Collaborative Knowledge Building Process Research Articles

Students’ Reflections on Knowledge Building Process and Scaffolding

Collaborative learning environments such as “knowledge building community” and “online learning community” have gained importance with the inclusion of new technologies in the education process. In order to provide active participation expected in these learning environments, scaffolds such as sentence openers and role assignments are used in order to support, guide and enrich students' knowledge building processes. In this study, it is aimed to examine the pre-service teachers' opinions about online collaborative knowledge building process and the scaffolds used in this process. Seventy-seven pre-service teachers participating in the study participated in the knowledge building process in four different groups, using different scaffolds and no scaffolds. In this process, students were asked to complete the knowledge building questionnaire consisting of 12 questions of five likert types and a semi-structured interview form consisting of 10 questions reflecting their own experiences. Qualitative research method was used in the research and the data were analyzed by content analysis. In addition, some descriptive statistics such as percentage frequency are included. It was observed that the opinions of the students about their experiences in the collaborative knowledge building process were mostly positive. The students mostly stated that “it is important to determine our goals and to plan our progress”. The students defined their contributions in the knowledge building process as the most “providing diversity of opinions”. In addition, the scaffolds used by pre-service teachers in the online collaborative knowledge building process and their reflections on the better quality knowledge building process were included and interpreted in the context of technology-supported education.

The relationship between knowledge and community engagement in local urban forest governance: A case study examining the role of resident association members in Mississauga, Canada

Urban forests, integral to a city’s critical infrastructure, are traditionally under the mandate of local governments, yet in reality, the decision-making for their conservation is influenced by a myriad of factors operating at the neighbourhood level. In some neighbourhoods, decisions are heavily influenced by formal Resident Associations (RAs). Using a case study approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with selected engaged and committed RA members in Mississauga, Canada to determine: 1) What is the role of urban forest knowledge in motivating people to engage with their local community group, i.e., how does knowledge play a role in developing a critical consciousness that leads to action? 2) How does an individual’s knowledge shape strategies used by the community group? and 3) How can we characterize the knowledge of community group leaders in terms of urban forest governance? Our study shows that knowledge is embodied in all roles that RA executive members take on and that it is key in motivating their engagement. The critical role of ‘knowing ‘was also clear in the ability of RAs to develop and establish local-level strategies that help conserve urban forests. Based on our research, it is clear that RAs and local governments (individually and/or collectively) can enhance the knowledge of residents at the neighbourhood level to improve engagement. We recommend that RA members engage via an ongoing collaborative knowledge building process to become better equipped at confronting urban forest management practices and impacting urban forest governance.

Examining the role of sentence openers, role assignment scaffolds and self-determination in collaborative knowledge building

Scaffolds establish a cognitive connection with the students and what they want to express. Supporting the collaborative knowledge building process with scaffolds is crucial for the participation and continuity in the online discussions. In this research, where a quasi-experimental design is used, the contributions of the students in the online collaborative knowledge building process are examined in terms of role assignment, sentence opener scaffolds, and self-determination. 77 teacher candidates, who are registered to Computer II course, are assigned to 4 groups, in three of which scaffolds are used, and in the remaining one of which scaffolds are not used. The students contribute to the knowledge building process in the first group by using the sentence openers, in the second group by being assigned with roles, in the third group by both being assigned with roles, and using the sentence openers appertaining to the respective roles, and in the fourth group by not making use of any scaffold. Using content analysis and MANOVA, the research results reveal that using scaffolds, especially the combination of sentence openers and role assignment scaffolds encouraged higher cognitive levels of knowledge building. Significant differences with high effects were found between the groups for the dimensions of self-determination: self-awareness and perceived choice. The research points out some suggestions for future research.

자발적 참여에 의한 초등온라인학습공동체에서의 협력적 지식형성과정과 참여의 특징 탐색

자발적 참여에 의한 초등온라인학습공동체에서의 협력적 지식형성과정과 참여의 특징 탐색

Recommending collaboratively generated knowledge

With the development and adoption of information technologies in education, learners become active producer of knowledge. There is an increasing amount of content generated by learners in their learning process. These emerging learning objects (ELOs) could potentially be valuable as learning resources as well as for assessment purpose. However, the potentials also give rise to new challenges for indexing, sharing, retrieval and recommendation of such learning objects. In this research we have developed a recommender system for emerging learning objects generated in a collaborative knowledge building process and studied the implications and added values of the recommendations. We conducted two evaluations with learners to assess and improve the system?s design and study the quality and effects of the recommendations. From the evaluations, we received generally positive feedback and the results confirm the added values of the recommendations for the knowledge building process.

Engineering Design Education and Practice as Collaborative Knowledge Building

Engineering design is the process of devising a technical system to satisfy a defined need. The design process can be modeled as a transformation of knowledge. Collaborative engineering design can be described as a collaborative knowledge building (CKB) process. CKB is a goal-driven collaborative process of generating and refining ideas and concepts of value to the community. Properly applied and supported, CKB has the potential to improve both learning and design outcomes resulting from collaborative design projects. The paper proposes an integrated model of the CKB process, and discusses requirements for supporting computer tools. Existing computer tools do not provide adequate support for CKB, and better tools are needed based on the specific requirements discussed in this paper.

Collaborative knowledge building process: an activity theory analysis

PurposeCollaborative knowledge building (CKB) is seen as a means for achieving desired learning outcomes as well as facilitating sharing and distribution of knowledge among community members. However existing CKB studies do not appear to identify and account for the tools used by groups (at individual and group level) as part of the CKB process. The paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes a group knowledge building exercise within an educational context using activity theory as a descriptive data analysis tool. Data analysis involved conceptualising the CKB process as an activity system in which the group worked towards a shared object and identifying the ensuing contradictions in the CKB activity system.FindingsResults from the analysis illustrate participants' use of reflective thinking processes for resolving contradictions and as a tool for articulating knowledge and developing a shared understanding. Two types of contradictions are identified from the analysis resolving which helped the group to achieve their objective. The efficacy of using activity systems as a holistic and flexible unit of analysis for studying CKB is illustrated through discussion of the results.Research limitations/implicationsThe results have educational research implications in terms of developing research tools for analysing CKB, collecting data from a group context, and developing tools for improving group‐work.Practical implicationsThe results have practical implications in terms of building knowledge from experience within knowledge communities.Originality/valueOne of the outcomes of the study is the identification of developmental and reflective contradictions which highlight the issues that when addressed allow for successful achievement of the object (or to some degree of success), as well as a richer deeper experience for the participants.

Coordinating Collaborative Knowledge Building

This article presents an instructional assistant agent for FLE2, a distributed collaborative learning environment. The authors discuss the role of this agent and how it supports both the instructor and students in coordinating the distributed collaborative knowledge-building process. They emphasize the supplementary role of the instructional assistant agent, which, on the one hand, observes the distributed collaborative learning process and computes statistics for viewing, and on the other hand, detects possible problems and presents them to the instructor so that the instructor can give feedback to students in order that they themselves can regulate the collaboration. By providing advice and learning from feedback, the agent gradually improves its performance and builds up a trust relationship, until a point is reached where the agent is allowed to perform actions without confirmation from the instructor. With the lessons learned from designing and experimenting with the instructional assistant, the authors hope to move one step further towards a plug-in agent that would be able to fit in any distributed collaborative learning environments.