Abstract
This study investigated the organizational impact of computer technology on four secondary science teachers’ teaching actions using the construct of community of practice. The organizational impact of computer technology refers to teachers’ styles and creativity in constructing personally pertinent individual models of teaching when using computer technology: social participation structures. Analysis of data (observations and interviews) revealed three social participation structures that collectively orchestrated students’ science content learning: (1) students’ membership, (2) access to the structured tasks, and (3) confirmation of students’ learning of science concepts. This study indicated that the transformative potential of computer technology for teaching science is a complex interplay between social participation structures, institutional context, and teachers’ knowledge of what is good practice.
Highlights
This exploratory study using the construct of community of practice from situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991, 1999, 2000; Wenger, 1998, 2000; Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002) as a framework investigated the organizational impact of computer technology on four secondary science teachers’ teaching actions
This study indicated that the transformative potential of computer technology for teaching science is a complex interplay between social participation structures, institutional context, and teachers’ knowledge of what is good practice
Participants’ communities of practice contained three different but interrelated forms of social participation structures that collectively orchestrated students’ science content learning when participants used computer technology for teaching. These social participation structures were different because one social participation structure was centered on visualizing science content, the other was centered on developing students’ science content understanding, and another was centered on equipping students with science content, respectively
Summary
This exploratory study using the construct of community of practice from situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991, 1999, 2000; Wenger, 1998, 2000; Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002) as a framework investigated the organizational impact of computer technology on four secondary science teachers’ teaching actions. The perspective organizational impact of computer technology refers to how teachers describe computer technology in their classrooms for teaching and student learning It is derived from Kerr’s (1996a, 1996b, 2005) interpretations of computer technology use in educational settings from sociology of educational technology standpoint. According to this standpoint, the pedagogical practices that teachers engage in as they construct their teaching actions with computer technology within specific institutional and cultural contexts are keys to understanding the educational significance of using computer technology for teaching. The pedagogical practices developed with the integration or using computer technology are more valued because these practices are underscored by the teachers’ own knowledge of classroom contexts and curriculum
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