 16
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Room PSY 4 P
Paper Presentation
LEARNING TO WRITE
Chair:
Bianca De Bernardi, University of Verona, Italy
How symbolic is young children’s writing?
Anna Both de Vries, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Adriana G. Bus, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Children (N=96) wrote and drew two sets of 8 words, one set with a particular purpose (making
labels) and the other without (dictation). There were three age groups: 3½-4, 4-4½, 4½-5. The
findings show that children as young as 4 years are able to produce graphic forms that include
characteristics of writing. However children only understood written signs to be symbols from the
age of 4½. From that age they used letters instead of drawing to denote a particular meaning.
Using letters often coincided with a basic understanding of the alphabetic-phonetic principle but
children’s knowledge of letter-sound rules rarely passed some incidental knowledge.
The developmental dynamics of reading and writing
Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Helena Rasku-Puttonen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
– 176 –
Kaisa Aunola, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Jari-Erik Nurmi, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
The aim of the study was to investigate prospective relationships between reading and writing
performance during the first grade of primary school. The data was collected from 83 Finnishspeaking children who were examined four times on reading, spelling and productive writing skills
during the first grade. At the beginning of the school year, they were also tested on letter naming
and reading accuracy. The results showed that reading and spelling manifested a reciprocal
relationship during the first semester: reading performance increased subsequent spelling
proficiency, and spelling skills enhanced subsequent reading. Later on, however, reading predicted
spelling in a less reciprocal association. In turn, productive writing predicted subsequent reading
performance during the first grade although the reverse was not true. The results suggest that it
may be important to emphasize the support which compositional writing may offer to the
development of reading.
Children's ideas about landmarks in their autobiography of learning to write
Nora Scheuer, National University of Comahue and CONICET, Argentina
Juan Ignacio Pozo, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Silvina Neira, National University of Comahue, Argentina
Montserrat De la Cruz, National University of Comahue, Argentina
We study the ways children represent and order on paper the achievements and goals in the
processes of learning to write. Sixty children participated in an individual interview, where they
were requested to write “as you used to write when you were just beginning to write”. This basic
question was repeated for 1-year-intervals until the child’s current age was reached. Subjects, who
attended public schools in Bariloche, Argentina, were equally distributed according to school
grade (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 4), sociocultural sector (underprivileged and middle) and sex.
Category analysis distinguished among the changes children marked (graphically and verbally) in
the successive productions they produced to illustrate the learning process. FCA and Cluster
analysis showed an ordering from Kindergarten and Grade 1, to Grade 4, in the following dimensions: 1) from simple notational products, to complex products and procedural aspects; 2) from
non conventional notations, to the adjustment to conventional writing rules and text meaningfulness; 3) from the inclusion of drawing and numerals, to the focus on writing.
The impact of preschool children's invented spelling on phonemic skills
Cristina Silva, ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal
Margarida Alves Martins, ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal
The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a training program, that was intended to
lead children to evolve in their invented spelling, on their phonemic skills. The participants were
107 preschool children who were divided into six groups (3 experimental and 3 control groups) in
function of their invented spelling: pre-syllabic, syllabic, and syllabic with phonetization.
Phonemic skills were evaluated with an initial-phoneme classification test, an initial-phoneme
deletion test and a phonemic analysis test. The experimental groups were equivalent to the
respective control groups in terms of the children’s intelligence and the number of letters they
knew. All the children in the experimental groups evolved in their invented spelling, after the
training programme. This evolution entailed enhanced performance in phonemic classification and
analysis tests in all the experimental groups. In the deletion test, syllabic children with and without
phonetization also progressed whereas pre-syllabic children did not.
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C 17
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Room PSY 3 L
Paper Presentation
SOCIAL COMPETENCE VERSUS ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Chair:
Working in cooperative group to destabilize the school violence roles
Rosario Ortega, University of Cordoba, Spain
Thomas Fox, University of Seville, Spain
Rosario Del Rey, University of Seville, Spain
The Learning together a second languages Programme has been a curricular intervention to
prevent school violence working in the English classes of Spanish Secondary Students. The keys
of this instructional model were the constructivism and the narrative thought as a cognitiveeducative model (Smorti, 2001). The programme was developed in four classes of a Secondary
School with pupils who were from 12 to 15 years old. In order to evaluate the intervention, we
administered a questionnaire of nominations, concretely the reduced and adapted version (Sutton
& Smith, 1999) of the Participant Questionnaire Rolls (Salmivalli et all, 1996) before and after the
intervention. After the programme, the not implicated on school violence roles had increased, as
well as the defending of victims’ roles. However, the aggressors and, very specially, the supporters
and active collaborators of the aggressors had been reduced.
Judgements and justifications of 6-7 years old about reflective racial tolerance
Rivka Witenberg, University of Melbourne, Australia
Sabrina Chung-Voon, University of Melbourne, Australia
Laura Hogan, University of Melbourne, Australia
Using a cognitive developmental model, this study assessed the pattern of judgements and
justifications about racial tolerance in 6-7 years old children. Based on responses to stories
relevant to the Australian context about people from Indigenous, Asian and English backgrounds,
it also aimed to assess whether these patterns were affected by the content of the stories (context)
and a set of behaviours dimensions (belief, speech, act). Analysis revealed that neither context nor
behavioural dimensions mediated tolerance judgements. That is, the majority of the children made
tolerant judgments, irrespective of the context and behavioural dimensions, rejecting all forms of
intolerance. It was also found that tolerance was commonly supported with fairness and sometimes
empathy and that children who were able to reflect on the story content with relevant justifications
were more tolerant. To promote tolerance, education should focus on developing a strong sense of
fairness rather than just empathy with the plights of others.
Educational goals for social competence
Annemieke Zwaans, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Geert Ten Dam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Monique Volman, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This paper focuses on enhancing the social competence of students in vocational education. Based
on a recently developed theoretical framework a survey questionnaire has been sent to 1500
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teachers to explore their educational aims on social competence. Former research indicated a
difference in aims on social competence for two types of students: one of the tasks set in this
projects is to test whether vocational education students are educated with a less rich conception of
social competence than those in general secondary education. This hypothesis could be confirmed.
Moreover other differences between the two types of education and the respective teachers have
been explored, such as some demographic aspects and the relation between social competence
aims and several educational subjects (language, care, technology and the social sciences). Those
results will be discussed as well.
C 18
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Room PSY 2 E
Paper Presentation
LEARNING TO READ
Chair:
Eduardo Vidal-Abarca, University of Valencia, Spain
Learning to use a new (invented) linguistic skill: Implications for language acquisition and
cognitive skills learning
Sara Ferman, Levinsky Academic Colleges of Education, Israel
Elite Olstein, Levinsky Academic Colleges of Education, Israel
Avi Karni, Haifa University, Israel
In order to investigate the processes and mechanisms that take part in the acquisition of a linguistic
skill we followed systematically the process of learning an invented morpho-grammatical rule
(IMGR) in 8 adults throughout 10 learning sessions. The results show that learning of the IMGR
makes use the same mechanisms as the acquisition of non-linguistic skills. The theoretical and
practical implications of this study are: 1) Learning (accuracy and RT) of a new linguistic skill: a)
requires mass and long practice, b) is fast at the beginning but decreases, c) demonstrates
significant performance gains between-sessions rather than within sessions (consolidation
phenomena) d) is preserved for long-term. Learning to use repeated items of the IMGR is
relatively easy and resemblances simple skills learning. However, the generalization to new items
is a multi-stage process that is dependent upon the abstraction of a) a phonological rule using of
procedural (implicit) processes, b) a semantic rule using of declarative processes, c) a syntactic
rule that is implemented through proceduralization.
Examining the development of English reading proficiency in three language groups using
multiple sources
Anne Hafner, California State University Los Angeles, USA
Sharon Ulanoff, California State University Los Angeles, USA
The aim of this paper is to use multiple sources of reading data to describe the developmental
trajectories of English reading proficiency in various language groups and to ascertain whether
developmental patterns vary depending on the source of language data. It also aims to determine
which sources of language data are most reliable and valid in assessing and predicting reading
proficiency. Using the nationally representative ECLS-K database, three language groups were
identified: English proficient, language minority and English learners. Findings showed that
although all students had very low reading skills in kinder, most of them showed gains by the end
of first grade. Although similar overall patterns of development were seen using IRT scale score,
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language groups showed significant differences in specific skills, depending on the source of data.
Implications of these findings for early childhood educators are discussed.
Learning to read in multigrade classes in New Zealand: Teachers make the difference
Ian Wilkinson, Ohio State University, USA
Richard Hamilton, University of Auckland, New Zealand
This study tested a theory to account for the slightly lower reading performance of students in
multigrade, as compared to single-grade, classes in New Zealand elementary schools. We
compared the ranges of students’ reading abilities, nature of teachers’ groupings, and other aspects
of instruction in carefully selected pairs of multigrade and single-grade classes from each of 9
schools. We found little evidence of a greater range of abilities in multigrade classes, little
evidence of less homogeneous groups for reading, and little evidence that teachers had difficulty
catering for the needs of students. These findings provide little support for the explanation that the
slightly lower performance of students in multigrade classes is because they are given less direct
and/or less precisely tailored support for literacy learning. Whether a class is multigrade or singlegrade matters less than the nature and quality of instruction in the classroom, whatever the withinclass variability in achievement.
Subsyllabic processing in Dutch beginning readers: Exploring the role of frequency
Gwen E. Wolters, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Wim van den Broeck, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Wied Ruijssenaars, Leiden University, The Netherlands
The role of subsyllabic processing in reading development has been explored in various ways.
From this, three ideas on using subsyllabic units whilst reading can be distilled: one attributing no
function to subsyllabic units, one suggesting an explicit function of onsets and rimes, and one
indicating an implicit role for subsyllabic units based on distributional aspects in reading a
language. In this Experiment we examined whether bigram frequency influenced reading speed
and accuracy in Dutch beginning readers. Results indicate that bigram frequency does influence
reading speed and accuracy. In addition, data showed that this frequency effect tended to play
another role at different reading levels, which was also reflected in reading styles of the children.
These findings have considerable consequences for reading instruction.
C 19
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Room BIO 1 C
Paper Presentation
COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE ASPECTS OF LEARNING
Chair:
Barbara Arfè, University of Padova, Italy
Guiding learning processes in schematising activities in early childhood education: Possibilities
and effects on children’s mathematical thinking
Eelje Dijk, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Bert van Oers, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jan Terwel, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
– 180 –
This paper reports empirical findings regarding learning processes during schematising activities
in early childhood education (4-6 year-olds). This study is a part of a longitudinal research project
conducted in the Netherlands. The main purpose of the whole project is to investigate the influence
of early schematising (at age 4-6) on their later mathematical development (at age 7-8). We
hypothesise that more dynamic and reflective forms of schematisations (like diagrams of growth
and maps with direction marks on it) have a bridging function between the concrete practical
thinking of young children and their later mathematical development. The paper focuses on the
effects of guided schematising activities in play contexts of the younger children on their actions
and learning (N=75). The data are collected during this first year of our study and include field
notes, tests scores and video recordings. The outcomes are compared to the performances of a
control group (N=60).
The development of the profile of social-emotional characteristics and special educational needs
Miriam Fossen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Joost Meijer, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Aryan van der Leij, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This study focuses on the development of an instrument to measure the social emotional
characteristics and special educational needs of students in the last grade of primary education.
The instrument was administered in a student and a teacher form. Results showed that students
who were in need of structure were rated by the teacher as lacking in interest for school and
showing disturbing behaviour and were rated by themselves as lacking a positive attitude towards
school. Teachers rated students who needed emotional support as withdrawn and emotional
instable. These students described themselves as lacking self-confidence. Although intelligence
was the most important predictor of secondary educational track level, lack of interest for school
also explained some extra variance of the criterion. Secondary schools adapted their education by
offering subject matter related support, extra time for fulfilling assignments, remedial teaching and
anxiety-reduction training.
Anxiety as a factor affecting planning performance among children with attention deficits
Timothy C. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
Georgia Panayiotou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
This study examined whether the poor performance of children with attention deficits on actionplanning tasks are entirely due to attention or magnified by co-existing anxiety. A group of 98
children (grades 4 and 6) were assigned to an ADD group and a control group (n = 49 in each)
based on their scores on a variety of attention measures (DN-CAS, 1997) and teachers’ ratings of
attention (Attention Checklist; Das, 1986). The two groups were matched on age, gender, parental
education, Non-verbal and Verbal IQ and Language and Math achievement. Participants were
divided into high and low anxiety groups using a number of anxiety measures. The two groups
were compared on the Crack-the-Code (C-t-C) action-planning task (Parrila & Papadopoulos,
1994) on latency and accuracy measures. Analyses indicated that the failure of executive inhibition
that deteriorates the performance of ADHD populations on executive function tasks is directly
linked to attention deficits and not to comorbid anxiety.
– 181 –
Grade retention, a measure dealing with school failure: An analysis of efficiency on academic
achievement
Marianne Schuepbach, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Gérard Bless, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Patrick Bonvin, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
This paper presents information about the aims, procedures and outcomes of the project Grade
retention: an analysis of a measure dealing with school failure of the Swiss National Science
Foundation. Among measures dealing with school failure, grade retention is still frequently
applied in Switzerland and in other European countries. The first part of this paper provides a short
overview of the project’s intentions and design as a longitudinal study involving children from
primary schools in the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland, taking into account the
specificities of linguistic regions. The second part will focus on the final results of this study. We
will concentrate on questions about the effects of retention on academic achievement of primary
grade students. In the third part, a short international comparison of results will be presented, as
well as some implications for the research and the practice relative to the efficiency of grade
retention as a measure to deal with school failure.
C 20
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11:00 - 12:20
Room PSY 3 F
Paper Presentation
LEARNING IN THE EARLY YEARS OF EDUCATION
Chair:
Neville Bennett, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
The development of printed word recognition in Greek
Athanasios Aidinis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Although several models for printed word recognition exist in the literature, their limitation lies on
their focus on English orthography, which has atypically low grapheme-phoneme consistency
considered with other alphabetic orthographies. In this study, the strategies used in the first stages
of reading development in Greek – a transparent orthography - are examined, in order to test the
idea that reading acquisition in Greek follows a similar to English developmental path from simple
to complex phonological rules. This hypothesis was examined into two studies. In the first study
children were asked to read words and non-words of different difficulty. The results showed that
from early on Greek children rely on simple phonological strategies in reading but they have
problems when reading words that involve variable but predictable orthographic patterns.
Children’s reading strategies for these words were examined in the second study, showing that in
order to read words that involve complex phonological rules Greek children do not rely only on
phonological strategies.
School program influences on learning to read in the early years of school
Marianne Fleming, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia
This paper reports on the influences of school programs in the early years of school on students
reading development. It is based on data from two cohorts of nearly 5,000 students in more than
150 Catholic schools in Victoria (Australia) that were part of a system-wide reform. Assessment
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data were gathered at the beginning and end of Years 1 and 2 and at the end of Years 3 and 5. Data
about school and class teaching, and about each student, were gathered by surveys during each
year. Achievement growth was analysed in a series of multi-level analyses using student-level data
and school/classroom-level data. Student progress in reading during Year 1 was influenced by the
approach to teaching, individual intervention, the time devoted to literacy and student engagement
in reading. The effect of the approach to literacy teaching during Year 1 endured but individual
intervention effects did not.
The development of the relationships between representation of quantities, verbal oral and arabic
representations for two-digit numbers
Marie Collet, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Jacques Grégoire, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
This research studied the developmental order of the relationships children construct between the
analogical representations of quantities, the verbal oral representation and the Arabic
representation for two-digit numbers. This study confronted Fuson’s (1997), Dehaene’s (1992) and
McCloskey’s (1992) models. The relationships were tested on a sample of 120 first- and secondgrade children. Twelve tasks have been individually administered to each child. The data were
analyzed using the Rasch model to order the relationships between the three kinds of number
representations on a developmental continuum. The results provide new answers to the debate on
the relationships between the three kinds of representations of two-digit numbers. They allowed us
to refine the developmental model of the abilities underlying the base-ten system initially
developed by Fuson et al. (1997). This model can be useful in understanding learning of two-digit
numbers.
Young children’s learning in early education settings and at home: Parent’s understandings and
practices
Judith Loveridge, Massey University, New Zealand
The education of children in the early years (birth to eight) New Zealand occurs in two separate
educational settings: early childhood settings and junior primary. This paper presents findings
from fieldwork which focussed on young children’s learning in each of these settings, specifically
a kindergarten and year 0 and year 1 of primary school, and in daily life at home. In particular the
paper examines parents’ understandings and practices concerning their young children’s learning.
It also examines their statements about their relationships with their children’s teachers in
supporting their learning. The data obtained from interviews with parents and observations are also
discussed in relation to the dominant understandings and practices in each educational context of
the kindergarten and the primary school.
Developing independent learning in children aged 3-5
David Whitebread, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Holly Anderson, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Penny Coltman, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Charlotte Page, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
This paper presents interim findings from a project exploring the development of independent
learning in English Nursery and Reception classrooms. The development of the range of abilities
involved in becoming a self-regulating, independent learner are conceptualised in terms of
reasearch and theory relating to the development of 'metacognitive' abilities and dispositions. In
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the first year the project has explored the work of 16 teachers/educators working with children in
the 3-5 age range, using a range of methodologies including questionnaires, interviews and
reflective dialogues (based on video recordings of particular classroom episodes), reflective
journals and child assessment checklists. The paper will present interim findings in relation to the
nature of independent learning abilities which appear to develop in this age range and the impact
of a range of pedagogical practices.
C 21
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Room PSY 4 S
Paper Presentation
LEARNING ABOUT SOCIETY, DEMOCRACY AND RIGHTS
Chair:
Gunilla Petersson, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Multiculturalism in education: A case of a diverse minority
Adina Bar-El, Achva Academic College, Israel
The purpose of this presentation is to describe an example of a multicultural minority group that
succeeded in establishing cultural, political and religious diversity in its various educational
networks. In addition, an important research method for the study of the history of education will
be presented: the analysis of children's periodicals. The specific case is the Jewish educational
system that existed in Poland between the two World Wars in which eight separate networks coexisted side by side. The research was based on content analysis of Polish Jewish children's
periodicals that were edited by teachers and published by the different educational networks. The
periodicals were written in different languages according to the language of instruction of each
network. All existing issues were analyzed. The presentation will describe this unique educational
polysystem, highlighting the differences and similarities of the subject materials, the trends and the
educational principles. Research based on children's periodicals will be illustrated.
Experiences in school and thoughts about society. A comparison of adolescents of seven nations
Monika Buhl, University of Jena, Germany
Connie Flanagan, Pennsylvania State University, USA
The study concerns the association of teaching practices and school climates with adolescents’
thoughts about society. As school is an institutional context with a high socializational impact on
all adolescents we aspects clear correlations with the perception of society. Analyzes are based on
a survey of more than 5600 12 to 19 year-olds from seven different countries (Australia, Bulgaria,
the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Sweden and the United States) focussing on various aspects
of young peoples’ experiences of membership in the institutions of their society and their beliefs
about their rights and obligations. Comparison of thoughts about society and described school
experiences show different levels between the countries. While some of the found correlations
between both are due for all countries, other show nation specific patterns. Discussion will focus
on democratic education in school as way to transfer the sense of community to the following
generation in different democratic societies.
Teaching democracy through multidisciplinary points of view
Leah Segal, Gordon College of Education, Haifa, Israel
Ruth Richter, Mofet Institute, Israel
– 184 –
The paper describes a holistic approach and an interdisciplinary curriculum in enhancing critical
thinking and education for democratic values and behavior at the collage level. The curriculum
includes academic subjects such as the humanities, sciences, social sciences, communication and
art. The theoretical framework has two bases: The first derives from eighteenth century rationalism
and scientific thinking, while the second derives from the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth
century. Both produced social economies and a political structure of mass democracy. The focal
point here is that critical thinking is a prerequisite for the existence of democratic values and
principles in a post-modern society. The program integrates the didactic strategies of McPack on
the conception of critical thinking and the dialectic technique of Richard Paul. It is built in a
modular fashion, in which each subject stands on its own, and is presented by various lecturers
from different domains.
C 22
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11:00 - 12:20
Room PSY 3 I
Paper Presentation
PERSPECTIVES ON LEARNING AND ACHIEVEMENT
Chair:
Helmut Niegemann, University of Erfurt, Germany
From theory to practice: Looking for achievement goal theory in classrooms
Jennifer Archer, University of Newcastle, Australia
To what extent does achievement goal theory figure in teachers’ beliefs about students’
motivation, and to what extent does this theory make sense of students’ classroom behaviour?
Teachers were interviewed about their beliefs and observed as they taught. Even though goal
theory acknowledges that students juggle academic and social goals, this study has revealed a goal
not discussed in the educational psychology literature: students will work not because they want
to please the teacher but because they want the teacher to appear competent. In effect, the balance
of power between teacher and students has shifted – as described by sociologists like Foucault.
Harackiewicz and her colleagues have called for a re-thinking of goal theory to provide more
explanatory power in “real” classrooms. The present study adds to this re-think by identifying a
goal that plays a major role in shaping students’ relationship with teachers and mediates their
willingness to work.
Cooperative learning and goal coordination
Daphne Hijzen, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Paul Vedder, Leiden University, The Netherlands
This study aims at improving our understanding of the relationship between the goals that students
in secondary vocational education want to achieve and the quality of their cooperative learning. It
is assumed that misregulation during cooperative learning may be caused by goal frustration or by
a mismatch between imposed goals and students' personal goals. For example goal conflicts may
arise when students are expected to cooperate with their peers but are engaged in the pursuit of
individual goals. We expect that the importance that students attach to certain goals and the extent
to which they are able to reach these goals influence their willingness to engage in cooperative
learning. Subjects were 2000 students in secondary vocational education in the Netherlands. The
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study has a longitudinal design with three moments of data collection. It is hypothesized that goal
choice and goal frustration influences the quality of cooperative learning. Preliminary findings
suggest that students with high rates of goal frustration experience troubles while working on
group tasks and their attitude towards cooperative learning seems less positive. Theoretical
background, method and results of data-analysis of this study will be presented and discussed.
Goal-dependent processing of pupils’ attributes – Another facet of teachers’ expertise
Sabine Krolak-Schwerdt, Saarland University, Germany
Ralf Rummer, Saarland University, Germany
An experiment investigated the effects of different information processing goals on the attention
and the recall of information about pupils. Experienced teachers (experts) and university freshmen
(laymen) were presented case reports about pupils. The reports were either read under the
instruction (a) to form an impression of the personality of the described pupils or (b) to predict
their future development. Reading times for each case report were recorded. Afterwards subjects
had to recall the case reports as accurate as possible. The results show that, depending on their
processing goal, experts are able to switch their attention and memory for pupil information from
top-down strategies involving the activation of prototypical categories about pupil personalities to
bottom-up processing which consists of focussing characteristics of the individual child. Thus,
processing goals appear as moderators in teachers’ judgements. We conclude that the ability to
flexibly adapt to different processing goals is one important facet of expertise.
The effects of attitudes at the level of the student, the classroom and the school on gender
differences in achievements
Eva van de gaer, University of Leuven, Belgium
Jan van Damme, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Agnes De Munter, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
In this study we investigated whether attitudes at the classroom and school level influenced
students’ achievements over and above the attitudes at the individual level. Furthermore we tested
whether the attitudes at the group level had differential effects on the achievements of boys and
girls. Data are used from a longitudinal project in which a cohort of more than 6000 students was
followed during secondary school. Since the data are hierarchical we use multilevel analysis. The
results showed that the attitudes of the classroom are important and differential effects of attitudes
at the classroom level on the achievements of boys and girls were found.
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Keynote Addresses
Room
27th
Aug
12:25-13:25
BASSI 3 F
The multiple sides of the same moon: learning, teaching and instruction between science and
common sense
Felice Carugati, University of Bologna, Italy
Congresses, symposia, poster sessions and keynotes are unceasingly opportunities for producing,
discussing and disseminating in the realm of scientific arena new perspectives on classical themes,
new themes, or original interpretations on ongoing phenomena. The tool box of scholars grow rich
so far and new ways of understanding become available. Learning, teaching and instruction are by
no means impervious to these socio-cultural dynamics, for several reasons. One of them which
will be presented and discussed here is the underlying issue of intelligence, as a matter of both
scientific and common sense debate. Over the last twenty years the research on the dialogue
between science and common sense interpretations about what intelligence, learning, teaching and
instruction really is, has sensibly improved. The theory of social representations has been playing a
major role in this line of research. A brief excursus on the theoretical framework and empirical
results about these issues will allow to understand how people concerned (e.g., teachers, parents)
construct and share specific ways of interpreting the same topics of scientific research, borrowing
from and reorganising scientific models as original socio-cognitive tools, or lay theories. These
tools allow these categories of people to cope with everyday experience (as teachers and/or
parents) of individual inequalities in intelligence, and learning abilities, both at school and at
home. The technologies of information and communication (TIC) in the everyday life is a
phenomenon which allow us to discuss how well-established lay theories of intelligence and
learning are provoked to reorganise themselves, in order to cope with the scientific interpretation
of intelligence and learning embedded in the TIC. Empirical results will be presented as a basis for
a discussion of how people both benefit from and resist to scientific models of learning and
instruction.
Room
BASSI 2 D
Emotional and cognitive aspects of motivation
Suzanne Hidi, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada
At the last EARLI Conference, during an invited symposium on motivation, the panelists argued
for the reconceptualization of motivation in context from self-regulatory, socio-cognitive and
socio-cultural perspective. They suggested that by conceptualizing motivation in context, we may
be able to capture the dynamic ways in which learners and context interact in classrooms. Whereas
some of the presenters focused on a basically cognitive perspective, others, namely Boekaerts and
Efklides, argued that learning situations influence learners emotional functioning and intrinsic
contexts, suggesting that learners’ motivation should also be considered from these perspectives.
My talk continues to develop the argument that the emotional aspects of motivation and learners’
subjective experiences need to be integrated with the more prevalent cognitive approaches. More
specifically, I consider how various motivational variables (e.g., goals, self-efficacy and interest)
can contribute to a multidimensional approach of motivation that considers our cognitive and
affective functioning together with current and relevant neuropsychological data.
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Room
BASSI 3 E
Studying processes in writing and in reading literary fiction: Outcomes for resear-chers &
learners
Gert Rijlaarsdam and Team: Huub van den Bergh, Martine Braaksma, Michel Couzijn, Tanja
Janssen, and Marleen Kieft, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The study of writing processes now has a tradition of about 30 years. In this presentation, we will
show highlights from our studies, applying think aloud protocols in two ways. We use them to
study effective processes in students in secondary education, in two domains: writing argumentative texts, and interpreting literary texts. Research questions are: to what extent do processes differ
in different circumstances (for instance: writing in L1 and writing in L2), and: to what extent are
these differences related to the quality of the result (text quality, quality of interpretation). The
other way we use think aloud protocols is in designing teaching sequences. Especially when
introducing new tasks, students seem to learn more from observing other students (listening or
viewing audio- or videotaped processes from peers) than from executing these tasks themselves.
– 188 –
D1
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO Aula Magna
EARLI Invited Expert Panel
DOES PEACE EDUCATION DURING CONFLICT MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE?
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Panelists:
Yifat Biton, Tel-Hai College, Israel
Hava Shechter, High School Kiryat Motzkin, Israel
Irit Bar-Natan, Kibbutz Maagan Michael, Israel
Ilana Lustig, Kibbutz Geva, Israel
Peace education takes place all over the world. However, little research and evaluation is
conducted, raising the question of its effectiveness, particularly to programs in regions of
intractable conflict where peace education faces numerous grave challenges. This symposium is
devoted to the discussion of research findings from four studies carried out on peace education
programs with Israeli and Palestinian youngsters. The first study by Shechter examined whether
visits by Jewish youth to Auschwitz affects their empathy towards Palestinians. Two contrasting
hypotheses were tested – that identification with suffering increases sensitivity and empathy or that
increased monopoly over victimhood decreases empathy. The second study by Lustig examined
whether studying a foreign, remote conflict serves as an analogy to a local conflict in which one is
involved, and thus leads to new insights of the latter. The third study by Bar-Natan examined
whether personal friendships that develop during meetings of Israeli and Palestinian youth
generalize to become new ways of perceiving the “other” collective. The forth study by Biton
examined the way that participation in a peace education program affects the conceptions of
“peace” by Israeli and Palestinian youngsters. Discussion focuses on the more generalizable
lessons to be learned from this research and its applicability to anti-racism programs in other
contexts.
D2
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 L
EARLI Invited Panel
CONTEXTUALISING COGNITIVE ACCELERATION
Organiser:
Chair:
Philip Adey, King’s College, London, United Kingdom
Cognitive Acceleration projects in mathematics, science, technlogy, and other subject areas have
been producing evidence since 1985 of effects on the development of general cognitive processing
abilities of students of various ages in the school sytem. The claim has been that the subject
context (science, mathematics, or other subject matter) is relatively unimportant and that what
matters are the general psychological approaches through cognitive conflict, social construction,
and metacognition. However, there is a demand from within the educational system for more than
abstract cognitive development, and in this symposium we will describe some experiments and
thinking which may link the principles of general cognitive acceleration to the specifics of either
academic achievement or of motivational development. Adey will describe work in which the
– 189 –
‘pillars’ of cognitive acceleration are expressed through the science concepts which are required
by the UK national curriculum for 7 and 8 year old.s. Kuusela and Hautamäki will describe a large
scale implementation of cognitive acceleration across contexts in one small city. Von Aufschnaiter
approaches the problem from the perspective of conceptual development in physics, and Shayer
will describe the application of cognitive acceleration to the UK national numeracy strategy.
Case and science curriculum objectives in the primary school
We have found that teachers of Year 1 children (aged 5 and 6) take quite easily to the principles of
cognitive acceleration, since their education has stressed pedagogy appropriate for the cognitive
and social development of their pupils. With this work, we do not pay undue attention to the
content objectives of the curriculum. However, with slightly older students in Year 3, the
curriculum becomes more pressing and in science we meet the old problem of primary teachers’
lack of confidence. In a new project funded by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust, we have
been designing and trialling activities which call on the ‘pillars’ of cognitive acceleration
(cognitive conflict, social construction, metacognition) but set them in the context of science
concepts which are specified in a nationally produced ‘workscheme’ for Years 3 and 4. So far we
have data only from a year in which we were, at once, developing the activities, introducing them
to teachers, and running a quasi-experiment testing their effectiveness at promoting both cognitive
development and science understanding against a control group. Under these conditions, no
significant differences were found in either cognitive gains or science understanding, although
there are some curious correlations. We will discuss possible reasons for this in terms of the
methodology of combining development and trials, and the psychology of ‘critical windows’.
Conceptual acceleration in physics education?
Claudia von Aufschnaiter, University of Hannover, Germany
Intervention programmes of CASE and CAME aim at raising general levels of thinking amongst
school students of different grades. Tasks and methodology are designed to challenge children’s
concepts of science and mathematics. However, there is still little known in detail about how
children’s conceptual understanding of science subjects evolve and how their concepts develop
trough instruction. The study presented uses video-documentation of in total 45 students from
grade 8 and 11 working in groups of three on physics tasks in the domain of electrostatics.
Category based investigations of students’ activities and utterances were used to analyse how
concepts were developed and applied to tasks. Categories developed from both a theoretical and an
empirical perspective demonstrate that in more than 50% of time spent on tasks students did not
refer to any kind of conceptual based understanding. After exploring contextual aspects students
became more and more able to develop an intuitive rule-based understanding which enabled them
to tackle classes of phenomena in a specific manner without being explicitly able to express the
underlying rule (concept). In such phases explicit formulation of conceptually based explanation of
phenomena was generally not understood by the students. Concepts usually only evolved if
students had developed and experienced an intuitive rule in respect to contents of the concept.
These results stress the importance of well structured learning environment including several
concrete experiences in respect to the development of intuitive concepts rather than teachers giving
“good” conceptual based explanations.
– 190 –
CASE and CAME in Finland – Good results and surprising outcomes
Jorma Kuusela, National Board of Education, Finland
Jarkko Hautamäki, Helsinki University, Finland
CASE (Adey, Shayer & Yates, 1995) and CAME (Adhami, Johnson & Shayer, 1998) were used in
this intervention study. Subjects were 6th grade pupils (276, 12 years) of all 14 primary schools (19
classes) of a small city. The design was a randomised model with a pre-testing, an immediate posttesting, a one year delayed post-testing, and a three year delayed post-testing (blind testing). The
pupils were randomised within classes into CASE, CAME and control groups. The intervention
lessons (40 hours per ‘class’) were done in eight ‘classes’. The measurement scales were the
Learning-to-learn Assessment Scales (Hautamäki & al, 1999), Science Reasoning Tasks (Volume
and Heaviness, Pendulum, NFER, 1979), and Thessaloniki Maths Tests (Demetriou & al., 1996).
The results showed statistically significant and substantial, and lasting effect-sizes for CASE and
CAME, but differential time-tables for the effects (first CASE and then also CAME). The
surprising outcome is that there were positive effects also in the control groups. The self-concepts
and motivational orientations seem to have ‘sleeper’ effects: pupils who showed little
improvement showed less agency-effort, they used deep processing less often, their self-esteem
was lower and their self-handicapping scores were high. There were also other relevant
differences, e.g., the schools seemed to support different developmental trajectories. The design,
measurements, and results will be presented and discussed and the results of the replication study
(2000-2003, Hautamäki, Kuusela & Wikström) are presented.
Mathematics for 6 and 7 year-olds: Is what lies beneath the surface more important than
procedures?
Michael Shayer, King’s College, London, United Kingdom
Mundher Adhami, King’s College, London, United Kingdom
Anne Robertson, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, United Kingdom
Current applied research in Hammersmith & Fulham schools seeks to extend Adey et al.’s
CASE@KS1 project (Let’s Think!) for 6 year-olds into their mathematics work, followed by the
year when they are 7 when the thinking lessons they receive (about one every ten days) are just in
the context of mathematics. The problem for the team is that these children are already provided
with a mathematics programme by the Government called the National Numeracy Project. The
downside of this is that the daily specified lessons are focussed on objectives — usually one per
lesson. The upside is that a three-phase model for the Numeracy lessons is recommended —wholeclass introduction, individual pupil work, and the whole-class plenary. In principle this could allow
for much constructive pupil activity, and even some metacognition in the plenary. Yet this rarely is
the outcome. One does not find in the literature much applied and applicable research that focuses
on the underlying reasoning patterns of mathematics for 6 and 7 year-olds. But there are plenty of
publications on children’s understanding of maths. We draw on research by Confrey and Bryant
for multiplicative relations, Nunes for correspondence reasoning, Vergnaud both for the structure
of additive and multiplicative relations, and Cable for the importance of measure in the
development of mathematical understanding. In this presentation instances will be given showing
how concepts of measure, spatial relations, and one-many relations can be addressed using
Vygotsky for many aspects of class management, and on Piaget for inventing cognitively
challenging structures for lesson creation.
– 191 –
D3
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 D
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN CONSTRUCTIVISM AND SOCIOCULTURAL
PERSPECTIVES?
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussants:
Ola Halldén, Stockholm University, Sweden
Gunilla Petersson, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Roger Säljö, Göteborg University, Sweden
During the last ten years there has been an intensive discussion about context and about the
influence of context on human behaviour. From the part of the sociocultural perspective there has
been a severe criticism of the constructivist approach on the ground of not taking contextual
conditions into consideration, for example in analysis of interview data. The constructivists, from
their point of view, have critizised sociocultural research for, among other things, not being able to
account for the transfer of knowledge from one situation to another and for individual differences
in performance in the same situation. The symposium aims at bringing these matters to the fore by
presenting research carried out within a constructivist approach with the pretensions to take
individual conceptual development as well as situational factors into consideration.
Revising conceptual knowledge in sociocultural contexts: A case of understanding of the banking
business
Giyoo Hatano, University of the Air, Chiba, Japan
Conceptual change can be described as radical changes in the truth-value (i.e., how strongly it is
believed to be true) of a range of connected pieces of knowledge or beliefs. From a cognitive
perspective, I propose two contrasting mechanisms for conceptual change, one local and bottomup, the other goal directed and top-down. One type of mechanism is the spreading of truth-value
alteration: When new inputs change the truth value of some pieces of knowledge, the changes
bring about changes in the truth-value of other connected pieces, which may induce further
changes in their neighbours; in the long run, there can be a drastic change in almost all pieces
through continued spreading and recurring effects as well as further inputs to facilitate the truthvalue alteration. The other type of mechanism might be called deliberate belief revision. A
representative subtype of this is similar to the process of comprehension monitoring or repair, in
which existing beliefs are consciously and deliberately rewritten (and new beliefs are introduced)
in the process, in order to remove recognized incongruities. Both mechanisms are prepared and
induced by sociocultural contexts. Knowledge accumulated through participating in sociocultural
activities is a necessary condition for conceptual change. In addition, developing individuals are
exposed to or become aware of incongruous pieces of information when engaging in forms of
dialogical interaction. I present examples clearly showing the influence of sociocultural contexts
from our study of alternative conceptions of the bank and their changes during the interview.
On the analysis of qualitative data. Restating the concept of alternative frames of reference by a
critique and a reanalysis of results reported by A. diSessa and B.L. Sherin
Ola Halldén, Stockholm University, Sweden
Helge Strömdahl, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
– 192 –
An importunate question with regard to research on conceptual change is what there is that
changes. In 1998 Andrea diSessa and Bruce Sherin published a paper in the International Journal
of Science Education in which they dispatch most of the research carried out on conceptual change
on the ground that the concept of concept used in this research is unclear and do not take into
account the complexity of the concept of concept. In specific, they argue, that concept, as a system
for classification, is all too primitive to account for what happens when we are talking about
conceptual change. Instead, they propose a theory which makes a “fundamental break from much
prior work” in physics education, they say. Here, we will challenge that “fundamental break”. A
reinterpretation of the interview data they present is performed from an intentional perspective, i.e.
what is the interviewee trying to accomplish during the interview.
Acquisition vs. participation or acquisition via participation?
Irini Skopeliti, University of Athens, Greece
Popi Eikospentaki, University of Athens, Greece
It will be argued that the so-called contradictory metaphors of learning – learning as acquisition vs.
learning as participation – are not really contradictory at all. There are many psychological and
neurological phenomena that cannot be explained without assuming that knowledge is acquired
and resides in the patterns of connections among the neurons in our brains. On the other hand,
there is no doubt that knowledge can be acquired through participation, i.e., as individuals
participate in the physical and social world that surrounds us. The theoretical arguments for the
acquisition via participation metaphor will be supported by the presentation of the results of a
series of experiments that demonstrate how tools and external models interact with what children
already know to further their understanding of phenomena such as the shape of the earth and of the
day/night cycle.
Microworlds meet cultural cognition
Marianne Wiser, Clark University, USA
Tamer Amin, Clark University, USA
A number of themes are becoming increasingly prominent in the literature on concept learning in
science: the role that pre-instruction knowledge, in the form of image schematic structures, can
play in understanding the scientific concepts (e.g., diSessa, 1993; Zietsman & Clement, 1997);
how computer environments can be designed to evoke that knowledge and guide scientific
knowledge construction (e.g., White & Fredericksen, 2000); and how negotiations between
learners can lead to productive convergent understanding as they perform activities in those
environments (e.g., Roschelle, 1996). Some areas in cultural cognition echo these themes and
provide insights into the cognitive processes through which personal (student knowledge) and
cultural knowledge (scientific knowledge) interface. For example, Fauconnier, Turner, and
Hutchins explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying the appropriation and use of “cultural
anchors” (i.e., cultural artifacts that embody the designer’s scientific and technological
knowledge), pointing out that such artifacts constrain novices’ learning trajectories and the sharing
of cognitive load during activities in which people interact with the artifacts and with each other.
Tomasello, on the other hand, emphasizes the role of joint attention in meaning construction, and
sees the learner’s task as recovering the intention behind the teacher’s use of certain symbols (e.g.,
words). These different strands in the cultural cognition literature can be integrated to provide a
theoretical framework in which to start understanding how students learn scientific theories
embodied in computer based conceptual models. In this context, however, one must also bridge
– 193 –
what Olson and Katz (2001) describe as “the radical discontinuity between the subjective
experience and personal knowledge acquired by the child through their own efforts and through
their participation in social life, and the institutional forms taken as the known in any advanced
society”, that is, because the students’ conceptualization of physical events differs radically from
the scientific one, and creates obstacles to their recovering the meanings intended by the models’
designers. This is a case in which Olson and Bruner’s “fourth pedagogy” has to be deployed. The
computer models, the curriculum embedding them, and the role of the teacher in meaning
negotiations, must be carefully crafted to provide freedom in exploration and collaborative
meaning making, an, at the same time, acknowledge the authorative role of teacher and computer
models. We will illustrate our approach with an analysis of protocols from a case study involving
four eighth-graders learning basic thermodynamics interactively with computer based conceptual
models, and a teacher. We will highlight interactions between cognitive processes such as
conceptual blends (Fauconnier and Turner), peer collaboration in meaning making, and the
authoritative role of the teacher.
D4
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 G
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND MULTIMEDIA LEARNING
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Joost Lowyck, University of Leuven, Belgium
Instructional Design as a branch of instructional psychology looks after systematic solutions for
problems that occur in the course of the planning, developing, implementation and evaluation of
learning environments. While teachers in natural classroom settings may sometimes improvise
more or less successfully, technology based learning environments must be designed very
carefully even (or especially) if the learners are expected to learn self-regulated in the respective
environment. Given a bundle of ID theories and models current research comprises theoretical
work referring to the relations between different ID theories, the representation of those theories in
the minds of instructional designers, as well as empirical studies addressing open questions in the
context of specific ID models. The symposium of the SIG 6 Instructional Design aims to present a
sample of typical research activities.
Attitudes concerning dimensions of basic instructional design decisions: A questionnaire of
teachers in higher education
Ulrike Rinn, University of Tübingen, Germany
This survey aims to analyze attitudes, cognitions and the practical experience of teachers in terms
of implicit theories concerning instructional design aspects. These implicit theories are compared
with different learning and teaching approaches and recommendations of instructional design
models. The basis of the study is a questionnaire that deals nationwide with the projects of the
funding scheme “New Media in Education”. The target group is teachers, who develop partially
virtual teaching and learning settings mainly for German universities. It can be assumed that most
of them do not have systematic didactical knowledge, but comprehensive practical experience. The
basis of the survey accumulates a system of categories, that comprise the dimensions of
instructional design decisions (Molz & Schnotz) and general categories regarding learning and
– 194 –
teaching. The questionnaire concerning the implicit theories, questions at the level of “everyday
speech” of teachers. Especially in Germany there is a lack of surveys that examine implicit
theories of teachers concerning aspects of the Instructional Design research. With this study we try
to identify typical patterns of inconsistencies and lack of implicit theories in terms of instructional
approaches. In the next step, the results of the questionnaire will be deepened examined with
interviews. Their aim is to collect and analyze the considerations and rationale of teachers during
the planning of exemplary learning and teaching scenarios. Later on, the results of both surveys are
supposed to be an elementary component for the development of qualification and consulting
arrangements for teachers in the field of Instructional Design.
Instructional design for university courses: Development, evaluation, and implementation of an
online learning environment for plant identification
Tobias Bartholomé, University of Muenster, Germany
Elmar Stahl, University of Muenster, Germany
Courses in plant identification are an essential component of basic university courses in biology.
Yet, the natural variability of plants and the required dual-coding of botanical concepts in form of
verbal propositions and mental images place severe difficulties on the acquisition of applicable
botanical knowledge. Therefore, plant identification is taught as a problem-solving process:
traditional learning media, so called keys for identification guide learners through a sequence of
dichotomous decision steps until the final taxon is reached. These keys only provide insufficient
learner support. In a cooperative project an online learning environment is being developed that
aims at overcoming the shortcomings of traditional learning media by introducing a variety of help
functions. To meet learners’ demands, the program development is grounded on an extended
analysis of the cognitive processes involved in plant identification. Two core components of the
learning environment from an instructional design perspective are context-sensitive help materials
and a system supporting error analysis. Context-sensitive help is given at any decision step
explicating botanical concepts in the context of the taxonomic group at hand: texts are integrated
and interactively linked with illustrations in order to foster elaborated mental representations of the
botanical concepts. In addition, learners are supported by an error analysis system offering
feedback at certain taxonomical levels and enabling a detailed analysis of the course of
identification and the errors made. In this paper, the conceptual development and formative
evaluation as well as first summative evaluation results from the implementation of the learning
environment will be presented.
Literature review: Designing ESL hypermedia instruction
Song Chiann-Ru, Institute of Secondary School Teachers (ISST), Taiwan
ESL Chinese students have difficulties in developing complex learning skills naturally when
mastering the usage of verb forms and tenses. To facilitate in helping students acquire complex
knowledge successfully, one of the challenges of an instructional designer or system developer is
to take into account the development of various kinds of instructional units (cases) to model,
coach, and scaffold different learners in order to enable learners to acquire complex knowledge by
using contextualized learning skills. It is also essential to provide learners the freedom of making
choices. The purpose of this paper is to review recent literature that reveals several important
attempts to elucidate the instructional design framework for constructing an ESL hypermedia
learning environment. Five grounding themes are addressed and discussed. The suggestions from
the literature review provide directions for designing ESL hypermedia instruction and learning
environments.
– 195 –
Just-in-time information presentation during multimedia learning: Effects on search behavior and
learning outcomes
Liesbeth Kester, Open University, The Netherlands
Jeroen van Merriënboer, Open University, The Netherlands
While learning a complex skill using a computer-based simulation (in this study troubleshooting in
electrical circuits) just in time information presentation facilitates learning and enhances test
performance. Two types of information are distinguished that are necessary to master a complex
skill: supportive information and procedural information. The supportive information contains
general information of how the learning domain is organized while the procedural information
contains task-specific information. A just in time information presentation format is proposed:
supportive information is presented before practicing the troubleshooting skill and procedural
information is presented during practice. Four information presentation formats were compared in
a factorial design with the factors timing of supportive information (before or during task practice)
and timing of procedural information (before or during task practice). Eighty-eight third year high
school students (37 male, 51 female; M=14 years, SD=0.52) participated in the experiment.
Information searching behavior and transfer test performance were studied. Information searching
behavior confirms the hypothesis. The students who received the just in time information
presentation format showed substantially less searching behavior than the other participants.
Findings on the transfer test are less clear due to a bottom effect.
A conceptual framework for comparing and integrating instructional design models
Markus Molz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
The field of instructional design is characterized by an increasing number of various instructional
design models (IDMs) which differ (or seem to differ) from each other under some aspects and
which have (or seem to have) similarities under other aspects. This fuzzy set of IDMs is confusing
both for practitioners and theorists. Previous comparative analyses were focussing rather on formal
criteria, using only a limited set of criteria or drawing on vague concepts or confounded
dimensions. Therefore we will present a more comprehensive conceptual framework for analysing,
comparing, integrating and generating IDMs. We will show that the complexity of instructional
design and technology can be fruitfully understood along a limited set of basic dimensions with
defined interrelationships. These dimensions resulting from a meta-analysis of existing IDMs
create a tentatively universal “instructional space”. Methods employed in this analysis were facet
theoretical phrasing, dimensional thinking derived from systems theory, as well as techniques of
domain ontology development. As a result each IDM can finally be represented as a particular
profile in the instructional space. This multidimensional framework helps to reveal the degree of
coherence or contradiction between instructional prescriptions across different IDMs. Used as a
rationale for the selection of an adequate IDM and for principled design decisions it can provide
orientation for practitioners and (academic) teachers who are non-experts in instructional design
and technology. Going beyond surface differences in terminology, unclear overlaps between IDMs
and struggling educational philosophies, the framework could contribute to bridge the widespread
theory-practice gap in instructional design.
– 196 –
D5
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 B
Symposium
LEARNING WITH ANIMATION
Part 2: Comprehension processes in learning with animations
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Richard Lowe, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
John Kirby, Queens University, Canada
This symposium is part II of a two-part symposium that aims to clarify and integrate the major
themes of current research into learning with animation. Animation is widely regarded as a
valuable resource for improving learning across a diverse range of subject areas. It has the
potential to facilitate various types of knowledge construction (ranging from accepted expert
representations to innovative conceptualizations) and thinking (ranging from convergent to
divergent). Well-designed animations could encourage deeper forms of learning by helping
students to generate more coherent, comprehensive and appropriate knowledge structures. When
used to present dynamic content, animations are assumed to facilitate learners’ mental model
construction since situational dynamics are explicit rather than having to be inferred. However,
explicitness may also have negative consequences such as reducing a learner’s depth of processing
or supplying information too quickly for adequate learner processing. So, how can animationbased learning resources be designed so that their potential is realized? Design guidance for the
educational use of animation should be built upon a detailed understanding of the specific
comprehension process that students engage in when learning with animated resources. These
comprehension processes occur at the conjunction of the distinctive properties of animation as a
means of representing information and the very particular processing characteristics of human
learners. The corresponding cognitive support role can involve direct guidance or provision of an
environment in which students can construct their own external animated representations of the
content and thus engage in deep cognitive exploration of this subject matter.
Reducing cognitive load by delivery features in learning from computer animation
Mireille Bétrancourt, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Pierre Dillenbourg, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Lionel Clavien, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Computers offer animated graphic devices, which seem attractive and efficient to instructional
designers. However, the research carried out so far failed to establish clear advantages of using
animated graphics over static ones on learning. Among several problems, animations seem to
increase the learners' cognitive load, hence reducing the cognitive resources available for learning.
Nevertheless, we believe that, beyond these shortcomings, animation can effectively promote the
construction of a mental model of dynamic systems, since it provides the transition between steps
that otherwise need to be inferred from static graphics. However, animation is transient and thus
imposes a heavy memory load to learners who have to keep the previous states in memory. We
carried out an experiment to test a device that displays selected frames of the animation on the top
of the screen while the animation is running. Two factors were investigated in a factorial design:
continuity (continuous presentation vs series of static graphics) and permanence of previous
frames (with or without). We expect that permanence of previous frames will be beneficial for
– 197 –
learning, both in the discrete and continuous presentation. Second, a continuous presentation will
improve performance over a series of static graphics only when the previous steps remain on the
screen. Results will be discussed in terms of how learners build runnable mental models of
dynamic systems and guidelines will be proposed for the design of effective animation.
Spatial and temporal search in learning from animation
Recent research casts serious doubts on simplistic notions about the general efficacy of animation
for learning dynamic content. Evidence is emerging that the extent to which a given animation
promotes learning is highly dependent on the specific design features of that animation and the
characteristics of the particular learner who uses it. We currently have little detailed understanding
of the design considerations that may be most crucial in producing educationally effective
animations. Theoretically, one supposed function of animations is to facilitate the process of
mental model construction by making explicit key dynamic components of the referent situation.
However, before a given animation can perform this function, viewers must successfully search
out the relevant dynamic information it contains. A fine-grained investigation of how learners
interacted with a user-controllable animation was conducted to examine information search during
the development of a dynamic mental model. Linked recordings were made of subjects’ actions
and concurrent explanations while they interrogated the animation in order to help them perform a
drawn problem solving task. Analysis showed that initially, subjects’ attention tended to be
focused serially upon single features of the display. As they worked with the animation, subjects
became increasingly strategic in varying the length, direction, frequency and speed of their
interrogation episodes. Subjects tended to use static frames for probing visuospatial characteristics
but animated sequences for investigating dynamic change. The findings suggest that when
designing educational animations, it is important to facilitate productive spatial and temporal
search of the available content.
Using simple abstract animations to elicit imagination and reflection in learning
Yvonne Rogers, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Animated diagrams are considered to be most effective for supporting the learning of complex
phenomena. Animation has been found to be useful for supporting the learning of dynamical
processes (e.g. respiratory system), where temporal and spatial aspects of an animation can be
designed to show explicitly the relationships and interdependencies between various aspects of a
system. In our recent research, we explored how animation can be used to support playful
exploratory learning. In particular, we have been developing novel user experiences, where
children have to discover and reflect upon aspects of a physical environment or virtual entity, that
are re-presented as simple abstract animations. The animations provide explicit representations of
invisible processes, that are revealed to the children through their interactions, and which are
depicted via a diversity of pervasive technologies. In one project, called the Hunting of the Snark,
pairs of children have to find out as much as they can about an imaginary creature (e.g. its
appearance, personality, intentions, emotions) by exploring various mixed reality spaces and
interacting with it in various ways. The virtual creature never appears in its entirety, but as
fragmented animated abstracted forms. The children are required to reflect upon and explain the
underlying intentions and behaviours of the Snark, based on their perceptions of what the
abstracted animations mean. In another project, called the Ambient Wood, simple abstract
animations were used to represent biological processes (e.g. moisture levels in a habitat) which the
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children, likewise, have to discover and reflect upon. A key research question we are interested in
is how and why using animation in this abstract way can facilitate reflection in learning.
Animations of thought
Daniel L. Schwartz, Stanford University, USA
Some animations highlight specific components and transformations of physical events. Other
animations portray dynamic representations of physical events, for example, by showing changes
to a graph as a physical event unfolds. Rather than portraying events, we have been portraying
people’s thoughts about an event. For much learning, the challenge is not replaying the perceptual
event so much as knowing how to think about the event. Many people, for example, can imagine a
weight falling and accelerating. What they cannot do is imagine how the expert thinks about the
event. To help make thinking visible we have created Teachable Agents. Students teach computer
“agents” about a domain, and then they can see how the agent thinks when given a problem. For
example, with Betty’s Brain, students teach by drawing a concept map. Once taught, Betty can
answer questions by animating the flow of inference from one node to another. For example, when
taught about a food chain, Betty can answer questions like, “If grass decreases, what happens to
lions?”. Using a simple highlighting scheme Betty might show that a decrease in grass causes her
to infer a decrease in antelopes, which causes her to infer a decrease in lions. We report several
studies on the benefits of thought animations that use Teachable Agents. For example, in a study
with college students, we found that the students adopted Betty’s representational structure to
organize their own thoughts about cell metabolism.
Diagrams that are narratives
Barbara Tversky, Stanford University, USA
What animations normally do is show change over time; that is, they tell a story, using a sequence
of graphics. A survey of textbooks across the sciences, engineering, and the humanities and
instructions for assembly or operation shows a small set of narrative scenarios: (a) Large to small
(whole to part); (b) structure to function; (c) processes/stages that occur over time; (d) cases from
one extreme to another along a dimension. We will characterize these scenarios, including how
they are segmented and what graphic devices they use, both pictoric and meta-pictoric, such as
lines and arrows. We will compare diagram narratives to other pictorial narratives, such as stained
glass windows and comics. Most educational animations, whether concrete or abstract, even
visually simple ones, do not improve performance beyond comparable still graphics. Effective
graphic narratives may provide guidelines for the creation of effective animations.
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D6
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 F
Symposium
LEARNING AND TEACHING THE LITERATURE CURRICULUM. HOW READERS
APPROACH LITERARY TEXTS, AND HOW INSTRUCTION MAY ENHANCE
LITERARY COMPETENCE
Part 2: Factors that influence literary reading and interpretation processes
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Tanja Janssen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Gert Rijlaarsdam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tanja Janssen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Peter Smagorinsky, University of Georgia, USA
In all cultures, reading literary texts is part of the school curriculum. Although the amount of time
allocated to reading, interpreting and discussing literary texts varies within and between cultures
and nations, introducing students in secondary education into the world of literary fiction is the
main focus in all curricula. Literature is an almost ‘sacrosant’, privileged part of the secondary
school curriculum: the rationale is not open for debate. Given this position of literature within the
curriculum, it is remarkable that the literature curriculum has received so little attention from
research in learning and instruction. In this three part symposium, three themes are discussed: a)
how students read and interpret literary texts, b) personal and cultural factors that influence literary
reading and interpretation, and c) the instructional contexts that may enhance these processes. In
Part II of the symposium, the central question is what personal, cultural and text features influence
the way students read and interpret literary texts. To what extent are these interpretation processes
text dependent? What text features do affect interpreting processes? To what extent do background
variables (culture, ethnic background, socio-economical status) play a role in interpreting
processes? Six research presentations provide answers from different methodological perspectives.
Challenging different worlds – Children’s readings of Astrid Lindgren’s story ”My dearest sister”
Eva Maagerø, Agder University College, Norway
This paper results from a reception study among 18 children (10 years old) in Norway will be
presented. The theoretical framework for the presentation is Umberto Eco’s literary semiotics and
Wolfgang Iser’s reception esthetics (Eco, 1979, 1993; Iser, 1972, 1976). These theories are general
text theories which give useful background for understanding the dynamic meeting between text
and reader. Neither Eco nor Iser has worked explicitly with the child as a reader. In a video
interview (later published as book) the child reader has, however, been discussed with Wolfgang
Iser (Maagerø & Tønnessen, 2001). This discussion is of great importance for the theoretical
framework for analyzing the data in this presentation. The story ”My dearest sister” by Astrid
Lindgren was read and discussed individually with the 18 children in the study. Six of the children
have a Norwegian background; 12 come from different minority groups in Norway and have
Norwegian as their second language. The story is challenging because both a concrete world and a
dream world are presented. In the analysis it will be discussed how the children handle the
challenge of different worlds in their interpretations of the text. This will be seen in relation to
their cultural background and also in relation to a reading profile which is developed for every
child. The preliminary results of the analysis show that the reading background of the children is
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of greater importance than their cultural background in their interpretations of the different worlds
in the story.
Cognitive and emotional responses to short stories
Maria Chiara Levorato, University of Padova, Italy
The interaction of affective and cognitive components of reading has been evidenced in different
researches (Miall, 1989; van Oostendorp & Zwaan, 1994; Gerrig, 1993, 1996; Tan, 1996; Kreutz &
MacNealy, 1996; Levorato, 2000). This paper analyzes cognitive and emotional responses elicited by
the reading of E.A. Poe’s short story, “The Oblong Box”. The hypothesis was some underlying
dimensions capture the nature of the reading of a mystery tale. An Experiment was carried out where
readers were invited to judge the short story, using a seven-point scale, with reference to emotional
responses such as: Curiosity, excitement, empathy, imagery, interest, memorability, pleasure, pleasure
at the ending, surprise, surprise at the ending and suspense. In addition to these emotional responses,
readers were also asked to judge some characteristics of the text: Coherence, facility and
postdictability. These can be considered Cognitive responses. The participants were seventy-five
Italian undergraduates. A factorial analysis using the principal components method was carried out on
the 14 responses. The first factor includes curiosity, excitement, interest, memorability, pleasure and
suspense, and could be named “Involvement during reading”, since the common feature of the
responses is the reader’s tendency to be involved in the story and to solve the mystery. The second
factor, “Evaluation of the outcome” includes pleasure, surprise, surprise at the ending and suspense.
The third factor, “Cognitive evaluation” includes responses concerning coherence, facility,
postdictability and imagery. These responses concern an evaluation of the structural and linguistic
characteristics that make the story comprehensible. This factor also includes empathy: When a
character’s goals and motivations are comprehensible, and, therefore, when the story is perceived as
coherent and postdictable, the reader identifies to some degree with the character. The use of
structural equation models to analyze these dimensions evidenced some causal models that explain the
relations between the responses, showing the strict relation between emotional and cognitive
responses.
Cultural diversity as a determinant of literary education
Dick Schram, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Marianne Hermans, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
One assumption underlying the efforts to approach literary education from a multicultural
perspective, is the interaction of certain text elements with the cultural knowledge of the reader.
This raises the question to what extent perceived cultural similarities in narratives (in characters,
story setting) enhance understanding and reading pleasure? And, consequently, what instructions
can deepen the reading experience? In a study that is still under construction, we chose texts from
so-called migrant writers. The texts were presented to 15-16 year old subjects in vocational
training. The individual reading of the text was preceded by an instruction to make readers
empathise with the main character. The control group received no special instruction. After
reading, students answered questions on the appreciation and understanding of the text,
sympathizing with the main character, transportation into the narrative, and belief change. Since
the study is work in progress, we cannot yet report on our findings in detail. We can only
formulate our hypotheses and expectations: As a consequence of perceived similarities between
readers' cultural background and the thematic content of the text, responses will vary according to
reader ethnicity. It is expected that subjects belonging to the ethnic minority group will sympathize
more with the main character, come up with richer response patterns and show more willingness to
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read this kind of literature than the Dutch group. Furthermore, we expect the empathy instruction,
meant to enhance transportation, to raise understanding for the character's actions and to reinforce
the effects of reading on beliefs and text appreciation.
Reading competence in student assessments: An analysis of Pisa from a cognitive perspective
Stephan Dutke, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Reading competence is one of the most important skills to be learned by individuals in the
educational systems of modern societies. Recent international evaluation studies like the
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have shown striking differences with
regard to the reading competence of students both within 32 countries as well as between these
countries. Despite of the methodological sophistication of these studies, the nature of reading
competence has not been investigated yet from the perspective of recent research on text
comprehension with sufficient depth. The contribution will analyse reading competence tasks from
the PISA study from the perspective of different theoretical approaches on text comprehension and
compare them with different theoretical concepts of reading competence. Special emphasis will be
given to the role of prior knowledge and strategies of allocating mental resources, cognitive
processes in constructing multiple mental representations, processes of coherence formation,
metacognitive processes of checking consistency of mental representations, and processes of
updating situation models in the light of new information. Furthermore, individual differences in
reading competence will be analysed with regard to working memory capacity, domain specific
knowledge, knowledge about super-structures, lexical knowledge and syntactic skills. The analysis
should first result into a deeper understanding of the concept of reading competence. Second, it
should provide a better basis for the interpretation of results from evaluation studies that focus
(among others) on reading competence. Third, the analysis should suggest which kind of cognitive
and linguistic skills need to be fostered by which instructional strategies.
Teachers reading and interpreting literature: From book clubs to classroom practices
Mary Kooy, University of Toronto, Canada
While story and narrative are at the heart of what every secondary L1 language teacher studies —
and subsequently teaches in school — the idea of story and narrative as it applies to the lives of
teachers and their “stories to live by” is neglected. Almost no literature addresses the fundamental
bridge between literature, life and learning. This presentation arises from a study examining the
reading of literary texts by women language educators (secondary L1, university teacher
education). This study, of particular relevance to teachers of literature, assumes that reading and
texts play a significant role in their lives both personally and professionally. The two-year study
focused on two book club groups — one experienced; one new to teaching. For each book club
session (7 annually), the teachers read a mutually selected text, and prepared reading notes.
Sessions were videotaped, transcribed and analyzed using narrative as both phenomenon and
method of inquiry. Three elements intersect in this study: reading literature, book clubs, and
personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin) for teaching. Literary understanding, albeit
located in the individual who experiences and constructs it, is sustained through, and implicated in,
the social contexts that foster, challenge and reshape it (e.g., Rabinowitz, 1997). The presentation
focuses on (a) how teachers negotiate meaning and interpretation of literary texts; (b) the effects of
shared textual experiences in the book club (renegotiating meanings, for instance) and, (c) the
implications of these book club experiences for classroom textual practices.
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Why do students choose to study literature?
David Miall, University of Alberta, Canada
Don Kuiken, University of Alberta, Canada
James Gifford, University of Alberta, Canada
What incentives do students find in studying literature at university? We have been participating in
a cross-cultural examination of this question in collaboration with Achim Barsch (Germany) and
Sonia Zyniger and Olívia Fialho (Brazil). For the research in Canada we have employed three
questionnaires. Analyses of the data so far show that Canadian students tend to discriminate
literary from other texts on grounds of style, their ability to invoke the imagination, and to
challenge the reader. When asked if literary texts were distinctive, typical comments were that
literature “offers new perspectives”, “gives insight into character”, “provides different viewpoints,
including other cultures”, “evokes emotions”, and “encourages deeper interpretation”. A
significant proportion of students reported reading literary texts for pleasure, and they did not
distinguish this strongly from reading for study as German and Brazilian students appear to do.
Overall, in comparison with genres such as popular fiction or fantasy, literary texts were judged to
promote intellectual understanding and experiential involvement; in particular, we found that
students who choose literary reading believe that it involves more profound emotions, and
provides insight into the self or others of a kind not available from other reading (some contrast it
with electronic media in this respect). In our report we will outline the analyses that support these
conclusions, describe the factors that motivate students to read other genres, and discuss the
reasons that students provide for studying literature. We will also compare our findings with those
from the other two countries studied.
D7
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 G
Expert Panel
OPTIMIZING NEW MODES OF ASSESSMENT: IN SEARCH OF QUALITIES AND
STANDARDS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussants:
Panelists:
Jim Ridgway, University of Durham, United Kingdom
Kari Smith, Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel
Eduardo C. Cascallar, American Institutes for Research, Washington, USA
Alicia S. Cascallar, Assessment Group International Ltd., London, United
Kingdom
Yehudit J. Dori, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The
Netherlands
Henry Braun, Center for Statistical Theory and Practice, Princeton, USA
The expert panel discussion will elaborate on critical issues in the qualities of new modes of
assessment. The discussion starts with an overview of the findings of research studies reported in
“Optimizing New Modes of Assessment: In Search of Qualities and Standards”(Segers, Dochy, &
Cascallar, 2003). Empirical evidence is presented of: the qualities of self- and peer assessment
(Topping, 2003) and the effect of students interest and the satisfaction of their psychological needs
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(Boekaerts & Minnaert, 2003), project-based assessment (Dori, 2003), portfolio assessment
(Davies & Lemahieu) and case-based assessment (Segers, 2003). The focus is on aspects of quality
from an edumetric point of view (Gielen, Dochy, & Dierick, 2003). In this respect, it is evidenced
that the mode of assessment in se influences students’ learning as well as the students’ perceptions
of assessment. The integration of the assessment in the learning and instruction process seems to
play a mediating role in the relation between perceptions of assessment and effects on learning
(Struyven, Dochy, Janssens, 2003). One crucial aspect of the quality of new modes of assessment
refers to standard setting. Cascallar and Cascallar (2003) discuss the relevance of the Optimized
Extended Response standard setting method for modes of assessment that address complex
behaviors and performances. Finally, Braun (2003) presents evidence of the impact of technology
on the shaping of assessment in it various dimensions. The discussants will elaborate on a set of
dilemmas on the basis of the research results presented. These are the input for the discussion
between the audience and the panel.
D8
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 4 P
Symposium
INFLUENCE OF EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS ON ARGUMENTATION:
IMPLICATIONS FOR BELIEFS CHANGE AND CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Margarita Limón, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Richard C. Anderson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
Inquiry into the individual’s conceptions of knowledge and knowing has increased significantly in
recent years (e.g. Schommer, 1993; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Smith et al., 2000; Mason, 2000;
Hofer & Pintrich, 2002; Sinatra, 2001). Individuals’ beliefs about knowledge and knowing
generally include beliefs about the definition of knowledge, how knowledge is built, how
knowledge is evaluated, where knowledge resides and how knowing occurs. Recently, some
results (e.g. Hofer, 2000; Buehl, Alexander, & Murphy, 2002) have shown that epistemological
beliefs may vary across domains and therefore, despite general beliefs about knowledge and
knowing, students may sustain domain specific beliefs that may be related to academic
achievement and motivation in a particular subject matter, strategy use (Schommer et al., 1992),
obstacle or facilitate conceptual change (e.g. Mason, 2002; Limón, 2001; 2002) or reasoning
(Bendixen et al., 1994). Particularly, this symposium will focus on these two last aspects. Its main
aim will be to introduce and discuss possible answers to a double question: (1) Which is the
influence of epistemological beliefs on argumentation? That is, are those students who maintain a
more absolutist view of knowledge and knowing less able to evaluate arguments supporting
different views about a controversial issue? Do they develop more biased explanations than those
who sustain a more relativistic view about a particular subject matter? What kind of relation, if
any, is there between epistemological beliefs and reasoning strategies chosen by students to solve
ill-defined problems? (2) And secondly, may the use of argumentation tasks in the classroom be a
useful tool to change students’ beliefs and therefore, to facilitate some degree of conceptual
change? Some of the papers that will be presented will deal with this issue and will develop some
instructional implications for learning and teaching different subject-matters. Personal epistemology appear to influence how individuals face a learning task. It may influence learners’ goals and
thus, their motivation and level of engagement in the learning task. Beliefs regarding the origin,
acquisition and certainty of knowledge appear to moderate reasoning biases and theory
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polarization (Klaczynski, 2000). Knowing more about the role of epistemological beliefs in
learning can inform our understanding of how individuals construct knowledge, and consequently
to develop more efficient instructional strategies to promote students’ learning.
Argument and conceptual engagement
Gale Sinatra, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
E. Michael Nussbaum, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
Dole and Sinatra (1998) have argued that conceptual change could be facilitated by promoting the
level of engagement necessary to “weigh issues and arguments” (p. 121). Thus, the present study
sought to test the efficacy of a conceptual change intervention based on argumentation. Forty-one
college students were asked to predict the path of a falling object from one of four choices
presented in a computer simulation of physics problems. Those who did not predict the correct
path were asked to argue in favor of the correct alternative (although they were not told which path
was correct). Instead, they were prompted, “some people pick B, can you think of a reason why it
might be B?”. Then, after they constructed an argument in favor of the correct path, they were
asked to make a final prediction before the program simulated the problem solution. Participants
who were asked to “argue the opposite side” were more likely to show improved reasoning across
three similar problems compared to control participants who were asked to predict a path and
watch the simulated problem solution without constructing an argument. These results suggest that
argumentation may be a powerful method of fostering conceptual change. We argue that this
intervention is consistent with other pedagogical techniques that promote conceptual change (such
as conducting experiments, diSessa and Minstell, 1998, or generating self-explanations, Chi,
2000), in that it fosters high engagement and opportunities to juxtapose ideas. Yet, it has the added
advantage of ease of implementation and significant effects with little investment of instructional
time.
When is a rose a rose? Effects of epistemological beliefs on plant identification
Elmar Stahl, University of Muenster, Germany
Rainer Bromme, University of Muenster, Germany
A basic ability of biology students at university level is to identify plants. Botanists have to
differentiate between thousands of differing characteristics of plants and to develop a dual-coded
mental representation, representing each of these characteristics as a verbal concept as well as a
mental image. Students in biology acquire this ability with the help of an external representation, a
– so-called – key for identification, leading them through a complex sequence of dichotomous
decisions about differing characteristics of plants. One important factor that might have an
influence on these learning processes and outcomes are epistemological beliefs of the students.
Beliefs about the nature of knowledge in botanist might determine their problem solving strategies
during plant identification. This includes processes like the interpretation of the dichotomous
decisions, comprehension monitoring, and help seeking processes. To assess these epistemological
beliefs about knowledge in the domain of plant identification and their effects on the learning
processes we have developed an instrument that is based on the idea of a semantic differential. The
first version of the instrument includes 24 pairs of adjectives that we derived from literature about
epistemologies. In a first test run with 634 biology students a factor analyses revealed three factors
(structure of knowledge, constancy of knowledge and ontogenesis of knowledge). In our
presentation we will describe the instrument and we will discuss the impact of epistemological
beliefs on problem solving strategies within the domain of plant identification.
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Role of epistemological understanding and interest in interpreting a controversy and in topicbelief change
Lucia Mason, University of Padova, Italy
Pietro Boscolo, University of Padova, Italy
When dealing with the debatable issues of everyday life, students have to recognise whether
arguments are supported by evidence, and the quality and quantity of the evidence. This study
focuses on the influence of high school students’ (10th and 11th grade) epistemological understanding and topic interest in their interpretation of a dual-position expository text on genetically
modified food. After reading, students were given different tasks: (1) to write a conclusion for the
text, which presented two opposing positions but lacked an overall concluding paragraph, (2) to
write personal comments on the text, (3) to answer questions on conceptual understanding and (4)
to rate their interest in the text. Participants were also asked to rate their beliefs about transgenic
food before and after reading the text. The findings point out the effects of students’ level of
epistemological understanding when writing different types of conclusions to the text. Also from
comments on (a) the role of science and scientists’ work with respect to nature, (b) the need for
further scientific investigation, and (c) the effective value of transgenic food production significant
differences related to epistemological understanding emerged. In addition, the findings also show
that students’ topic interest affected their answers to the questions on the text arguments and their
text-based interest. Finally, a change in students’ beliefs about the topic, as an effect of text
reading, in relation to their epistemological understanding, emerges. Educational implications for
the promotion of reflective judgement skills are discussed to point out the importance of being able
to evaluate or produce reasoned arguments.
Influence of epistemological beliefs on argumentation about controversial issues in history and
science
This study deals with a part of personal epistemology: Cognitive relativism (CR). I will understand
cognitive relativism as the ability individuals have to recognize and evaluate different positions or
arguments, independently of their own beliefs and opinions. The study was divided into two parts.
In the first one, the degree of CR of a sample of adolescents (N=669, 12-16 years old) showed in
three diferent controversial situations about history, science and ethics was evaluated. The main
aims of this part of the study were: a) to obtain qualitative and quantitative measures of students’
degree of CR in the three problems, and b) to evaluate domain differences. In the second part of
the study, individuals were presented either a problem about a historical or scientific controversial
issue. Individuals’ opinion were evaluated before the problem was presented. Then, students were
introduced arguments supporting two different views about the controversial issue. After
presenting each view arguments students were asked their opinion. Finally, students wrote down
their final answer and their degree of CR was evaluated again. The aims of this part of the study
were: a) to evaluate if the argumentation task performed influenced students’ degree of CR and /or
their answer and if this influence was similar in both problems or not, and b) if completing this
argumentation task had the same influence on those students who had shown the highest level of
cognitive relativism (HCR) in the first part of the study, and on those who had shown the lowest
level (LCR). Results indicate that LCR students improved their level of cognitive relativism more
than HCR students. Some theoretical and instructional implications for beliefs change and
conceptual change will be developed.
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D9
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 4 S
Symposium
MANAGING KNOWLEDGE WITH COMPUTERISED MAPPING TOOLS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Computerised mapping tools may be used to help students to visualise not only conceptual
knowledge, but also content knowledge (annotations, text, multimedia documents) and knowledge
about knowledge resources (e.g. websites, online repositories, WBT programs). It is suggested that
computerised mapping tools may augment the capacity of the human brain in knowledge
acquisition, organisation, representation, and access, and may also augment knowledge use in
complex cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, Web-based studying, hypertext
writing. The goal of the symposium is threefold: (1) To present the work of an international group
of researchers on the use of computerised mapping tools for the management (organisation,
representation, localisation and use) of conceptual, content and resource knowledge, (2) to give
notice of an innovative field of research at the intersection of research on learning and knowledge
management, and (3) to initiate contacts and research cooperations with other researchers.
A framework for research on mapping tools as means for managing individual knowledge
Gabi Reinmann-Rothmeier, University of Augsburg, Germany
Wolfgang Gräber, University of Kiel, Germany
Modern computerised mapping tools provide functions for facilitating the organisation, representation, localisation and use of conceptual, content and resource knowledge by means of visualising
knowledge structures. It is suggested that these tools may augment the capacity of the human brain
in helping students to manage individual knowledge, knowledge access and use in complex
cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, Web-based studying, hypertext writing.
Three basic knowledge mapping approaches allowing for the visualization of knowledge are
described: concept/knowledge mapping, mind mapping, spatial hypertexts. A research framework
has been developed to provide a coherent basis for researchers with different research interests
focussing on the use of mapping tools for processes of managing individual knowledge while
coping with complex cognitive processing tasks. The framework covers an innovative field of
research which is at the intersection of research on e-learning and knowledge management. The
research framework is fragmented into three research topics: (1) Analysis and study of the functions and the potential of computerised mapping tools as cognitive tools for managing knowledge
in complex self-regulated cognitive processing tasks, (2) analysis of conditions of effective use of
mapping tools to uncover the cognitive processing demands in effectively organising, representing,
localising and using conceptual, content and resource knowledge in knowledge rich e-learning
scenarios, and (3) development and evaluation of a training program for the effective use of
mapping tools. The empirical studies belonging to the second research topic comprise quasiexperimental studies in natural e-learning settings as well as laboratory experiments.
– 207 –
Knowledge mapping for fostering self-regulated studying in chemistry classes
Wolfgang Gräber, University of Kiel, Germany
The IPN in cooperation with schools and firms of the chemical industry has developed a learning
environment ParCIS (Partnership between Chemical Industry and Schools, URL) aimed at
developing competencies for self-regulated learning and media-competencies as central
components of scientific literacy. In ParCIS students solve everyday authentic chemical problems
by using different strategies in the use of computer-based tools for planning problem solving and
gathering, generating, organising, and using knowledge and knowledge resources as well as in the
amount of scaffolding in self-regulated problem solving. Content is provided mainly in content
repositories of chemical firms, which are made accessible through the Internet. A digital portfolio
is used for structuring the process of planning and problem solving. The paper presented is about a
study on the acceptance and the effects of mapping problem-relevant knowledge on problem
solving with the help of a mapping tool. Two groups of subjects are compared, the groups
differing in the strategy of knowledge mapping and the amount of scaffolding during problem
solving. Students in group 1 were advised to map conceptual knowledge together with links for
interactive access of content and resource knowledge into a coherent map, students in group 2
were advised to map ideas only and store problem-relevant contents and resources separately. Half
of the groups received additional scaffolding on learning strategies, the other half received neutral
scaffolding information. Results of the study concerning acceptance of the mapping tool and the
effects on knowledge organisation, localisation and use in problem solving are reported.
The effects of domain expertise and task requirements on the organisation, representation and
localisation of mapped knowledge
Computerised mapping tools can help students in coping effectively with the complexity and rapid
change of knowledge and information resources in many domains. They may be used to visualise
structures of conceptual knowledge, content knowledge (annotations, text and multimedia
documents) and knowledge about resources (e.g. WWW documents, e-mails). Empirical research
on mapping tools up to now is dominated by approaches on concept mapping. It is suggested that
modern computerised mapping tools may augment the potential of the human brain to manage
knowledge in complex cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, Web-based
studying, hypertext writing. The design and results of an empirical study on the effects of different
task requirements and domain expertise on knowledge organisation, representation and localisation
of knowledge are presented. In a laboratory experiment 60 university students had been assigned
to four experimental groups according to a MANOVA design, the factors being: (1) Type of
cognitive task (subject-matter comprehension; hypertext writing) and (2) expertise in domain
knowledge (high, low). The general task is to get access and map with the help of a mapping tool
conceptual, content and resource knowledge on the topic “The Internet”. Students were instructed
to map conceptual knowledge (ideas) together with links for interactive access of content and
resource knowledge into a coherent map. The acceptance of the mapping tool as an aid in
managing complex knowledge is evaluated. The effectiveness of the mapping tool for managing
knowledge is analysed with respect to three main dependent variables: structure of knowledge
representation, subject-matter understanding, and ease in visual localisation of knowledge
elements.
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Computational support for self-organised learning: Combining personal Webpublishing systems
and mapping tools
Priya Sharma, Penn State University, USA
Sebastian Fiedler, University of Augsburg, Germany
Personal Webpublishing systems provide interesting new perspectives for the design and
development of computational support for self-organised learning projects. The unstructured and
somewhat unpredictable nature of self-organised learning endeavors requires learners to
accomplish a number of tasks that in formal instructional settings are normally managed by
educational professionals. Among other things, self-organised learners have to locate and select
resources, gather and organise information, formulate questions, arrange feedback, and monitor
and evaluate their own progress. Keeping a chronological “log” of activities and reflections over
the course of a self-organised learning project builds a repository of personal items of experience
that are linked to a particular knowledge domain. Such a documented history of a learning project
offers interesting perspectives for reflective learning and intentional knowledge construction
efforts. The Web-based publication of this type of material offers the necessary flexibility to
support gradual knowledge construction and organisation. In a step by step manner, learners
elaborate, integrate, abstract, and relate newly formed constructs with prior knowledge. Visual
mapping tools can support these activities by offering a combination of free concept mapping with
links to resources that are either stored locally or somewhere on the Web. Thus, individual learners
create visual layers of abstraction that not only organise the experiential accounts of their learning
activities, but also integrate this personal material with conceptual knowledge and additional
resources. Supporting self-organised learning with such a combination of personal Webpublishing
systems and mapping tools is currently piloted at Penn State. Preliminary results of a qualitative
evaluation study are presented.
D 10
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 E
Symposium
DIMENSIONS IN MAKING SENSE OF GRAPHICS. FACTORS OF IMPORTANCE
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Torgny Ottosson, Kristianstad University, Sweden
Lisbeth Åberg-Bengtsson, Göteborg University, Sweden
Alex Kozulin, International Centre for the Enhancement of Learning Potential,
Jerusalem, Israel and Hebrew University, Israel
Although they are cultural artefacts of relative late date, graphic representations of quantitative
data such as graphs, charts, and cartograms are increasing in popularity in modern society. They
occur in abundance in students’ textbooks, mass media, and web sites in more or less elaborate and
gaudy guises, both as illustrations to written text and as sources of information per se. With respect
to their frequent occurrence in both everyday and academic contexts, the handling of such graphics
must be considered important. Some previous research shows that not only primary school pupils
but also much older students sometimes have great difficulties with some essential aspects of
statistical graphics. However, presumably due to the fact that many aspects of graphs, charts, and
maps are self-evident to many people and that a picture may be “worth a thousand words”,
students’ problems in the handling of this type of information are relatively seldom noticed outside
maths class. Thus studying students’ grappling with graphs, charts, cartograms and similar ways of
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presenting numeric information is often breaking new ground. The symposium aims at presenting
and discussing ongoing research on dimensions of performance and other factors that may be
involved in students’ making sense of graphic representations from a rather broad point of
departure. Issues of discussion will also be related to what it takes to handle information presented
graphically, taking into consideration what aspects of the illustrations are used as resources,
ignored, or overlooked.
Reinforcing students’ correlation comprehension
Ken W. Li, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, China
Merrilyn Goos, University of Queensland, Australia
Nan Bahr, University of Queensland, Australia
Graphical presentation of data provides a fast way of extracting information from data as well as a
front line of illustrating complicated data structure and facilitates the process of data examination.
The graphical representation of data provides valuable clues to what and how further statistical
work ought to be carried out because technically correct statistical graphics disclose significant
elements of the information they represent and also serve as an alternative means of effective
communication. Although students know how to draw statistical graphs and charts, they often fail
to present data in appropriate graphical format and are unable to convey their thoughts about their
findings from their graphical displays of data to their audience because they have difficulty in
seeing hidden relationships in the data. This hinders the development of students’ graphical
understanding of scatterplots, a vital tool in the initial stage of regression modelling. In this paper
we present a critical review of current research in this area from three different perspectives:
pedagogy, statistics and cognitive psychology. Specifically, Curcio (1987) outlined a classification
model of reading graphical data from a mathematics educator’s perspective; Cook and Weisburg
(1997) advocated a model of statistical graphing based on the statistician’s viewpoint; while
Carpenter and Shah (1998) developed their model of graphical comprehension and interpretation
from a cognitive science position. Arising from our synthesis of this research we propose a
cognitive model of correlation comprehension which serves to structure students’ thought so as to
reinforce their graphing capabilities when approaching comprehension problems.
Relating students’ academic achievement to a test of graphically represented quantitative
information
Some of our previous research with qualitative data on students’ ways of making sense of graphs,
charts and cartograms indicated that relatively young pupils may talk about some of the most
salient features of such graphics in quite an elaborate manner. However, some important aspects of
the displays seemed to be difficult even for upper secondary students. Based on those earlier
studies we designed an instrument for investigating how larger numbers of subjects handle
graphics. In the present study a booklet comprising 18 pages each with its own graphic display(s)
and a set of tasks was distributed to 363 students 15-16 years of age from five different schools.
The format of the questions varied, as did the format of the graphics. As students’ performance
was expected to be multidimensional, confirmatory factor analysis carried out with a structural
equation modeling technique was applied to the results. In addition to the identification of a
general “graphic test” factor and an end of test effect, a narrative dimension was indicated. The
model was then related to another model of students’ academic achievement measured by the
leaving certificate from compulsory education. The strongest correlation obtained was between the
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general “graphic test” dimension in the initial model and the mathematic/science factor in the
grades model. In addition, the general achievement and the language factors in the grades model
were related to performance on the graphic test.
Do graphs improve causal learning?
Ralf Decker, University of Tübingen, Germany
Uwe Oestermeier, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Friedrich W. Hesse, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany
Rolf Ploetzner, University of Education, Freiburg, Germany
Within the field of causal cognition, the influence of syntactic and pragmatic factors has been largely
ignored. In three experiments we investigated to what extent the factors representational form, type
of information and type of presentation can improve causal learning. In all three experiments
subjects had to judge on a scale from 0 to 100 the effectiveness of cloud seeding on rainfall. Half of
the participating subjects were studying in math-oriented fields, the other half in non math-oriented
fields. Main dependent variable was the mean number of ratings in accordance with normative
quantitative rules. In experiment 1, causal information was presented in 5 different summary
formats: pile charts with frequencies; pile charts with probabilities; tables with frequencies; tables
with probabilities and serial lists. Whereas charts and tables did not significantly differ from each
other, both were superior to the serial lists. In experiment 2, we examined in a 2 x 2 design the
effects of type of presentation (summary vs. trial-by-trial presentation) and amount of visual
structure of the representing medium (high: pile chart/cross table vs. low: flow text). For the subjects
receiving summary information, it was significantly easier to “calculate” ratings in correspondence
to existing normative rules. This was especially true for the group working with pile charts. Further
analyses revealed that only students in math-oriented fields could benefit from a pile chart. In
experiment 3 we found evidence that the difference concerning manner of presentation is only partly
due to a reduced cognitive load while processing summary information.
Visual-pictorial ability and the mastery of statistical concepts in reading graphics
I. M. Cazorla, University of Santa Cruz, Brasil
Marcia R. F. Brito, Campinas State University, Brasil
In a technological society, the statistical information plays a fundamental role and this kind of
information uses, more and more, information presented in graphics. Using the theoretical
framework of Krutetskii’s mathematical ability theory and Pinker’s graphic comprehension theory,
the objective of this work was to analyse the main factors that determine success or failure when
reading statistical graphs. Subjects were 814 undergraduate students from a public university that
were attending courses in Statistics. Data was collected from a questionnaire, a scale of attitudes
toward Statistics, a scale of attitudes toward Mathematics, and Mathematical, Statistical and
Verbal aptitude tests. Data analysis showed that success reading statistical graphics lies on the
understanding of statistical concepts, level of knowledge about graphics and visual-pictorial
ability. There were found significant differences related to gender: male students had more
positive attitudes, and higher scores on cognitive tests, with the exception of the verbal aptitude
test. Instruction also had a significant role on the mastery of statistical concepts and on the
development of graphic ability. As a general finding it should be noted that students found great
difficulties with some essential aspects of statistical graphics, particularly when they were
supposed to relate graphics with statistical concepts.
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Young students’ grappling with construals of graphic displays on a computer
Monica H. Sträng, Göteborg University, Sweden
This presentation is based upon empirical data from an ongoing research project studying Swedish
students 7-12 years of age construing and interpreting bar charts, pie charts, and line graphs. The
aim is to investigate students’ use of structuring resources in their making sense of numerical data
graphically displayed. The children worked in dyads in a series of working sessions. Most of the
graphic displays construed by the children were drawn with the help of a computer equipped with
graphic application software and under the guidance of one of the researchers. The construing of
the graphics can best be described as instances of guided participation or as activity within the
zone of proximal development. All working sessions were videotaped with two cameras, one of
which caught the computer screen and the other the interplay between the children. In a previous
study of primary pupils grappling with graphic displays of a similar kind, Engeström’s model of
the activity system was used for structuring the analysis. In the present investigation, the tool-node
is brought to the fore and focused upon. Instances when pupils seem to make use of new resources
to construe and structure the information given by the graphical display are pointed out and aspects
that were used as resources by the children in interaction with the computer program but not while
drawing graphics on paper will also be discussed.
D 11
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 I
Symposium
CONSTRUCTING A SHARED LANGUAGE AND METHODOLOGY FOR STUDIES OF
CLASSROOMS AS CULTURES
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
Ed Elbers, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Contemporary classroom-based research has increasingly directed its lenses towards studies of
classrooms as cultures. A number of educational researchers working from a sociocultural
framework approach classrooms as communities of practice or as learning communities with a
special interest in the ways in which situated social practices and cultural artefacts mediate
learning opportunities in the institutional context of the classroom. At the same time,
sociolinguistic and ethnographic research of classroom life has provided a set of concepts and
methodologies for investigating classrooms as cultures. Despite overlapping research interests and
similarity in conceptual vocabulary, it appears that there are intriguing differences between the
approaches, and their explication is likely to enrich both strands of research. This concerns both
the need for conceptual clarification as well as for methodological elaboration. The present
symposium introduces different perspectives and approaches to studying classrooms as cultures.
The paper of Kumpulainen and Kovalainen discusses a study that investigates the learning
practices of an elementary classroom community of which culture reflects learning as dialogic
inquiry. This paper draws on sociocultural research and interactional studies of classroom learning.
The paper of Van der Aalsvoort and Van Tol is situated within the context of special needs
education research. It is guided by an interest to investigate the situated practice of play in early
years classrooms as a catalyst of potential learning difficulties. The paper of Putney takes an
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interactional ethnographic perspective to examine classrooms as cultures. It relates to the ways in
which the discursive practices of an inclusive classroom community become cultural resources for
its members to formulate identities as individuals and group members. In the final paper, Green
and Dixon draw on their ethnographic studies of classroom life. They introduce methods of
analysis for studying the construction processes of classroom communities of practice and how
these developing practices become central resources of the community.
The practice of teaching and learning as dialogic inquiry
Minna Kovalainen, University of Oulu, Finland
This study investigates the learning practices of an elementary classroom community where the
learning culture is based upon the view of learning as dialogic inquiry, emphasizing social
interaction and collaboration, socially shared cognition, and collective meaning negotiation.
Specifically, the study investigates the nature of participation structures and processes as reflected
in classroom interactions during collective meaning-making. The empirical data for this study
emerge from a third grade class consisting of seventeen students. Close micro-level analysis was
carried out on transcribed video-recordings of classroom interactions derived from three learning
situations, namely from the contexts of Collective problem-solving in mathematics, Group
investigation in science and Open-ended dialogue in philosophy. The participation structures and
processes of the case study classroom were examined within and across the learning situations
according to three dimensions. At an utterance level, the analyses included the investigation of
discourse moves and communicative functions as well as their sequential consequences on the
interactional and thematic development of the dialogue. At a sequence level, the focus was
directed to who initiates and participates in the interaction sequence, and what thematic
implications this has on the nature of the joint dialogue. The results show that learning and
instruction based upon dialogic inquiry is likely to create novel participation structures and
processes in the classroom. In this context the students appear to take authority in cognitive work,
whereas the teacher’s responsibility is more directed to the orchestration of interactional practices.
The study also shows that the pedagogical intentions of collective meaning-making may not
always result in multilateral interactions that would invite all classroom members to active
participation. Moreover, the integration and application of participants’ personal histories and
experiences as resources for joint meaning-making appear to be challenging. Yet, as the results of
this study show, multilateral interaction, particularly between student participants, seems to create
productive conditions for experience sharing.
Play with young at-risk students: A situated performance?
Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
A. M. van Tol, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
Can situated play act as a diagnostic means to investigate whether young at-risk students lack
conditions to learn or children with emerging learning difficulties? This question was raised within
the theoretical framework of dynamic system theory on development (Van Geert, 1994; Steenbeek
& Van Geert, 2002). Developmental processes are composed of both quantitative (amount or
intensity of specific behavior), and qualitative processes (type of behavior and the way it is
developed, and the quality of performance). Play behavior depends on developmental progress and
is related to learning as well with respect to emergent reading and arithmetic (Hamre & Pianta,
2001). Therefore play seems a means to study learning with students in the early years after
starting school. For young at-risk students (aged 4-7 years) school may be either regular or special
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education (Van der Aalsvoort & Van Tol, 2002). Their play and learning are not cognitive
activities in themselves but they come forward through situational factors both in activity, time and
actors through co-construction. This point of view includes a change in investigating play by
including situational factors as well to cover both situational factors as well as participating
subjects. Play as activity with a peer can act as such. The results of a study with 4 groups of three
students each, two from a school for regular and two from a school for special education will be
presented. These four groups were follwed when playing together 8 times within three weeks for a
period of 30 minutes per session. The groups were matched with respect to age and language
development. They were presented small toy animals and wooden blocks to build a zoo. Before
each new session the zoo was built exactly like it was in the session before so that the group could
continue their play. The 32 sessions were videotaped and transcribed. It was expected that
cooperation (Verba, 1994), variety of play (Westby, 1991), complexity of play, such as meta-play
(Trawick-Smith, 1998), and use of sophisticated language would emerge as developmental
processes independently of school condition. The results are currently being analyzed.
Discursive practices as cultural resources: Formulating identities for individual and collective in
an inclusive classroom setting
LeAnn Putney, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
This study examines the discursive practices of an elementary classroom community where the
learning culture is based upon the view of a responsibility based learning environment. The
particular focus is on how discursive practices of classroom participants became cultural resources
for members to formulate identities as individuals and group members participating in an inclusive
classroom setting. In addition, the study focuses on how members accessed academic content, and
how their use of these developing resources became consequential for both the collective and
individuals. This study presumed a Vygotskian perspective (Putney, Green, Dixon, Durán, &
Yeager, 2000; Souza Lima, 1995; Vygotsky, 1986; Vygotsky, 1997) in which two forms of
development and learning are constructed in a community, that of the collective as well as
individuals within the collective. This study took place in a public professional development
elementary school in partnership with an urban university in the Southwestern United States over
two years. The researcher collected daily video taped data during the first three weeks of school,
then periodically afterwards throughout both academic years. Data also consisted of informal
interviews with the classroom teacher and students, and student artifacts collected across the years.
Data were analyzed from an interactional ethnographic perspective to make visible how students
negotiated meaning through both their academic and community-related discourse. Through
forward and backward mapping, I examined the discursive practices as cultural resource, both in
the local moment and over time. Focusing on a specific activity, the Network for Learning
Conference, I examine how the discursive classroom practices constructed over time for the fifthgraders became cultural resources for the fourth-graders attending the conference. Through
backward mapping, I show how the common understandings of academic roles, rights, and
responsibilities as community members had been negotiated at the beginning of the school year.
Through discursive practices over time, these roles developed further as students reformulated
classroom norms as part of the student governance structure in their mini-society. In addition, by
analyzing data from the second year of the study, I make visible how the students who participated
in the Network for Learning Conference activity the prior year were able to apply what they had
experienced to their current context for learning as members of a new community. The results
show that in this inclusive environment, an inquiry-based curriculum, and responsibility-based
classroom governance system were factors that led to a responsible, respectful, and constructive
classroom culture
– 214 –
Constructing princples of practice: A cross case analysis of inquiry and identity in bilingual
classrooms
Judith Green, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Carol Dixon, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Recently, Neo-Vygotskian and sociocultural researchers have written about communities of
practice that teachers and students construct in their classrooms (e.g., John-Steiner, Panofsky &
Smith, 1994; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Mercer, 1997; Wells & Chang Wells, 1992; Rogoff, 1995;
Werstch, 1995). Converging with this work is research drawing on ethnographic and sociolinguistic perspectives focusing on classrooms as cultures (e.g., Cochran, 1997; Collins & Green,
1990; 1992; Floriani, 1993; Lin, 1993; Putney, 1996; Santa Barbara Classroom Discourse Group,
1992a; b). While these perspectives have different disciplinary and theoretical roots, they share an
overlapping set of goals: to identify ways in which students and others learn with, and through,
interactions among members in particular communities; and to understand how community
practices shape and are shaped by what members learn in and across time. One way of
understanding this body of work is to see these researchers as concerned with social and academic
consequences for members of living in a particular collective or community of practice (e.g. a
reading group, whole class, a school, a family, etc.). The purpose of this paper is three-fold. First,
we present an argument for ways of studying how communities of practice are constructed, and
how practices within these developing communities become cultural resources of the community.
These resources become principles of practice that members use to guide their participation, to
interpret the actions of others, and to create particular identities for the collective and the group.
Central to this work is the conceptualization of classrooms as cultures, a perspective that contrasts
with those who talk about the culture of the classroom. Second, we present an approach to crosscase analysis based on comparing and contrasting principles of practice identified in one class with
those in a second class. To illustrate this approach, we explore the principles of practice in third,
fifth and sixth grade bilingual classes. These cases will be drawn from our 10-year ethnographic
studies that follow students and teachers within a bilingual classroom across the year. By
contrasting the same teacher across years and grade levels and two teachers across levels, we
identify general patterns of practice that can be used to identify general principles of practice
guiding teachers working on complex academic content in linguistically and culturally diverse
classrooms, and through this, new models of instruction grounded in the everyday practices
constituting classroom life.
D 12
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 A
Symposium
ADVANCES IN ACHIEVEMENT GOAL RESEARCH: THE ROLE OF MODERATORS
AND MEDIATORS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Paul Pintrich, University of Michigan, USA
Andrew Elliot, University of Rochester, USA
Achievement goal theory is one of the most prominent contemporary perspectives on achievement
motivation. Numerous studies in the past years have shown how the goals students adopt influence
various aspects of their achievement-related behavior and learning. The work presented in this
symposium will extend prior work in many respects. Most importantly, the presentations will
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focus on factors that either moderate or mediate the influence of achievement goals on learning
and achievement behavior. Answers are sought to questions such as: what is the role of value and
interest in predicting the goals students adopt; how do situational and personal characteristics
interact and what is their joint contribution to learning and task performance; how do cultural
differences and other contextual factors influence the definition and effects of goals?
Person and situation: Individual interest, achievement goals and interest in the task
Mary Ainley, University of Melbourne, Australia
Suzanne Hidi, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada
An important contemporary challenge for educators is to find ways to engage the well-developed
orientations that students bring to their learning and the energy that can be triggered by features of
the situation in the service of maximizing learning. This is true whether student motivation is
examined from the perspective of interest or achievement goals. Students who have welldeveloped interests that are consistent with curriculum content present teachers with a different
educational challenge to disaffected students whose strongest intention is to avoid doing anything.
In addition, specific curriculum presentation and design features will elicit interest in some
students but will be ignored by others. The relationship between person and situation in learning
has challenged many researchers and building on their work we present findings from a number of
studies that have monitored reactivity to specific curriculum tasks and investigated how levels of
reactivity might relate to both personal and situational characteristics. Focusing specifically on the
micro level of actions and reactions to specific learning tasks we have used regression and SEM
procedures to consider different ways that person and situation combine, interact, and make
separate contributions to student learning. For example, scores on a dispositional measure of
curiosity styles, ratings of individual interest in specific domains and responses to popular science
and popular culture texts were monitored for a sample of seventh and eighth grade students.
Examples of different patterns of relationships between disposition, individual interest, topic
interest and the processes that follow will be described.
Task value in the college classroom: Predicting goals, interest, and performance
Judith M. Harackiewicz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Amanda M. Durik, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
To integrate theory on task value and achievement goals, we conducted two semester-long studies
in introductory Psychology and Statistics courses. In both classes, we replicated previous work
indicating that mastery goals predicted interest, and performance goals predicted course grades,
supporting the multiple goals perspective. In the Psychology class, we sought to identify the
antecedents of course-specific achievement goals. At the beginning of the semester, we coded the
reasons that students took the course in terms of the value derived from the course (intrinsic value,
utility value). Next, we determined whether these reasons predicted students’ adopted goals.
Preliminary analyses suggest that taking the course because of intrinsic value predicted the
adoption of mastery goals, whereas taking the course because it was a requirement predicted the
adoption of performance goals. Moreover, many students reported taking the course for both
reasons (it was expected to be interesting as well as fulfill a requirement), and this finding may
help explain why some students adopt multiple goals in classroom settings, thereby promoting
both performance and interest. In the Statistics course, we assessed the extent to which students
came to find the course valuable throughout the semester, because there was no variability in
reasons for taking the course (students seem to enroll solely because it is required). We examined
whether values predicted subsequent interest and performance. Preliminary analyses suggest that
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values explain additional variance above and beyond achievement goals, and that utility value was
a predictor of both performance and interest in this class.
The role of situational appraisals in mediating the influence of achievement goals on task
performance
Despite the impressive amount of research carried out on achievement goals, relatively few studies
have examined how the adoption of certain goals influences task-specific experiences and related
behavior. The aim of this study was to examine how students with diverse achievement goal
profiles differ from each other in terms of their situational appraisals and task performance. The
participants were 1379 folk high school students (15-18-years old), whose achievement goals and
other motivational tendencies were assessed before they took part in the target task. The actual test
situation consisted of a deductive reasoning task and a short pre-task questionnaire tapping
students anticipated interest, self-efficacy, and claimed self-handicapping. The students completed
the pre-task questionnaire after receiving the task instructions and working through some example
items. To examine the assumption that students with different goal preferences would experience
the task situation differently, the students were first grouped based on their responses to the
achievement goal questionnaire. The resulting groups were then compared with respect to their
situational appraisals and task performance. The results showed, among others, that students
emphasizing mastery goals not only displayed higher levels of interest and self-efficacy, but also
performed best on the task. Highest self-handicappers were found among students endorsing both
performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Despite the mean-level differences,
however, claimed self-handicapping and self-efficacy were found to be significant predictors of
task performance in each group.
Cultural variations in the definition and effects of performance goals
Tim Urdan, Santa Clara University, USA
In this presentation I will present and discuss the results of two studies examining differences
between cultural groups in the associations between performance goals and several motivational
and achievement variables. Goal theory posits that students may employ different definitions for
success and, as a result, pursue different goals in achievement situations. For example, some
students seek to develop their skills and improve their competence (a mastery goal) whereas others
are more concerned with demonstrating their superior ability (performance-approach goals) or
avoiding appearing less able than others (performance-avoidance goals). Goal theory has included
the assumption that performance goals are directed by egoistic motives, such as wanting to
augment self-esteem or protect self-esteem. But how are performance goals defined, and how to
they influence motivation and behavior, when students do not define themselves in individualistic
ways? Cross-cultural research has demonstrated that some people, particularly those from Asian
cultures, have more collectivist identities whereas American and Western Europeans tend to have
more individualistic self-perceptions. Because most goal theory research has been conducted with
Western European and Caucasian American samples, we know little about cultural variations in
the definition and operation of performance goals. Using a combination of survey and interview
data collected from approximately 1,000 high school students of various cultures I found that
performance-approach and performance avoidance goals were related to motivational and
achievement outcomes differently depending on whether students held more individualistic or
collectivist identities. These results suggest that there are cultural differences in the definition and
effects of performance goals and these differences have important implications for goal theory.
– 217 –
D 13
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 D
Symposium
DESIGNING POWERFUL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR STUDENT TEACHERS
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Tina Hascher, University of Berne, Switzerland
Yves Cocard, University of Berne, Switzerland
The idea that learning processes depend strongly on the learning environments has already been
implemented in schools: Learning can best take place in a many-sided, stimulating and learnerorientated context. While we increasingly know what pupils need e.g. to learn a language, little is
known how an effective learning context for student teachers (pre-service training in schools)
should be designed. There are some important findings which illustrate how difficult it is to
answer this question: Learning during internship is social and individual as well, subjective and
based on specific. It also should support the development of basic competences. Due to the school
reality learning during internship is very complex and an important step in teachers’ life-long
learning. Furthermore, student teaching is imbedded in everyday school life and student teachers
have to integrate themselves into this community. Learning during internship is much more than
copying a successful model: It is a process of professional development which depends on
experience and reflection. All presenters in this symposium agree to the notion that schools are a
very important learning fields for teacher education. But they also agree that schools are not
automatically a powerful learning environments: To make sure that student teaching is more than
an opportunity to make experiences the learning contexts in schools need to be designed. The
concepts of this design, however, differ across nations and across cultures of teacher education.
The presentations of this symposium will give some insight into various models of student
teaching and will discuss their crucial points by referring to new empirical results.
Student teachers’ education in an intensive group-based learning community
Jaana Lahti, University of Helsinki, Finland
Anneli Eteläpelto, University of Helsinki, Finland
Sanni Siitari, University of Helsinki, Finland
Sini Wirtanen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Student teachers' professional learning is a lengthy process of constructing and redefining one’s
subjective identity as a future teacher whose central competencies include manifold aspects of
personal and social skills. In the framework of social theory of learning, we suggest that such skills
can be best promoted in an intensive group-based learning community where subjects’ are given
the possibility to redefine their identities. Since identity consists, not only of an authentic
conception of the self, but also of subject’s conception of where does she or he belong to, we
hypothesise that participation in an intensive long-term learning community can offer a powerful
environment for identity work and professional growth. Empirical evidence is presented from a
long-term small-group-based learning community consisting of eigth female and two male student
teachers who are studying in a university-level pre-service teacher education program. Subjects’
evaluations on their learning outcomes after their first year of studies, web-based discussions and
videotaped group discussions are used as empirical materials. As results we will describe what
kind of social and emotional processes are involved in the construction and the participation in a
– 218 –
small-group-based learning community. We will ask how these processes are becoming as the
source of subjects’ learning and identity work. Furthermore, we will discuss how the nature of
roles adopted in relation to different kinds of group activities interact with the learning outcomes.
Development of expertise in collaborative open technologically enriched educational contexts
Gérard Gretsch, Institute for Teacher Training and Educational Research, Walferdange,
Luxembourg
Charles Max, Institute for Teacher Training and Educational Research, Walferdange, Luxembourg
Brigitte Stammet, Institute for Teacher Training and Educational Research, Walferdange,
Luxembourg
The DECOTEC-project aims to develop and assess an alternative model in teacher training based on
technologically enriched learning contexts. It promotes the building of a learning community by
(a) setting up an interdisciplinary approach in higher education focussing on topics originating
from students' teaching practice; (b) sensitising all stakeholders involved in the training process,
i.e. teacher trainers, mentors, student teachers, pupils...; (c) creating via ICT a shared space for
visualising and discussing topics and questions that arise in students' teaching practicum and
academic work. The DECOTEC-project developed an ICT-tool designed to promote collaborative
learning and to constitute a bridge between the activity systems of academic training and school
practices. The presentation focuses on how the participants construe and use the ICT-tool as the
central mediating artefact in different but related contexts. We use cultural-historical activity
theory as a theoretical framework for understanding the multi-layered processes in the domain of
teacher education as well as in the complex domain of primary education. CHAT serves also as
analytical tool to analyse and interpret the collected data. Data sources are video-taping,
interviews, questionnaires, and written work of the participants on the ICT-tool, as well as data on
the use and interactions that take place in the computer based environment (N=60; student
teachers, mentors and teacher trainers). Elements of the data collected are brought back to the
communities we study to encourage them to think critically about their practice and their identities
as teachers, including the contradictions within their activity systems.
Professional learning in new teacher education contexts
Jeroen Imants, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Anita Engelen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Sanneke Bolhuis, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
In the Netherlands the preparation of prospective teachers is moving from universities towards
schools. In the region of Nijmegen the university and five secondary schools collaborate in a
partnership. The aim is to develop new learning routes for prospective teachers and to explore a
blueprint of professional development schools. In this research project the professional learning of
prospective teachers, mentors (schools), and teachers trainers (university) are explored. Two
questions are central in this study: how do the university and the school contribute to the
professional learning of prospective teachers, and how is the professional learning of mentors and
teacher trainers affected by their participation in the project. A model is developed which is based
on the learning process of the prospective teachers and the blueprint for professional development
schools. Specific questions regarding the learning process of student teachers, the steering of this
learning process by the university, the schools, and the student teachers themselves are selected.
These questions are answered by means of longitudinal and detailed data collection in the school
year 2002-2003. Instruments for data collection are questionnaires, interviews, check lists, student
assessment results, and students’ portfolios. The professional learning of mentors and teacher
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trainers will be explored by means of interviews, in which systematic reflection on results
regarding the first question will be central. In August 2003 the results of the data analysis will be
available.
Essential feedback dimensions of student teachers' learning contexts
Tina Hascher, University of Berne, Switzerland
Yves Cocard, University of Berne, Switzerland
Although everybody agrees that student teaching is an important pre-service learning context,
there is uncertainty about the evidence of learning processes, especially concerning the quality and
long-term learning-outcomes that take place during a practicum. Based on a study with 117 student
teachers, their mentors and classes, we will discuss the impact of two different feedback sources
(mentors and pupils) on the learning attitudes of student teachers. Our theses are as follows: (1)
For a life-long professional development, mentors' have to change their roles from models to
coaches. Student teachers indicate the support by mentors as their most important learning
assistance. They expect their mentors to show them good teaching – and those are in many cases
eager for demonstrating. This approach, which is mainly based on social learning, might support
student teachers during their practicum, but one can doubt about the increase of basic professional
skills like reflective learning. (2) Pupils' opinion is an important feedback source, because they
support student teachers' progress from the learners' perspective. Student teachers consider the
feedback of pupils as helpful. It is somehow surprising that pupils' opinion is only sporadically be
considered in the evaluation of student teaching. It could be profitable for a better founded
evaluation of teaching skills. The theses are discussed in order to improve the mentoring of
individual learning processes of novice teachers during their pre-service training in schools.
D 14
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 3 H
Symposium
THRESHOLD CONCEPTS AND TROUBLESOME KNOWLEDGE
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Ray Land, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Tim Dunne, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Liz Beaty, Higher Education Funding Council for England, United Kingdom
This symposium takes as its focus an emerging theoretical framework for teaching and learning
drawing on notions of ‘threshold concepts’ within disciplinary contexts (Meyer and Land, 2003)
and the relatedness of such thresholds to what Perkins (1999) has termed ‘troublesome
knowledge’. The symposium invites: 1) Exploration and critique of the conceptual and epistemological issues arising from the theoretical framework and 2) consideration of the explanatory and
analytic potential of the framework in evaluating curricular design and the effectiveness of student
learning environments within specific disciplinary contexts. The symposium comprises five
papers. These present further developments of the existing framework, illustrative cases of
threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge drawn from different disciplinary contexts in UK
and Australian higher education, and conceptual and operational analyses of the framework.
– 220 –
Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a
theoretical framework for teaching and learning
Ray Land, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
The present study builds on earlier work by Meyer and Land (2003) which introduces the
generative notion of a ‘threshold concept’ within disciplines and in the sense of transforming, for
example, the internal view of subject matter. In this earlier work such concepts are further linked
to forms of knowledge that are ‘troublesome’ (Perkins, 1999). It is argued that these twinned sets
of ideas may define critical moments of, for example, irreversible conceptual transformation in the
educational experiences of teachers, and/or their students. The present study aims (a) to examine
the extent to which such phenomena can be located within personal understandings of disciplinespecific epistemological discourses, and (b) to propose a theoretical framework within which
teachers may advance their own reflective practice. This conceptual analysis draws for illustrative
purposes on data partly obtained through the UK ESRC-funded ETL Project. The significance of
the proposed framework lies in its explanatory potential to locate troublesome aspects of
disciplinary knowledge within transitions across conceptual thresholds and hence to assist teachers
in identifying appropriate ways of modifying or redesigning curricula to enable their students to
negotiate such transitions more successfully.
Threshold concepts: How can we recognise them?
Peter Davies, Staffordshire University, United Kingdom
A threshold concept is defined by Meyer and Land (2003) as possessing the following qualities:
transformative, integrative, bounded, and probably irreversible. It redefines the familiar idea of a
‘powerful concept’ in a social constructivist context, providing a penetrating tool for the analysis
of the development of discipline specific learning. This paper examines some difficulties to be
faced in the operationalisation of the idea of ‘threshold concepts’ and, in so doing, begins to
identify ways in which these problems might be overcome. This paper is theoretical, referring to
data only for exemplification and it concentrates on learning and teaching Economics. One
problem in the way of identification of a ‘threshold’ concept is how to distinguish it from a ‘core
concept’ or a ‘conceptual structure’. Piagetian and Phenomenographic analyses of the
development of thinking in Economics provide helpful points of reference in clarifying this
distinction. There are also problems to be overcome in the collection of data on threshold concepts.
For example, teachers and, to a lesser degree, students of a subject develop conceptualisations of
the structure of a subject which may be distinct from the way in which they use their
understanding of a subject in practice. Potentially, threshold concepts could guide curriculum
design, formative assessment and the focus of teachers’ interventions. The identification and
avoidance of problems in operationalising threshold concepts has a wide educational as well as
theoretical significance.
Variation in students’ understanding of a threshold concept in economics
Martin Shanahan, University of South Australia, Australia
The notion of a ‘threshold concept’, has recently emerged as a fertile paradigm within which to
identify discipline specific ways of thinking that can alter the learner’s view of the world (Meyer
and Land, 2003). A example of a threshold concept in the discipline of Economics is ‘opportunity
cost’; the value placed on rejected alternatives when an individual makes choices. This paper
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presents analysis of the variation in students’ understanding of ‘opportunity cost’ over the course
of one semester. Based on the written responses of first-year business students studying
Economics, the articulation of their understanding of ‘opportunity cost’ is analysed at two stages
within a semester. The first analysis is based on students’ responses (N=106) obtained at week
four in the course after the concept is first introduced. Students were asked to express their
understanding of the concept again in week ten (N=50). Analyses of these data are in progress and
will be reported at the Conference. This pilot study represents an important first step in identifying
and examining variation in students’ understanding of a threshold concept over time and in a
manner that can inform university teaching. Issues of measurement, articulation and learner
development are also identified.
Threshold concepts in economics - A case study
Nicola Reimann, University of Durham, United Kingdom
Ian Jackson, Staffordshire University, United Kingdom
‘Enhancing Teaching-learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses’ (ETL) is a UK-wide
research project which engages with partner departments in five subject-areas by exploring the
teaching-learning environments of individual course units. The present study reports on a first-year
unit in microeconomics, whose lecturer identified two threshold concepts which students need to
understand in order to progress in the module, as well as in the study of Economics in general.
Teachers of Economics repeatedly stress the existence and troublesome nature of threshold
concepts for their discipline, particularly during the initial stages of an Economics degree
programme. The study discusses ways in which threshold concepts can provide a novel and useful
perspective for investigating and improving teaching-learning environments in Economics. It will
evaluate the use of diagnostic questions which were developed to access students’ understanding
of threshold concepts. Written questions were used to elicit qualitative differences in students’
understanding, before and after being taught about the concepts. In interviews the lecturer and the
students were given the opportunity to comment on the answers as well as the teaching-learning
environment of the module. As background, inventory data focused on students’ approaches to
studying and the teaching-learning environment. Based on research findings on student learning,
ETL aims to develop subject-specific conceptual frameworks to guide the development of high
quality, effective teaching-learning environments in higher education. The notion of threshold
concepts is one of several developing project concepts.
Troublesome knowledge: The teaching and learning of cultural studies
Glynis Cousin, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
This paper reports on some of the emergent findings from a UK research project, Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses (http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl/project.html),
which explores subject-based pedagogy in higher education. Discussion centres on the teaching
and learning of a number of important concepts for Cultural Studies, particularly in relation to
their ‘turn to otherness’ (Canaan and Epstein, 1997) and the impact of this on both teachers and
learners. In so far as teachers and learners have an internal relation to concepts such as identity
formation, representation, gender and ethnicity, their intellectual and affective understandings
become very enmeshed. While the affective and the cognitive are always interconnected, this
appears to be particularly so for Cultural Studies and closely related fields of inquiry in the social
sciences and humanities. Our emergent evidence suggests that this interconnection creates
particular pedagogic and ethical dilemmas (Aldred and Ryle (1999) for these fields. Drawing on
focus group research, observations and interviews with academics and students in four UK
– 222 –
universities as well as on Perkins’ (1999) concept of ‘troublesome knowledge’, these dilemmas
will be exposed and discussed.
D 15
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G B
LIFE-LONG LEARNING AS GOAL: COMPETENCES AND PROMOTION
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Christiane Spiel, University of Vienna, Austria
Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois, Chiacago, USA
The Commission of the European Communities (2000, p.3) postulated “Lifelong learning is no
longer just one aspect of education and training; it must become the guiding principle for the
provision and participation across the full continuum of learning contexts”. Although nobody
would express any doubt about this claim, many questions about its realisation are still open. What
are the necessary competences that have to be learned and how can we teach them? Obviously, it
is a challenging task to find the right answers to these questions in particular when taking different
life-phases and learning contexts into account. There are indications that decisive progress in this
area is being inhibited by deficits in the integration of research (Middleton & Spanias, 1999).
Therefore, it is the goal of this symposium to bring together some central perspectives. The
symposium will deal with aspects of lifelong learning in working contexts, in school and
university, combined with a view on basic competences e.g., learning styles. The facets which will
be integratively discussed are research on scholastic motivation and resulting demands for
teaching (Barbara Schober, Christiane Spiel and Petra Wagner, University of Vienna), consequences for a research program stemming from studies on lifelong learning in working contexts (Frank
Achtenhagen, University of Goettingen), a critical review on present literature about learning
styles (Frank Coffield, Newcastle University), and findings from the first evaluation of an elearning program for big courses at university (Christiane Spiel and colleagues, University of
Vienna).
Motivation for lifelong learning: Demands on school and educational systems
Barbara Schober, University of Vienna, Austria
Petra Wagner, University of Vienna, Austria
Motivation and competence for lifelong learning (LLL) are pivotal requirements of the
“knowledge society”. As a consequence, well known questions as how students can be motivated
to commit themselves to the persistent and determined pursuit of a scholastic goal, move to the
center of public interest. There is no doubt, that school is the place where learning competences
and motivation (e.g. Prenzel, 1994) are originally founded. However, as research still shows the
average interest in learning decreases with increasing class level (Todt & Schreiber, 1998). To
cope with this discrepancy and to find feasible solutions, wide ranging demands for promotional
activities at different levels of the educational system are discussed. Based on current motivational
theories (e.g. Covington, 1992; Dweck, 1999; Pintrich & Schunk, 1996) and empirical results (e.g.
Hasselhorn, 2000), the presented study tried to specify a systematic framework of motivational
indicators for successful LLL at school. However, before carrying out an intervention (at system-,
school- or classroom-level) base-line data have to be systematically collected. To get insight from
– 223 –
two different perspectives we investigated motivational indicators in a sample of 490 students and
108 teachers from different school types. In addition, the study explored the teachers’ views on
their possibilities to improve learning motivation. Results allow a general description of the status
quo and a differentiated view on age and school effects. Based on these results and on previous
research guidelines for changes in classrooms and in central parameters of education are discussed.
"Necessary conditions of effective lifelong learning" – An outline for a research program
Frank Achtenhagen, University of Göttingen, Germany
The actual literature shows a lot of discussions about modes of lifelong learning; one central topic
is the role of non-formal or informal learning compared to formal learning. A major problem in
this context is that the debates are more concentrating on definitions than on gathering empirical
data. In this contribution "effective" lifelong learning will be discussed with regard to lifelong
learning in working contexts: (a) How should firms prepare for lifelong learning? – (b) How
should knowledge be brought and kept up to date for necessary production and business
processes? – (c) How to cope with the twofold role of ICT? Following this approach it is necessary
to redefine the learners’ goals and content units, especially with regard to the structure of
competencies and different levels of knowledge. To reach those goals it is also necessary to
develop new complex teaching-learning environments which also support self-organized learning.
These new goal and content structures and the effective and efficient use of complex teachinglearning environments also urge new competencies of the trainers: They have to learn how to cope
with complex and dynamic systems and how to run the environments – providing enough independency for the learners. It shall be demonstrated under which conditions informal/nonformal
learning at a given job-context can be effective or ineffective – given comparable working tasks to
be fulfilled in the specific department or working team. The data are won for business processes of
a large bank.
An evaluation of learning styles and their implications for pedagogy
Frank Coffield, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Over the last 30 years a minor industry has grown up which has expored the intriguing idea that
people learn in different ways, that they have different learning styles and that teachers/tutors
should respond appropriately to these styles. During this period a growing number of competing
schools of thought have studied the concept so that by 2002 no less than 54 different inventories
are now in use. This paper will present the findings from a systematic and critical review of the
vast literature on learning styles and its implications for pedagogy, particularly for the postcompulsory sector. The aim of the research has been to focus on the most significant, empirical
studies and to evaluate them rigorously. The claims made by the authors of the leading instruments
which measure learning styles are being tested by comparing them with the findings from
independent researchers into, for example, the reliability and validity of their tests. The review will
present a new classification of learning styles on a continuum from physiological approaches to
situational factors. The significance of the main theorists - Dunn and Dunn, Entwistle, Gregorc,
Kolb, Sternberg, Vermunt etc - will be assessed and the implications of their theories for pedagogy
is explained. The empirical evidence for the impact of their ideas on pedagogy is also evaluated.
Finally, an overview of the Learning Styles movement as a whole will be offered by exploring its
strengths and weaknesses. The review has only just begun but it has to be completed before the
summer of 2003.
– 224 –
Vienna E-Lecturing (VEL) program: An approach to promote self-regulated learning at the
university
Christiane Spiel, Dagmar Strohmeier, Alice Aichinger, Petra Gradinger and Birgit Zens,
University of Vienna, Austria
E-learning becomes a booming industry not only in the modern economy but also in the traditional
educational system. However, there is a lack of experience in the application of e-learning
techniques in university lectures with a great many students. In addition, e-learning courses are
rarely systematically evaluated. The paper presents the Vienna E-Lecturing (VEL) a blended
learning program designed for big courses. It is the intention of VEL not only to impart the
contents of the lecture but also to train and promote students’ use of self-regulatory skills. In the
first phase of VEL, tutorials are given to train students in knowledge and information
management, in virtually team working, and in the handling of the learning environment. The
second phase of VEL consists of a set of virtual learning modules. They are constructed as
follows: (1) information input (postings of book chapters, links, etc. on the server), (2) self test (to
check the declarative knowledge), (3) group work (to establish procedural knowledge). The very
few face-to-face units are intended to give the students a frame. Moreover, some special or very
difficult topics of the lecture are discussed there. The pilot application of VEL and results of the
formative and summative evaluation are presented and discussed.
D 16
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G E
Symposium
EXPLORATIONS OF STUDENT LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
The aim of this symposium is to explore different aspects of student learning in higher education.
The first two presentations explore the measurement of approaches to learning in two different
contexts, more precisely, when preparing for examinations and in distance education. The third
presentation analyses the coherence of students’ conceptions of learning and the effect of
consonant and dissonant conceptions on study success. The fourth presentation analyses students’
personal experiences of studying and their effects on study success and progress of studies. The
fifth presentation examines the role of new learning technologies in the enhancement of student
learning and the development of expertise. The symposium deepens the theoretical knowledge of
student learning in higher education and in different kinds of learning environments and provides
valuable tools for university teachers when developing teaching and learning at university.
Moreover, the symposium brings new light to the measurement of study approaches by
questionnaires.
Students’ approaches to learning in context of preparing for examinations
Juha Nieminen, University of Helsinki, Finland
Progressive Inquiry Research Group
– 225 –
We already know that students’ approaches to learning and studying have consequences in terms
of study practices and success. However, scales measuring study approaches at a general level
sometimes have quite low reliabilities. This problem may be due to the general nature of the
questions. We hypothesized that questions presented in a relevant context, in this case, thinking
about preparing for examinations, would help students to answer the questions in a more
systematic way. The participants were 815 university students in agriculture, law, and humanities.
The data were collected by using Conceptions of Learning and Knowledge Questionnaire
developed by the Progressive Inquiry Research Group, University of Helsinki, Finland
(Hakkarainen et al., 2000). Of this questionnaire 24 Likert-type questions were chosen for
analyses, which dealt with students’ approaches to learning. All these questions were asked first
generally and then in the form “Do you apply this when you prepare for examinations?”. As
background variables, two shortened scales of ILS (Vermunt & van Rijswijk, 1988) were used:
self-regulation (5 items) and lack of regulation (4 items). The results showed higher reliabilities
for the scales based on questions that were anchored in the context of preparing for examinations
than for the general scales. The best new scale “Meaning-oriented study behavior” (alpha=.84)
correlated positively with self-reported study success and the ILS scale “Self-regulation”.
Different ways of anchoring the inventory questions in a realistic study situation are discussed in
the paper.
Perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying in distance education
John T. E. Richardson, Open University, United Kingdom
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between distance-learning students’ perceptions of
the academic quality of their courses and the approaches to studying that they adopt on those
courses. The Course Experience Questionnaire (Ramsden, 1991) and the Revised Approaches to
Studying Inventory (Entwistle, Tait, & McCune, 2000) were both adapted for use in distance
education and were administered in a postal survey to students taking seven courses by distance
learning with the Open University in the United Kingdom. Usable responses were obtained from
over 2,100 students. Both instruments proved to be remarkably robust in this highly distinctive
context, and the students’ scores on the two instruments shared 61% of their variance. Older
students were more likely to adopt desirable approaches to learning than were younger students
taking the same courses. Women were more likely to adopt a surface approach to studying than
were men. However, neither the age nor the gender of the students was related to their scores on
the CEQ. It is concluded that students’ demographic characteristics, on the one hand, and their
perceptions of the academic quality of their courses, on the other hand, are mutually independent
determinants of their approaches to studying in distance education.
Consonance and dissonance in learning conceptions and in study orchestrations
Francisco Cano, University of Granada, Spain
The aims of this investigation were to examine in 1,012 secondary students, both consonant and
dissonant response patterns in approaches to learning (evaluated using the LPQ questionnaire;
Biggs, 1987) as well as in learning conceptions and learning strategies (examined using an open
task). The results of the analyses of students’ learning experience clearly support three new
findings. First, the research encountered two kinds of consonance (basic and complex) and two
kinds of dissonance (negative and positive) in students’ ways of linking how learning appears to
them, and what strategies they use to learn. Second, it was shown that these patterns of response
were significantly related to performance, better academic results being obtained by the Positive
– 226 –
Dissonance and Complex Consonance groups. Third, these patterns and learning approach
combinations (study orchestrations) were found to be associated with one another; in dissonant
study orchestrations the patterns of relationship among conceptions of learning and strategies
became incoherent. This investigation is of theoretical importance, for it demonstrates interrelationships present among dissonances, which up the present time have been analysed separately.
Also, it is of significance from an educational point of view; if teachers wish to improve the
academic performance of their students, they would need to take into account both the consonant
and dissonant response patterns of their learners.
Personal experience of studying and study success: A three-years follow-up study of university
students
Jarkko Mäkinen, University of Turku, Finland
Erkki Olkinuora, University of Turku, Finland
In this study, students’ personal experience of studying is explored through their general study
orientation. General study orientation is defined as a personal meaning that a university student
gives to his/her own studying. The aim of the study is to describe the effects that different
developmental patterns regarding general study orientations can have on students’ study success
and progress of studies. The empirical data of the study consists of both inventory-based followups of 477 students and individual interviews of selected students. The statistical follow-ups
consist of three points of measurement (by the Inventory of General Study Orientations, IGSO)
during the first three years of studying. The qualitative analyses are based on thorough interviews
conducted on selected students from the mentioned sample. In addition to the inventories and
interviews, also statistical information (GPAs and study credits) from the student register was
utilised in the study. The results indicate interesting connections between the changes of study
orientations, students’ personal experience of studying, and their study progress and success.
Video-based technology for self-regulatory and integrated acquisition of expertise by students in
higher education
Raf Canters, University of Leuven, Belgium
Peter Op ’t Eynde, University of Leuven, Belgium
Lieven Verschaffel, University of Leuven, Belgium
This contribution addresses the potential of contemporary video and computer technologies for the
improvement of learning and teaching. The video-based computer environment MILE was used as
a tool for the integrated and constructive development of expertise of university students in
different (sub)disciplines of educational sciences. Courses were organized in such a way that small
groups of students were stimulated and coached to actively engage in authentic tasks, making use
of real-life materials and information sources within and related to the MILE-environment. To
assess the effects of the environment, students’ cognitive outcomes were measured by means of a
content analysis of intermediate and final reports of the different groups. Furthermore, students’
cognitive, motivational and emotional processes while working with MILE were measured by
means of an individual task-specific questionnaire. The analysis of the students’ products indicated
that they gained (more than) sufficient competence in the intended cognitive curricular goals.
Furthermore, the questionnaire data revealed high motivation scores. However, there were a
significant number of negative motivational and emotional reactions at the beginning of the
course, because most students had little or no previous experience with such an open and complex
learning environment and felt, therefore, ‘unprepared’ for the requirements of such environments.
Overall, our results confirmed that self-regulatory learning has to be regarded as a long-time
– 227 –
process and competence, where student autonomy and learner control are not so much goals in
itself but slowly unfolding capacities over the entire period of a school career, resulting in more
self-regulated learning.
D 17
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 H
Symposium
THE STRATEGIC CONTROL OF LEARNING: MEASUREMENT AND APPLICATIONS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussants:
Robert Cantwell, University of Newcastle, Australia
Marcel V. J. Veenman, Leiden University and University of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
This symposium builds on Cantwell and Moore’s (1996) conception of strategic control as a form
of metacognitive knowledge driving individuals cognitive responses to complex processing tasks
and demands. Two of the papers (Czerniawska, and Wongsri , Cantwell & Archer) report studies
involving the translation and replication of the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (SFQ) in nonEnglish speaking settings (Poland and Thailand respectively). In both studies, the underlying
structure of the SFQ was confirmed. Three studies are then reported applying the principle of
strategic control across different settings. Cholowski and Cantwell utilize the principle of strategic
control over complex decision making to characterize medication compliance behaviours of
elderly cardiac patients. Bialek reports a study tracking the influence of strategic control
orientations on the self-regulatory behaviours of adolescents with schizophrenia. Finally Irvine,
Cantwell & Jeanneret report on a study of strategic control among musicians undertaking a
composition task. The studies reported confirm the importance of strategic control as an attribute
of effective learning, independently of cultural milieu or domain of cognitive task.
The strategic flexibility questionnaire – A survey in Polish adolescents
Eva Czerniawska, University of Warsaw, Poland
The paper reports on a study conducted in junior and senior high schools aimed at replicating
Cantwell’s Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (SFQ) in adolescents. 325 students were the
subjects: 172 from the third grade of a junior high school («gimnazjum») and 153 from the third
grade of a senior high school (“liceum”). Subjects completed the Polish version of the SFQ
(Czerniawska & Cantwell, under review), and the Witkin’s Embedded Figures Test, as well as
providing achievement data from the previous year’s schooling. Analyses replicated the original
structure found in Australian research with adult students, with a three factor solution being the
best fit with the actual data. Inter-scale correlations were weaker than might have been expected.
The relationships with GPA were weak to moderate, although significant and in the predicted
directions: positive relations with adaptive control, and negative with irresolute control. Fieldindependence had positive relations with GPA, but no relations were found with any type of the
strategic control of learning. Differences linked with school level were found, and seemed
surprising, as younger subjects had higher results in the Adaptive and Inflexible scales. Gender
affected GPA, with girls doing better at school, but not the strategic control of learning. The results
are discussed in relation to school demands that may foster the development of specific types of
strategic control.
– 228 –
The strategic flexibility questionnaire – A survey in Thai tertiary students
Nongkran Wongsri, University of Newcastle, Australia
Jennifer Archer, University of Newcastle, Australia
This paper reports on a study investigating self-directed learning among Thai tertiary students.
Self-directedness was seen as being indicated by measures of student self-efficacy (Greenglass,
Schwarzer & Taubert., 1999), motivation (Chan, 1994; Midgley et al, 1998), and reported selfregulatory and volitional behaviour (Cantwell & Moore, 1996; McCann & Garcia, 1999) from a
cultural perspective (Thailand and Australia). As the research is based on instrumentation
developed in western cultures, the first stage of the project, and the purpose of this report, was the
validation of the instruments for use among Thai tertiary students. Methodology employed for
validation was based upon the cross-cultural translation technique developed by Vallrand (1989),
later confirmed by Banville, Desrosiersad (2000). Content validity was assessed using a bilingual
group of Thai students who responded to both English and Thai versions. Consistency of item
responses was assessed using paired t-tests and correlations. Among the 134 items comprising the
five instruments, seven items were found to be marginally less reliable in translation. Construct
validity was then assessed using a group of 150 Thai university students who responded to Thai
version only. These responses were analysed using single factor principal component analysis.
Data indicated only five items with low factor loadings on their prescribed scale. Overall, the
validation process indicated an acceptable level of fit between the English and Thai versions of the
questionnaires. Interscale correlations indicated theoretically appropriate relationships between
each of the component scales. Second order-factor analysis based on the 14 translated scales from
the five instruments was then conducted revealing two underlying dimensions: one indicating
positive self-directedness and one indicating negative self-directedness.
Strategic control of learning in young schizophrenics
J. Bialek, University of Warsaw, Poland
The paper reports an ongoing research project aimed at the investigation of the strategic control of
learning in young adults with schizophrenia, who are students at a high school in Warsaw and are
treated in daycare psychiatric services. It was hypothesized that young schizophrenics are
characterized by a higher level of inflexibility and/or irresolution in their self-regulatory
behaviours, as compared with normal subjects. The whole sample will comprise up to 40
schizophrenics and a control group of up to 160 normal subjects, selected to represent the same
school and year of studies. Data gathering from subjects with schizophrenia was conducted on an
individual basis. All participants completed the Polish version of the Strategic Flexibility
Questionnaire (Czerniawska & Cantwell, under review), and as well as providing information
regarding academic achievements, and personal information relating to age, gender, school and
faculty, and psychiatric history.
Strategic control in music composition
Ian Irvine, University of Newcastle, Australia
Neril Jeanneret, University of Newcastle, Australia
The paper reports on a study of attentional focus in music composition. Participants in the study
were 28 final year secondary school students completing their major composition for external
examination. Participants were interviewed twice over a six month period. The interview included
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completing a composition over twenty minutes. During the process of composing, participants
verbalised their thoughts. These were audio-recorded and later transcribed for analysis.
Participants also completed a modified form of the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (SFQ)
(Cantwell & Moore, 1996). Verbal protocols were analysed for evidence of attentional focus over
six categories: global planning, deliberative planning, trialling, transcribing, monitoring and
evaluating. Attentional focus was mapped over real time and graphically represented to provide
evidence of patterns in strategic behaviour during composition. Responses to the SFQ were linked
to the clustering of these graphs in order to determine whether orientations to strategic control
could discriminate between different qualities of attentional focus and different qualities of
attentional outcome.
Strategic control over medication compliance amongst elderly cardiac patients
Krystyna Cholowski, University of Newcastle, Australia
This report focuses on one aspect of a broader study examining the relationships between sociocognitive and patho-physiological measures in explaining the medication compliance behaviours
of elderly patients with Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF). Specifically, the paper links issues of
medication compliance to a hypothesized relationship between self-efficacy judgements and
strategic control over health enhancing behaviours. Following Bandura (1991, 1997) we suggest
that self-efficacy mechanisms may act to provide a positive sense of agency allowing for a higher
quality of engagement with the salient health issue. In the case of elderly patients with CCF, the
potential complexity of medication regimes, combined with potential age related functional and
cognitive decline, suggests that positive agency will provide a significant predictor of the capacity
to orchestrate the complex socio-medical demands of CCF recovery, and through this the
likelihood of medication compliance.
D 18
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 E
Symposium
AWARENESS AND SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF DISTRIBUTED
COLLABORATION: ANALYSIS AND FACILITATION
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Frank Fischer, University of Tübingen, Germany
Collaborative learning and the use of networked technology has played an increasingly important
role in research and design of learning environments during the past years. More recent virtual
environments provide a shared place where not only content, but people as well, can be brought
together to meet, exchange ideas and access a variety of online resources. Several studies from
different fields show that a certain degree of commonly shared knowledge is essential for both
problem solving and learning in groups. However, empirical research in learning and instruction
has shown that networked collaboration rarely leads to higher level of understanding, and that only
a small proportion of individuals of a community reciprocally participate in discourse and
knowledge building. In this symposium we will discuss central concepts related to awareness and
sharing understanding among distributed learning partners together with their possible relationship
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to individual understanding and learning. Moreover, we present ideas how technological tools
together with advanced pedagogical models can be used to create innovative spaces for learning,
which support and mediate social interaction and facilitate a sense of togetherness among
distributed learning teams.
Collaboration scripts to facilitate knowledge convergence in computer-supported collaborative
learning environments
Armin Weinberger, University of Munich, Germany
Frank Fischer, University of Tübingen, Germany
One important problem of collaborative learning environments is the divergence of participants of
one learning group with respect to the cognitive learning outcomes. Several studies from different
fields show that a certain degree of shared knowledge or knowledge convergence is essential for
both problem solving and learning in groups. However, recent research on collaborative learning
has shown that the construction of shared knowledge is rather the exception than the rule.
Computer-supported collaboration scripts that pre-structure the interaction are analyzed as possible
instructional means to overcome these problems. Two different types of collaboration scripts have
been investigated in an experimental study: A content-oriented script that prescribes different
activities and their sequence with respect to the content of the task and an interaction-oriented
script that prescribes different roles, their sequence and some interactive steps which further define
the different roles. Both types of scripts were varied independently in a 2x2-factorial design. 96
university students of Pedagogy collaborated in the web-based learning environment. Results show
that the content-oriented script, on the one hand, was highly effective in supporting collaborative
problem-solving. However, it was least beneficial concerning important learning processes and
outcomes. The interaction-oriented script, on the other hand, substantially supported learners with
respect to learning processes, individual learning outcome as well as knowledge convergence.
Aspects of sharedness and knowledge sharing in computer-supported learning groups. Some
insights from information pooling
Jürgen Buder, University of Tübingen, Germany
This paper describes an experiment based on the social psychological paradigm of information
pooling. In information pooling studies pieces of information will be distributed across group
members in a way that some pieces are unique (i.e. available to only one group member), whereas
other pieces of information are shared among group members. Typically, groups have the task to
exchange information, prior to making a group decision. The experiment of this study addresses
information pooling within the field of knowledge acquisition, i.e. group exchange information in
order to prepare for an individual knowledge test. Moreover, they exchange information via
asynchronous computer conferencing. The distribution of knowledge across group members is
systematically varied, with a third of the groups having a homogeneous knowledge distribution,
another third with a heterogeneous distribution (i.e., group members will be experts in parts of the
domain), and a third of the groups with a heterogeneous distribution plus knowledge about who is
expert in which partial domain. The process of information exchange was studied using detailed
content analyses, the outcome of the interaction was analyzed both in terms of knowledge gains
and knowledge equalization, i.e. degree of overlapping knowledge within the group. Effects of the
specific communication medium on knowledge exchange and knowledge acquisition will be
discussed and integrated into a broader model on the notion of sharedness and distribution within
computer-mediated learning groups.
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Enhancing awareness of networked collaboration in workplace context
Piritta Leinonen, University of Oulu, Finland
In this presentation we discuss how an awareness of virtual interaction can be enhanced among the
team members in knowledge intensive workplace context. In these days, many organizations are
building virtual distributed teams. One of the crucial questions in these workplace contexts is how
aware the participants are of their virtual community, and how they are able to reciprocally interact
with each other. We will discuss about the issue of how technology can better enable participants
to find each other and form collaborative groups around mutual interests, skills, and needs in
distributed teams. Also an idea of “awareness tools in virtual spaces” meant for supporting
productive joint engagement, shared understanding and sense of co-presence will be introduced.
We present a pedagogical model and technological tools which we used in an empirical study of a
distributed working team in a global industrial company. The aim of the model was to support the
awareness of a geographically distributed virtual team which was expected the work
collaboratively. The results of the quality of collaboration will be presented.
Assessing what is shared in computer-supported collaborative learning
Dietmar Janetzko, University of Freiburg, Germany
Traditionally, knowledge has been attributed almost exclusively to books and individuals. As
evidenced by recent work in fields like computer supported collaboration and collaborative such
traditions are changing. In fact, on browsing the literature, one is struck by the broad spectrum of
investigations of knowledge on a group-level and the divers labels used to designate and study it,
e.g., group mind (Wegner, 1987), shared cognition (Clark & Brennan, 1991), shared mental
models (Cannon-Bowers, Salas & Converse, 1993), team knowledge (Cooke, Salas, CannonBowers, & Stout, 2000), or collaborative rules (Goodnow, 1996). However, with the exception of
the work of Cooke and her colleagues there are only a few methodological approaches that provide
an empirically validated method to assess shared knowledge. This contribution presents and
discusses knowledge tracking (KT), viz., an approach to analyse collaborative learning and the
effects of sharing knowledge on the basis of empirical data that take the form of symbolic
sequential data (e.g., collected in card sorting or thinking aloud tasks). I will give an outline of the
theoretical and methodological aspects of KT and delineate the Web-based computer program
(knowledge tracking engine, KTE) set up to run KT-analyses. An empirical study in computersupported collaborative learning is taken to exemplify usage of KT.
Negotiating shared understanding in collaborative problem solving
Pieter Jelle Beers, Open University, The Netherlands
Complex problem solving generally takes the form of a multidisciplinary collaborative effort.
Collaborative problem solving demands that the problem solvers negotiate a shared understanding
of the problem space and the problem solution. The process of reaching such a shared
understanding involves negotiation of meaning and negotiation of position. Negotiation of
meaning involves coming to an agreement about what the problem content actually is or means.
Negotiation of position involves discussion about one’s opinion or position with regard to problem
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content. In this contribution we present a framework for negotiation of meaning and negotiation of
position. We focus on how knowledge from the individual can be brought into the group, and how
knowledge, through these negotiation processes, can become part of a shared understanding. From
this framework we developed a tool for enhancing negotiation of shared understanding in teams,
with the ultimate goal of facilitating collaborative problem solving. We report on the results of a
study of a collaborative complex problem solving process. In this study, multidisciplinary teams
were had to solve a complex economic problem. We compared teams that used the tool to teams
who did not to test effects of the framework and the tool on negotiation of meaning, negotiation of
position, and shared understanding. We report on the quality of the negotiation process, and on the
extent to which teams reached shared understanding.
D 19
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 C
Symposium
READING LITERACY: PERFORMANCE AND ENGAGEMENT ACROSS COUNTRIES.
INTERPRETING RESULTS FROM PISA 2000
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussants:
Dominique Lafontaine, University of Liege, Belgium
John De Jong, Language Testing Services, The Netherlands
Judith Kadar-Fulop, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,
Paris, France
Maureen McLaughlin, East Stroudsburg University, USA
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessed 15 year-olds’ reading
literacy in 32 countries. Reading literacy was defined as "understanding, using and reflecting on
written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and potential and to
participate in society”. Test development was based on a conceptual framework elaborated by
reading experts from several countries and backgrounds. The main criteria for sampling the
reading tasks were situation (reading for private use, for public use, for work and for education),
type of text (continuous vs. non-continuous) and aspect of reading literacy (retrieving information,
interpreting the text, and reflecting on the text). The first international report (OECD, Knowledge
and skills for life: First results of PISA 2000) drew initial conclusions from the survey. Going
beyond this publication, a group of reading experts who have been involved in designing and
developing the instruments wrote an in-depth report (Reading for change: Performance and
engagement across countries). The authors will present the results of their analyses and extend
their thoughts on the construct of reading literacy that was used for the PISA study. Two well
known reading experts will react as official discussants and link these new findings to the state of
the art in reading literacy.
Patterns of performance on the reading literacy subscales
Juliette Mendelovits, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia
The PISA reading literacy framework proposes that high-level reading proficiency involves the
ability both to engage with a wide variety of texts, and to approach texts from a number of
perspectives. This paper discusses the international results of the PISA 2000 Reading Literacy
survey, with a focus on differential results both within and between countries on the two text
format scales, continuous and non-continuous texts; and on the three aspect scales: retrieving
information, interpreting and reflecting. While in general the performance across subscales within
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each country tended to be highly correlated, some differential patterns of performance between the
subscales do emerge across countries. For example, stronger performance on the continuous
subscale was typically accompanied by stronger performance on the reflecting subscale.
Conversely, countries that did better with retrieving information also typically performed
relatively well with tasks based on non-continuous texts. The paper will explore the hypothesis
that these two types of cross-national pattern are associated with national differences in
pedagogical styles and curriculum. It will be suggested that the PISA results, by providing
information about subscale performance, can help to define the directions that improvements in
reading instruction might take. Some strategies to accomplish such improvements will be
proposed.
Profiles of engagement in reading and their relationships with students’ characteristics
Dominique Lafontaine, University of Liege, Belgium
PISA 2000 assessed the cognitive dimension of reading literacy, but also the socio-affective
dimension: students’ reading habits and attitudes. Several authors (Kamil & al., 2000, Guthrie and
Wiegfield, 2000, McKenna & al., 1995) have stressed the crucial role of reading attitudes and
reading motivation for literacy development. Three questions in the PISA questionnaires that
addressed socio-effective aspects provided reliable indicators. They allowed developing a general
index of engagement and building reading profiles, using cluster analysis. This contribution will
present: (1) descriptive analyses by country: the profiles that came out of the cluster analysis and
how these profiles vary across countries; (2) the level of engagement across countries; (3) bivariate
analyses: how the reading profiles and the level of engagement are related with gender, socioeconomic status and reading performance; we will also explore how much engagement in reading
can “compensate” for a low privileged background.
Modelling the relationship between engagement in reading and reading performance
Christian Monseur, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia
This contribution will build on the results of the same variables as the previous one and will
explore further the relationships between 16 background variables - at individual and school levels
– and reading achievement, using a multilevel regression analyse. The analysis shows that the
most predictive variables are the socio-economic background aggregated at the school level (the
social intake of schools) and engagement in reading both at the school and at the individual level.
Interesting differences appear between countries in the effects of individual and school factors on
reading performance, which can be related to structural features of the various educational systems
involved in PISA. The contribution will draw several profiles of countries depending on the
relative importance of academic and social segregation between or within schools.
Exploring the construct of reading literacy
John De Jong, Language Testing Services, The Netherlands
Irwin Kirsch, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, USA
The PISA 2000 reading literacy study defined the object of measurement as: “Reading literacy is
understanding, using and reflecting on written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop
one’s knowledge and potential and to participate in society.” This definition is indebted to current
views in reading but also smacks of the policy-driven context of international surveys in that it
refers to an intended construct as well as to the cultural and socio-economic impact of variance in
scores purported to reflect degrees of mastery of this construct. It implies, therefore that assessing
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the validity of the PISA reading literacy reporting scale will have to address both construct and
predictive validity.In this contribution we address how the PISA definition builds on and extends
current views on reading literacy. We discuss whether the reporting scale represents the intended
construct and to what extent the operationalisation impacted on PISA's results by comparing them
to findings from other surveys (IALS, NALS, and NAEP). We assess to what extent indeed
attained PISA levels can predict students' cultural and socio-economic future. Finally, we review
what steps might be taken to validate the reporting scale and which changes for future PISA cycles
might be suggested.
D 20
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 M
Symposium
THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING BY PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN:
DIALOGICAL APPROACHES TO LITERACY AS SOCIAL PRACTICE
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Manuel Fernandez, Open University, United Kingdom
Judith Kleine Staarman, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Sten R. Ludvigsen, Stockholm, Sweden
Sten R. Ludvigsen, Stockholm, Sweden
With the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in schools, new
types of practices have emerged in relation to literacy. In this symposium, four papers will be
presented in which literacy is regarded as a social practice, where issues such as subject area
learning, collaboration, design, creativity, language learning and the use of ICT tools are merged,
and where participants use different kinds of discourse to construct meaning. The papers
comprising the symposium all take a dialogical approach towards the literacy practices investigated in each of them. We understand this dialogical approach as a set of relationships established
between subjects and texts, subjects and tools, or between different discourses used by participants
to construct and negotiate meanings, activities, and identities. From this perspective, each of the
four papers integrating the symposium will propose a methodological approach to analyse literacy
as social practice, focusing on the activities, semiotics or connections that take place in the literacy
practice (Gee, 1999). To provide a detailed account of these literacy practices, we combine the
analysis of children’s talk as well as the output produced by them.
The construction of situated identities in the collaborative construction of texts: How primary
school children in the UK construct Web pages together
Manuel Fernandez, Open University, United Kingdom
In many literacy practices participants negotiate the meanings that will be communicated to a
specific audience, and the ways of expressing these meanings in a given text. From a sociocultural
perspective, collaborative tasks can be studied through the analysis of discourse, as a way to look
at the social construction of knowledge through the use of language in such activities. Within this
perspective, some authors have proposed that the success of this meaning construction depends on
the types of talk used, and the ground rules governing them (Mercer, 1995; Wegerif, Mercer, and
Dawes, 1999). More recently, these types of talk have also been conceptualised as a more general
“dialogical orientation” towards the activity (Wegerif, 2002). However, the studies mentioned
above have not acknowledged the role that identities can play in the negotiation of a concept, or in
the construction of a text. In this paper, it is discussed how the perceptions of the participants’ own
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role within the collaborative task can determine the outcome of the activity. This perception
constitutes one of the main features of a “situated identity” (Gee, 1999), where meanings are
constructed on the basis of the position of the participants in relation to the task and to other
participants. Thus, specific discourses are privileged according to this position and the perceived
audience for the text being constructed. A discourse analysis method, based on interviews with
primary school children constructing together web pages about History in the UK, is used to
illustrate the concept of “situated identities” as defined previously.
Activity building and connecting discourses: How primary school children co-write a horror story
with the use of ICT
Judith Kleine Staarman, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Nowadays, the construction of meaning is more and more perceived as a dialogue with the social
context. From a socio-cultural perspective, the learner is seen as an integral part of the social
environment and from this perspective knowledge construction cannot be seen as a process that
exists solely in the mind of the learner (Van Boxtel, 2000) but as both an interpersonal and
intrapersonal process, mediated by cultural tools (such as language) and artefacts (Kumpulainen &
Mutanen, 1999). From this perspective, the term literacy not only refers to reading but to a wide
range of (social) activities, such as the use of language to construct meaning and computer literacy.
Interaction and discourse are often analysed in terms of the ways language can be used to improve
collaborative learning processes. However, taking a socio-cultural perspective implies taking into
account the collaborative process of the participants over time and the privileging processes to the
discourse, afforded by the tasks and tools used. In the literacy practice described and analysed in
this paper, sixth grade primary school children use face-to-face peer interaction as well as an ICT
discussion tool (Knowledge Forum) to co-construct the meaning of the concept ‘horror story’ and
to write an horror story themselves. Using discourse analysis of the face-to-face interaction and the
computer-mediated contributions to the discussion, this paper illustrates how discourse connections are created across the task, and how the affordances of the tools and tasks are made explicit
in the discourse of the participants.
The discourse of creative writing - Learning to compose and evaluate creative texts through peer
interaction
Eva Vass, Open University, United Kingdom
The acquisition of literacy has recently been described as the “socialisation or acculturation into
the particular conventions of creating and interacting with texts that characterise a particular
discourse community” (Kern, 2000, 35). Building on this approach, the study presented here
focuses on the social aspect of literacy practices. In particular, it looks at how children learn the
discourse of ‘creative writing’ through peer interaction: how they jointly master skills of
composing and talking about creative texts in the classroom. The study also aims to investigate the
role of the relationship between collaborative partners in shaping these processes. The study builds
on naturalistic observations of paired creative writing episodes of Year 4 (8-year-old) friends and
acquaintances in English middle schools. The analysis uses a functional model, developed
specifically for the context of paired creative writing (Vass, 2002). Via the analysis of paired talk,
the paper explores the links and overlaps between friendship discourse (the discourse of ‘spending
time together in and outside school’), and creative writing discourse, and thus highlights the
potential benefits of friendship pairing in this particular context. The paper concludes that
‘informal’ discourse practices can help facilitate the mastering of discourses associated with
academic membership.
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How can the use of cut and paste be a joint productive literacy practice?
Ingvill Rasmussen, University of Oslo, Norway
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to influence the way
students participate, and hence result in new types of practices. The use of cut and paste is one
example of a new literacy practice that has emerged and escalated with the introduction of ICT.
The purpose of this paper is to study how students’ use cut and paste when working in a
technology-rich learning environment. The empirical grounding in this paper comes from the
analysis of a learning environment where the students used multimedia to create a presentation
about their understanding of “Norway as a multi-cultural society” with focus on food, culture, and
religion (Ludvigsen et al. 2002). By analyzing how the students’ used cut and paste I will show
how productive interactions are created, and how these are dependent on how the students interact
with the tools, and the student-teacher interaction. Productive interactions are defined as a
collective effort in the creation of new knowledge (Mercer 1995). I take activity to be a starting
point for human learning (Vygotsky 1986). The activities are viewed through the lens of how
participatory structures become visible in detailed analysis of interaction between students and
their environment (Greeno 1998). Detailed analyses, such as I present here, contributes to
knowledge about how new practices is created in relation to new tools, and under what conditions
these can be characterized as productive.
Analysing ICT in music education as a social practice
Teresa Dillon, Open University, United Kingdom
Over the last ten years the use of ICT has become common practice within UK music education.
Despite this it is not fully understood how music technology as a social activity and practice
contributes to music education or how teachers and pupils experience and engage constructively
with music technology. To investigate this Dillon, Joiner, and Miell (2001) conducted a survey on
music teachers’ application of ICT in British secondary schools. It was found that eJay (sampling
and sequencing software) was one of the most commonly used programmes, while teachers’
written comments provided insight into their perspectives on the musical and creative aspects of
ICT usage. The findings from the survey provided a platform for further investigation into how
groups collaborated on eJay, what processes they engaged in and whether the processes found
complemented or contrasted with the teachers views on ICT. 7 groups (total of 18 participants,
mean age 13.6 years) were videotaped while using eJay during music lessons. Their verbal
dialogues were then transcribed and analysed using a coding scheme, Dillon (2002), which focuses
on the content and affective dialogues within these collaborations. This scheme assisted in
addressing the following research questions: (1) How can we understand music technology as a
social practice that articulates both teachers and pupils’ experiences? (2) What practices and
interactions are reflected in the young peoples dialogues when using eJay sampling software? (3)
How do these practices and interactions compare and contrast with the teachers’ perspectives on
the application of ICT in music and how does this relate to the overall aims of music education?
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D 21
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G D
Symposium
COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION IN COMPUTER-MEDIATED
SETTINGS: DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPORT
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussant:
Nikol Rummel, University of Freiburg, Germany
Innovative computer-mediated settings help override many traditional barriers to knowledge
communication and collaboration opening a wide array of opportunities for collaboration and
communication across distance, domain and expertise. Examples of promising scenarios include
the solution of complex problems by distributed groups of experts or the availability of econsulting services with expert-layperson interactions over the Internet. Unfortunately, current
computer-mediated settings cannot ‘just’ be implemented. Instantiating and sustaining common
ground, pooling (yet) unshared knowledge, and coordinating collaboration are but a few of the
profound difficulties in computer-mediated environments which, in most cases, have restricted
possibilities for exchanging nonverbal information. The major problems encountered are coordinating communication (turn taking, feedback, mutual understanding) and coordinating the joint
solution of the task (managing time, dividing labour, integrating individual contributions). In this
symposium we discuss both the problems encountered as well as different approaches to provide
support to solve these problems. Simons et al. explore the value of social- and task-interaction as
regulative processes in achieving constructive interactions. Taking an instructional vantage point,
Rummel and Spada investigate the potential of cooperation scripts to promote competences for
computer-mediated collaboration with long-term effects. Van Bruggen and Kirschner discuss the
role of external representations for negotiating shared understanding and common ground in the
solution of complex, ill-structured problems. Runde et al. focus on potential problems that external
representations might cause in interactions between experts and laypersons. Finally, Wittwer et al.
introduce an assessment tool to support communication between computer experts and laypersons.
How people in virtual groups and communities (fail to) interact
Robert-Jan Simons, Wilfried Admiraal, Sanne Akkerman, Jurjen van de Groep, Maarten de Laat
and Jakko van der Pol, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
In four different research projects students, teachers, researchers and policemen communicate in
face to face meetings and through shared electronic work spaces. Students interact about their
studies in pedagogy, teachers about their teaching, researchers about their collaborative research
project, and policemen about new policy issues in the organisation. These research projects have
similar theoretical starting points (social constructivism, knowledge building and shared
understanding), as well as differences. One project focuses on community building, another on
reaching common understanding through grounding, a third on work place learning and a fourth on
intercultural understanding and the role of language. After an overview of the projects, we present
ways to reach shared understanding as well as the inhibitors of interaction and communication in
these various environments. The differences and similarities between the contexts will be
discussed. We focus on the value of social- and task-interaction as regulative processes in
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achieving constructive interactions, that is, interactions that mediate learning in some way. The
underlying pedagogical idea is to scaffold setting the stage for learning interaction without
scripting the collaborators’ own pedagogical initiatives. The major questions addressed are: (1) Do
first impressions determine the process or do episodes scored simply add up (cumulative
contributions), or do their effects for instance fade out after a while, and is then reinforcement of
the collaborative relation needed? And (2) How social and task aspects interrelate, are they
interchangeable or are these aspects interdependent in promoting an effective climate for learning
interaction?
Can people learn computer-mediated collaboration by following a script?
Hans Spada, University of Freiburg, Germany
There is ample empirical evidence that cooperation scripts are effective measures for supporting
both face-to-face and computer-mediated collaboration (CMC). Following the motivation theory
of Deci and Ryan (1985), which identifies self-determination as a major constituent of motivation,
cooperation scripts may, however, cause motivational problems, since they regulate the interaction
in a strict way. Similar considerations have been made by researchers who have successfully
applied scripts to enhance CMC. So, if collaboration can not be scripted over many sessions the
question then is, whether the effects of a cooperation script outlast the experimental session in
which it was provided by promoting collaborative competences. Our hypothesis is that scripted
CMC can also trigger learning. Partners who jointly work on a problem-solving task following a
cooperation script are expected to acquire collaborative skills, which improve the collaboration
also in subsequent tasks. In an experimental study, a cooperation script was provided in a first
CMC during the learning phase to build up collaborative competences, which were then expected
to become evident in process and outcome of a second, unscripted CMC during the application
phase. Compared to three other conditions (an observational learning condition, a condition with
unscripted collaboration during the learning phase and a condition without a learning phase), the
script showed positive effects on process and outcome during the application phase. This leads to
the conclusion that given an appropriate didactic design, cooperation scripts seem to constitute a
promising means to provide support in computer-mediated collaboration with long-term effects by
promoting collaborative competences.
External representations for negotiating shared understanding
Jan van Bruggen, Open University, The Netherlands
This contribution presents the results of research on the use of a representational notation to
support collaborative problem solving. To do this we analysed dialogues of students (beginning
experts in different areas) engaged in collaborative problem solving using a coding scheme based
on the notation. The groups followed different problem solving approaches each leading to sub
optimal solutions. In our current analysis we found that the coding scheme can account for an
important part of the content of the dialogues and thus seems a usable starting point for the further
development of a system using external representations to offer guidance to learners in solving
these types of problems. The results show resemblance to the analysis of social science problemsolving by James Voss and his colleagues were experts identified more abstract problems as the
factors producing the problem, and they stated more general abstract solutions to which lower
level problems were subordinate. Novices decomposed the problem in low-level sub-problems to
which solutions where proposed. Novices failed to evaluate solutions in terms of constraints and
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they did not specify sub-problems that could be encountered when proposed solutions were
implemented. We have concentrated on the major content of the representational notation, but we
have to go beyond that in order to use the notation to facilitate collaborative problem solving. We
are currently researching its use in settings where learners construct and share the external
representations during problem solving. That implies going beyond an analysis of the content of
the discourse and address processes of knowledge sharing, negotiation and coordination in the
collaborative solving of wicked problems.
Experts’ audience design in Net-based written medical advice for la persons: Experimental studies
on the impact of external representations
Anne Runde, University of Muenster, Germany
Rainer Bromme, University of Muenster, Germany
Regina Jucks, University of Muenster, Germany
The Internet has become an important medium for the acquisition of health-related knowledge by
laypersons, but in many cases the information presented by medical experts is not easy for
laypersons to understand. Experts may have inappropriate assumptions of what is understandable
to laypersons and therefore may not adequately adapt their contribution to the laypersons’
knowledge. We have set up a series of studies to analyse experts’ audience design to laypersons in
net-based consulting scenarios. We focus on the experts’ heuristic assumptions about what can be
taken for granted as so called common ground (sensu Herbert Clark, 1996) and what has to be
made explicit. Medical experts were asked to give written explanations to a fictitious layperson.
We experimentally varied the type of external representation (graphical representations or a list of
key words) available. Three questions will be addressed in our presentation: (a) How do the
medical experts use the representations? (b) Does the information about the availability of external
representations for the layperson influence experts` audience design? (c) Is the experts audience
design influenced by the possibility of getting feedback from a layperson (chat-scenario)? We use
text-analysis to measure the degree of the experts’ audience design. The results indicate a great
impact of external representations on experts’ audience design and a significant role of the
indicated communication scenario.
The assessment tool: A measure to support asynchronous communication between computer
experts and laypersons
Jörg Wittwer, University of Freiburg, Germany
Matthias Nückles, University of Freiburg, Germany
Alexander Renkl, University of Freiburg, Germany
The more the Internet becomes an indispensable tool for information search and communication,
the more consulting services in diverse domains operate via the Internet. Asynchronous computer
hotlines, such as help-desks for hard and software, are a prominent example of this development.
If computer experts’ counselling of laypersons is to be effective, the experts should adjust their
way of communicating to the background knowledge of the layperson. However, in asynchronous
communication, the evaluation of an interlocutor’s background knowledge is particularly difficult.
Compared to face-to-face communication, fewer channels of communication are available and
feedback is restricted. In this contribution, an assessment tool is presented which supports
computer experts in evaluating an inquirer’s background knowledge who initiate a support inquiry
via a computer hotline. The assessment tool consists of a small Internet-based questionnaire which
asks the inquirer to provide several self-assessments of their computer expertise in addition to their
question or problem. Two Internet-based dialogue experiments are presented that tested whether
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the assessment tool would make computer experts’ asynchronous communication with laypersons
more effective. The results show that experts who were provided information about the client’s
knowledge level displayed a higher degree of adaptation to the client and were asked half as many
comprehension questions compared to experts who had no assessment tool available. We will
discuss whether the approach of making the knowledge prerequisites explicit by means of an
assessment tool might also be appropriate to support other asynchronous settings, such as etutoring or Internet-based cooperative learning.
D 22
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 2 C
Symposium
STUDENT-GENERATED QUESTIONING IN INSTRUCTIONAL ENVIRONMENTS
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Heinz Neber, University of Munich, Germany
Hans van der Meij, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Generally, the contributions to this symposium should help in promoting intensities and levels of
learners’ cognitive activities in diverse instructional environments. More specifically, the
importance of student-generated questions for learning, and implementable approaches to promote
such questions as means to self-construct knowledge by the students will be empirically demonstrated. Investigations in classrooms repeatedly found that student questioning is a non-frequent
activity which takes place on rather low cognitive levels. Contrary to these results, experimental
(training), and descriptive studies (comparing good vs. poor learners) revealed that particularly
student questions on higher cognitive levels are strong determinants of the acquisition of
knowledge, at least if the focus is on transferable knowledge. Additionally, positive motivational
effects (e.g. on self-efficacy) may be achieved by enabling or training of questioning. Thus,
promoting self-generated questions seems to be an important approach in increasing the quality
and the efficiency of learning and instruction. Basically, two different approaches in promoting
learners’ self-generated questions might be possible: Either reshaping the instructional environment and some of its components, or by directly training self-questions by guided and structured
interventions focusing on activities of the individual learner. The contributions of MantziouZiogas and van der Meij as well as of Kaartinen and Kumpulainen cover the first approach in
dealing with question promoting environmental aspects. The presentations of Levin and Arnold
and Neber and Heumann-Rupprecht provide examples of direct training of self-questions. The
papers cover a broad spectrum of situations, considering pre-school settings, elementary-, highschool, and higher education environments.
An examination of preschooler’s questioning behavior
Tioga Mantziou-Ziogas, Technical Educational Institute, Ioannina, Athens, Greece
This study examines the impact of context and lesson materials on children’s questioning in a
preschool setting (e.g., Dillon, 1998). The study asks whether preschoolers’ questioning during
classroom play (control condition) differs from their questioning during teacher-led discussion
circles (experimental condition). The influence of factors such as the quality of the day-care center
and teacher-child interaction on questioning were also examined. From each classroom of 18
different day-care centers four children were randomly selected as participants in the study. The
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questions these children asked during a regular play period were compared to their questions asked
in a discussion circle led by the teacher. These discussion circles focused on lesson materials that
varied on complexity, surprise, and incongruity (e.g. Berlyne, 1963; Cantor, 1976). Questioning
was strongly affected by classroom condition and type of lesson material. From being
predominantly routine during play, questioning also became much more subject-matter oriented
during discussion. The covariates too had a profound impact on questioning. As early as in
preschool special attention is needed to the conditions for promoting question asking and the
development of children’s question asking skill.
Student questioning in academic classes
Anne Levin, Technical University Berlin, Germany
Karl-Heinz Arnold, Technical University Berlin, Germany
Rosenshine, Meister, and Chapman (1996) infer from their review of research that questioning
might be a successful learning-strategy in higher education. However little research is done on
student questioning within settings of expository teaching and receptive learning. In general, most
of the available studies refer to individual prose learning (e.g. Häfele, 1995). The applied research
project “Questioning in Lectures” shall explore on what terms students should be activated to
generate questions on different cognitive levels in lectures and seminars as the most common
formats of teaching in higher education. In order to get generalizable results, investigations and
interventions are conducted in classes of different faculties and subject areas. To facilitate the
generation and verbalization of questions students receive a short instruction and a form that asks
them to paraphrase questions on different cognitive levels. The generated questions are transcribed
and returned to the students and teachers as a collection of written questions. Succeedingly, two
question-generating conditions were compared: Prestructured versus unstructured requests to
generate questions. As dependent variables, the frequencies of questions generated on different
cognitive levels were measured under both conditions. To assess the efficiency of questioning on
learning the cognitive levels of the questions are put in relation to test-performance on relevant
subject matter. Students’ ability to recollect those questions which have been asked by themselves
is taken as a further measure of knowledge acquisition. The results provide information on how
and when to promote students’ question generation in higher education classes.
The epistemological character of questioning in three science classroom communities
Sinikka Kaartinen, University of Oulu, Finland
This study examines the communicative practice of science learning in three classroom
communities. Specifically, the study focuses on the nature of questioning in collaborative activity.
The theoretical and methodological basis of the study draws on sociocultural psychology which
views learning as a collective process of meaning making situated in cultural contexts (e.g. Cole,
1996; Sfard, 1998; Wells, 1999). The empirical data of this study are derived from three case
studies of classroom communities whose practices of learning science were shaped by the ideas of
Community of learners (Brown & Campione, 1994; Rogoff, Turkanis, & Bartlett, 2001). The first
case study comprises eight second-grade pupils aged from seven to eight years from a Finnish
elementary school, and their science teacher. The second case study describes a seventh-grade
classroom learning community in a Finnish secondary school. The class consists of twelve
students, six female and six male, aged between twelve and thirteen years. The third case study
describes second-year student-teachers attending a compulsory course in chemistry teaching. The
data of the study have been collected by means of video-recordings subjected to transcription and
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micro-level analysis. In the analysis of questioning, specific attention has been paid to the
authorship of the questions and epistemological character of questioning. The results show that the
epistemic nature of questioning was rich and unique in each classroom community grounded on
activity, identity, material and semiotic modes of interaction. Unlike in conventional classrooms,
in this study the authorship of questioning was not biased but rather distributed over the members
of the learning communities. In summary, the study provides educators and researchers with lenses
to examine the social construction of questioning in science teaching and learning in classroom
contexts working as communities of inquiry.
Promoting epistemic self-questions in science learning by discovery
Doris Heumann-Rupprecht, University of Munich, Germany
Learning by experimentation in science laboratories challenges learners by requiring selfregulatory as well as knowledge-generating activities. Self-questions could be used to support both
of these activities (Graesser & McMahen, 1993; King, 1994). In this study, self-questions serve to
specify knowledge related intentions in the planning phase of experiments and contribute in setting
epistemic goals for the succeeding experimental activities (Ram, & Hunter, 1995). Diverse deficits
in such activities have been observed with high-school students experimenting in science labs
(Neber & Schommer-Aikins, 2002). Thus, students should be guided in generating epistemic
questions while experimenting (Klahr, 2000). An intervention study with ninth grade high-school
students was conducted that aimed at promoting epistemic self-questioning in planning phases of
experiments in chemistry. The intervention had three goals: Increasing the frequency of selfquestions, orienting questioning activities towards epistemic goals, and promoting the utilization
of prior knowledge in formulating the self-questions. Expected effects were tested on the
acquisition of different forms of chemical knowledge, solving chemical transfer problems, skills in
formulating chemical research questions, and preferences for experimentation in open
environments. The experimental group (self-question intervention) was compared to a similar
control group. For eight weeks, both groups followed the same curriculum in chemistry with
weekly lab sessions. Promoting epistemic self-questions resulted in significant positive effects on
knowledge, transfer, and general inquiry skills. Thus, the intervention method seems to be useful
in guiding discovery processes of students in school-based inquiries.
D 23
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G C
Symposium
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION
Part 2: Technologies for collaborative learning scenarios
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussants:
Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer, Open University, The Netherlands
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Recent developments in information and communication technologies have resulted in a variety of
tools that are supposed to possess an enormous educational potential for individual as well as for
collaborative learning. However, although advances in technology-based instruction allow to
deliver to students information in ways that teachers cannot, in many cases there is neither
convincing theoretical nor empirical evidence from a psychological perspective to support the
claim that the use of advanced technology is more effective than more traditional educational
approaches. In particular, it is not clear (1) which psychological processes relevant to learning may
be facilitated by different advanced technologies, (2) which instructional goals may be more easily
achieved by them, and (3) for which learners as well as (4) under which circumstances they may
be beneficial. In response to this state of the field this symposium brings together conceptual as
well as experimental contributions that provide insights into the prospects and drawbacks of up-todate instructional devices. In particular, there is a focus on those features that are unique for
particular technologies and that may be responsible for learning outcomes not easily obtained with
already well-established types of multimedia instruction. The second part of the symposium
predominantly will deal with collaborative learning scenarios that involve the use of virtual
environments, of embodied interface agents, of simulation environments for scientific discovery,
and of dynamic computer modeling.
Nonverbal signs and communication processes in collaborative virtual environments
Katrin Müller, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, Stuttgart, Germany
Nonverbal signs are usually not available in computer-supported communication based on audio
and textual messages. Therefore computer-based collaborative learning and working is subjected
to restrictions concerning the process of communication. In this presentation effects of nonverbal
signs and their relevance in collaborative virtual environments are reported. Two experimental
studies were conducted to investigate the effects of the availability of nonverbal signs on the
communication process, performance measures, and subjective ratings regarding the collaborative
virtual environment, social presence, and communication. In the first experiment groups of three
people and in the second experiment groups of six members collaborated while solving various
tasks. In sum, 249 people took part in the experiments. In both conditions (with vs. without
nonverbal signs) audio and text chat were available and the group members were represented by
avatars. The independent variable was a nonverbal repertoire with seven signs: only the group
members of one condition were for example able to raise the hand of their avatar, shake his head
or nod by activating buttons on an icon bar. Differences concerning performance measures as well
as objective communication variables, such as number of interruptions, did not reach the level of
statistical significance. Providing nonverbal signs in collaborative virtual environments, however,
increased motivation as well as social presence, and yielded a smoother communication process.
The results will be discussed with regard to the task-media-fit theory, the cognitive load theory,
and the social presence theory. Conclusions for computer based collaborative learning are drawn
considering the relevance of nonverbal signs e.g. for regulating the turn-taking in groups.
Embodied interface agents in e-learning scenarios: Advantages and drawbacks
Gary Bente, University of Cologne, Germany
Nicole Krämer, University of Cologne, Germany
In search for new effective techniques to optimize e-learning scenarios, the usage of embodied
interface agents is suggested. Due to the fact that human-like communication and quasi-social
interaction is made possible, these agents are supposed to increase learning motivation and
intensify attention. First implementations of animated pedagogical agents (Lester, Towns,
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Callaway, Voerman & FirzGerald, 2000) have already been shown to improve learning effects and
task performance. On the other hand, anthropomorphic computer-characters have been shown to
evoke strong socio-emotional reactions that even can hinder learning processes or task
performance (see Rickenberg & Reeves, 2000). It is still uncertain under which conditions
embodied agents can improve learning processes and foster information processing. Also it is
unclear how the different phenomena are mediated: e.g. are positive effects simply caused by
prolonged duration of learning sessions - mediated by novelty and curiosity of the medium - or do
they represent robust, long-term effects that emerge from ‘parasocial’ interaction. Against the
background of previous studies we will present the results of our own recent studies on the
influence of embodied interface agents on learning and information processing. Based on the
empirical findings, potential advantages and drawbacks of animated pedagogical agents are
discussed. Finally, a systematic research program is suggested that should help in filling the
remaining knowledge gaps in this area.
The influence of prior knowledge on students' conversation during a kinematics scientific
discovery learning task
Hannie Gijlers, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Studies on scientific discovery learning primarily focus on the learning of individuals and as yet
little is known about the processes that occur when students work together on a scientific
discovery learning task. The present study focuses on the interplay of prior knowledge and
collaborative discovery learning processes. The prior knowledge individual students bring into a
collaborative learning session might influence their own behavior within the learning environment,
but also the behavior of their partner and the interaction between both students. Fifteen dyads of
students (pre-university education) worked on a discovery learning task in the physics field of
kinematics. Students’ definitional knowledge, generic skills, and views on domain specific
hypotheses were assessed before they entered the simulation-based learning environment. The
communication between students was recorded and the interaction with the environment was
logged. The results showed that prior knowledge influenced the collaborative discovery learning
process. First, level of prior knowledge (as a combination of definitional knowledge and generic
skills) was positively related to the proportion of on-task communication. Second, students in
heterogeneous dyads with respect to generic prior knowledge devoted more utterances to
hypotheses stating and testing than more homogenous pairs. A more qualitative analysis showed
that the knowledge configurations of the two students in a dyad partly determined the course of the
learning process and the communication. Heterogeneity of dyads seems to have a positive effect
on the knowledge development of students.
Characterizing secondary students' dynamic modeling processes
Patrick H. M. Sins, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Elwin R. Savelsbergh, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Wouter R. van Joolingen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Computer modeling is a constructionist learning activity that rapidly gains more interest in science
education. Constructing computer models of dynamic phenomena has not only the intention of
helping students to learn more about complex system behaviors, it also enables learners to reflect
upon the science content they are supposed to learn. In order for these aims to be attained, both the
task and the computer-based modeling tool must be designed to provide an optimal support for
students’ thinking processes. However, little research has attempted to portray students’ reasoning
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processes involved in modeling. Therefore, aim of the present study was to characterize secondary
students’ computer-based dynamic modeling processes. Twenty-six secondary students, working
in dyads, were asked to improve a given model. Computer activities and conversations were
recorded and transcribed. A coding scheme was developed in order to capture: a) the type of
reasoning process, b) the topic students are reasoning about, and c) the argumentation they employ
for their reasoning. Most students were found to have a strong focus on quantifying variables. Still,
students also differed in their approach. Some were primarily engaged in trying to fit the model to
the dataset without much argumentation, whereas others reasoned more deeply about how they
could revise their model. Some of these differences can be related to differences in prior topic
knowledge or epistemic understandings of dynamic modeling. Based on the outcomes of the study,
suggestions for scaffolds in order to support students’ reasoning are discussed.
D 24
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO 1 F
Symposium
THE APPLICATION OF THE SOCIOCULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY FRAMEWORK TO
THE ANALYSIS OF CLASSROOM DISCOURSE: MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES AND
APPROACHES
Organiser:
Chair:
Discussant:
Ilias Karasavvidis, University of Crete, Greece
Rupert Wegerif, Open University, United Kingdom
This symposium focuses on the analysis of classroom discourse from a sociocultural perspective
and includes four papers. They pay specific attention to the semiotic-mediational potential of
language and its fundamental role for meaning making and learning. Drawing on constructs from
sociocultural psychology, the authors present methodological tools for analyzing empirical data
ranging from teacher-led classroom discussions to peer interaction in groups and electronic fora.
The symposium aims to further advance the dialogue among researchers on the insights which can
be gained from the application of the sociocultural framework to classroom discourse. The
symposium will also address issues of interest to educators as it will illustrate tools for reflecting
upon and improving teaching practice.
Participation structures and processes in a classroom community of inquiry
Minna Kovalainen, University of Oulu, Finland
This paper introduces a method of analysis of classroom discourse developed for examining the
nature of participation structures and processes in an elementary classroom community whose
working culture is based upon the notion of learning-as-participation in communal inquiry. While
arguing that there is a need for detailed micro-level analysis of student and teacher participation
structures and processes during communal inquiry, the analysis tool is aimed at broadening
understanding of the processes and conditions for learning in participatory classrooms. The
grounding of the analysis method is strongly influenced by earlier studies of classroom discourse,
particularly within a sociocultural framework (e.g. Mehan, 1998; Kumpulainen & Wray, 2002;
Rojas-Drummond, 2000; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; Wells, 1999). In the analysis method, a
specific focus is directed at the interactional and thematic nature of classroom discourse and to
their dynamics in the unfolding interactions. At an utterance level, the analysis concentrates on the
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investigation of discourse moves and communicative functions, whereas at the sequence level,
attention is drawn into the interactional structuring of the classroom dialogue. Of particular interest
are who initiates and participates in the interaction sequence and which implications this has on the
interactional and thematic elements of joint dialogue. In sum, the analysis method and empirical
examples of its application to classroom discourse provide insights into the situated practices of
learning-as-participation. The analysis sheds light onto the participant roles of the teacher and
students, as well as explicates the challenges of communal inquiry in the context of whole class
interaction.
Collaborative reasoning as a key for analyzing classroom discourse
Carla van Boxtel, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Jannet van Drie, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Maaike Prangsma, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
The increasing interest in collaborative learning has heightened the need for adequate instruments
to describe discourse in different educational settings. We present an analytic framework that is
based on constructivist and sociocultural perspectives. With this framework we try to ‘grasp’ the
quality of classroom discourse and the way it is constituted through the participation of the
collaborating persons, the collaborative learning task, the features of the available tools and the
wider context. We use collaborative reasoning as a key concept, because it emphasizes the
importance of (domain-specific) reasoning and the co-construction of knowledge. With examples
from three empirical studies that relate to learning history in secondary schools, we illustrate how
we use this concept to analyse discourse in small groups and in teacher-guided whole class
discussions. These studies are: 1) a study comparing the discourse in four dyads to four teacherguided class discussions 2) a study analyzing the discourse of thirty dyads writing an essay in a
computer-supported collaborative learning environment 3) a study comparing discourse of student
dyads to expert discourse within the same domain.The results of our studies demonstrate that small
group discussions, teacher-guided whole class discussions and computer-supported collaborative
writing all provide good opportunities for developing ways of historical reasoning, but that each
setting also has its advantages and disadvantages. We will also address the importance of
analyzing discourse in different educational settings, because it can broaden our understanding of
important constructs, such as participation, quality of discourse, the co-construction of knowledge
and mediational tools.
E-mail and the WWW in primary schools: Voices to think with
Bregje De Vries, University of Twente, The Netherlands
In sociocultural theory, reflective thinking is viewed a core process of learning (Kravtsova, 1999;
Lin, Hmelo, Kinzer & Secules, 1999). By processes of articulation and listening, learners' thinking
is reflected in the thinking of others. This occurs with people as well as with people's writings (cf.
Bakhtin, 1986). From this viewpoint, e-mail and the WWW can add to reflective thinking, because
they bring in new voices to think with. In this research, roles of e-mail and the WWW in reflective
thinking are examined. Two questions are addressed: (1) How can reflective thinking with e-mail
and the WWW be promoted? (2) What are the characteristics of reflective thinking with e-mail and
the WWW? E-mail and the WWW were embedded in biology lessons at primary schools.
Scaffolds were developed to enable groups to use e-mail and the WWW independently and to
invite them to think reflectively with them. Scaffolds aimed at expression of individual and group
opinions in the process of writing an e-mail or visiting a website so that different voices became
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available to discuss. Analyses showed that two core mechanisms are present in reflective thinking:
Adoption and Adaptation. Through these mechanisms initial Multivoicedness can develop to
temporary Singlevoicedness varying from “accepted disagreement” to a “shared conclusion”. In
this paper, we describe the scaffolds that were developed, define the MAAS-model for analysis,
and illustrate processes from the data. We conclude that “adopt&adapt” could be taught to children
as a fruitful strategy for reflective thinking.
Acidity matters: Exploring classroom science discourse with the 3C model
George Malandrakis, University of Crete, Greece
The present paper aims to provide an account of classroom discourse using constructs from
sociocultural psychology. Firstly, a model for analyzing classroom discourse which synthesizes
ideas advanced by Vygotsky, Bakhtin, and Leont’ev is presented. The model is comprised of three
main components-dimensions (hence 3C): activity, genre, and principle. Given a certain cognitive
task, the activity refers to the actions required to solve it, the genre refers to the specific language
involved, while the principle reflects the overall rationale according to which the actions for
solving the task are performed. Secondly, the model is illustrated using a fifth grade science
discourse on acidity. In an instructional intervention which spans over 15 class periods a teacher
works with a group of fifteen students in an attempt to make them understand the difference
between bases and acids. The whole instructional activity revolves around the construction of a pH
indicator using red cabbage juice and the students conduct several experiments under teacher
guidance. Finally, the appropriateness of the model for analyzing science discourse is discussed
and the pros and cons are highlighted. Particular emphasis is paid to the insights which can be
gained by the application of the model compared to more traditional cognitive analyses. Assuming
that grasping the genre, activity, and principle can have some variation (i.e. be either poor or
good), then student learning can be described and understood in six different ways. It is concluded
that the 3C model is a potentially interesting descriptive tool for analyzing classroom discourse.
D 25
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room BIO G A
Symposium
THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS
Organisers:
Chair:
Discussant:
Theo Bergen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Germany
Christopher M. Clark, University of Delaware, USA
Frances O’C Rust, New York University, USA
This symposium focuses on teachers’ professional development. Professional develop-ment refers
to the ways in which teachers learn and develop the knowledge and the set of skills, values and
beliefs entailed by their professional practice (Hoyle & John, 1995). Results of research show that
the whole professional repertory is involved when fundamental changes in the teaching role take
place, and that such a change requires a reconstruction of basic views on learning and teaching.
Actually, new teaching roles encompass a range of innovations entailing new goals, structures and
behaviors, which will necessitate teachers’ professional development. Substantial individual
differences can be observed in teachers’ learning. It is insufficiently clear which determinants
might explain these differences between teachers. In this symposium the focus of the first paper is
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on the practical knowledge of teachers. Student teachers and beginning teachers usually have
many problems in bridging the gap between theory and practice (Korthagen & Kessels, 1999). In
the field of professional development educational research is involved in studying how teachers
learning can be stimulated on the workplace. The second paper focus is on the promoting of selfregulated learning of students in the second phase of secondary education. Teachers’ perception
about the dynamic relation between learning and instruction are important for implementing new
learning of the students. The paper deals with the question how we get more insight in the
conceptions of teacher about self-regulated learning. The third paper focus is on collegial
coaching. The central question is the relationship between the quality of the coaching dialogue in
relation to a powerful learning environment for teachers. The question arises to what degree peer
coaches create a powerful learning environment for their colleagues if the coaches do not fully
realize the criteria for successful coaching. The fourth paper focus is on a case study of a preservice teacher course in Singapore. It provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how preservice teachers’ self-regulated learning is supported in the course that explicitly teaches strategies
necessary to enhance it.
Professional development: The dilemma between teachers’ ‘practical knowledge’ and external
demands. A critical social-constructivist approach
Sanneke Bolhuis, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Professional development could be made more productive by taking a critical and social-cultural
constructivist perspective on teachers’ learning and working in (school) organizations. Studies of
work-based learning have made clear that learning as a result of working is often implicit, stems
from social interaction and direct experience, involves the (thoughtless, implicit) reproduction of
habits as well as the building of expertise, does not depend on any educational intervention to go
on, and is strongly connected to behavior in work situations. Depending on the organizational
culture, work-based learning may primarily serve the sharing of dominant discourse
(socialization), without critical reflection of individuals or groups on the shared premises, values,
behaviour, and (hierarchic) relations. A critical social-cultural constructivist view recognises
learning as socialization, but also emphasizes learning as critical reflection on premises and joint
action to change practice. In short, learning is participating in the social (re)construction of reality
(Berger & Luckmann, 1967; Bolhuis, 2002; Cranton, 1996; Engeström, 1999; Eraut, 1994).
Obviously, tensions are to be expected between the individual and the group level, implicit and
explicit knowledge, conservation and innovation, within and between individuals and groups. The
paper will explore the consequences of this view for professional development, related to
educational research. E.g., research has recently recognized teachers’ practical knowledge as
important, which is expressed by calling it ‘wisdom’, but without critical sharing, this may be a
quite conservative view. Also, (student) teachers’ conceptions have been studied extensively, but
often because of their assumed importance as a target of change (agents). Coaching acknowledges
the social dimension of learning, but who is to decide about the legitimacy of the goals? How to
solve the tension between claims from outside (politically inspired and/ or research-based), the
autonomy of professional teachers and/or the school organization? Critical, reflective and social
learning involves moving from implicit to explicit and from individual autonomy to shared
responsibility (Zeichner & Liston, 1996), while focusing on action (Clegg, Tan, & Saeidi, 2002)
and including the socio-political and ethical dimensions (Veugelers, 2000) of education.
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Teachers’ conceptions about self-regulated learning: A key to professional development
Helma Oolbekkink-Marchand, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Jan van Driel, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Nico Verloop, Leiden University, The Netherlands
In the Netherlands educational innovations aim at promoting self-regulated learning (SRL), both in
(upper) secondary and higher education. The assumption in this study is that teachers’ conceptions
are an important factor influencing the success of these innovations (Fullan, 1992). Although
teachers' conceptions have been studied before, little is known about teachers’ conceptions on SRL
(o.a. Pratt, 1992). The central question in this part of the study is: “What conceptions do teachers
in upper secondary and higher education have about self-regulated learning?”. Teachers’
conceptions are an important starting point for innovators to guide the professional development of
teachers into the desired direction. Teachers’ conceptions about SRL were explored by conducting
semi-structured interviews with teachers in upper secondary and higher education (N=40). During
the interview teachers were asked to give a reaction to (written) metaphors about teaching and
learning. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Principles from phenomenography were used to analyze the interview data (Richardson, 1999). Important codes appeared to
be conception of the ‘learner’ and the ‘learning process’. If teachers for instance see learners as
active participants of the learning process then it appeared that they saw the learning process not
just as passively acquiring knowledge. All codes will be combined and a qualitative software
package (Atlas-ti) will be used to search for patterns in the data. The results of the final analysis
will be presented.
The quality of coaching in relation to the professional development of teachers
Theo Bergen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Anita Engelen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Peer coaching seems to be a simple and obvious idea. All one needs to do is to form teams of
teachers and to support them in working on the content of their lessons and their classroom
behavior (Philips, & Glickman, 1991). This paper focuses on the quality of the coaching dialogues
between the peer coach and the coached teacher and the relation of the coaching dialogue to
professional development of teachers (Showers & Joyce, 1996). Peer coaches and coached teachers
are volunteers who want to implement teaching for active learning in their daily educational
practice. The teachers teach social studies, languages and sciences in secondary education in the
eastern part of the Netherlands. 45 coaching dialogues were audio taped and transcriptions were
made. Three research questions were central to the investigation. (1) Do the peer coaches apply the
recommended steps, which have been learned during the coaching training? This question refers to
a procedural-perspective related to the recommended phases during the coaching conference. (2)
Do the peer coaches carry out the five specific functions for successful coaching? This question
refers to a coaching-specific perspective related to the five specific functions of successful
coaching. (3) Is the content of the coaching conference related to teaching for active learning? This
question refers to an instructional-content perspective related to teaching for active learning, which
is discussed or proposed by the peer coach and the coached teacher. These three different
perspectives are indicators for the quality of the coaching dialogues (Showers, 1985). For
analyzing the coaching dialogues the grounded theory approach was used, as proposed by Straus
and Corbin (1990) in order for the researchers to identify specific categories. With the help of
Kwalitan (Peters, 2000), a computer support program for qualitative analysis, the frequencies of
the text fragments were counted in the specific categories that were identified. The analyses of the
coaching dialogues were based in the three perspectives (procedural, coaching-specific, and
– 250 –
instructional-content) in order to assess the quality of the coaching dialogues. We found ambiguous
results. During the coaching dialogues, peer coaches don’t fully apply the recommended phases,
the major specific functions of successful coaching, or the content of teaching for active learning.
The question arises, to what degree do peer coaches create a powerful learning environment for
their colleague teachers if they don’t succeed in realizing the basic skills and principles for
successful coaching (Sprinthall, Reiman, & Thies-Sprinthall, 1996).
Self-regulated learning in teacher education: A case study
Stefanie Chye, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Woon Chia Liu, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Cher Ping Lim, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Seok Hoon Seng, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Based on a case study of a pre-service teacher course at a teacher education institution in
Singapore, this paper provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how pre-service teachers’
SRL is supported in the course that explicitly teaches strategies necessary for SRL. Drawing upon
activity theory as a framework, the process of promoting SRL is perceived as a consequence of
diverse and changing intrapersonal, interpersonal and contextual conditions. The case study
research explores the contextual material about the setting of the “case” through multiple sources
of data collection: classroom observations, interviews and pre-service teachers’ reflective journal.
The study suggests that while the mini-lectures on theories of SRL strategies as well as dialogue
sessions are important, the hands-on tasks were perceived by both tutor and pre-service teachers as
the most effective in enhancing the metacognitive aspects of pre-service teachers’ SRL.
D 26
27th Aug
14:30 - 16:30
Room PSY 4 R
Symposium
THE “DARK SIDE OF THE MOON”: A CRITICAL LOOK AT COLLABORATIVE
TEACHER ACTION RESEARCH (Part 1)
Organisers:
Chairs:
Discussant:
Lily Orland-Barak, Haifa University, Israel
Lily Orland-Barak, Haifa University, Israel
Shoshana Keiny, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Over the last two decades or so, action research has gained a prominent place in the research
literature of teacher education as well as in the design of pre-service and in-service programs. A
vast majority of research programs have focused on first person accounts of the challenges,
affordances and assets of doing action research, as well as on the barriers, impediments and
confusions that action researchers face “on the way”. But of central concern is what conditions in
the collaborative process might impede action research from constituting a constructive a
professional learning experience? What are the unsuccessful experiences that participants attribute
to the collaborative process of doing action research? Adopting a multicultural and critical
perspective to inquiry into collaborative action research, both at in-service and pre-service levels,
this symposium attends to these questions by drawing on five action research studies, conducted in
Holland, in Israel, in Britain, in South Africa and in Chile.
– 251 –
Knowledge productivity in study teams of teachers
The notion of study teams is put forward to incorporate an active, collaborative and inquiry
oriented activity of teachers, linked to a culture of learning at the workplace of teachers. A study
team organizes its own learning independently (self-regulation) by studying an issue from different
professional perspectives (cognitive flexibility) and by sharing existing knowledge and beliefs
while working towards new knowledge and understanding (conceptual change). This study groups
approach was adopted by teachers working together as a team to become more knowledge
productive learners in their work environment. The outcomes of the process was evaluated on
three criteria being set by the teachers: a) Raising knowledge and understanding; b) shifting
individual perspectives c) utility of practical outcomes. Evaluations of their learning processes
have revealed insights in ways of teachers’ acceptance of study team (i.e., collaborative) outcomes,
especially their initial (un)easiness and (un)certainties about using this approach as well as the
conditions to be met in practising it as a learning tool compared with other learning tools for
professionals.
Developing inter-cultural knowledge and understanding through collaboration
Bridget Somekh, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
The Management for Organisational and Human Development Research Network was funded by
the European Union in the mid-1990s and involved partners in Austria, England, Scotland, Spain
and Italy. Researchers from Australia, Canada and the USA made significant contributions to its
work during periods of study leave. Adopting an action research approach, the six research groups
had to find a means of collaborating effectively with a greatly reduced budget. In addition to its
substantive focus the project had a remit to develop research capacity by training young
researchers. Over a two year period, research activities included a dozen or so projects with
teachers in all phases of education carried out locally, addressing local needs within the
overarching research question of the project. 'In what ways can individuals, regardless of their
formal position in the hierarchy, learn to understand their own power and make a conscious
contribution to organisational development?' There was considerable learning about the processes
of collaboration, socio-culturally constructed in and through action research communities from
different countries. Of interest were: conflicting assumptions about the boundaries between work
and social activity; differing school and university cultures; differing definitions of action
research; micro-political processes that affected relationship between established researchers and
those on short-term contracts; macro-political pressures for the research to meet the expectations
of sponsors (of various kinds) in all the countries. The paper will provide a reflexive, retrospective
account of what was learned from the MOHD network about overcoming difficulties in
international collaborative teacher action research.
Action research and knowledge development
Gert van der Westhuizen, Vista University, South Africa
Educators in South Africa are encouraged to play a scholarly role as researchers as part of their
“life-long learning” and professional development. This policy ideal is now in a process being
implemented through pre and in-service teacher education programmes. In these programmes,
action research models/methods and processes are used in various ways to encourage collaborative
work and build educator capacity as researchers. This study investigates the value of action
research models in teacher development, with specific reference to pedagogical knowledge
– 252 –
produced in collaborative settings. It draws on data from different inset programmes to document
teacher experiences and knowledge development processes in primary and high schools. Analyses
of data are guided by concepts of purpose, collaboration/ participation and authenticity. Findings
are discussed in terms of the dynamics of collaborative action research, the limitations of
traditional procedural notions of AR, and the need to document new and authentic ways of
knowing. Contextual issues of knowledge politics and forms of indigenous knowledge are also
problematised.
– 253 –
E1
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO G B
Paper Presentation
ASPECTS OF TEACHER EDUCATION
Chair:
Franziska Vogt, College of Education, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Self-regulated learning in teacher education: A case study
Stefanie Chye, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Lim Cher Ping, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Seng Seok Hoon, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Based on a case study of a pre-service teacher course at a teacher education institution in
Singapore, this paper provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how pre-service teachers’
SRL is supported in the course that explicitly teaches strategies necessary for SRL. Drawing upon
activity theory as a framework, the process of promoting SRL is perceived as a consequence of
diverse and changing intrapersonal, interpersonal and contextual conditions. The case study
research explores the contextual material about the setting of the “case” through multiple sources
of data collection: classroom observations, interviews and pre-service teachers’ reflective journal.
The study suggests that while the mini-lectures on theories of SRL strategies as well as dialogue
sessions are important, the hands-on tasks were perceived by both tutor and pre-service teachers as
the most effective in enhancing the metacognitive aspects of pre-service teachers’ SRL.
The transformation of meaning perspective in the construction of educational expertise in early
childhood education
Päivi Kupila, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
The aim of the research was to explore how the students of early childhood education constructed
their meaning perspectives concerning their educational expertise. The theoretical background was
based on transformative and communicative learning; on the framework of reflective expertise and
on the sociocultural theory of learning, particularly emphasizing the interdependence of social and
individual processes. The target group consisted of two different student groups. Data was
collected from interviews and a document analysis of the students´literary productions. The data
was analyzed qualitatively by using comparative analysis method and concept maps and graphic
devices. Preliminary results show that the specific beliefs and assumptions of the nature of
expertise changed and the students had a more integrated and inclusive comprehension of their
earlier expertise.
Critical events in teacher educators’ professional learning
Ilana Margolin, Levinsky College of Education, Israel
Michal Zellermayer, Levinsky College of Education, Israel
Michla Shahar, Levinsky College of Education, Israel
The study focuses on a three-year project aiming to help faculty members of our college to deal
with the transition from a traditional, college-based curriculum to a school-based curriculum
developed collaboratively with cooperating teachers and student teachers. The purpose of the study
is to identify and describe critical events, which brought about transformation towards a new
culture of learning and teaching in the college. Most of the critical events occurred following
– 254 –
presentations made by the members of the group, as they reflected upon their stance toward
knowledge and theory; reconsidered their professional roles; and positioned the self vis-a-vis the
organization. The study contributes to the understanding of “critical event”, and its implications to
the identity of the professional community as a whole and of the teacher educators as adult
learners.
The teacher as an equal partner during the learning process
Anneli Sarja, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
Sirpa Janhonen, University of Oulu, Finland
The purpose of this paper is to describe how student teachers learned to construct knowledge as
members of a collaborative team. The data were collected by videotaping three sessions where
student teachers evaluate each other’s growth as a teacher during their master’s degree programme
in nurse education. The sessions were simultaneously group assessment periods of the last course
in the programme. The data were analysed qualitatively. The central element of this process is
problem delimitation. The student teachers choose problems that their students are able to share in
the teaching context. The thrust of these discussions is that turning points of this kind help the
students to create and share either real or imaginary narratives. The aim is to find a new way to
realise oneself as a teacher also in future action environments.
E2
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO G E
Paper Presentation
MOTIVATIONAL BELIEFS IN ADOLESCENCE
Chair:
Thea Peetsma, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The changes in academic motivation during secondary school years
Roch Chouinard, University of Montreal, Canada
Normand Roy, University of Montreal, Canada
The authors examined the changes in motivation during secondary school years. Self-report
attitudes scales were administered in mathematics or in language arts at the beginning and at the
end of three school years to French-speaking students from 18 high-schools of the Montreal area
(math: 320 grade 7, 344 grade 9; language arts: 334 grade 7 and 363 grade 9). Measures included
perception of support from social agents, expectancy of success, value of academic subjects, use of
metacognitive strategies. Results indicate a gradual decline of the perception of the support from
social agents, expectancy of success in math, value of math and language arts. Also noted is an
increase of avoidance goals and a reduction of the use of metacognitive strategies. In addition,
results highlight a quadratic relation between the time of measurement and several dependant
variables. Finally, many differences were observed between both sexes, mostly at the advantage of
girls.
– 255 –
Academic stress in adolescence: Characteristics of appraisal’s variables
Sophie Govaerts, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Jacques Grégoire, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Over the last ten years, a growing body of studies focused on stress and coping in adolescence (for
a review, see Compas, 2001). Several studies emphasized the key role of the cognitive appraisal
processes on the way stress is experienced by adolescents (Burgess & Haaga, 1998; Chan, 1998).
Surprisingly few studies applied this concept to the academic stress. In this area, research focused
on coping strategies used by adolescents, without great interest in appraisals processes. This
research studied adolescents’ cognitive appraisal processes and their impact on academic stress. A
sample of adolescents (N=100) reported 145 academic stressful situations. Sex and age differences
were analyzed. Five appraisal patterns were identified using cluster analysis. Subsequent analysis
showed that the five groups differ in their perceived degree of stress, with two groups, labeled atrisk groups, demonstrating a high level of perceived stress. Implications for future research and
applications in school psychology are suggested.
Self-esteem and academic achievement: Developmental differences during adolescence
Francisco Peixoto, ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal
Previous researches on the self-esteem/academic achievement relationship show that school
achievement don’t differentiate students on global self-representations despite de differences on
academic self-evaluation. In this study we analyze the strategies that underachievers used to
maintain self-esteem at acceptable levels and the influence of developmental factors on the
selfesteem – academic achievement relationship. Participants were 955 adolescents in the 7th, 9th
and 11th grades, from four secondary schools in Lisbon. Of these students 352 had failed at least
once in previous school years and 603 never failed. To collect the data we used a self-concept
scale and a scale to evaluate attitude toward school. Results show that the maintenance of selfesteem is achieved trough the existence of positive self-representations in non-academic facets of
self-concept and/or with the devaluation of competences related to school. Results also show that
younger students are less likely to maintain self-esteem through the devaluation of school.
Motivation in senior secondary vocational education; A cross-cultural comparison
Paul Vedder, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Els De Koning, Leiden University, The Netherlands
The research program Motivational Self-Regulation in senior secondary vocational education was
set up to study causes of students’ disenchantment or lack of adaptation in this particular type of
education with youth ranging in age from 16 to 25. This study explores the relationships between
students’ goal preferences, their evaluation of the school climate, and the perceived availability of
social support. It examines the cross-cultural validity of a goal preference list based on the work of
Ford an Nichols. Data was collected from students in Curaçao (245) and in the Netherlands (303),
who followed courses in the professional tracks ICT applications or accounting and office work.
The structure of students’ goal hierarchy was largely similar between countries. Differences were
noted in students’ desire for individuality, superiority, and mastery. In neither country the reported
finding could be confirmed that girls prefer a combination of mastery and social goals.
– 256 –
E3
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO 1 L
Paper Presentation
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIALIZATION
Chair:
Felice Carugati, University of Bologna, Italy
Learning how to handle knowledge. The socialization of children in self-regulated schoolwork
Kerstin Bergqvist, Linköping University, Sweden
This paper introduces issues that have to do with how teaching and learning is construed when
students work on an individual basis with what is called ”planning”. The specific purpose is to
illustrate and discuss how teachers talk about what children do and learn. Four teachers are
interviewed. The teachers construe their role as a supervisor with the basic task of organizing work
and of making children adapt to a specific work mode. Knowing how to find and sort out
information, plan and structure activities, are competences that are emphasized The students are
construed as ”successful” or ”immature” in relation to activities and classroom context. This
illustrates how pedagogic practices work in ascribing different identities to children. The teachers
talk about skills and attitudes in a way which mirrors what is generally referred to as competences
needed in modern working life, that is being flexible, taking responsibility, being self-monitoring,
having social competence, etc.
School or family? School and family as determinants of reading socialization
Wassilis Kassis, University of Basel, Switzerland
Hansjakob Schneider, University of Basel, Switzerland
In the process of reading socialization there is relatively little known about the overall interplay of
social and educational family variables and variables of personality, gender and school. The study
at hand contributes to filling this research gap. A questionnaire study was conducted with
adolescents in their 9 schoolyear (420 adolescents of secondary school type). The study used
strucural equations models to investigate how school factors and factors of other domains
contribute – by way of the self concept – to reading socialization. Our results indicate quite clearly
that combined (within- and extra-school) models should be used in explaining the effects on
reading competence. Another finding is that models for males and females have to be treated
separately. These results suggest also – for the domain of reading-competence – “partial”
interventions (within-school or extra-school) are not very promising and the use of combined
measures seem necessary.
Fostering children’s learning: An investigation of the role of teacher-parent briefings
Loizos Symeou, Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Cyprus
This paper describes the findings of a research which aimed at identifying the types of information
schools and families currently exchange during teacher-parent briefings in a number of school
settings in Cyprus, and to explore how this exchange of information is interpreted and utilised.
Seven teachers, their pupils and the respective parents participated in the study. Parent-teacher
briefing meetings were observed and audio recorded, and parents, pupils and teachers were
individually interviewed or participated in focus-groups after the parents’ contact with the teacher.
The data was analysed with the use of the ATLAS.ti software program and involved both
– 257 –
qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The analysis indicated that both parents and teachers
concentrated on specific aspects of the children’s school-life during their meetings. Moreover, it
was revealed that particular groups of parents could not interpret and effectively utilise the
information they received during their contact with their child’s teacher.
Social skills development at age 10-13
Anikó Zsolnai, University of Szeged, Hungary
Krisztián Józsa, University of Szeged, Hungary
The aim of our cross-sectional research was to describe the developmental level of social skills
necessary for succeeding in school context. Our objectives were (1) to devise a Hungarian
measurement instrument with good psychometric indices and (2) to gather information about the
development of social skills in the early years of adolescence. The sample of our empirical study
consisted of nearly 1500 students, aged 10 to 13. Relying on Stephens’ list of social skills we
devised a 54-item questionnaire with a Likert-scale format. The questionnaire was completed by
the children, by one of their parents and by their class teacher. The reliability of the test proved to
be remarkably good for both age groups and for all three evaluators. There was moderate
correlation between the three evaluators’ judgement concerning the developmental level of
children’s social skills. None of the evaluators could observe any development of social skills
between the ages 10 and 13. All three evaluators indicated that girls’ social skills were slightly
more developed than those of boys.
E4
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO 1 D
Paper Presentation
NEW WAYS OF STUDYING MATH ACHIEVEMENT OR OLD WINE IN NEW
BOTTLES?
Chair:
Daniela Lucangeli, University of Padova, Italy
Cognitive self-regulation strategies in mathematical problem solving at the age 10
Jerome Focant, University of Louvain, Belgium
Jacques Grégoire, University of Louvain, Belgium
Most researches on self-regulation strategies were conducted with students at the high school
education level, and with self-report methods. In this research, forty-two grade 5 children (M=10
years) were assessed using a different method in a context of mathematical problem solving. Each
cognitive self-regulation strategy was measured independently. They were measured when the
child applied the strategy, rather than being reported later. Three cognitive self-regulation
strategies were controlled: goal setting, planning and control. Moreover the child’s performance in
mathematic problem solving was tested. The hypothesis of a positive relationship between each
cognitive self-regulation strategy and problem solving performance was confirmed. Differences
were observed on the cognitive self-regulation strategies according to the complexity of the
problem. These results emphasized the importance of the control procedures in mathematical
problem solving.
– 258 –
Causal ordering of academic self-concept and reading and mathematics achievement
Ian Hay, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
Adrian Ashman, University of Queensland, Australia
Although the causal relationship between academic self-concept and achievement is considered to
be of research importance within education, much of the previous research has been identified as
having a range of methodological difficulties. To try to resolve these difficulties Marsh, Byrne,
and Yeung (1999) established criteria which became the foundation of this research that used a
multi-wave multivariate longitudinal design with 515, Year 5 students. In all, four models were
tested. The full recursive models for mathematics and reading demonstrated support for the notion
that academic achievement influenced the formation of academic self-concept. The significant
pathways were only from past achievement to self-concept. The parsimonious models for
mathematics and reading demonstrated some support for the reciprocal interaction between selfconcept and achievement. The finding are discussed in terms of the implications for educational
practice.
Self-regulated learning of basic mathematics skills: A longitudinal study
Inger S. Throndsen, University of Oslo, Norway
Ivar Bråten, University of Oslo, Norway
We examined relations between 27 young elementary school children's basic mathematics skills
and their mathematics strategy use, their metacognitive competence, and their motivational beliefs.
The children were assessed individually at three different points of time, in the autumn of Grade 2,
the spring of Grade 2, and the autumn of Grade 3. Children in three performance groups regarding
addition and subtraction skills were compared in addition and subtraction strategies, metacognitive
competence related to addition and subtraction, and motivational beliefs concerning addition and
subtraction tasks. The three performance groups were found to differ in all these aspects of selfregulated learning. Correlation analyses including all participants indicated that good performance
in addition and subtraction was related not only to children's use of advanced mathematics
strategies, but also to domain-specific metacognitive competence, ability attributions for success,
effort attributions for failure, and high perceived self-efficacy.
Explaining the gender imbalance in maths participation in Australia: Predicting senior high maths
enrolments and maths-related career plans using longitudinal data
Helen M.G. Watt, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Key questions investigated in this study are first, to what extent do boys plan to participate in
maths to a greater extent than girls, both in their planned careers as well as their senior high course
enrolments? Second, what are the predictive influences of gender, self-perceptions, values and task
demands on choices for maths participation? The predictive utility of these social-cognitive
constructs, emphasised within the Expectancy-Value framework of Eccles, Wigfield and colleagues (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), was compared in terms of maths participation choices through
Australian grades 9 to 11. Participants were 459 students surveyed at the commencement of grades
9, 10 and then 11 (42.9% girls), of whom 273 were present for all occasions. Participants were
drawn from three upper-middle class coeducational secondary schools in northern metropolitan
Sydney, matched for socioeconomic status. These data were drawn from a larger study containing
sequential cohorts together spanning grades 7 to 11 (Ns= 428, 436, 459), which investigated a
broader range of attitudes related to both maths and English.
– 259 –
E5
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO G A
Paper Presentation
AFFECTIVE AND COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF APPLYING ICT
Chair:
Richard Joiner, University of Bath, United Kingdom
Inclusiveness and ICT in education
Anouk Brink, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Monique Volman, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Geert Ten Dam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This paper presents the results of a review on gender, ethnic and SES differences and ICT in
primary and secondary education, which was conducted with the aim to develop an index for
describing the inclusiveness of educational ICT-applications. The research questions were:
‘what is known about ways in which ICT may enhance or restrict the attractiveness and
accessibility of learning, and educational outcomes, for different groups of students?’ and
‘which are the characteristics of gender, SES, and ethnic/culturally inclusive educational ICT
tools?’
“Why, where and how do you search information on the Web?”: An exploratory study about
adolescent’s perceptions
Jérôme Dinet, University of Poitiers, France
Pascal Marquet, University of Strasbourg I, France
Elke Nissen, University of Strasbourg I, France
The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the influence of two individual
characteristics (Web experience and academic focus) of adolescents on the Web perception, using
off-line questionnaires (a Lickert response scale) constituted on the basis of a series of interviews.
Questions concerned (1) perceptions about the nature of information found in the Web, (2)
“strategies” of access to the interesting Internet sites and (3) the reliability of different information
resources (libraries, television, Web, etc.). Results allow to assume that adolescents with high Web
experience became more critical, less confident and less enthusiastic than adolescents with low
Web experience and that, in some dimensions, perceptions of literature students are different than
science students. Even if some interesting results were obtained, further research is needed to
explore users’ perceptions related to individuals characteristics and to determine the generalizability of the influences identified in this exploratory study.
The influence of modality-preferences in learning from multimedia
Georg Hauck, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Teaching and learning with multimedia implies that textual information can be processed through
visual perception by reading or through auditory perception by listening. According to their
cognitive habits learners may prefer one or the other kind of processing. In three studies the
correspondence between modality-preferences and presentation mode and its effect on learning
outcomes was analysed. Learners’ modality-preferences were measured by self-reports and by
behaviour-analysis. Learners with auditory as well as learners with visual preferences received
learning material in the auditory and the visual mode. Contrary to the Visualizer-Verbalizer– 260 –
distinction, where questionnaire and behaviour frequently do not correspond to each other, selfreports of modality-preferences seemed to be a good predictor for actual learning behaviour.
Correspondence between modality-preference and type of presentation was associated with
positive effects on learning outcome with explanatory texts, whereas no such effects could be
found with narrative texts.
Affective factors and information technology: Mapping the domain
Kim Issroff, University College London, United Kingdom
Ann Jones, Open University, United Kingdom
This paper focuses on the role of social and affective factors in ICT. This area has been neglected
but there is evidence of the importance of affective issues in computer based learning. We review a
range of studies in this area including an investigation of the impact of the use of a computer on
students’ motivation in a classroom setting; investigating affective factors in a virtual summer:
studies of a computer based role-playing environment, Bubble Dialogue, with children with
emotional and behavioural difficulties, designing an intelligent system which incorporates
motivational features and investigating the role of empathy in on-line support communities. In
describing these studies we will emphasise the role that affective factors have played and the ways
in which these can help us to understand the nature of affective aspects and their role in students'
experiences of computers.
E6
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO G C
Paper Presentation
TEACHING IS COMPLEX: WHAT A CHALLENGE
Chair:
Paolo Sorzio, University of Trieste, Italy
"Webeing” – What does it mean in regard to teacher education program
Judith Barak, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Shlomo Back, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Ariela Gidron, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Ruth Mansur, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel
The teacher education thought of the last decade reflects a shift from deliberative ‘doing’ as
leading the professional behavior, towards the emphasis that teaching is based upon forms of being
in different situations. The difference between the ‘doing’ and ‘being’views of teaching reflect a
shift from epistemological focus (what should the teacher know) towards an ontological focus
(what should the teacher be). The following work reveals the meaning and implication of being
when it is taken as a source for teacher education program. Through case studies of students and
teacher educators it draws a frame for understanding the emergence of professional identities
through networking of a new web. The conflicts, the questions and the interactions are described
and an emergent model of “Webeing” (web-being) as a frame for teacher education is suggested.
– 261 –
Effects of stress and support variables on work-family conflict among teachers
Rachel Gali Cinamon, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Yisrael Rich, Bar Ilan University, Israel
We investigated two types of work-family conflict among 300 teachers. The goals of the study
were to examine whether female family-oriented teachers perceive their profession as convenient,
enabling significant investment in family roles. We especially focused on stress and support
variables and their effects on work-family conflict among teachers. Results demonstrated that as in
non-traditional professions, teachers have higher WÆF than FÆW conflict. New teachers with
minimal seniority are especially under the pressure of work-family conflict. Implications of the
results for teacher education and understanding the role of work-family conflict in the lives of
teachers are discussed.
Developing teacher sensitivity to learning- differences
Melodie Rosenfeld, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands
Sherman Rosenfeld, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
It is widely agreed that teachers need to understand and address individual learning-differences.
How can we help teachers develop a sensitivity to learning-differences and how will we know
when teachers have gained such sensitivity? Are there guiding principles which can inform staff
development in this area? The present study documented the nature of the development of
sensitivity to learning-differences among 14 pre- and in-service teachers in a year-long college
course on individual differences. Data were collected via questionnaires, individual interviews,
five learning/cognitive style inventories, and 62 written, personal incidents. A model for
developing teacher sensitivity to individual learning-differences emerged. When teachers
understood and legitimized their own learning needs, they began to understand and legitimize
other learners, including pupils, colleagues, and family members.
Teacher educators’ professional development: A critical inquiry through collaborative action
research
Naomi Waldman, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
Sima Yogev, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
The need to cultivate critical reflection among student teachers has been a widely discussed issue
in teacher training. We maintain that it is equally important to develop critical reflection among
teacher educators so that they can serve as models and agents of reflective practice. In this article
we examine the development of our own reflective practice through a two-year collaborative
action research. The research is based on the content analysis of recorded dialogues related to a
teaching unit that we planned and taught together. We employ five criteria in order to assess our
practice and the professional changes that we underwent. The comparison between the data of the
two years shows a shift in our ability for self-evaluation, wholeheartedness and reflection. A
significant aspect of this shift is our emerging realization that student teachers and teacher
educators alike have to develop ethical and moral awareness that would consequently lead to the
formation of a value-based educational stance.
– 262 –
E7
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO G D
Paper Presentation
SOCIAL INTERACTION IN REAL AND VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS
Chair:
Maria Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, Italy
What is reciprocal understanding in virtual interaction?
Arja Byman, University of Oulu, Finland
The aim of this study is to investigate and define reciprocal understanding in web-based
interaction. It is assumed that reciprocity is an essential component not only for social interaction,
but also for successful virtual interaction and thus learning. The subjects (N=116) of the study
were pre-service teachers of the international conferencing course. Data analysed, included
computer-generated statistics and transcript data of students’ postings. The first of the three phases
of analysis was categorizing the students’ postings. Secondly, dynamics of discussions were
collected into graphs. Finally, Selman’s (1980) perspective taking theory was adapted to develop a
coding method for explore the quality of asynchronous electronic discussion (Järvelä & Häkkinen,
2001b). The results widely show that during this particular web-based course there was reciprocal
discussion between the participants.
Bunnyworld: Experience within a collaborative programming project in a college computer
science class
Emma M. Mercier, Stanford University School of Education, USA
Brigid Barron, Stanford University School of Education, USA
This research investigated the relationship between student satisfaction with a collaborative
computer science project and perceptions of five dimensions of group interaction. The Bunny
World Project is a collaborative project assigned to a computer science class at Stanford
University. In this study, students from the Winter 2002 class completed an on-line questionnaire.
Three levels of project satisfaction were defined and used to contrast perceptions of interactions.
Students who reported the highest level of satisfaction had groups that were well organized and
focused and show high scores on the ‘intellectual life of the group’ items in relation to their Bunny
World group, supporting the hypothesis that successful collaboration is due to the creation of a
joint problem space. The very satisfied group has very different understandings about what is
important in ideal collaboration placing more emphasis on the intellectual and interpersonal
elements than the least satisfied group, who viewed group organization as highly important to
successful collaboration.
TIMSS-R: Mathematics outcomes
Elena Papanastasiou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
Constantinos Papanastasiou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus
This TIMSS study was undertaken under the auspices of IEA. This study examined the factors that
influence mathematics achievement and the strength of their effects. The first question guiding this
analysis is whether the exogenous factors school climate and educational background of the family
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are statistical significant predictors of achievement in mathematics. The second question is
whether both exogenous predictors can influence the teaching of Mathematics and the attitudes of
students toward mathematics. A third question asked is whether the endogenous factors of
teaching and attitudes are predictors of mathematics outcomes. The actual model seems to indicate
that the strongest direct influence on mathematics achievement is teaching. Another strong effect
was exerted by educational background of the family. The weakest effect was exerted by school
climate. The stronger direct effect on attitudes toward mathematics was educational background.
Appropriating the discourse of innovation: Case studies from science and mathematics education
Shirley Simon, University of London, United Kingdom
This paper reports on an evaluation of the changes in discourse patterns of teachers’ classroom talk
on the adoption of new approaches, and how these patterns are influenced by pedagogic values.
Using Leont’ev’s concept of ‘appropriation’, as it relates to language, successful change is
determined by the extent to which the discourse of an innovation is appropriated. The paper draws
on research from two projects; one focusing on the implementation of the UK’s National
Numeracy Strategy, the other on the enhancement of students’ scientific argumentation. Case
studies of three teachers from each project are included. Discourse maps show changes in each
teacher’s pattern of classroom talk over a two year period. Teachers’ views of what is important in
the learning of numeracy, or argumentation in science, are related to their appropriation of the
discourse of the innovation. Even teachers committed to change are limited by their strongly held
pedagogic values.
E8
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO 1 E
Paper Presentation
TEACHERS' VIEWS
Chair:
Teachers’ vs students’ points of view of the role of assessment in teacher education
Pnina Frenkel, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
Iris Shenkman, Mofet Institute, Kfar Sava, Israel
This paper strives to identify the processes involved in the special roles assessment has in teacher
education. Assessment role research emphasizes the importance of modeling good examples of
assessment for future teachers (Stiggins & Conklin, 1992, Brown and Glasner, 1999, Gibbs, 1999,
Shepard, 2000). Two different methods were used in this research: A) A qualitative process
analyzing the conceptual and logical understanding of six teacher educators about the main
domains of the roles of assessment in teacher education via mapping sentences; B) A quantitative
empirical method based on questionnaires on three attitude scales, which were given to l40 student
teachers at different stages during their teacher training. A comparison between the two parts of
the study emphasizes the gap between the ideal vs. real points of view, and calls for further
research about professional processes of changes in attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and instructional
performance about assessment roles in teacher education.
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Teachers as storytellers: Teachers` stories as a representation of their knowledge and their
personal ideologies
Miriam Harel, Oranim Academic College, Israel
Asher Shkedi, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Teachers’ narratives are an important source for the understanding of teachers’ thought processes,
their practical knowledge and for a deeper understanding of the act of teaching (Connelly &
Clandinin, 1991; Elbaz-Luwisch, 2001). The current presentation describes a study that used
qualitative methodology and revealed the pedagogical content knowledge and the ideologies of
teachers teaching History in high school. Two kinds of teachers’ stories were revealed: stories that
described the act of teaching and stories that were narrated in their lessons as didactic tools. An
analysis of the data clearly indicates that the stories told during lessons express the inner worlds of
the teachers, their knowledge, their ideologies, the values in which they believe and which guide
their actions, and the ways they perceive their role as teachers. The findings of this study might
strengthen our understanding of teaching processes and contribute to the teacher training process
and the curricula used on this level of the world of teaching.
Pre-service teachers’ ideas about measurement
Chana Ma-Naim, Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
Barbara Zinn, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Varda Bar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Measuring is central to the experimental sciences. In this study we explored pre service science
teachers’ and general teachers’ ideas and difficulties when they encounter measuring tools and
measuring. Their conceptual knowledge of measurement relibility, “true” value, precision,
accuracy, dispersion,error and uncertainty was examined. This conceptual knowledge needed the
backing of statistical tools such as the use of mean value, standard deviation, normal distribution
and confidence interval. We emphasized the notions of uniformity, validity, reliability and the
suitability of various measuring tools. we tried to strengthen the theoretical background of these
future teachers and to also provide them with some strategies for use in the classroom.
How do teachers think pupils learn
Alia Sheety, Technion Institute, Israel
This study describes mental models teachers develop about students’ learning processes. It
assumes that if teachers know more about how children learn, they will select the most appropriate
learning techniques, and thus improve the learning process. Researchers’ two major positions are:
1. Mental models have priority over the way teachers think their students learn. 2. Subject matter
influences not only actual instructional practices, but also how teachers think about curriculum,
learning and teaching.In Maricopa County, Arizona, 251 teachers completed a survey developed to
identify how teachers think about these various learning factors. The results indicate that teachers
do bring their own set of beliefs and mental models regarding how their students learn to the
classrooms, which affect teaching methods and techniques teachers use to foster learning. The
results suggest further research on which mental models should be studied more thoroughly. New
ways of thinking about the structure of pre-service teacher-preparation programs are also
suggested.
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E9
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 2 C
Paper Presentation
CULTURE AFFECTING EDUCATION AND EDUCATION AFFECTING CULTURE
Chair:
Brigitte Rollett, University of Vienna, Austria
Making culture count
Jill Bevan-Brown, Massey University, New Zealand
Similar to many ethnic minority groups world-wide, Maori children in New Zealand are overrepresented in Special Education. National research has been critical of the nature and
effectiveness of education for these children. This presentation describes a six-year research
project focused on improving provisions for Maori learners with special needs. It describes the
development and trialing of a Cultural Self-Review process and products designed to help teachers
improve their school or early childhood centre’s provisions for Maori children both with and
without special needs. The Review is based on the premise that the inclusion of cultural content,
practices and values and the involvement of parents in their children’s education are important
factors in facilitating learning. Although the Cultural Self-Review reflects Maori cultural
principles and practices, the process involved has general applicability. Suggestions will be made
about how it can be adapted to suit learners from other ethnic minority groups.
Educating immigrant parents
Solveig Gaarsmand, School and Society, Denmark
Franco Favilli, University of Pisa, Italy
In the present multicultural society the education of cultural minorities and immigrant citizens
should be a crucial concern. As for the school system aims of teaching are shifting from being
assimilation to integration to benefit from the intercultural background of the pupils. Very poor
attention is being paid to immigrant adults. A first focus should be on parents, who could benefit
from the educational activities addressed to their children. These activities should involve the
parents too, in a triangular educational process (school – pupils – parents). This process could help
diminish the increasing cultural gap between parents and children and help immigrant adults to
become acquainted and educated citizens in their new cultural context. Our research project aims
to prepare and pilote an educational module to be implemented in the schools, directly involving
immigrant parents in the educational process.
Parental attitudes regarding factors influencing school achievement in the Bedouin community of
the Negev
Sliman Khawalde, Achva College, Israel
We were to describe how parental (273 parents, 75% males, 25% females) attitudes influence the
achievement of their children, their expectations regarding these achievements and involvement in
the learning.. Research method was quantitative and qualitative. For the quantitative methodology
we distributed an attitude questionnaire. The answers were processed statistically; interviews were
held with content analysis. Parents reported high awareness of student achievement yet
involvement in the school is low. Half the parents are illiterate, unaware of school activities. As
parent education increases, they help their children study; are more involved in school. Parental
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expectations of children’s achievement is high, yet the achievements are low. Factors influencing
are the Regional Council, governmental neglect of Bedouin education, however they agree that
level of parental education relates to achievement. We learned it is important to encourage parent
education and involvement in school through meetings and instruction.
How interculturalism is developed in the classrooms? Three points of view: Teachers, students
and immigrant students
Maria José Lera, University of Seville, Spain
Virginia Sánchez, University of Seville, Spain
Francisca Olías, Teacher Training Center, Alcala de Guadaira, Spain
1278 secondary students, 82 secondary immigrant students and 22 teachers from Seville area were
interviewed about their perception of the cultural activities developed in their classrooms.
Students, immigrant students and teachers refer how cultural activities are not very used in the
classrooms and, in addition, the knowledge of the students about the country and the way of life of
their immigrant mates is deficient. All of them refer that spontaneous cultural comparison during
the lessons are the most used activities by teachers. In contrast, organized cultural activities are not
very common. Relevant outcomes came from students and immigrant students. In spite of
demonstrate a lack of interest about these activities, students show a high motivation, referring
different kinds of activities they would like to do in their classrooms, as debates, cooperative
activities, and seeing TV programs.
E 10
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO 1 G
Paper Presentation
LEARNING WITH TECHNOLOGY
Chair:
Hanna Salovaara, University of Oulu, Finland
The patterns of experts and novices students discourse during multimedia presentations design
Ilana Barkai, Kaye College of Education, Beer Sheva, Israel
Gadi Alexander, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Ely Kozminsky, Ben Gurion University , Beer Sheva, Israel
In this study we looked at the differences in content and patterns of interaction of novices and
experts engaging in designing multimedia presentations. Six pairs of students collaborated in
developing multimedia presentations throughout one semester of the school year. Using a
modified version of Kampulainen’s (1996) functional discourse analysis instrument, we analyzed
the students’ talk to reveal typical patterns of participation in the discourse accompanying the
design process. The research questions main focus was the difference of the content and technical
knowledge shared during three production phases, the ways knowledge is distributed and the
differences between novices and experts discourse types and functions. The analysis focused also
on the creation of a new “identity kit” that each dyad managed to develop while talking about
technical and scientific matters. The analysis of the protocols revealed a special role for the
computer, which acted as a virtual third party in the conversation.
– 267 –
Learning with technology: Promoting awareness of implicit characteristics of complex
environments
Billie Eilam, University of Haifa, Israel
Yael Poyas, University of Haifa, Israel
The presentation examines the relation between classrooms as complex social systems and the
difficulties inherent to the training of teachers towards successful functioning in them. The
discussion is based upon an study which focused on preservice teachers’ ability to identify and
interpret cognitive aspects in teaching-learning video recorded episodes as a consequence of an
internet-site- based intervention that aimed to increase trainees' awareness to the implicit and
abstract components of the complex classroom processes. Using six criteria, a content analysis of
participants’ pre and post-intervention responses to a video-case task was performed and Pre and
post task comparisons of these criteria were conducted using paired-samples t-tests. Pearson
correlation coefficients were calculated. The trainees exhibited a shift toward a cognitive rather
than behavioral perspective. Significant differences were found concerning the trainees' ability to
identify components and interrelations, to describe them using the professional register, and to
interpret the observed phenomena by applying theories; these findings reflect a higher awareness
of complexity.
The intel laptop project: Educating teachers for novel learning environments - Does it make a
difference?
Nili Mor, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
Research suggests that teachers tend to teach the way they were taught (Weber & Mitchel, 1996)
as a result of perseverance in beliefs about teaching and learning (Strauss et al, in print). These
conceptions can be changed by re-designing them through experience and reflection (Nisbett &
Ross, 1980), just as the Intel Laptop Project was conducted. This project focused on teaching and
learning in a constructivist CSCL setting (Salomon 2000). The study accompanying the project
tested the hypothesis that having student-teachers experience, design, and reflect upon novel,
technology-intensive learning environments would result in the “unfreezing” of their strongly held
views (Kruglanski, 1989; Schon, 1987). The study, based on qualitative and quantitative methods,
entailed a quasi-experimental design and included an experimental and a control group (N=300).
No significant difference was found concerning participants’ concept of learning. Teachers in the
experimental group did not show clear changes of their teaching conceptions. Still, some changes
in the expected direction were revealed: Another meaningful result was that technology
overshadowed pedagogy due to a “sleeper effect”, during which pedagogy incubates slowly, while
technology emerges as soon as mastery is gained. The tendency to shift to the newly experienced
mode even after a short-term experience gives rise to the thought that using this model in a more
intensive way, might lead to a conceptual change.
Development of a digital expertise centre for teacher training in a professional learning and
working community
Cees Terlouw, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Iris van de Kamp, Van de Kamp E-Learning, The Netherlands
The teacher training institute of the University of Twente aims at a teacher training arrangement in
which a Professional Learning and Working Community (PLWC) is central. A digital expertise
centre should be developed in order to assist the process of knowledge development and –
management involved. The research questions concern the instructional design rules and the
– 268 –
practical usability of the prototype. A social constructivist approach to instructional design
connected with a. developmental research design with activities such as front-end analysis and
prototype development is applied. Using collaborative instructional design with the participants
the following components of the digital expertise centre appear to be specified: target groups,
relationships with other relevant web sites, access policy, menu lay out, source types, and themes
to be covered. We will further report about the results of the formative evaluation and the
instructional design rules.
E 11
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 2 B
Paper Presentation
PROBLEM SOLVING AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE
Chair:
Erik De Corte, University of Leuven, Belgium
Children’s practical intelligence: Comparison between mainstream Israeli families and Ethiopian
immigrant families
Miriam Mevorach, Levinsky College of Education, Israel
Sarit Fridman, Tel Aviv University, Israel
The goal of this research is to describe practical intelligence as one of the important components
that the child needs in order to succeed in the classroom. Our basic assumption is that children
with similar cognitive abilities and different learning results lack a supplementary component. We
argue that this component is practical intelligence and is culturally related. We examined
children’s cognitive-cultural components in the school environment that 1) can help the child who
is raised in a different home culture understand and adjust her cultural participation, and 2) make
the staff and children aware of cultural differences, such as, different rituals. The subjects included
108 children from the first grade from low socioeconomic backgrounds and different cultural
background. The findings show that both the mainstream children and the Ethiopian children
started from a similar cognitive point at the beginning of the first class. The mainstream children
had higher scored on practical intelligence inventory.
9–17 year-old students’ complex problem solving competencies
Gyöngyvér Molnár, University of Szeged, Hungary
This paper presents the results of a study aiming at assessing the development of students’
complex problem solving competencies and comparing the achievements in general real-life and
school-context specific problems. Two types of tests were devised in parallel: one containing
explicit mathematical and science word problems, and another complex one that contained
structurally the same tasks in real-life context. Significantly better achievements were found in the
explicit problems in each age groups. No significant gender differences were found. In the older
age groups, correlations between students’ achievement in real-life problem solving and school
grades as well as real-life problem solving and reading tend to be smaller. The findings provide a
basis for the improvement of the assessment and monitoring of the effectiveness of education in
developing students’ complex problem solving skills.
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Pragmatic factors and inhibition in 7 and 9 year-olds school problem solving
Annalisa Setti, University of Bologna, Italy
Nicoletta Caramelli, University of Bologna, Italy
This study was aimed to highlight the cumulative effect of a-pragmatic factors in the wording of
class-inclusion tasks of the kind: ‘In a circus there are 5 little girl monkeys, and 3 little boy
monkeys, and 2 little monkeys wear a nice skirt. How many monkeys are there?’. Seven and 9
year old children were presented with four class-inclusion problems in two conditions. In the first
condition the final question was: ‘How many x are there in y?’ while in the second a misleading apragmatic element was added in the final question: ‘How many x are there in total in y?’ The
results show that the rate of correct solutions was higher in the simple than in the a-pragmatic
question condition and that older children performed better than younger ones. Thus, a-pragmatic
information can be held responsible for the inhibition of the correct solution scheme in children’s
problem solving performance.
Facilitating transfer trough process-oriented phenomenon-based curriculum
Tiina Soini, University of Helsinki, Finland
Maijaliisa Rauste-von Wright, University of Helsinki, Finland
Recent conceptualizations of transfer suggest that the research should focus on understanding the
actively managed processes of transfer. Methodologically it requires a ”research as design”
approach. Attempt to design and study an educational process facilitating transfer is presented
here. Program is a process-oriented and phenomenon-based teacher education program. The
curriculum of the program consists of five core processes (understanding and guiding group
processes, understanding and guiding learning processes and curriculum design, understanding the
dynamics of school reality, becoming a researcher of one’s work, understanding and guiding world
view construction). In the research the main focus is on the “transition points” of the curriculum
where the students have to reflect on what they have learned and what are their main questions.
These questions constitute the learning tasks for the next cycle. This reflective phase could be seen
as “a check point of transfer”. The transfer is examined by assessing what do the students bring to
the process of their own curriculum design and how they manage the design process. Results
suggest that the program in question leads students to adopt very active strategies of participation
in their learning environment and strong sense of responsibility. However, it seems that they have
some difficulties in dealing with the complexity of the learning environment and this sometimes
prevents active transfer management.
E 12
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 3 L
Paper Presentation
TEACHING AND LEARNING IN DIFFERENT DOMAINS
Chair:
Bonding chemical knowledge and education
Sibel Erduran, King’s College, University of London, United Kingdom
The paper provides an example theoretical framework for applying perspectives from the newly
emerging field of philosophy of chemistry in chemistry education. The significance and relevance
– 270 –
of this application is that the domain-specific characteristics of scientific knowledge are rarely
addressed in science education. As a consequence, disciplinary emphases that play an important
role in inquiry and knowledge growth within a particular field of science are underrepresented in
schooling. The paper is organized in the following fashion. First, philosophy of chemistry is
introduced with reference to the literature on the applications of history and philosophy of science
in science education. Second, the autonomous status of chemical knowledge is investigated in the
context of reduction, explanations, supervenience and laws. Finally, the implications for theories
of learning, curriculum design and teacher education are reviewed. Overall, the paper calls for
reconceptualization of chemistry education to be more inclusive of philosophical perspectives on
chemical knowledge.
Narratives of recursion
Dalit Levy, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
The presentation follows a naturalistic study, in which high school students were observed while
engaged in several learning activities that address general aspects of recursion. One of these
learning activities focused on the creation of recursive descriptions using natural language. The
class discourse was recorded and the students' narratives were collected and analyzed, in order to
locate patterns of students’ expressions and ways of thinking. One interesting finding was the
students’ tendency to individually construct their unique narratives of recursion. It is concluded
that learners' and educators' awareness of the several possibilities for constructing a narrative of a
specific manner, might help in the process of understanding recursion in general and in further
construction of recursive functions in particular. At the same time, the paper raises the need for
incorporating narrative and other interdisciplinary aspects of learning and instruction into
computer science education.
Teacher students’ use of models
Andreas Redfors, Kristianstad University, Sweden
Empirical data on teacher students' ontological views on the world of models in physics are
investigated. A special focus is how students view the link between model/theory and reality. The
project has a combination of cross section and longitudinal design. Written questionnaires are
used, in combination with follow up interviews. The subject matter focus is within matter and
transformation of matter. Data are analysed with respect to a theoretical model of cognitive
development assuming the use of cognitive layers, both during the learning process and at its end.
We believe that the data can be explained by assuming that the description of the learner at any
time is an association of co-existing models, i.e. that there are different layers of the cognitive
system.
The dappled worlds of students and physics: A bridge too far?
Aletta Zietsman-Thomas, Western Michigan University, USA
James Thomas, Focus on Learning, Kalamazoo, USA
Empirical data on teacher students' ontological views on the world of models in physics are
investigated. A special focus is how students view the link between model/theory and reality. The
project has a combination of cross section and longitudinal design. Written questionnaires are
used, in combination with follow up interviews. The subject matter focus is within matter and
transformation of matter. Data are analysed with respect to a theoretical model of cognitive
development assuming the use of cognitive layers, both during the learning process and at its end.
– 271 –
We believe that the data can be explained by assuming that the description of the learner at any
time is an association of co-existing models, i.e. that there are different layers of the cognitive
system.
E 13
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 3 H
Paper Presentation
LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT PROMOTE CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
Chair:
Ola Halldén, University of Stockholm, Sweden
Crafting the learning experience to encourage conceptual change
Sylvia L. Edwards, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Christine S. Bruce, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
This paper reports research results from a phenomenographic study of students’ experiences of
web-based information searching, and describes how the structure of awareness discovered might
influence the design of classroom teaching and web based resources for academics and students.
The research project aimed to uncover variation in students’ experience of web-based information
searching. A phenomenographic approach was taken. Data gathering involved investigations of
student diaries and interviews conducted over several semesters. Students were also videotaped
whilst engaged in a search task. Analysis revealed four categories, including both referential and
structural components constituted in terms of critical dimensions including focal elements,
approaches to learning and reflective practice. The research project seeks to further explore how
investigation of student learning can influence both the design of learning experiences and
academic development resources, particularly in relation to teaching and learning graduate
capabilities.
Coherence and completeness of phenomena explanations in textbooks
Yaron Lehavi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Igal Galili, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Explanations of phenomena common in physics curricula were examined in a large sample of
university-level textbooks. The completeness of the provided explanations, as found in the sample,
with regard to the meaningful physical account for the phenomena, was defined and examined.
Another investigated aspect of explanations was their coherence with respect to the concept
definitions. The content analysis revealed frequent incoherency and incompleteness of explanations provided to such phenomena as weightlessness, tidal effects, electrical circuit and others.
Complete and coherent explanation of the examined phenomena can be rarely found in a single
textbook and requires a compilation of several resources. Basing on the findings of the textbooks
examination, a conceptual questionnaire was comprised and applied to a sample of teachers and
university students. The results show a correspondence between the knowledge deficiencies of the
learners and teachers, on the one hand, and the shortcomings of textbook explanations, on the
other.
– 272 –
Domain-specific features in empirical studies on conceptual change: A meta-analytical study
Kaarina Merenluoto, University of Turku, Finland
Päivi Tynjälä, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Mari Murtonen, University of Turku, Finland
The discussion on conceptual change has been evolved from two main stream traditions: science
teaching and cognitive psychology. For our meta-analytical study we have identified three
preliminary categories: 1) studies conducted from new nativistic perspectives, 2) studies targeted
to the change between everyday thinking and the different context domains taught in school, 3)
studies on more complex and/or ill-defined changes on higher level of education. The studies in
the two first categories seem to be closer to the cognitive-psychological roots of the discussion
whereas the studies in the third category seem to be on the levels of education, where there are
better possibilities for the optimal preconditions for the chance (Duit, 1999). The aim of this paper
is to work through a meta-analytic study and present how the domain-specific features of
conceptual change are presented in the empirical research on conceptual change and clarify if and
how the above mentioned duality or dichotomy is evident in them.
Learning and non-learning in the science classroom
Jan Schoultz, Linköping University, Sweden
Glenn Hultman, Linköping University, Sweden
With this paper we would like to enlighten how pupils and teachers are socialised into science
education. An exploratory study is being carried in science classrooms. The study contains classroom observations, pupil interviews and teacher interviews. We have found some interesting
results. The teacher is very important in a sense of setting a framework for the work, giving
structure, providing parameters and summarising, encouraging pupils who are stuck, being a
discussion-partner with the pupils-group. The teacher’s work in the classroom also seems to
influence his or her professional understanding about science and science education. The science
lesson exists in a context of its own and classroom interaction reveals parallel discourses. The
pupils have great difficulties to move from an everyday discourse into a science discourse and to
acquire the special language of science.
E 14
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 2 D
Paper Presentation
METACOGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
Chair:
Alessandro Antonietti, Catholic University of Milan, Italy
Metalinguistic abilities in young Spanish children
Patricia De la Osa, University of Granada, Spain
José Márquez, University of Granada, Spain
Sylvia Defior, University of Granada, Spain
Expiración Aguilar, University of Granada, Spain
The present study examined the phonological awareness development and the relationship among
phonological awareness and letter knowledge in 4-years-old children. 164 preliterate children were
tested on several phonological awareness tasks (rhyme, syllable and phoneme sensitivity) two
– 273 –
times: in the fall (time 1), and, in spring (time 2). Children's knowledge of letters was also
examined. Results showed that children´s phonological awareness and letter knowledge
significantly improved as they increased in age. The study supports previous work indicating that
letter knowledge is significantly related to performance on phonological measures. Phonological
awareness of different of linguistic units (e.g., rhymes, syllables and phonemes) was interrelated
both at time 1 and 2. Results also showed that syllable awareness was more accessible to Ss than
rhyme was, and rhyme awareness more than phoneme awareness. Evidence suggests that there is a
developmental hierarchy of children’s phonological awareness at different levels of linguistic units
in Spanish-language.
Self-monitoring as predictor of reading comprehension of bilingual children
Svjetlana Kolic-Vehovec, University of Rijeka, Croatia
Igor Bajsanski, University of Rijeka, Croatia
Good second-language readers can compensate for a lack of language proficiency by increasing
knowledge of reading strategies. The aim of this study was to explore effects of comprehension
monitoring skill and actual usage of reading strategies as predictors of reading comprehension of
bilingual children with different level of proficiency in second language (Italian). Participants were
primary-school children from fifth- to eighth-grades in four Italian schools in Rijeka, Croatia. A
Questionnaire of metacomprehension (Pazzaglia, De Beni, & Caccio, 1999) and close-task, as
measures of comprehensione monitoring skill, was applied in addition to a Questionnaire of
strategic reading (Kolic-Vehovec & Bajsanski, 2001) as measure of actual strategic reading. Test
of proficiency in Italian language was applied in addition to measure of reading comprehension.
Older students manifested better self-monitoring skills than younger ones. Multiple regression
showed that self-monitoring during reading and actual strategic reading were significant predictors
of reading comprehension at all grade levels.
Measuring metacognitive knowledge, skill and attitude by selfreport
Joost Meijer, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Marianne Elshout-Mohr, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Maartje van Daalen-Kapteijns, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Willy Meeus, Karel de Grote College of Higher Education and Free University of Brussels,
Belgium
Educational innovations, which aim at a transition from instructivistic to constructivistic learning
are often assumed to affect students' metacognitive qualities in a positive way. Existing
instruments to test this claim are scarce and most are not fully appropriate for the purpose. The aim
of the research is to construct a selfreport instrument for the large scale measurement of
metacognitive qualities of students in higher education. The construct of interest includes
metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive skills and metacognitive attitudes. This construct and
construction principles of the RAS (Report of Autonomous Studying) will be discussed, as well as
the methods used to establish the psychometric qualities of the instrument. The RAS has been
administered to 1055 students of two educational faculties in Belgium and The Netherlands.
Stability and changeability of motivation and information processing: The influence of selfregulated learning based teacher characteristics
Jeroen Rozendaal, Leiden University, The Netherlands
– 274 –
In this study, the influence of self-regulated learning based teacher characteristics on the stability
and changeability of motivation and information processing over time was investigated. This was
done in the context of the Interactive Learning group System (ILS®). A total of 185 students in
secondary vocational education were grouped post facto over contrasting groups that differed on
the frequency in which teachers were promoting important self-regulated learning characteristics
in the classroom. The differences over time in stability and changeability of motivation and
information processing between these contrasting groups were studied. Although no significant
mean differences over time were found, the contrasting groups showed remarkable differences in
relations between variables over time. Results indicate that frequent use of salient features of ILS
yield a reciprocal effect between motivation and deep level processing. This means that working
according to ILS creates an environment that promotes deep level processing in motivated students
over time.
E 15
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 3 I
Paper Presentation
TEACHERS AS LEARNERS: REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES
Chair:
Neville Bennett, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
How reflective teachers and their “half-baked” conceptions affect their students’ religious worlds
Zehavit Gross, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
This study examining forty female graduates of State Religious Schools in Israel, is aiming to
inquire whether instrumental or reflective type of teachers are more relevant and adequate to
religious education. The research will attempt to identify the implications of the respective
paradigms regarding the teacher’s function in the religious school systems. Respondents’
comments indicate that reflective teachers are preferable to instrumental ones insofar as
construction of one’s religious identity is concerned. They preferred critical reflection (Van
Manen, 1977) to the technical or practical variety and maintained that reflection on action is
preferable and more beneficial to their religious development than reflection in action (Schon,
1988). In conclusion, teachers who present themselves as coping with a “half-baked” world view
are perceived as more moral and conducive to the shaping of a stable and coherent spiritual world
for students than are those who declare themselves to be “perfect” and adhere to a more rigid
outlook on life.
Empowerment of teachers as learners: Active learning in the college mathematics classroom
Ada Katsap, Kaye College of Education, Israel
This presentation will discuss ways of improving mathematics teachers’ learning using the “Active
Learning Strategy,” with the aim of advancing the process directed at the empowerment of
teachers as learners. Many think that this strategy can promote the empowerment of the
mathematics teacher and engender a mathematics experience – both of which are expressed
through the teacher’s coping with his learning and his work (Faust & Paulson, 2000; Silberman,
1996). The action research selected to examine the educational process in “The History of
Mathematics” course uses tools such as interviews, descriptions of observations, an open feedback
questionnaire, and lesson plans compiled in the spirit of what the teachers learn in the course. The
– 275 –
answers given by the course participants indicate that their learning process was characterized by
their creation of particular knowledge for teaching mathematics. Learning as creativity was the key
to the empowerment of each teacher as an individual in the collective enterprise.
Does participating in site-supported courses changes one’s view of learning and teaching?
Sara Shimoni, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
Rachel Sagee, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel
The LDLC opened a wide variety of site-supported courses (SSC) at Levinsky College, aimed at
enriching and updating students’ learning environments by expanding them virtually. Teaching
with ICT entails changing professional beliefs and practices, from “passing knowledge” to
mediating ways of knowing (Mioduser et al., 2000, Mcvay Lynch, 2000). Findings of this
research, as former studies of ICT integration in teacher education, show some effects of
technology overshadowing pedagogy (Mor, 2001, Gilat & Margalit, 2002). A Likert-scale based
questionnaire was used to study the “before and after” SSC students’ and teachers’ perceptions of
learning and teaching. Participants in five of these SSC were further interviewed in-depth and part
of their on-line and face-to-face discourse was analyzed. The main findings indicate that student
teachers don’t change their conception of learning and teaching after a short term episodic
experience, while teacher educators tend to adopt new pedagogies and change their practices as a
result of long term experience in constructive technology rich learning environments. The more
ICT adept teachers were searching for new ways of virtually mediating students’ autonomous
learning while the less experienced ones worried about losing their live rapport with their students
and their charisma.
Teachers as mentors of environmental inquiry projects - Characteristics and difficulties
Revital T. Tal, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Sarit Argaman, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
The environmental sciences curriculum for the high school in Israel includes an inquiry project.
The students are required to investigate a local environmental problem. The teachers, who advise
their students in the interdisciplinary inquiry projects, face difficulties related to the
interdisciplinary contents, and the requirement of conducting an independent inquiry project. Our
objectives were to characterize the required skills for mentoring students in inquiry projects, and to
describe the characteristics of mentoring interdisciplinary inquiry projects as perceived by teachers
with different mentoring experience. The research approach was qualitative-interpretative. The
participants were 15 teachers who joined a yearly professional development course. Data
collection included open questionnaires, interviews and observations. Our findings indicate that
there is a perception difference between experienced and inexperienced teachers in mentoring with
regards to a) the skills required; b) the mentoring approach the teachers use; and c) the mentoring
characteristics that were identified.
– 276 –
E 16
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO Aula Magna
Paper Presentation
STUDENTS’ INTERACTIONS IN VIRTUAL AND REAL-LIFE ENVIRONMENTS
Chair:
Building common ground in the virtual space: Co-reference and negotiation in the "augmented
classroom"
Giuseppe Mantovani, University of Padova, Italy
Paolo Cottone, University of Padova, Italy
Information Technology (IT) in educational settings is often used to build "virtual classrooms" in
which face-to-face interaction between teachers and students is replaced by computer-mediated
interaction. In these systems emphasis is given to the transfer of huge masses of information rather
than to communication among participants. This approach can prove of limited use in situations in
which co-operation is required among students for the accomplishment of cognitively complex
tasks. In these situations the approach of “augmented classrooms”, in which technology supports
co-reference and negotiation among learners, can be suitable. We built and tested an augmented
classroom interface allowing groups of four university students in developmental psychology to
do exercises for their courses in which both individual diagnostic of information provided in
different formats and production of a common report were requested. The role of co-reference and
negotiation proved critical for the success of the groups working in augmented classrooms.
DIVER: Digital interactive video exploration and reflection
Roy Pea, Stanford University, USA
Michael Mills, Stanford University, USA
Joe Rosen, Stanford University, USA
Ken Dauber, Stanford University, USA
Multimedia records are an increasingly important type of data for researchers in a variety of fields,
because they make it possible to capture the complexity of “mind in context.” The DIVER project
provides new software tools for easily taking digital video source materials and authoring
annotations coupled to point-of-view pathways within the video so as to focus on specific aspects
of events; these DIVES can then be shared with others in an Internet-based interface called
WebDIVER. These functionalities are powerful in supporting “guided noticing” as an instructional
method (e.g., in teacher education), and in collaborative researcher analyses of videorecords. We
also have integrated 360-degree panoramic video capture which makes possible “virtual
videography” and parallel study of multiple learning groups within a classroom. We will report
cumulative knowledge building by distributed learning researchers and teacher educators using
these tools, as well as uses of this facility for graduate education in the learning and cognitive
sciences.
The quality of secondary school students’ argumentative dialogue – Comparing face-to-face and
chat debates
Timo Salminen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Miika Marttunen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Leena Laurinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
– 277 –
Although critical thinking and argumentation skills are considered both as an important goal of
learning (learning to argue) and as an effective prerequisite for learning as well (arguing to learn),
it is difficult to teach these skills and to get students to argue effectively. The new electronic
communication tools like chat has been taken in use for helping students to debate in an active
way. The effectiveness of these tools is, however, an empirical question. In this study the amount
and quality of 24 Finnish secondary school students’ argumentative dialogue is investigated. The
students engaged in dyadic argumentative debates (role play) in face-to-face and synchronous
computer chat environments. The discussion themes were nuclear power and genetically modified
organisms. The amount and quality of the students’ argumentative dialogue will be compared
between the learning environments and the discussion themes.
Student elaborations in face-to-face versus computer-mediated-communication learning situations
Henny van der Meijden, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Simon Veenman, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
The present study addresses the question if differences in interactions exist between pairs of
students working collaboratively in a face-face (FTF) situation versus pairs of students working
collaboratively in a computer-mediated communication (CMC) situation. Subjects were sixth
grade students from nine primary schools in The Netherlands. In the FTF situation, the students
worked in dyads face-to-face to solve a mathematics task. In the CMC situation, the students
worked in dyads on the same task but their collaboration was mediated by computer use. The
outcomes of the study showed that the FTF dyads exchanged significantly more high-level and
medium-level elaborations than the CMC dyads. Dyads which consisted of a high-ability student
and a low-ability student provided more high-level elaborations in the FTF situation than in the
CMC situation. In addition, students in the FTF situation scored significantly higher on the
mathematics achievement test than the dyads in the CMC situation.
E 17
27thAug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 3 G
Paper Presentation
LEARNING FROM GRAPHICS AND TEXTS
Chair:
Richard Lowe, Curtin University, Australia
Enhancing pre-schoolers’ comprehension of pictorial texts
Roberta Cardarello, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
This investigation is aimed at defining and checking educational strategies to foster children
comprehension of pictures, i.e. at developing, implementing and evaluating a research-based
training for enhancing the pre-schoolers’ abilities to read and comprehend pictures (like these we
find in illustrated books), and especially to recognise the actions the characters are performing, and
the activities in which they are engaged. The training project was based on 3 main resources: a)
the use of pictures which present children with specific comprehension tasks; b) the instructional
use of asking the children for verbalising their own visual exploration (Kunen & Duncan, 1983);
c) and the use of a special feedback which consists of accurately reformulating all children’s
speech acts (Lumbelli, 1996). The results (from 30 children 5 year olds) show that it is possible
– 278 –
to foster children’s pictures comprehension ability. The investigation also contributed to
distinguish different levels of depicted actions’ comprehension.
A comparison of questions asked on a text or a film describing the same phenomenon
Jose Otero, University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
Koto Ishiwa, University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
Ascension Macías, University of San Juan, Argentina
Carla Maturano, University of San Juan, Argentina
Helena Caldeira, University of Coimbra, Portugal
This study focuses on questions asked by students who read a text or watch a film describing a
portion of the world. Two basic types of external representations of the world were considered in
this study: linguistic (texts) or image-based (films). One group of first year college students was
provided with a short text that described sea waves moving towards the seashore. Other group of
students of the same level watched a short film where this phenomenon was presented. All of the
the students were instructed to ask any question that they might have. Questions on the text were
analyzed using Otero and Graesser's (2001) model of question asking. Interesting areas of
incomprehension corresponded to questions addressed to the transition between textbase and
situation model representation, and questions asked on situation model elements. The questions
asked on text information were compared to those generated by students who watched the film.
Graphic organization, spatial cognition and navigational orientation in Web-based learning: An
integrated theory
Neil H. Schwartz, California State University, Chico, USA
Mick P. Verdi, California State University, San Bernadino, USA
This paper outlines a theory of the role of graphic organization in the development of conceptual
and spatial understanding of information learned within web-based instructional systems. Derived
from research in environmental cognition, map-based learning, and mechanisms of working
memory, the theory explains how learners make meaning of information when learning in webbased environments and the role of graphics in the process. The theory proposes that the
development of an effective cognitive map, and the comprehension resulting from it, is afforded
by the sensible spatial organization of a web-based environment in the presence of a graphic
organizer that represents it. The theory predicts that learners who develop a cognitive map,
internally-consistent with the semantic structure of the subject matter to be learned, remember
more from the system because the visuospatial parameters permit a semantic model to be
configured in memory. Empirical investigations are interpreted from the theory's predictions, and
neuro-imaging studies are used to explain the results.
Metagraph: The value of metaphorical graphics in delayed retention
Michael Stroud, California State University, Chico, USA
Neil H. Schwartz, California State University, Chico, USA
Cindy Phelps, California State University, Chico, USA
This investigation was designed to demonstrate that metaphorical graphics can be used to increase
learners’ comprehension of difficult science concepts in the absence of text. Two factors,
Presentation Type, and Time were manipulated. The resulting design was a 3 Presentation Type
(metaphorical drawing versus orbital diagram versus verbal description) x 2 Time (immediate
versus delay) fixed ANOVA, with time manipulated as a within subjects variable. 133 participants
– 279 –
were randomly sampled from a mid-sized western university in the United States. 62 participants
returned for the delay 7 days later. The findings suggest that the metaphorical graphics are a
powerful device for use in science education to link information students already know with new
information they do not understand. Learners in the metaphorical group made more accurate
predictions than both the orbital group and the descriptions group.
E 18
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 3 F
Paper Presentation
IMPROVING HIGHER EDUCATION
Chair:
Improving university teaching by Web-based course support
Marten Clausen, University of Mannheim, Germany
Stefan Fries, University of Mannheim, Germany
Jonas Lang, University of Mannheim, Germany
This study evaluates the effects of the introduction of a web-support software tool, which provides
university teachers with an easy way to generate and maintain high-quality course-support webpages by means of dynamic content management. It is assumed that, mediated by the psychological effects of web-documentation and web-publication, extensive web-support can have a positive
effect on the quality of teaching. The tool was used by university teachers in 21 courses (approx.
200 students). The participating students were asked to evaluate the course and its web-support in
a web-questionnaire. In addition, they were administered scales for self-concepts, self-efficacy,
and aspects of social facilitation as potential moderator variables. The data show that an extensive
web-documentation is perceived to have a positive effect on course quality and the commitment of
teachers and students. Moderating influences can be found for aspects of students’ self concept.
Results are discussed in the framework of social facilitation theory.
The UK learning and teaching support network (LTSN): Understanding academics’ responses to a
national initiative for the improvement of learning and teaching in higher education
Peter Goodyear, Sadie Williams, Christopher Jones, Murray Saunders, Oliver Fulton and Paul
Trowler, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Peter Knight, Open University, United Kingdom
This paper concerns the responses of teachers in UK higher education to a major national
programme for the improvement of learning and teaching (the Learning and Teaching Support
Network). We focus on the views of key actors in the process of improvement: heads of
departments, course team leaders, educational development personnel and senior managers. Our
data were drawn from a representative sample of 18 UK universities. Within these institutions, we
surveyed heads of departments and course team leaders and interviewed the heads of educational
development units and the pro-vice chancellors responsible for learning and teaching policy. Our
data gathering strategy allowed investigation of academics’ responses (a) within universities and
(b) across universities within subject disciplines. We describe the patterning of support for this
approach to improving education, drawing particular attention to (i) assumptions about the relative
importance of research and teaching within the institutions and (ii) assumptions about the nature of
academic communities of practice.
– 280 –
Cultivation or coddling? University teachers’ task in freshmen integration
Susanna Lähteenoja, University of Helsinki, Finland
Anna-Maija Pirttilä-Backman, University of Helsinki, Finland
Massification, late entry of students into the university, and protracted study times are growing
concerns in Finnish higher education. These concerns together with the changes in funding have
resulted in a pressure to integrate new students. However, is integration the answer? If it is, will
there be differences in how integrating is looked at and carried out at different departments? At the
heart of this study is the seldom heard voice of university teachers discussing the question of
integrating new students. University teachers at twelve departments participated in focus groups
about integration. The results show that not all departments consider integration necessary. Some
expressed a dislike for any kind of pampering. To others, integrating was the natural thing to do, to
some even beneficial. The disparities in these views arise from a number of differences between
the departments, many of them beyond their control.
E 19
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 2 E
Paper Presentation
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
Chair:
Alexander Renkl, University of Freiburg, Germany
Learning to plan science lessons - The importance of the discourse
Carolina Carvalho, University of Lisbon, Portugal
The literature show us that the classroom discourse in research education is one of the prominent
area of interest but also the lack of analytical tools to understand the explanation building process
in students’ discourse at science classes (Kelly & Chen, 1999). One exception is the model of
Kaartinen & Kumpulainen (2002). In the current study we analyse the construction of the
explanations in a collaborative situation in which 12 groups (N=33) of pre-service science teachers
participated. The task consisted in planning a curricular unit of science. The data shows that
explaining plays a crucial role when pre-service teachers are planning a lesson. The novelty of the
situation – planning a lesson – makes the negotiation process around the concepts to be chosen and
the methodology to be adopted, in order to facilitate its appropriation by the pupils, an evident
moment of the importance of the collaborative work.
Graphs as emerging tools for mathematics education
Michiel Doorman, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
In this presentation we exemplify how theories on symbolizing function in mathematics education.
We focus on the role of graphs in the learning of calculus and kinematics. Theories on symbolizing
gave rise to heuristics for designing a learning route and analysing students’ work. In this route,
the interpretation and use of graphs are interwoven with learners’ activities in a series of sciencepractices in four tenth grade classes. Qualitative analyses of the collected data show that during
these practices students re-invent and develop graphical symbolizations, as well as the scientific
concepts aimed at. The symbolizations and scientific knowledge of motion co-evolve in the
– 281 –
learning process. On the basis of our findings we will discuss implications for the use of theories
on symbolizing in mathematics education design and research.
Reasoning and proof in geometry: Classroom effects at the lower secondary level
Kristina Reiss, University of Augsburg, Germany
Aiso Heinze, University of Augsburg, Germany
Joachim Thomas, Catholic University of Eichstätt, Germany
Reasoning and proof are important aspects of mathematical problem solving which particularly
require the knowledge of mathematical concepts and methods. These individual factors interact
with variables determined by a specific classroom. Our research aims at identifying aspects of the
mathematics classroom that support reasoning and proof. In this paper we report on a study with
507 lower secondary students. They took part in a pre-test on their mathematical knowledge,
followed by regular instruction on argumentation and proof. Afterwards a post-test on mathematical knowledge was administered to them. Our data suggest that the specific mathematics
classroom is significantly influencing mathematics achievement. High-achieving students in lowachieving classrooms differ in their performance from their counterparts in high-achieving
classrooms. Moreover, we are able to distinguish these students by their argumentation styles.
Students in high-achieving classrooms tend to give more and better argumentations. Students in
low-achieving classrooms do hardly use argumentation in their problem solving.
Structuring mathematical experiences to support learning for kindergarten children at-risk
Ruth Shane, Kaye College of Education, Israel
Young children’s mathematics is a transition from the child’s intuitive understandings to abstract
symbols and concepts of school arithmetic. Early school success lends considerable significance to
the number knowledge which children bring from kindergarten (age 5-6). Research shows
significant differences in this knowledge which children from different socio-economic
backgrounds bring to school. This report is based on a program initiated in 1999 in Beersheva,
Israel for 100 children in 16 kindergartens. The approach involves working with small groups on
game-based activities. Each child is interviewed at the beginning of the year and his growing
repertoire is recorded weekly, providing the input for planning activities.This dynamic interchange
between the general learning trajectory for the year (outlined in the the interview), and the growing
knowledge of each child provides structure for the program. The growth of children’s
understanding is significant and consistent. Kindergarten teachers report considerable increase in
children’s self-respect and confidence.
E 20
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 4 S
Paper Presentation
SUPPORTING LEARNING AT THE WORKPLACE
Chair:
Anneli Eteläpelto, University of Helsinki, Finland
Designing effective learning at the workplace
Franck Blokhuis, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Wim J. Nijhof, University of Twente, The Netherlands
– 282 –
Reviews and empirical studies on learning at the workplace have revealed the importance of
several groups of factors influencing the effectiveness of learning at the workplace. It seems that
characteristics of learners and characteristics of the work environment have stronger correlations
with effectiveness than characteristics of the training program. At the same time it is assumed that
learning at the workplace is not as effective as it could be. Based on a review of more than 30
studies a design model is developed to improve the effectiveness of learning at the workplace. This
model is based on two design principles: interactive learning and variation of experience.
Interaction should focus on what everyone involves, knows, can, wants, values, allows, and has to
do. Continuous reflection and two-sided feedback stimulates that process. Variation can be
enhanced in several ways: different locations, different activities, different problems to handle,
different people involved, different tools to use, different learning mechanisms. Interaction should
precede variation to make sure that the new situation contributes to learning. The design model
will be tested in a pilot that will take place in the first half of 2003.
Learning in the first professional job: A study of accountants, engineers and nurses
Michael Eraut, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
This paper reports findings from the first phase of a three year longtitudinal study of trainee
accountants, graduate trainee engineers, and newly qualified nurses in England. The main research
questions are: What is being learned in the workplace? How is it being learned? What factors
affect the level and direction of this learning? The research approach is based on four 2 day visits
to each learner’s workplace for observing activities and documents, an interview with the learner
and shorter discussions with managers and mentors.
Competence-supporting working conditions
Christian Harteis, University of Regensburg, Germany
Learning during professional life is influenced by inner-firm strategies of personnel and
organizational development. Both researchers and practitioners address the problem of the
application or the transfer of the teaching-contents. This perspective implies the notion that the
acquisition of appropriate competencies is the crucial prerequisite for the application of individual
competencies. This paper introduces an alternative crucial aspect for the application of individual
competencies: Competence-supporting working conditions. The paper discusses the interests of
employees regarding their own or their firm's development and change. The basic assumption of
this approach is that the success or the failing of corporate education and organizational
development efforts depend on an individual, subjective cost-benefit-considerations.
The role of experience in development engineers’ work and learning
Collin Kaija, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
The purpose of this paper presentation is to explore development engineers’ and product
designers’ learning through former experiences at the workplace. Learning is seen here as taking
place within everyday practices of the job in the contextualized communities of. The empirical
data consists of observations and interviews with 18 employees with various backgrounds and
work experience in two high tech companies in Finland. The analysis, based on interviews only,
followed principles governing narrative analysis of qualitative data. Four main themes running
through the interviews could be found as a result of the analysis: 1) The role of experiences in
learning to work with other people, 2) understanding of the holistic work processes, 3) benefitting
of other peoples’ experiences and 4) creating one’s own view to work and learn through
– 283 –
experiences. To sum up, experiences are described here as accumulated into competencies and
more holistic understanding of life or wisdom.
E 21
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 4 P
Paper Presentation
APPLYING ICT TO SOLVE PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEMS
Chair:
Bianca Maria Varisco, University of Padova, Italy
Technology influences on self-regulated teaching and learning
Maria Cardelle-Elawar, Arizona State University West, USA
Maria Luisa Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga, University of Navarra, Spain
This research was the result of a PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology)
implementation grant to help teachers in their struggles to integrate technology in classroom
instruction. The Unit of Practice (UOP) designed by Apple’s ACOT project was used as a selfregulated teaching model for organizing content. The study assessed the extent to which (1) the
UOP built teachers’ confidence as problem solvers and decision makers using technology; (2) the
potential changes of teachers’ perspectives of their success in improving students’ outcomes.
Subjects included 208 teachers from elementary and middle school enrolled in graduate classes of
educational psychology. The instructor modeled the seven steps of the on the UOP (standards,
invitation, tasks, situations, interactions, tools, and assessment). All teachers developed tailored to
their classroom level and carried out the UOP in their classes. Experts following a rubric evaluated
the results. Analyses of classroom observations, teachers’ journals, interviews, and debriefings
indicated that teachers not only successfully integrated technology in their classes but also
students’ self-control resulted in significant outcomes.
Instructional guidance and learner characteristics in knowledge acquisition from hypermedia
Antje Eckhardt, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
Andrea Heiß, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
In learning from hypermedia the presentation of learning aids as a special form of instructional
guidance can vary in several ways: Usage can be optional or obligatory, the setting can be situated
or non-situated. Which kind of presentation is most appropriate is affected by the learners prior
knowledge and cognitive ability. Two studies were conducted analyzing the effects of (i) varying
presentation formats and (ii) contextual embedding of learning aids. The results indicate that prior
knowledge appears to be the most important moderating factor in assessing the effectiveness of
learning aids while the learners' decision to use the aids is the biggest obstacle that has to be
overcome if the aids are to have any effect at all. In those who use the aids there seem to be two
different types of usage, either more fact-receptive or constructive. The contextual embedding is
slightly effective for subjects with high prior knowledge.
Custom-made pedagogical models supporting network oriented learning
Olli Hatakka, University of Joensuu, Finland
Teemu Valtonen, University of Joensuu, Finland
Esko Kuittinen, University of Helsinki, Finland
– 284 –
The aim of this study was to promote acceptance and ease of use of the network oriented teaching
and learning in polytechnic level. For this purpose we developed a collection of custom-made
concrete pedagogical models, that were based on the teachers’ own teaching conceptions. The
subjects were nine polytechnic teachers and their students. The teachers were pre and post
interviewed and eighteen of the students were interviewed after the experiment. All materials
created on the courses were collected and analysed qualitatively by using the content analysing
method. Our preliminary findings seem to indicate that the teachers do accept the models and find
suitable for their own purposes. Our attempt was to create a source of practices to provide shared
experiences and concrete examples of network oriented teaching and learning models based on
teachers normal teaching practices. In this presentation we will discuss, demonstrate and evaluate
our experiences and results in detail.
Pedagogical innovations and use of ICT
Nancy Law, University of Hong Kong, China
Allan Yuen, University of Hong Kong, China
Angela Chow, University of Hong Kong, China
This paper examines the various kinds of ICT tools used in a number of the cases studies collected
through the SITES M2 (Second International Information Technology in Education Study) which
is an international comparative case study of “Innovative Pedagogical Practices Using
Technology” and explores whether and how the different ICT tools are used for different types of
innovations as categorized according to their intended curriculum goals. The study found that most
of the ICT tools used in these innovative practices were general-purpose tools that were not
specifically designed for education or for specific domains. The only exceptions are those related
to the goal of “effective learning of subject-related knowledge or concepts”. The paper argues that
curriculum innovation and reform for achieving the other curriculum goals, especially those
related to the development of collaborative and organizational skills for solving complex authentic
problems can be further enhanced if more efforts be put into the development and popularization
of learning support tools and platforms that are designed specifically for such pedagogical goals.
E 22
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room PSY 2 A
Paper Presentation
METHODOLOGY OF ASSESSMENT
Chair:
Leone Burton, Visiting Professor, King’s College, United Kingdom
Informal learning and evaluation
Anna Maria Ajello, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy
Cristina Belardi, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy
The widening of the concept of learning origins from several psychological studies: 1) The
reflection on “everyday cognition”; 2) The relations between disciplines, knowledge and literacy;
3) Studies on working contexts. During recent years the number of studies on evaluation increased
for many reasons: (a) The Studies on testing that underline its characteristics and limits; (b) the
researches on the construct of apprenticeship; (c) the reflections deriving from experts who realise
evaluation in working contexts. These developments are useful to focus on the problems
– 285 –
concerning the evaluation of learning in different contexts. We will present tow grids that was
elaborated by some researchers and experts who work in projects founded by the European
Commission, that could be useful to look at learning and evaluation from different points of view.
In the end we’ll present summaries of conversations with drops-out that will demonstrate the
different ways to consider learning and evaluation.
On the possibilities of a coherent, comprehensive, and continuous assessment system
Maria Ruiz-Primo, Stanford University, USA
In a seamless system of education, it is expected that students be tested on their competence using
a variety of assessment measures, be informed of their progress, and receive support to reach
appropriate competence levels (National Commission of the High School Senior Year, 2001). A
seamless system of education, then, requires an assessment system with three properties: coherent,
comprehensive, and continuous (see Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001). In this paper, I
propose the multilevel-multidistal approach as an alternative for implementing such a system. In
the approach, student achievement data can be organized along two dimensions, assessment
proximity, that is, proximity of assessment to the enacted curriculum, and grade level, that is, the
sets of standards for each school grade level. Although the paper will not present data on the
implementation of the approach, it will discuss different venues that can be explored for achieving
such a system.
Cognitive educational software evaluation
Juhani Tuovinen, Charles Sturt University, Australia
Past educational software evaluation methods were either based on teacher evaluations of
software, or on student responses to the software. These methods had significant shortcomings in
assessing the learning benefits of software and associated teaching methods. Cognitive load
theory–based methods of assessing student learning with educational computing resources have
been found to provide very robust results as they combine two types of information. The software
evaluation described in this paper combines the subjective learning effort and objective learning
measures. The combined results provide comparative measures of educational effectiveness of
alternative learning conditions, which pinpoint the benefits and limitations of educational software
with a greater degree of accuracy and lead to improved insights about the value of computer
programs in specific educational contexts than previous educational software evaluation methods.
The relationship of this methodology to previous software models is explored and further
development aspects are suggested.
A methodology for the evaluation of teaching and research quality: First experimentation
Antonio Pulido, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Daniel Ondé, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Antonio García, University Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
This paper presents the results of a research project in which we proposed an alternative
methodology for the evaluation of quality of teaching and research, as basic activities of university
staff. This methodology allows specific weights to be given to different activities being measured
simultaneously as well as to different components of these activities. We collected information for
teachers from five universities plus an association of teachers in the economics domain. After
asking an expert panel the weights that should be given to both activities as well as to different
– 286 –
components of these activities we compared the information gathered for our sample of teachers
on the raw data, on the one hand, and applying the weights suggested by our experts on the other.
This analysis will be discussed along with some interesting conclusions and suggestions derived
from it.
E 23
27th Aug
17:00 - 18:20
Room BIO 1 C
Paper Presentation
EXPERIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING
Chair:
Jonas Emanuelsson, Göteborg University, Sweden
Change of relationships between word, meanings and conceptions in student’s learning about a
problem
Elsie Anderberg, Göteborg University, Sweden
In research on learning processes the relationship between word, meaning and understanding has
not explicitly been taken into consideration, nor has it been regarded as essential as to how
understanding of object of knowledge is developed. The dynamic and intentional-expressive
relationship between language meaning and understanding remains complex and not that well
understood. The aim with this longitudinal empirical investigation is to analyse, describe and
compare qualities with regard to dynamic and intentional aspects of relationships with regard to
students participating on courses. This qualitative micro-process analysis is developed in close
proximity with phenomenographic research on students learning, using the methodology of
contextual analysis. The results described and discussed concern the character of relationships
experienced and the development of relationships between words used and conceptions of the
problem.
Students experiences and perceptions of good teaching: In-depth teaching and understanding
Kyriaki Doumas, University of Lund, Sweden
How do students experience teaching in literature and physics in the first, second and third grade
of high school? What do they perceive as important in their learning relationship including
teachers, classmates and subject matter? What does contribute to the experience of joy and
happiness in a teaching period? What is the role of the school subject (humanities or natural
sciences), the age of the students and the level of education to this? By these questions of
explorative character I aimed to capture the meanings that students themselves gave to their
experience of a good pedagogical relation. Three central and interconnected aspects were
distinguished through the analysis of students’ interviews: In-depth elaboration and understanding
of the subject matter. Dialogical interrelatedness and reflection. Teacher's rhetoric: logos, pathos
and ethos. This paper will focus on various expressions of the investigating pedagogical quality
described by the students' as in-depth elaboration and understanding of the subject matter.
– 287 –
Beyond lesson studies and design experiments – Using theoretical tools in practice and finding out
how they work
Ming Fai Pang, University of Hong Kong, China
The methodological approach bridging teachers’ in-service training, developmental work and
research argued for in this paper combines the lesson study approach (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999) and
the design experiment (Brown, 1992; Collins, 1992). It is called the learning study and it is
conducted by a group of teachers and a researcher who set out to achieve a particular learning
objective in an attempt based on a theoretical conjecture. Each one of the teachers carries out the
lesson and the learning outcomes in this group of classes can be compared to the learning
outcomes in other groups of classes where the same learning objective has been adopted on one
level. On another level the learning outcomes can be compared between classes within groups and
related to the ways in which the same learning objective was actually attempted in the different
classes. This methodological idea will be illustrated by a study in which 5 different teachers within
each one of the above condition tried to develop the students understanding of some difficult
economic concepts.
Aesthetic experience in science education
Per-Olof Wickman, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
Britt Jakobson, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
We studied the role of aesthetic experiences in learning science in undergraduate courses at the
university. Our results show that aesthetic and cognitive aspects of learning science are intimately
related. Aesthetics is not only an expression of joy, but it is also something that necessarily needs
to be changed and that necessarily changes as we learn new things, even in a mainly cognitive area
such as science. Aesthetic language is used by teachers and students to describe nature and in
establishing scientific norms of action. The results here are thus not only of interest to science
educators but to all interested in the relationship between cognitive and aesthetic dimensions of
learning.
– 288 –

10th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR RESEARCH ON

Transcription

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