Meaning making through use of interactive whiteboards during physics group work. A case study from engineering education

Magnus Strøm Mellingsæter

doi:10.5617/nordina.973

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of how the interactive whiteboard (IWB) may facilitate collective meaning-making processes in group work in engineering education. In the case, first-year students attended group-work sessions as an organised part of a basic physics course at a Norwegian university college. Each student group was equipped with an IWB, which the groups used to write down and hand in their solutions to the physics problems. Based on a Vygotskian, dialectical stance, this study investigates how the students used the IWB in the group-work situation. From qualitative analysis of video data, we identified four group-work processes where the IWB played a key role: exploratory, explanatory, clarifying and insertion. The results show that the IWB may facilitate a 'joint workspace', a social realm in which the students' dialogues are situated.

Highlights

The research interest guiding this study is how the collective meaning-making process during the group work is influenced by the ways the students used the interactive whiteboard during the group work
A case study is presented, in which first-year engineering students participated in regular group-work sessions as part of a basic physics course
Each student group had an interactive whiteboard at its disposal, which was to be used for writing and handing in solutions to physics problems

Summary

Introduction

The research interest guiding this study is how the collective meaning-making process during the group work is influenced by the ways the students used the interactive whiteboard during the group work. Meaning making through use of interactive whiteboards during physics group work.

Results

Conclusion