Collaborative Inquiry Learning Among Four Elementary Schools in China: A Case Study
The aim of this study is to examine students’ learning attitudes toward science, interaction patterns, knowledge advancement, and group products in collaborative inquiry learning. The 196 participants were taken from Grade 4 in four elementary schools in
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Collaborative Inquiry Learning Among Four Elementary Schools in China: A Case Study
Abstract The aim of this study is to examine students’ learning attitudes toward science, interaction patterns, knowledge advancement, and group products in collaborative inquiry learning. The 196 participants were taken from Grade 4 in four elementary schools in China. They were randomly assigned into 48 groups by their teachers. For each school, there were 12 groups who conducted collaborative inquiry learning face-to-face and online for 3 months. By the end of the collaborative inquiry learning, all of the participants shared and presented their experiences, artifacts, and outcomes. The results indicated that learning attitudes toward science improved after collaborative inquiry learning. In terms of interaction patterns, two teachers were positioned at center of the network and played very crucial roles in collaborative inquiry learning. With respect to the level of knowledge advancement, the discourse was scientific but superficial. Most learners could not explain the reasons, relationships, or mechanisms about tools in daily life. The implications for educators and practitioners as well as suggestions for future studies are also discussed.
Keywords Collaborative learning Inquiry-based learning Knowledge building Learning attitude
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Interaction pattern
Introduction
Collaborative inquiry learning has gained increasing attention in recent years. Nelson and Slavit (2008) posited that collaborative inquiry learning has been a dominant structure for educators in the twenty first century. Collaborative inquiry learning aims to help learners understand how to generate scientific knowledge and recognize that knowledge building is a joint task (Urhahne et al. 2010). Collaborative inquiry learning puts emphasis on active learning by collaboratively asking questions, formulating, and examining hypotheses (Laru et al. 2012). Learners first proposed questions, then collaboratively investigated them with empirical data and evidence during a collaborative inquiry learning processes. © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017 L. Zheng, Knowledge Building and Regulation in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1972-2_10
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Collaborative Inquiry Learning …
Furthermore, the process of inquiry was also characterized as cyclic and iterative so as to refine theories or ideas (Hakkarainen 2002). In addition, collaborative inquiry learning provides a good opportunity for teachers and practitioners to share understanding about common topics (Donohoo 2013). The purpose of this study is twofold. First, we aim to investigate the learning attitudes and the quality of group products after collaborative inquiry learning. Second, we aim to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of interaction patterns and knowledge building during collaborative inquiry learning. Therefore, the research questions are as follows: 1. Did students’ learning
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