Category: Grade 4

Misconceptions and Their Evolution in Knowledge Building Communities

Post author By IKIT
Post date February 10, 2020

The resistance of students’ naive scientific conceptions to ordinary instruction has encouraged the belief that these conceptions are deeply held and that extraordinary measures are required to change them. The present study analyzed Grade 4 students’ discourses about optics in order to uncover students’ level of consciousness of their naive conceptions, their level of commitment to their misconceptions, and their peers’ collective cognitive responsibility to improve those conceptions. The results of this study not only show that students are able to recognize a gap/conflict in their knowledge, but also provide evidence that students willingly seek information to improve their naive conceptions. The study also provides promising evidence that peers may facilitate the process of conceptual change by providing support in various ways.

All grades Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5

Knowledge Building Analytics to Explore Crossing Disciplinary and Grade-Level Boundaries

Post author By IKIT
Post date February 9, 2020

Interdisciplinary studies foster integration of ideas across disciplines. Knowledge building pedagogy, with its 12 principles and associated technology, Knowledge Forum®, provides multifaceted support for linking ideas across disciplines and communities. This exploratory study aims to assess the extent to which elementary-school students within knowledge building communities work productively with ideas across content areas. Toward that end we examine “crisscrossing topics” — student use of concepts from multiple content areas — to explore the extent to which students think and theorize across disciplinary boundaries, use concepts found in curriculum guidelines at and beyond their grade level, and generate cross-topic notes that advance discourse. Results show that elementary school students engaged in knowledge building can extend knowledge boundaries and bring a considerable range of conceptual content to their work, resulting in productive discourse threads that contribute to community knowledge.

All grades All subjects Grade 4 Science

Impact of Theory Improvement and Collective Responsibility for Knowledge Advancement on the Nature of Student Questions

Post author By IKIT
Post date February 9, 2020

This study is focused on students’ theory development and collective responsibility, and their impact on the nature of student questions. The preliminary results of the study demonstrate that the theory improvement perspective encouraged students to mainly focus on searching explanatory scientific information to construct their own explanations. However, in response to the inquiries, peers main type of contributions was theorizing in which they developed theories in order to deepen their shared understanding and advance knowledge.