Knowledge Building Research Articles

BioKC: a collaborative platform for curation and annotation of molecular interactions.

Curation of biomedical knowledge into systems biology diagrammatic or computational models is essential for studying complex biological processes. However, systems-level curation is a laborious manual process, especially when facing ever-increasing growth of domain literature. New findings demonstrating elaborate relationships between multiple molecules, pathways and cells have to be represented in a format suitable for systems biology applications. Importantly, curation should capture the complexity of molecular interactions in such a format together with annotations of the involved elements and support stable identifiers and versioning. This challenge calls for novel collaborative tools and platforms allowing to improve the quality and the output of the curation process. In particular, community-based curation, an important source of curated knowledge, requires support in role management, reviewing features and versioning. Here, we present Biological Knowledge Curation (BioKC), a web-based collaborative platform for the curation and annotation of biomedical knowledge following the standard data model from Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML). BioKC offers a graphical user interface for curation of complex molecular interactions and their annotation with stable identifiers and supporting sentences. With the support of collaborative curation and review, it allows to construct building blocks for systems biology diagrams and computational models. These building blocks can be published under stable identifiers and versioned and used as annotations, supporting knowledge building for modelling activities.

People, space use and objects: an UWB-based quantifying approach for post-occupancy evaluation of new architectural spaces

PurposeThis study was conducted to address the methodical shortcomings and high associated cost of understanding the use of new, poorly understood architectural spaces, such as makerspaces. The proposed quantified method of enhancing current post-occupancy evaluation (POE) practices aims to provide architects, engineers and building professionals with accessible and intuitive data that can be used to conduct comparative studies of spatial changes, understand changes over time (such as those resulting from COVID-19) and verify design intentions after construction through a quantified post-occupancy evaluation.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, we demonstrate the use of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology to gather, analyze and visualize quantified data showing interactions between people, spaces and objects. The experiment was conducted in a makerspace over a four-day hackathon event with a team of four actively tracked participants.FindingsThe study shows that by moving beyond simply counting people in a space, a more nuanced pattern of interactions can be discovered, documented and analyzed. The ability to automatically visualize findings intuitively in 3D aids architects and visual thinkers to easily grasp the essence of interactions with minimal effort.Originality/valueBy providing a method for better understanding the spatial and temporal interactions between people, objects and spaces, our approach provides valuable feedback in POE. Specifically, our approach aids practitioners in comparing spaces, verifying design intent and speeding up knowledge building when developing new architectural spaces, such as makerspaces.

Exploring Knapping Learning Processes Amongst Upper Palaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers

ABSTRACT The work reported in this article explores stone knapping learning processes through the study of a Late Upper Palaeolithic workshop in the Italian Alps, so as to contribute to the framework of today’s debate on social learning. Social learning is an essential process for human evolution as it fosters the development of brain districts, the building of knowledge and the acquisition of new skills. Results suggest that knapping learning was likely a structured activity at the site. Moreover, this analysis helped the reconstruction of the social organisation and composition of this past group of hunter-gatherers.

Science Outreach as Science, Technique and Art:The Case of musicaenelnoreste.mx

This article explores the challenges of developing a website for outreachin the social sciences, specifically one specializing in popular music studiesin Northeast Mexico and South Texas. It touches on the communication models of the social sciences, including the communications and negotiations with those who developed the scientific knowledge and are now involved in the stage of outreach as well as publicists or social communication experts. The visions of theseindividuals do not always coincide with those of the website developers. While emphasizing the complexities of outreach, the article challenges the idea that it is imperative for the building of scientific knowledge.

World Health Organization World Hand Hygiene Day, 5 May 2024. SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands campaign: Promoting knowledge and capacity building on infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene, among health and care workers.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) World Hand Hygiene Day continues to "bring people together and accelerate hand hygiene action at the point of care in health care to contribute to a reduction in health care-associated infections and the achievement of safer, quality health care for all."

TriWadWalks: enriching knowledge and understanding through immersive engagement with the Wadden Sea landscape

This photo essay reports on two TriWadWalks, which were 5-day landscape explorations into the Wadden Sea region of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. These walks were organised by six universities to foster collaboration in research, teaching, and knowledge creation. A key and recurring observation was that the diverse composition of the group, and travelling through the landscape with an open agenda, distinguished the TriWadWalks from everyday excursions or fieldwork. Our experiences exemplify how being out there in the world, talking to people, and engaging with the landscape and with each other creates human-environment oriented landscape-understandings, in which perspectives blend and (disciplinary) borders are crossed. Building on the TriWadWalk experiences, we see the potential for this collaborative approach to be(come) a transdisciplinary knowledge building tool to be used in the planning and governance of the vulnerable Wadden Sea landscape, and for the education and ‘bildung’ of future landscape professionals.

Interdisciplinary learning in the humanities: Knowledge building and identity work

ABSTRACT Background This paper explores K-12 interdisciplinary learning in the humanities (IL-Humanities), an area that, until now, has seen limited research focus compared to its STEM counterparts. We asked: (1) What are the outcomes of IL-Humanities in terms of interdisciplinary competences? (2) How do learners in these environments engage in cross-disciplinary knowledge building and transdisciplinary identity work? Methods We assessed the efficacy of IL-Humanities across ten Israeli middle schools through a pre-post intervention/comparison design, utilizing the novel Interdisciplinary Competences Assessment (ICA). Qualitative insights into the learning processes within classrooms were derived using discourse analysis methods. Findings Students’ interdisciplinary competences were found to increase following the IL-Humanities interventions. Qualitative analyses offered “thick descriptions” of the process: Students leveraged cross-disciplinary transfer of knowledge to deepen their understanding of complex phenomena and used personal narratives to engage in identity work. Contribution This study enhances interdisciplinary education research by: (1) providing and operationalizing a model of interdisciplinary competences as an assessment tool; (2) demonstrating the effectiveness of IL-Humanities environments in developing these competences; and (3) advancing our understanding of learners’ engagement with cross-disciplinary knowledge building and transdisciplinary identity work.

Enhancing Opportunities for Decoding and Knowledge Building through Beginning Texts

AbstractEnsuring effective texts for student reading acquisition is a shared goal. This paper addresses the efficacy of decodable and leveled texts, their word features, and outcomes of reorganizing texts by vowel patterns and topics. Sparse evidence supports one text type's superiority in building a strong reading foundation. Further, the decoding demands of decodable and leveled texts diminish after initial instruction. Studies show reorganizing leveled texts according to a decoding curriculum aids reading acquisition. This finding is the basis for illustrating how existing texts can be reorganized to boost reading volume, apply decoding skills, and offer coherent topic exposure.

User‐centered development process of an evidence‐based mHealth intervention for psychosocially burdened families during the transition to parenthood

AbstractMobile health (mHealth) interventions are a promising approach to promote mothers' and fathers' health in the perinatal period. This may be particularly true for psychosocially burdened families who are poorly reached by current preventive services. Studies are needed that examine how user‐centered and evidence‐based mHealth interventions look like for this target group. The objective of this paper is to describe the iterative development process of the I‐PREGNO app intervention that aims to prevent unhealthy weight gain and to promote mental health in psychosocially burdened families during the perinatal period. The systematic content development process was divided into four stages. User needs were assessed through focus group discussions with psychosocially burdened mothers and healthcare professionals (HPs; stage I). In stage II, a prototype of the app was developed and evaluated through usability tests and a walkthrough with the target group and HPs (stage III). Finally, the behavior change techniques implemented in the app were assessed using an existing taxonomy (stage IV). The focus group discussions revealed that HPs as well as end‐users would benefit from an intervention that addresses psychosocial aspects (i.e., emotion regulation, coping) and links these to health behaviors. The identified needs of the target group during the perinatal period were combined with existing evidence‐based content and translated into 12 app modules. Most of the behavior change techniques used in these thematic modules were assigned to the clusters self‐monitoring, knowledge building, and goal planning. The I‐PREGNO app development process was guided by an iterative and user‐centered approach involving the target audience and a multidisciplinary team of experts. The findings provide valuable implications for the design and development of evidence‐based self‐guided mHealth for hard‐to‐reach groups during the transition to parenthood. The efficacy of the I‐PREGNO intervention will be evaluated in randomized controlled trials in routine care.

Using Legitimation Code Theory to explore knowledge building in English medium higher education teaching: methodological challenges and innovations

ABSTRACT This article examines theoretical and methodological issues raised when Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) is used to investigate knowledge-building practices in online and face-to-face teaching environments where English is the medium of instruction (EMI) in non-Anglophone higher education (HE) contexts. The article introduces two dimensions of LCT, Semantics and Autonomy, and demonstrates how “translation devices” were adapted and developed in two studies to analyze lecturers' knowledge-building practices within HE EMI contexts. It then delves into the theoretical and methodological challenges encountered when employing LCT in interdisciplinary studies, alongside other frameworks such as multimodal conversation analysis. Data extracts from the two studies are employed to illustrate the challenges faced and the methodological innovations developed. Methodological implications and potential new directions for the use of LCT in similar problem-situations are discussed, with an emphasis on technological innovation.

Supporting students’ inquiry through doubly authentic learning designs: four configurations of interests, domain, and identity

In this research, we examine learning within doubly authentic learning designs, which combine the sociocultural perspective that classrooms should be congruent with professional practices, along with a humanistic perspective that suggests students’ identities should be aligned with what they inquire about in class. Our work is situated in a long-term design based research effort where we have come to theorize and develop a set of specific practices around Humanistic Knowledge Building Communities (HKBCs). Based on interviews, classroom observations, learning artifacts, as well as in-class reflective diaries, we examined different ways that students negotiated their own interests and identities within a learning domain in doubly authentic HKBCs. The analysis of our data, instantiated across multiple case studies, resulted in an interest-identity-domain configuration framework that we call ENDURE. This research contributes new knowledge about the ways in which students’ inquiry interests within knowledge building communities can be supported and sustained through designed activities that foster interconnections between different aspects of their lives and what they study in school.

The Multilevel Chain Mediating Mechanism of College Faculty’s Felt Responsibility on Students’ Engagement in Green Building Learning

The limitations surrounding the education and teaching of green building courses in higher education institutions are becoming increasingly evident. The roles of instructors, the learning environments of green building-related courses, and the impact of student engagement in these courses are attracting significant academic interest. This study delves into the cross-level mediating roles of the green building learning climate and helping behaviors, exploring the link between instructors’ sense of responsibility and student engagement. It employs a multi-layer structural equation model for statistical analysis, utilizing paired survey data from 543 students and 51 instructors of green building courses, based on social cognitive theory. This paper incorporates the educational psychology concepts of “climate” and “mutual aid” with the green building learning climate and mutual aid behaviors. It provides a theoretical analysis of how instructors’ sense of responsibility in colleges influences students’ learning of green building knowledge and skills. By merging the ideas of “climate” and “mutual aid”, this study aims to theoretically examine the impact of instructors’ responsibility on student engagement with green building concepts. This approach seeks to offer new theoretical insights for pedagogical studies in green building courses.

Messy databases: Recognizing transcribers as experts and engaging amateur naturalists in digitization

AbstractAmateur naturalists and natural history societies are abundant throughout the UK, and indeed throughout the globe, and have intimate relationships with the museum sector. Importantly, amateur naturalists and natural history societies often possess expertise in fields underserved by museums, such as taxonomy or the local history of natural history. The amateur naturalist, in the context of the museum, is simultaneously volunteer and expert and this dichotomy can lead to tension in the naturalist‐museum professional relationship. The rise of mass‐participation citizen science and digitization projects are likely to further enflame this tension as naturalists can feel marginalized as their identifier of “volunteer” subsumes that of “expert.” This paper recommends best practice when working with amateur naturalists and natural history societies. It examines the different value systems and priorities broadly held by museum professionals and naturalists, with a particular focus on digitization. This paper also suggests how the museum field can work toward more equitable knowledge building and sharing practices when working with naturalists and other expert‐volunteers. In particular, it puts forward the concept of messy databases as a way to meaningfully engage with volunteer‐experts.

Investigating the relationship between math literacy and linguistic synchrony in online mathematical discussions through large‐scale data analytics

AbstractPrevious literature has associated math literacy with linguistic factors such as verbal ability and phonological skills. However, few studies have investigated linguistic synchrony, shown in mathematical discussions. This study modelled math literacy and examined the relationship of math literacy with linguistic synchrony between students and facilitators. We retrieved data from 20,776 online mathematical discussion threads at a secondary school level. First, we assessed students' math literacy based on their discussions and classified them into high‐ and low‐math literacy groups. Then, we conducted Cross‐Recurrence Quantification Analysis (CRQA) to calculate linguistic synchrony within each thread. The result implies that students with high math literacy are more likely to share common words (eg, mathematical terms) with facilitators. At the same time, they would paraphrase the facilitators' words rather than blindly mimic them as the exact sentences or phrases. On the other hand, students with low math literacy tend to use overlapping words with facilitators less frequently and are more likely to repeat the exact same phrases from the facilitators. The findings provide an empirical data analysis and insights into mathematical discussions and linguistic synchrony. In addition, this paper implies the directions to improve online mathematical discussions and foster math literacy. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Mathematical discussions are known to be an effective way to promote math literacy. Math literacy and linguistic skills have a strong link. Linguistic synchrony is related to better collaboration and common knowledge building. What this paper adds Reveals the relationship between math literacy and linguistic synchrony and deepens the understanding of digital communication in online learning environments. Provides empirical analysis of natural language data in group discussions using CRQA. Conceptualizes linguistic synchrony with three sub‐concepts: linguistic concurrence, predictability, and complexity. Implications for practice and/or policy Educators and practitioners could utilize the automatic formative assessment of math literacy based on the student's language use in mathematical discussions. Educational technology researchers and designers could include CRQA indices and recurrence plots in the dashboard design to provide information to support teachers and learners. Teachers would be able to provide real‐time interventions to promote effective mathematical communication and foster math literacy throughout mathematical discussions.

Teachers' perceptions of the epistemic aims and evaluation criteria of multiple text integration

The importance of intertextual integration in current information societies has led to extensive research on how to foster students' integration competence. Although teachers have a central role in promoting integration skills, research into their perceptions of intertextual integration tasks is still scarce. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore language arts teachers' views on the epistemic aims and evaluation criteria of intertextual integration. Fifty-four language arts teachers were asked to evaluate three integrated essays, supposedly written by students, that reflected typical violations of key integration quality criteria. In addition, they responded to open-ended questions about intertextual integration aims and evaluation criteria. Teachers successfully identified only about a third of the integration quality criteria violations that were embedded in the essays. Nonetheless, they collectively raised diverse evaluation criteria that addressed content selection and understanding, argumentation quality, source use and intertextuality, structure and organization, and language sophistication. Teachers' most prevalent aims were related to information processing and to the development of learners’ reading and writing skills. However, teachers also referred to knowledge-building goals. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed interrelations between teachers' perceptions of evaluation criteria and their integration aims. Overall, these findings demonstrate that language arts teachers have rich multiple-text integration task models. At the same time, they suggest that many teachers might not perceive intertextual integration as an opportunity for knowledge building and for developing learners’ critical thinking. The results of this study can inform professional development efforts to support instruction of intertextual integration.

Productive classroom dialogue and its association with student achievement in knowledge-building environments

The first purpose of the present study was to characterize progressive and metacognitive dialogue in knowledge-building classrooms. The second purpose was to examine the association between the quality of classroom dialogue and students’ learning outcomes, including domain knowledge and conception of collaboration. One hundred thirty college students and their teacher participated in this study. A total of 73 lessons were video-recorded. Qualitative analysis of ­classroom dialogue identified dialogic moves into three categories—articulation and elaboration, building-on and connection, and reflection and coordination. The findings provide a rich illustration of how students engage in metacognitive and progressive dialogue. Quantitative analysis indicated that student engagement in classroom dialogue was positively associated with their domain knowledge and conception of collaboration. The results revealed that considering student involvement in classroom dialogue is essential for understanding how knowledge building occurs in classroom contexts and how collective knowledge and conception of collaboration are developed through classroom dialogue.

Building knowledge from the epistemology of the South: the importance of training researchers in initial teacher training

This study aims to reflect on the importance of considering epistemologies of the South and research training as benchmarks in the initial teacher of educators in the Latin American context. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to diversify and decolonize knowledge production in education, especially in the Global South. The epistemology of the South provides a conceptual framework that challenges traditional Eurocentric perspectives and promotes alternative ways of knowing and understanding education. To achieve the research objective, a literature review was conducted focusing on key concepts such as Southern epistemology, researcher training, and initial teacher education. The review encompassed academic articles, books and relevant theoretical frameworks. Content analysis techniques were employed to critically examine the literature, identifying themes, theoretical perspectives, and implications for research training in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). The findings of this study suggest that the incorporation of the epistemology of the South into researcher training can have a transformative impact on the educational sector. By adopting ways of knowing and understanding, future researchers can develop a more nuanced and contextualized understanding of educational phenomena. This approach promotes critical thinking skills and encourages researchers to question dominant narratives and power structures in education. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of integrating research training into initial teacher education. By fostering the development and consolidation of research skills and a critical mindset in future teachers, it promotes their transformation into change agents within the Latin American educational system in which they operate. From this perspective, research-oriented teacher training programs empower educators to engage in evidence-based practices, contribute to educational research, and advocate for pedagogical approaches that respond to local contexts and social realities in which they act. This study underscores the need to integrate Southern epistemologies and research training within into initial teacher education. By doing so, we can nurture a new generation of educators with critical thinking skills capable of effecting significant societal changes. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue on the decolonization of education and promotes the development of inclusive and contextually relevant educational practices.

Embodiment Matters in Knowledge Building

AbstractIn this paper, we begin a conversation with educators invested in developing epistemic insight. We argue that generative artificial intelligence provides an opportunity to make a necessary corrective to our understanding of knowledge and knowledge building. The use of the metaphors of such as ‘human-as-machine’ has inadvertently promoted a reductive understanding of knowledge which has led to an impoverished version of higher education. In reducing the person to an information processor, knowledge has been artificially separated from the knower. The view of the human person as a relational being situated in time and space along with a recognition that intuition and imagination are important dimensions of knowledge development point to the significance of the embodiment of knowledge. For knowledge to have value and meaning, it must be enacted by a particular, embodied person. The recognition of the importance of embodiment and the associated implications are crucial if higher education is to respond in a meaningful way to the challenge presented by generative AI.

Expanding professionalism in popular music voice teaching: A framework synthesis

This framework synthesis investigates how notions related to expanding professionalism have manifested in recently published literature on popular music voice teaching. The reviewed literature was selected from a systematic mapping review conducted previously by the first two authors. The scope for the publication years was 2014 to 2020, and the included literature incorporated 64 titles of peer-reviewed articles, academic book and handbook chapters, and doctoral dissertations. The initial framework considered scholarship on expanding professionalism, and the directive themes for coding included forms of expertise and knowledge building, social and societal responsibility, and agency related to change. The data were examined from individual, societal, and institutional perspectives. The findings showed that notions related to expanding professionalism are used as means of legitimizing the academically emerging field. However, the professional development work results mostly from the agency of individual practitioners. Thus, support from higher music education institutes and professional organizations is needed to enable the professional sustainability of such practices and further the societal relevance of these institutional actors. This study contributes to the recent scholarship on expanding professionalism in music and music education. The emergent framework resulting from this synthesis can inform further empirical studies.

The Italian Network for Sustainable Agrivoltaics

In Italy, agrivoltaic systems (APVs) are seen as a driver for getting the national targets for photovoltaics (PV) and decarbonization, to enhance innovation in the agricultural sector, and reducing the energy costs on farms, overcoming land and landscape preservation issues, which cause bottlenecks in the permitting process of PV in agricultural areas. On April 2021, ENEA, in collaboration with ETA Florence Renewable Energies, launched the first Italian Network for Sustainable Agrivoltaics, with the objective of building knowledge and good practices around APV, enabling to support the implementation of sustainable agrivoltaic solutions and to build up a shared vision of Sustainable Agrivoltaics including three dimensions: Energy, Agriculture and Landscape. In the framework of the activities of the Italian Network for Sustainable Agrivoltaics, ENEA elaborated a communication strategy in cooperation with ETA Florence Renewable Energies, tailored to the identified major target groups (scientific community, broad public, specific stakeholder/user groups, farmer associations, media) and appropriate communication channels and conceived key communication elements. With the publication of the Guidelines for The Design, Construction and Operation of Agrivoltaic Plants on 27 June [1], new topics open up for the future which mainly concern the design and quality assessment around APVs in which the Network can be involved, thus maintaining a role of promoting knowledge advancement in this sector.