Abstract
This paper describes use of social network analysis to examine student interaction patterns in a Grade 5/6 Knowledge Building class. The analysis included face-to-face interactions and interactions in the Knowledge Forum® Knowledge Building environment. It is argued that sociogram data are useful to reveal group processes; in sociological terms, the community lies in the connections among the group. A classroom of unconnected individuals is unlikely to form as a Knowledge Building community; data analyses reported in this study show promise in understanding the dynamics of Knowledge Building in a consistent and measurable way. The strength of the work is not in particular patterns demonstrated but in new forms of assessment and their potential to inform work as it proceeds. The research reported shows that teachers and students are finding social network analysis useful and that through their engagement research-practitioner-engineer teams are better positioned to develop tools to advance Knowledge Building pedagogy.
Highlights
Knowledge Building is a social process in which new knowledge is created (Scardamalia, 2003) and understanding emerges through grappling with problems of understanding (Bereiter, 2002)
Knowledge Building sessions usually began with a reminder from the teacher of what the class had worked on in the previous session and anything that had come to the teacher’s attention, either through conversations with students or through reading database notes
The questionnaire data on students’ interactions about their ideas revealed student-‐organized team structure as it evolved, and the data obtained from the Knowledge Forum database showed how density and indegree centrality might correspond to group cohesiveness or teamwork
Summary
Knowledge Building is a social process in which new knowledge is created (Scardamalia, 2003) and understanding emerges through grappling with problems of understanding (Bereiter, 2002). In Knowledge Building classes, students take collective responsibility to advance the knowledge of the community. Collective responsibility for knowledge advancement within a community includes identifying gaps in present knowledge and informing other members of problems so that they can work together to resolve difficulties. Sharing in Knowledge Building classes requires that there be affordances for communication among class members, more so than in classes in which communication is largely between individual students and the teacher. Maintaining a high level of communication within the group so that information provided by one member is effectively communicated to all is a collective responsibility. "Community Knowledge, Collective Responsibility" is one of the 12 guiding principles for Knowledge Building classes (Scardamalia, 2002; Law, 2005)
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