Meeting Students Halfway: Materials in an Ideas-centered Classroom

Abstract

This design case examines how the intended design for a Knowledge Building Communities (KBC) is altered by the learning spaces created by the students. The case is that of a grade six class as they instantiated the KBC approach while learning about flight. The design is analyzed in terms of Bielaczyc's Social Infrastructure Framework and Law's trials of strength that the design endured and in particular how the trial of model-building challenged the design. The discussion focuses on the challenge of maintaining a writing-centered design when materials are prevalent in the classroom and how generative pedagogical practices are required to adapt the design.