Activity Theory Perspective Research Articles

Exploring the influence of socio-historical constructs on BIM implementation: an activity theory perspective

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been widely seen as bringing a paradigm change to the construction industry. However, scholars have acknowledged that neither widespread BIM implementation nor the envisaged systemic changes within the sector have taken place. Despite acknowledging that the industry’s conditions and embedded contexts shape innovation diffusion, existing studies have not explored in any depth “how” the context might influence the episode of change when a new technology is introduced and the new practices accompanying that technology and old practices co-evolve. By adopting activity theory, its concepts of contradictions and multiple layers within the activity system, in this paper, we explore the interaction between situated and existing practices, or the “how” of implementation; that is, how the activity system is questioned and redefined during an episode of technological change. Drawing on data from multiple case studies, our findings demonstrate that situated practices related to the definition of information requirements, and the production and the handover of information were re-enacted following institutionalised socio-historical constructs (e.g. norms, rules, division of labour) at the industry and organisational levels. The findings provide insights regarding the inertia in the transformation of the sector as also deriving from re-enactments of socio-historical constructs that mediate the institutionalisation of situated practices. Our findings reveal re-enactment as part of the transformation process and contribute to calls for more realistic views on BIM implementation.

Author Correction: Risk Factors of Cyberbullying Perpetration among School-Aged Children across 41 Countries: a Perspective of Routine Activity Theory

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the author group section.

Using LMS Analytics to Optimise Learning Design from the Activity Theory Perspective

E-learning are widely adopted in todays' university classrooms to supplement teaching approaches. Moodle is the most popular learning management system (LMS) that builds with the features of recording the learners' data and activities. Leveraging learners' data has become a trend in searching for informed guidance and actionable insights to optimise the learning design. Literature shows that the highest levels of participation do not correlate with the best academic results, and the most engaged students are likely the weakest students who try to improve their performance.This dataset contains the information about 659 students, the logs of their interactions, and the summary of site entries over one academic semester.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Risk Factors of Cyberbullying Perpetration Among School-Aged Children Across 41 Countries: a Perspective of Routine Activity Theory

Cyberbullying perpetration among school-aged children could have negative public health implications worldwide. The present study used a routine activity theory framework to conceptualize and investigate potential risk and protective factors for cyberbullying perpetration across countries and World Health Organization (WHO) regions. The study used a 2013–2014 cross-sectional sample of 214,808 school-aged children from 41 countries/WHO regions. The sample came from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey. Applying weighted least squares tegression, the study explored whether cyberbullying perpetration was associated with various routine activities across different cultures. Findings supported predictions suggested by the routine activity theory. Regression models found that family activities were a protective factor buffering the risk of cyberbullying perpetration among school-aged children. In addition, greater involvement with certain peer and solitary activities increased the likelihood of cyberbullying behaviors. The routine activity theory seems to be a viable theoretical framework for understanding risk and protective factors associated with cyberbullying perpetration among a large internationally representative sample. Across many countries, cyberbullying perpetration shares potential risk factors among school-aged children.

Google forms can stimulate conversations in discussion-based seminars? An activity theory perspective

One challenge in seminar-style postgraduate courses is that some students are uncomfortable with discussing course content and concepts among their peers and in front of the lecturer in seminars. This article is a case study of the incorporation of Google Form questions into seminars in a postgraduate Economic History course, a tool intervention undertaken as a response to the challenge of some students’ seminar reticence. The study explores whether the tool intervention can from students’ perspectives stimulate conversation, and examines whether the objectives of the students and the lecturer were aligned in the learning activity. The article draws on two theories to frame the research: Engeström’s (2001) third generation Activity Theory, employed to locate change-enabling contradictions and the objects of the educational activity, and Laurillard’s (2002) Conversational Framework as a theory of learning wherein students and the teacher interface with mutually accessible concepts. The study draws on interview data from structured interviews with students at the end of the course. The article contends that Google Forms are assistive in stimulating conversations around core concepts, and that a quaternary contradiction emerged between the lecturer and the individual student’s objects in the educational activity

Tensions and Opportunities: An Activity Theory Perspective on Date and Storage Label Design through a Literature Review and Co-Creation Sessions

On-pack date and storage labeling is one of the direct information carriers used by the food industry to communicate product shelf-life attributes to consumers. However, it is also one of the major factors that contribute to consumer food waste issues. This study aims to systematically understand the existing tensions within the current date and storage labeling system and explore the potential opportunities for design to intervene. First, we conducted a literature review to identify tensions that the consumer encounters in their food edibility assessment system and summarize the corresponding proposal for actions. 12 tensions and 16 proposals for action were identified and further framed according to a conceptual model developed in this study. Following this, the literature findings were refined and grounded in co-creation sessions in consumer workshops and industry practitioner interviews to develop specific labeling-related design implications. The findings indicate the importance of investigating the role that date and storage labeling play from a system level. Furthermore, we suggest that the conceptual model developed in this study can be used not only as a framework that guides researchers to identify and analyze labeling-related food waste problems that each individual consumer encounters, but also as a guideline that assists packaging design practitioners in exploring potential design opportunities to solve the problem from a system perspective.

An activity theory approach to the contextualization mechanism of language use

Abstract Contextualization is a widely-discussed topic in the field of linguistics. Although it is generally agreed that contextualization is a dynamic process of interaction among the heterogeneous contextual factors, one still lacks a coherent explanation of how the interactions enable a language user to construct a meaningful text/utterance. From an Activity Theory perspective, language use can be termed as a rule-governed activity. The activity itself is the context of a subject’s decision-making, and contextualization is nothing but the actualization process of a language use activity. During the process, the subject strategizes her/his linguistic choice to build the textual outcome in light of the hierarchical text functions, namely, the conventionalized and situational functions of prospective text (at the higher strata), which respectively embody the social-cultural and situational factors constraining her/his actions, and the conventional function of textual tools (at the basic stratum), a foremost factor conditioning her/his operation. When there are contradictions among these functions, the subject needs to prioritize the one at a higher stratum. This can be exemplified by three typical cases of language use: translation, pseudo-translation and self-translation.

Barriers to ICT use in EFL teacher education courses in Nepal: An activity theory perspective

The effectiveness of pre-service teachers’ ICT training during teacher education course is often linked with the teacher educators’ (TEs’) practices. TEs’ digital practices, however, are under-studied, thus, are not fully understood. This study, which draws on the theoretical tenets of Activity Theory, reports on the factors that limit TEs’ digital practices in a context where technology use has just begun to evolve. Using a multi-method case study, this study collected data from EFL TEs and policymakers. The analyses of the policy data and interviews reveal that multiple factors constrain TEs’ digital practices. A key finding of the study is that factors related to ICT policies, training for TEs and resources hindered the use of technology by TEs. Implications of these are discussed.

Failure to engage: Exploring learning technology experiences from the vantage point of ‘expert’ students

ABSTRACT This paper reports on academics’ experiences of being exposed to connectivist approaches to technology integration on a PGCert course at a STEMM institution. Taking an activity theory perspective we analyse where tensions that influenced engagement occurred. We explore reasons related to participants’ understanding of what technology is, perceptions of technology and the task, attitudes to openness and sharing, and the influence of others.

Teaching writing to elementary school students: an activity theory perspective

Most of the existing studies on academic writing were conducted in ESL/EFL university settings. Further research targeted at other educational settings such as primary schools, for students in different stages of their studies, will advance our understanding of student writing broadly. The study aims to investigate the impact of writing instruction on students’ engagement, using the activity theory. Participants were five grade four teachers teaching English and their grade four Singaporean students in five classrooms in a local primary school. The observation data and field notes were coded, using Dȍrnyei’s (2007) qualitative data analysis scheme and NVivo. Findings show that preparing mediated tools, arranging division of labour in executing the tasks, setting rules and objects, and having communities that teachers involved in are crucial factors to consider in the activity system. Before discussing student activity system with their own objects/motive, it is important to understand what types of activity system the teachers bring to the writing classroom. Our study contributes knowledge to research on writing instruction and students’ engagement by analysing grade four writing lessons from an activity theory perspective. The findings may also be useful pedagogically for educators outside Asia.

The reciprocal development of the object of common space and the emergence of the collective agency in residents' workshops

This paper contributes to the study of agency by addressing the reciprocal development of collective agency and the object of common space. The aim is to investigate residents' collective agency in urban development from the perspective of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) with the help of applied ethnography. Residents' workshops focusing on the capacity to act together collectively provided a space for the residents to share their needs for a common space. The development of the collective agency of the residents began by expressing their individual needs in the development of their neighborhood. The collective elaboration of the fragmented needs in the residents' workshops enabled the formation of a joint object with the aid of cultural means and tools and with expansions of the object. In this study we provide an overview of the reciprocal development of residents' collective agency and the object of ‘space’. Our findings call attention to 1) the significance of the joint object in coordinating the fragmented needs of the residents, 2) new participatory practices which enable the long process of transitions in the formation of the joint object, and 3) guidance and support that allowed the residents' local place-based knowledge to emerge and promote their participation.

The practices of mathematics education doctoral students

This paper looks at the practices (or praxeologies) of mathematics education doctoral students and their supervisors from the perspectives of activity theory and the anthropological theory of the didactic. The paper examines three ways to view mathematics education research before discussing : research methods and methodologies ; the debate on qualitative and quantitative research ; and implications for the supervision of doctoral students.

An investigation of an Expanded Encapsulate Model of Social Identity in Collective Action (EMSICA) including perception of threat and intergroup contact to understand support for Islamist terrorism in Indonesia

Although there have been many empirical studies of terrorism within the psychology literature, relatively few studies have theorized terrorism from the perspective of collective action theory. The present study aimed to understand factors that predict support for Islamist terrorism by using the Encapsulate Model of Social Identity in Collective Action (EMSICA) perspective. To extend previous studies, we added perception of threat and intergroup contact to the model. A correlational study using 66 terrorism detainees in Indonesia as participants found solid support for our expanded EMSICA. The models extending EMSICA with perception of threat and quantity of contact as predictors had improved fit indices and explained more variance in the dependent variable support for Islamist terrorism, as compared to the standard model. Social identity had a significant direct effect on support for Islamist terrorism and mediated the effect of intergroup contact, perception of threat, perceived injustice, and group efficacy on support for Islamist terrorism.

The Combined Roles of Moral Emotion and Moral Rules in Explaining Acts of Violence Using a Situational Action Theory Perspective.

The roles of shame and guilt, and their relationships to empathy, have not been modeled adequately as key factors in moral decision-making in the study of violence. The role of moral emotion has been neglected in existing criminological research and this study seeks to develop current explanations of the comprehensive myriad of factors that play a role in moral crime decision-making. This research will test the different roles of empathy, shame, and guilt in violence decision-making using a situational action theory (SAT) perspective. Data taken from the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study (PADS+), a longitudinal study with a large representative sample, provide quantitative questionnaire indices to enable comparison of a persistent and frequent violent offender subsample (N = 48) with the remaining PADS+ study sample (N = 607). A striking majority of violent offenders report that they do not think it is wrong to commit violence, and do not care about it, that is, they lack shame and guilt, and report that violence comes as a morally acceptable and natural action alternative. Furthermore, violent offenders do not register the predicament of their victims; there is a distinct lack of empathy. This article demonstrates a key finding which has rarely been explored to date; regression analyses reveal an interaction effect whereby individuals with weak shame and guilt, combined specifically with weak moral rules, are more likely to commit acts of violence. The study findings provide strong support for the SAT of the role of weak morality in violence decision-making. To reduce the possibility of crime being seen as an action alternative, moral development programs should be developed and administered in childhood.

First-Year Students’ EFL Reading Difficulties at a Greek Merchant Marine Academy: An Activity Theory Perspective

This paper explores how the transition from secondary to tertiary education influences Greek marine engineering students’ EFL reading behaviors and strategies from an activity-theory perspective. Data were gathered through individual semi-structured interviews with four first-year students who struggled with reading texts in English. Findings suggest that these students experience difficulties in reading lengthy discipline-specific texts such as technical manuals due to the fact they still use the same EFL reading strategies and have the same expectations they had before entering tertiary education. From an activity theory perspective, these students’ difficulties are associated with two distinct EFL reading activity systems which have diverse goals, tools, values, and division of labour. The first system is placed within the wider Greek foreign language education context these students belonged in high school. The second, involves the system that emerged after they entered the Merchant Marine Academy as tertiary education students. These two EFL reading systems clash and create obstacles in their discipline-specific reading which in turn slows down their disciplinary socialization in the marine engineering community.

What matters to supervisors and is this reflected in what they do? Analysing the work of university supervisors of the practicum

ABSTRACTThis study analyses the contemporary work and potential contribution of university supervisors supporting preservice teachers´ during their practicum experiences in initial English language teacher preparation. The study draws on a complex data derived from surveys, interviews, and observations of university supervisors working in a diverse array of English language teacher education programmes across Chile. A cultural historical activity theory perspective is employed to explore and analyse the motives, activities, and actions that underpinned the work of these supervisors. Findings suggest that supervisors have to respond to often contradictory demands and an overemphasis towards quality assurance actions that are potentially detrimental to preservice teachers´ development. The work of supervisors is analysed to understand how potentially to re-envision their role and functions, toward proposing how to productive expand supervisory practices as an integral part of teacher education.

An activity theory perspective on contradictions in flipped mathematics classrooms at the university level

ABSTRACTThis study explores contradictions that emerge when utilizing a flipped classroom approach to university mathematics education. The work uses Activity Theory and its principle of dialectical contradiction as a theoretical framework to identify and analyse contradictions that arise in flipped mathematics classrooms for engineering students. Data were collected mainly by means of video recording of classroom activities and interviews with two cohorts of first-year engineering students in a Norwegian university over two years. An inductive approach to data analysis based on the interaction between the theoretical framework and the empirical data is used to provide evidence about the contradictions. The results show that contradictions manifest themselves as tensions in flipped mathematics classrooms. They emerge at different activity levels and affect student learning of mathematics. The aim of the study is to add to the lack of theoretical underpinning and limited research on tensions and contradictions in flipped mathematics classrooms at the university level.

Cognitive regulations in ICT‐supported flipped classroom interactions: An activity theory perspective

AbstractIn recent years, most studies on flipped classrooms or flipped learning have focused on learners’ motivation, academic achievement and teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom. Little research has involved interactions in the flipped classroom. This study aims to show that in‐class collaborative learning in the flipped classroom can not only be conceived as a collective activity consisting of discrete actions, but also as a systematic activity. From the activity‐theoretical perspective, contradictions were found between components of an activity such as subject, tools, rules, community, division of labor, object and outcome. This study conducted a pre‐experiment, selecting one lesson of the seventh‐grade Information Technology Course as the learning content, conducted in a flipped classroom. Three triads with different compositions were specifically observed by recording their interactions. More second‐level contradictions existed between subject and tools, and division of labor within the low‐level triad than within the other two triads, and more first‐level contradictions also occurred within the low‐level triad than within the other two triads. Most second‐level contradictions within the high‐level triad were resolved by self‐regulation of cognition. Instead, most second‐level contradictions within the mixed‐level triad were overcome by co‐regulation or shared regulation of cognition. This study sheds light on how to effectively design and implement flipped learning, and provides a new approach for analyzing interactions in the classroom.

Publishing During Doctoral Candidature From an Activity Theory Perspective: The Case of Four Chinese Nursing Doctoral Students

Although doctoral students are increasingly expected or required to publish during their candidature, few studies have focused specifically on how they manage to do so while juggling multiple, and often competing, demands from their busy doctoral studies. This study set out to bridge this gap by examining the strategies adopted by four Chinese nursing doctoral students to deal with the time pressure in meeting institutional publication requirements, and the impacts of the publication requirements and the strategies on their scholarly publishing experiences and practices. Drawing on activity theory and its notions ofboundary crossing,boundary object, andcontradiction, the study revealed that to fulfill institutional publication requirements amid competing demands from their doctoral studies, the students employed two main coping strategies: boundary crossing through starting early and refashioning the scholarly publishing activity through orchestrating one's research and publication with those of others. It also found that, although effective in mitigating time pressure and boosting publication output, the strategies tended to undermine the students’ aspirations to participate fully in scholarly publishing and to join the disciplinary community. The implications of these findings for doctoral publication are discussed.

Realizing transformative agency and student identity: meaningful practical activity based formative intervention at grade eight

Cultural historical activity theory perspectives are drawn in this paper to realize collective transformative agency and the externalization of individual student identity, with students seeking personalized assistance from their teacher while learning mathematics at a grade eight classroom in Sweden. Even as teacher–researcher collaboration and the execution of a five-task formative intervention resulted in realization of transformative agency, the externalization of identity gained from students working with peers and being led in instructional activity that was practical and meaningful to their lives. While the externalization of identity by individual students during their learning resulted in transformative agency realized at the collective level in their teacher’s instructional practice, the role of knowledge within such a practice was found to be just as vital in line with the construct of Transformative Activist Stance.