10th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR RESEARCH ON

10th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR RESEARCH ON LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION

Biennial meeting Padova, Italy August 26-30, 2003

ABSTRACTS

Edited by Lucia Mason, Silvia Andreuzza, Barbara Arfè and Laura Del Favero

This book provides abstracts of paper, symposium, panel, round table, CIT, and poster presentations. Abstracts are in chronological order by slot numbers or dates. A list of participants’ e-mail address is included.

European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction 10th Biennial Meeting August 26-30, 2003, Padova, Italy

July 2003 © CLEUP Cooperativa Libraria Editrice Università di Padova Via G. Belzoni, 118/3, Padova, Italy Tel.: 049 650261 www.cleup.it ISBN 88-7178-975-X

Do it 100%

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CONTENTS B 9 ................................................. 110 B 10 ............................................... 114 B 11 ............................................... 116 B 12 ............................................... 119 B 13 ............................................... 122 B 14 ............................................... 124 B 15 ............................................... 128 B 16 ............................................... 130 B 17 ............................................... 132 B 18 ............................................... 134 B 19 ............................................... 137 B 20 ............................................... 140 B 21 ............................................... 142 B 22 ............................................... 145 B 23 ............................................... 147 B 24 ............................................... 150 C 1 ................................................. 153 C 2 ................................................. 154 C 3 ................................................. 156 C 4 ................................................. 157 C 5 ................................................. 159 C 6 ................................................. 161 C 7 ................................................. 162 C 8 ................................................. 164 C 9 ................................................. 165 C 10 ............................................... 167 C 11 ............................................... 168 C 12 ............................................... 170 C 13 ............................................... 172 C 14 ............................................... 173 C 15 ............................................... 175 C 16 ............................................... 176 C 17 ............................................... 178 C 18 ............................................... 179 C 19 ............................................... 180 C 20 ............................................... 182 C 21 ............................................... 184 C 22 ............................................... 185 Keynote Addresses 27th Aug ......... 187 D 1 ................................................. 189 D 2 ................................................. 189 D 3 ................................................. 192 D 4 ................................................. 194 D 5 ................................................. 197 D 6 ................................................. 200 D 7 ................................................. 203

JURE Pre-Conference.................... 9 Keynote Address .............................. 9 Workshops........................................ 9 Paper session 1 ................................ 12 Paper session 2 ................................ 13 Paper session 3 ................................ 14 Paper session 4 ................................ 15 Paper session 5 ................................ 16 Paper session 6 ................................ 17 Paper session 7 ................................ 18 Main Conference ........................... 20 Opening Address ............................. 20 A 1................................................... 20 A 2................................................... 24 A 3................................................... 26 A 4................................................... 29 A 5................................................... 31 A 6................................................... 34 A 7................................................... 36 A 8................................................... 39 A 9................................................... 41 A 10................................................. 44 A 11................................................. 46 A 12................................................. 49 A 13................................................. 51 A 14................................................. 53 A 15................................................. 56 A 16................................................. 58 A 17................................................. 60 A 18................................................. 64 A 19................................................. 67 A 20................................................. 69 A 21................................................. 73 A 22................................................. 76 A 23................................................. 79 A 24................................................. 82 A 25................................................. 84 Keynote Addresses 26th Aug .......... 87 B 1 ................................................... 89 B 2 ................................................... 92 B 3 ................................................... 95 B 4 ................................................... 97 B 5 ................................................. 100 B 6 ................................................. 103 B 7 ................................................. 105 B 8 ................................................. 108 –3–

D 8................................................. 204 D 9................................................. 207 D 10............................................... 209 D 11............................................... 212 D 12............................................... 215 D 13............................................... 218 D 14............................................... 220 D 15............................................... 223 D 16............................................... 225 D 17............................................... 228 D 18............................................... 230 D 19............................................... 233 D 20............................................... 235 D 21............................................... 238 D 22............................................... 241 D 23............................................... 243 D 24............................................... 246 D 25............................................... 248 D 26............................................... 251 E 1 ................................................. 254 E 2 ................................................. 255 E 3 ................................................. 257 E 4 ................................................. 258 E 5 ................................................. 260 E 6 ................................................. 261 E 7 ................................................. 263 E 8 ................................................. 264 E 9 ................................................. 266 E 10 ............................................... 267 E 11 ............................................... 269 E 12 ............................................... 270 E 13 ............................................... 272 E 14 ............................................... 273 E 15 ............................................... 275 E 16 ............................................... 277 E 17 ............................................... 278 E 18 ............................................... 280 E 19 ............................................... 281 E 20 ............................................... 282 E 21 ............................................... 284 E 22 ............................................... 285 E 23 ............................................... 287 F 1 ................................................. 289 F 2 ................................................. 292 F 3 ................................................. 294 F 4 ................................................. 297 F 5 ................................................. 299 F 6 ................................................. 301 F 7 ................................................. 304

F 8.................................................. 307 F 9.................................................. 309 F 10................................................ 312 F 11................................................ 315 F 12................................................ 317 F 13................................................ 319 F 14................................................ 322 F 15................................................ 324 F 16................................................ 327 F 17................................................ 330 F 18................................................ 332 F 19................................................ 335 F 20................................................ 338 F 21................................................ 340 F 22................................................ 343 F 23................................................ 346 F 24................................................ 348 F 25................................................ 350 F 26................................................ 353 Posters G........................................ 356 Teacher Education and Professional Development............. 356 Motivation and Emotion................ 363 Learning and Teaching .................. 370 Literacy Questions ........................ 375 Instructional Technology............... 380 Studies on the quality of school (BIQUA) ............................ 389 Round Table G 1 ........................... 393 Round Table G 2 ........................... 393 Round Table G 3 ........................... 394 Round Table G 4 ........................... 394 Round Table G 5 ........................... 394 Round Table G 6 ........................... 395 Round Table G 7 ........................... 395 Round Table G 8 ........................... 395 Round Table G 9 ........................... 396 Round Table G 10 ......................... 396 Round Table G 11 ......................... 397 Round Table G 12 ......................... 397 Round Table G 13 ......................... 397 Round Table G 14 ......................... 398 Round Table G 15 ......................... 398 Round Table G 16 ......................... 398 Round Table G 17 ......................... 399 Round Table G 18 ......................... 399 Round Table G 19 ......................... 400 Round Table G 20 ......................... 400 Round Table G 21 ......................... 400 –4–

CIT G 22 ....................................... 401 CIT G 23 ....................................... 401 CIT G 24 ....................................... 401 G 25 (Meeting some Journal Editors) ............................. 402 Keynote Addresses 28th Aug ......... 403 H 1................................................. 405 H 2................................................. 407 H 3................................................. 410 H 4................................................. 413 H 5................................................. 416 H 6................................................. 418 H 7................................................. 421 H 8................................................. 423 H 9................................................. 425 H 10............................................... 428 H 11............................................... 430 H 12............................................... 432 H 13............................................... 436 H 14............................................... 438 H 15............................................... 440 H 16............................................... 443 H 17............................................... 446 H 18............................................... 449 H 19............................................... 451 H 20............................................... 454 H 21............................................... 457 H 22............................................... 459 H 23............................................... 463 H 24............................................... 466 H 25............................................... 468 H 26............................................... 471 J 1 .................................................. 474 J 2 .................................................. 475 J 3 .................................................. 477 J 4 .................................................. 478 J 5 .................................................. 480 J 6 .................................................. 481 J 7 .................................................. 483 J 8 .................................................. 484 J 9 .................................................. 485 J 10 ................................................ 487 J 11 ................................................ 489 J 12 ................................................ 490 J 13 ................................................ 492 J 14 ................................................ 493 J 15 ................................................ 495 J 16 ................................................ 496 J 17 ................................................ 498

J 18 ................................................ 499 J 19 ................................................ 501 J 20 ................................................ 502 J 21 ................................................ 504 J 22 ................................................ 505 J 23 ................................................ 507 K 1 ................................................. 509 K 2 ................................................. 511 K 3 ................................................. 513 K 4 ................................................. 516 K 5 ................................................. 517 K 6 ................................................. 521 K 7 ................................................. 524 K 8 ................................................. 526 K 9 ................................................. 528 K 10 ............................................... 531 K 11 ............................................... 533 K 12 ............................................... 536 K 13 ............................................... 538 K 14 ............................................... 541 K 15 ............................................... 543 K 16 ............................................... 546 K 17 ............................................... 549 K 18 ............................................... 551 K 19 ............................................... 554 K 20 ............................................... 556 K 21 ............................................... 559 K 22 ............................................... 561 K 23 ............................................... 564 Posters L ....................................... 567 Teacher Education and Professional Development............. 567 Motivation and Emotion................ 575 Assessment .................................... 581 Learning and Teaching .................. 587 Literacy ......................................... 593 Social aspects and collaboration.... 598 Round Table L 1............................ 603 Round Table L 2............................ 603 Round Table L 3............................ 603 Round Table L 4............................ 604 Round Table L 5............................ 604 Round Table L 6............................ 604 Round Table L 7............................ 605 Round Table L 8............................ 605 Round Table L 9............................ 606 Round Table L 10.......................... 606 Round Table L 11.......................... 606 Round Table L 12.......................... 607 –5–

Round Table L 13.......................... 607 Round Table L 14.......................... 608 Round Table L 15.......................... 608 Round Table L 16.......................... 608 Round Table L 17.......................... 609 Round Table L 18.......................... 609 Round Table L 19.......................... 609 Round Table L 20.......................... 610 CIT L 21........................................ 610 CIT L 22........................................ 611 CIT L 23........................................ 611 CIT L 24........................................ 611 Keynote Addresses 29th Aug ......... 612 Posters M....................................... 614 Culture, Learning and Schooling... 614 Teacher Education and Professional Development............. 618 Motivation and Emotion................ 626 Learning and Teaching.................. 632 Special Education.......................... 640 Round Table M 1........................... 645 Round Table M 2........................... 645 Round Table M 3........................... 645 Round Table M 4........................... 646 Round Table M 5........................... 646 Round Table M 6........................... 647 Round Table M 7........................... 647 Round Table M 8........................... 647 Round Table M 9........................... 648 Round Table M 10......................... 648 Round Table M 11......................... 648 Round Table M 12......................... 649 Round Table M 13......................... 649 Round Table M 14......................... 650 Round Table M 15......................... 650 Round Table M 16......................... 650 Round Table M 17......................... 651 Round Table M 18......................... 651 Round Table M 19......................... 651 Round Table M 20......................... 652 Round Table M 21......................... 652 CIT M 22....................................... 653 CIT M 23....................................... 653 N 1................................................. 654 N 2................................................. 655 N 3................................................. 657 N 4................................................. 658 N 5................................................. 660 N 6................................................. 661

N 7 ................................................. 663 N 8 ................................................. 664 N 9 ................................................. 666 N 10 ............................................... 667 N 11 ............................................... 669 N 12 ............................................... 670 N 13 ............................................... 672 N 14 ............................................... 673 N 15 ............................................... 674 N 16 ............................................... 676 N 17 ............................................... 677 N 18 ............................................... 679 N 19 ............................................... 680 N 20 ............................................... 682 N 21 ............................................... 684 Presidential Address ...................... 685 P 1.................................................. 686 P 2.................................................. 688 P 3.................................................. 690 P 4.................................................. 693 P 5.................................................. 695 P 6.................................................. 698 P 7.................................................. 701 P 8.................................................. 704 P 9.................................................. 706 P 10................................................ 708 P 11................................................ 711 P 12................................................ 715 P 13................................................ 718 P 14................................................ 720 P 15................................................ 722 P 16................................................ 725 P 17................................................ 728 P 18................................................ 731 P 19................................................ 733 P 20................................................ 736 P 21................................................ 739 Q 1 ................................................. 741 Q 2 ................................................. 742 Q 3 ................................................. 743 Q 4 ................................................. 745 Q 5 ................................................. 746 Q 6 ................................................. 748 Q 7 ................................................. 750 Q 8 ................................................. 751 Q 9 ................................................. 752 Q 10 ............................................... 754 Q 11 ............................................... 756 Q 12 ............................................... 757 –6–

Q 13............................................... 759 Q 14............................................... 761 Q 15............................................... 762 Q 16............................................... 763 Q 17............................................... 765

Q 18 ............................................... 767 Q 19 ............................................... 768 Keynote Address 30th Aug............. 770 List of Participants......................... 771

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Junior Researchers of EARLI (JURE) Keynote Address Improving research on learning and motivation: Challenges of epistemological diversity and alternative indigenous psychologies Simone Volet, Murdoch University, Western Australia Recent debates between cognitive, constructivist perspectives and sociocultural, situative perspectives have highlighted a period of epistemological diversity in research on learning and motivation. Calls for more explicit interrogation of assumptions underlying research on learning and motivation have been made. Similarly, the emergence of alternative cultural and indigenous psychologies alongside mainstream cross-cultural psychology has questioned implicit claims to universality of some learning and motivation concepts. This presentation will discuss and illustrate how such challenges can contribute to research on learning and motivation and raise new questions. Justifying our choices of epistemological grounding is not usually considered essential in times of perceived epistemological tranquillity or within research environments that prioritise the consolidation of one particular tradition. Discomfort and challenges are experienced in times or contexts of perceived epistemological diversity and by researchers committed to making explicit the assumptions and values underlying their own approach. Critical and dialectic reflection on epistemological grounding can be unsettling, yet may be critical to consider the biases underlying alternatives and make the soundest choice. Similarly, cultural psychologists have challenged mainstream educational psychology on a number of epistemological grounds, which has created opportunities for further research development. Interest in how collectivistically and individualistically oriented cultural and educational contexts may shape personal epistemologies, goal orientations and self-perceptions, is growing. Yet, it has been argued that while the determi-nants of some psychological constructs may vary across cultures, their functional properties reflect universals of human agency. Engaging with the complexity of person-context/culture relationships and interrogating alternative epistemological groundings may contribute to improving research on learning and motivation. Workshop 1 Optimising questionnaire design Tony Bastick, University of the West Indies, Jamaica This is intended to be an informative and enjoyable workshop on best practice and current ideas for optimally designing your questionnaires. The workshop focuses on how to design the most common forms of questionnaires: self administered and group administered questionnaires. The style of the workshop is to introduce best practice alternatives guided by theory - so participants can judge what is best for their own projects. To this end, a few optimising principles of questionnaire design will be introduced and applications of these principles will be illustrated and evaluated. This approach is intended to allow participants the choice of applying the workshop content to their own projects either directly as cookbook type recipes or with more contextappropriate and flexible understanding of the principles - as suits their needs and learning styles. The level of psychological and statistical complexity of the presentation will be matched, a well as is possible, to the current sophistication of those attending so that all participants can gain as much as possible from the workshop. The planned content is given below. However, to the extent that time and numbers allow, emphases, interactions and alternatives will be introduced on the day to

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meet the interests and needs of those researchers present. If participants have a questionnaire in process of development, they should bring it to the workshop for direct help and guidance. Content: (1) Types of questionnaires: Customising the response set (2) Maximising information collection: Know your needs- balancing quality and quantity (3) Prevalence vs. Perception - a sensitising concept: Problems with Likert, grounded ipsative scales (4) Making it easy to respond: Proxy measures and white space (5) Coding and codebooks: Weighting and creating indices (6) Presenting descriptive results: Maximising information delivery (7) Putting it all together: Sharing ideas and help with individuals’ problems Workshop 2 Helping doctoral students to finish their theses Kirsti Lonka, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden This session is a concrete process-writing workshop, with emphasis on psychological. Cognitive strategies, such as, generative writing and shared revision are applied, instead of practical advice on stylistic rules and grammar. The aim of the intervention is to reveal and then revise practices and ideas of writing that usually remain tacit. The theories and methods are applied by Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987), Olson (1994), Björk & Räisänen (1996), Boice (1990); Tynjälä, Mason, & Lonka (2001), Lonka & Ahola (1995), and Lonka (2003). The idea is to put the theories in action. The methods include focused free-writing exercises, using multiple drafts, training peerfeedback strategies, revealing the myths and revising mental models of writing, making tacit knowledge overt to discussion, and reflecting on our own writing practices and working habits. Supervisor/doctoral student – relation is also reflected on. Mental coaching techniques are also going to be applied, the aim of which is to increase the self-confidence of the participants and to encourage them in their future work. Workshop 3 How to motivate your research work?Fostering and activating researchers’ individual and social practices Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland Marjaana Rahikainen, University of Helsinki, Finland The idea of this workshop derives both from theoretical ideas of research on motivation but also from experience-based evidence of trying to innovate the traditional individually based research training culture. We focus on the theoretical ideas of motivation, such as achievements goals, selfregulation and motivation control (Zeidner, Boekaerts, & Pintrich, 2000; Volet & Järvelä, 2001) to frame to essential motivational processes in learning to become a researcher. The focus of this session is to present methods, processes, and activities to support individual researcher’s motivation, but especially explicate socially shared practices of research work in order to motivate students, supervisors and research groups to work towards common goals. A group of researchers /students is always more than a sum of its members! The methods used include action-based exercises, case-based method, and joint brainstorming. We will begin with analysing the current practices of the participants, and by working with the issues such as, what kind of periodical (weekly/monthly) research-training activities can be used for activating and motivating shared social practices? How technology can be used for collaborating with distant colleagues and building virtual teams?, How to enhance the expert-novice interaction? In conclusion, the aim is to – 10 –

help seeing concrete ways how each individual can influence his/her own research as well as social practices within a research team in positive and productive way. Workshop 4 Identification and assessment of knowledge building Marlene Scardamalia & Carl Bereiter, OISE,University of Toronto, Canada Knowledge building, in contrast to learning, is the construction of knowledge of value to a community. Its economic significance is now widely recognized, under labels such as “knowledge creation” (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995), “intellectual capital” (Stewart, 1995), and “knowledgebased innovation” (Drucker, 1986). Below the graduate school level, however, knowledge building remains a rarity in education. This workshop will focus on clarifying what it means to carry out knowledge building in educational settings (see Scardamalia & Bereiter, in press, http://www.ikit.org/fulltext/inpressKB.pdf) and on distinguishing it from approaches such as guided discovery, project-based, and problem-based learning (see Bereiter & Scardamalia, in press, http://www.ikit.org/fulltext/inresslearning.pdf). Besides dealing with these issues at a conceptual level, the workshop will include hands-on analysis of transcripts of actual studentgenerated databases. Assessment of knowledge building focuses on advances in the “state of knowledge” in a classroom or other group, and on the sociocognitive processes by which a community’s knowledge advances, not simply on individual knowledge acquisition. Assessment models to be applied include Knowledge Building Principles (Scardamalia, 2002) and Knowledge Building Indicators (Chan & Van Aalst, 2001). There will also be a brief introduction of other relevant assessment and analytic methods, several of which are currently under development. Workshop 5 Quality in qualitative research: Procedures to check the quality of your data and data analyses Wilfried Admiraal, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands As in quantitative research, doing qualitative research asks for procedures to check the quality of your data and data analyses. Although the more traditional terms reliability and validity are often replaced with other concepts, the underlying principles are similar. In this 2-hrs workshop, the participants will be introduced into various procedures to check the quality of qualitative research. Then in thematic subgroups of 3 or 4 participants, they will be working on the procedures they plan to use in their own PhD-projects. The results will be plenary discussed clustered in 3 or 4 themes. Preparation of the participants: Each participant has to prepare one page on issues they want to resolve in their own research project on the topic of quality checks of the qualitative data and/or analyses. Workshop 6 Assessment as a learning tool: The use of portfolios Harm Tillema, Leiden University, The Netherlands Assessment is increasingly being recognized as a valuable tool for improving performance, as well as for appraising it. This has proven true especially with regard to professional learning. Portfolios as one of the more prominent instruments can be utilized as learning tools for competence development because of their ability to monitor and appraise changes in performance. Assessment by means of portfolios entails compiling evidence about performance and providing relevant feedback about individual practices. A developmental approach to portfolio construction may help to disclose possibilities and opportunities for further learning in different (i.e., changing) contexts. – 11 –

Portfolios as tools to document and assess work-related performance can be variously structured. Reviewing the impact of portfolios might reveal which approach to portfolio use is best suited to deal effectively with professional learning. From the literature on portfolios several types can be identified: for instance the performance dossier-type portfolio, the reflective learning portfolio and the course related learning portfolio. Despite differences in types, important advantages of portfolios lie in their ability to identify strengths and weaknesses in performance, to develop awareness of competence and to resolve discrepancies between (external) standards and achieved performance. The most important feature probably is the way portfolios capture achievements under realistic circumstances and record them using authentic evidence and tangible products. The portfolio as a tool organizes the evidence collection process. Utilization of this information is the crucial part of the process: the portfolio collection needs to be appraised, scrutinized and arranged to be of use for future action or development. In this respect, what needs to be examined is the relevance and quality of the collected information as a learning opportunity, which is probably greatly influenced by the type of portfolio. The workshop, then, deals with finding ways of rating the quality of portfolio use, i.e., as a tool to provide feedback to the learner. Workshop 7 International research: Problem and potentialities Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, Italy Doing international research is nowadays a must for good researchers. The European commission and various committees require more and more to submit collective proposals. This means not only institutions from different countries but also of different natures, such as universities, schools, local institutions, and so on. This complexity implies new technical skills as well as new social and professional competencies. During the workshop there will be two interactive moments: (a) A few international researches will be shortly presented such as CL-net, Itcole and Euroland. Through those experiences cultural differences emerged both in terms of educational attitude and social organization; (b) Participants will be asked to describe international experiences they participated to or they hear about. Both moments will be guided by the following questions: What are the advantages of being “international”? How to be at the same time “international” and “local”? How educational researchers can represent the “voice” of the schools (teachers and students) when working within an international framework? How to deal with different cultures? How to manage langua-ge differences? What educational topics/domains are more suitable for international research? A few theoretical approaches able to sustain the reflection upon potentialities and problems of international researches will be proposed. In particular, the social representation theory, coming from social psychology and the “multivoice” concept introduced by Backtin. In conclusion of the workshop it is expected that guidelines be sketched for effective international research. Paper session 1: Motivation & Emotion Motivational self-regulation and volition in technology-based learning environments Hanna Järvenoja, University of Oulu, Finland The learning situations of our modern society are increasingly complex and variable and learners’ have to take more responsibility of their own learning. For example, technology-based environments make a new challenge, and there is research evidence showing that there are divergences how learners react and contribute in these situations. Learner’s capability for selfregulation and exerting motivational and emotional control has been shown to be useful in describing these individual differences of learning processes. The aim of this study is to – 12 –

understand motivation and volition as a part of a self-regulated learning in new technology-based learning environments. One of the specific questions to be considered is volitional processes in technology-based learning contexts. The main aim is to find out how motivational self-regulation is constructed and what is the role of volitional processes in that context. One of the aims is develop new methodological tools to study the volitional processes in research on motivational self-regulation. Motivation in collaborative enquiry-based project-work Angela Chow, The University of Hong Kong This study investigated the motivation of about 250 secondary school students participating in a 4month collaborative enquiry-based “Peer Tutoring Award” project. A questionnaire was developed comprising items from the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Deci, 1985) and new items that specifically elicited students’ perceptions towards the social and enquiry dimensions of the learning task. A five-factor motivation model was established using confirmatory factor analysis (CFI= 0.92; NFI=0.92; RMSEA=0.091) comprising the Project Work Factor, Social Learning Factor, Learning Motivation Factor, Others’ Perception towards Self Factor and Group Pressure Factor. The model suggests that students’ motivation towards learning in collaborative enquirybased project work and traditional learning tasks are different. Moreover, it was found that the award winners scored significantly higher in the first three factors compared to the non-awardwinners’ in both pre and post project data, indicating stronger positive engagement in project work for this group of students, which can be taken as an indication of the validity of the model. Perceptions of classroom climate and students’ emotional experiences in mathematics Christiane Zirngibl & Reinhard Pekrun, University of Munich, Germany Correlational and multilevel approaches were used to analyse the relationship between students’ perceptions of their classroom environments and their emotional experiences in mathematics. Environmental characteristics conveying control as well as value to the students proved to be tightly linked with students’ experience of enjoyment, anxiety, anger, and boredom in mathematics (cf. Pekrun’s control-value theory of academic emotions, 2000). Multilevel modelling further revealed that relationships between environmental variables and emotional experiences seem to have a major impact on the individual level. Observed relationships are assumed to be based on reciprocal linkages, with features of the environment influencing how an individual feels, but the emotional experiences also affecting the perception of one’s environment. Paper session 2: Conceptual change The organisation of knowledge and pupils’ understandings: Fourteen-year olds work on environmental issues Karolina Österlind, Stockholm University, Sweden The paper examines the conditions for learning in an instruction were so called real-life issues serve as organising centres, and domain specific knowledge are brought to the fore in the activities within these issues. The paper presents empirical examples from a study on pupils (14 year olds) work on environmental issues concerning the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer. Data consists of tape-recorded conversations in instruction and the material that the pupils produce in writing. It is shown that the pupils confuse the two environmental issues. This confusion seems to be due to difficulties in understanding the scientific concepts that are brought to the fore. In the pupils interpretation of the individual concepts different conceptual contexts – 13 –

arise, and pupils’ difficulties are described as problems of differentiating between these contexts for interpretation. The result illustrates some difficulties that the learner may encounter in this kind of organisation of knowledge. The result also provide a basis for arguing that it is fruitful to regard the pupils difficulties as being one of problems of differentiation between conceptual contexts, rather than as problems of conceptual change. Turkish pupils' conceptions of evaporation Yezdan Tuncer, University of Warwick, United Kingdom This paper describes year 6, 8 & 11 (13, 15 and 17 years old respectively) Turkish pupils’ views about the evaporation of water and cologne. 300 Turkish students ranging in age from twelve to eighteen years were the participants in this research. Two open-ended questions were asked to obtain pupils' understanding about evaporation. As well as these written responses, 10 students of various year groups were interviewed. Three main categories such as correct answers, partially correct answers and incorrect answers were used in the description of results. The analysis of both written responses and interviews showed that year 6 pupils had difficulties with the understanding of evaporation of water than the evaporation of cologne. The findings of this study are important to design appropriate teaching strategies to teach evaporation concept in schools. 13 year old students' conceptions about global warming Tiina Nevanpää, University of Jyväskylä, Finland In this study 13-year-old Finnish students conceptions about global warming prior instruction was studied by using a questionnaire with free-response items. By utilising a phenomenographic approach to analyse responses of 379 students, qualitatively different ways to conceptualise global warming could be found. According to empirical evidence Finnish students do have some knowledge about global warming but also lack of understanding and misunderstandings were identified. Students were able to express some causes and consequences of global warming but typically couldn’t explain the processes involved or the explanations were not in accordance with scientific view. Global warming was also incorrectly connected with ozone layer depletion. For Finnish students TV-news along school are important sources of environmental information. Paper session 3: Computer-based learning & design Case-based computerized experiments and their effect on visualization skills of high-school chemistry students Irit Sasson, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology Yehudit J. Dori, MIT, Cambridge, USA The importance of integrating experiments into chemistry teaching is well documented. Researchers emphasized both the theoretical aspects – fostering meaningful learning, as well as stimulating critical scientific thinking, and the practical aspects – self-experiencing by carrying out and monitoring processes and phenomena. However, during the last two decades, most of the laboratory experiments in high school chemistry in Israel are performed in tenth grade and they are rare in twelfth grade. Our project was aimed at integrating computerized experiments into chemistry teaching. We developed a study unit that integrates case-based computerized laboratories with emphasis on scientific inquiry. The research includes about 200 honors 12th grade students from various high schools. We investigated students’ visualization skills and their ability to transfer chemical knowledge to a new learning situation. We found a significant – 14 –

improvement in the post-test students’ scores compared with the pre-test in all higher order thinking skills that were tested. Designing teaching-learning environments that promote the flexible application of knowledge Michael Bendorf, University of Göttingen, Germany A major goal of vocational apprenticeship is to prepare apprentices for flexible adaptation to problems and settings in practice. In contrast to this goal, apprentices do not often get the opportunity to solve complex problems and to develop important competencies. Beyond, they often get instruction, which prevents a flexible application of knowledge; their knowledge remains inert. By our project “Promoting the flexible application of knowledge in the in-firm training of bankers” promoted by the German Research Foundation we investigated the conditions and key characteristics of learning and knowledge transfer to help apprentices develop a flexible representation of knowledge by inducting them into an expert community of practice in banking. Based on our findings we designed three complex teaching-learning environments for customer consulting in banks to evaluate their effects on transfer performance. The results bring forth important implications for instruction. Secondary students’ dynamic modeling of experimental data Patrick H. M. Sins, Elwin R. Savelsbergh & Wouter R. van Joolingen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Computer modeling is a constructionist learning activity that is rapidly attracting more interest in science education. However, dynamic modeling, for secondary students, is quite a complex cognitive activity and should be undertaken with proper support. This implicates that both the task and the computer-based modeling tool must be designed to provide an optimal support for students’ thinking processes. However, little research has attempted to describe reasoning processes involved in students’ modeling. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to characterize secondary students’ dynamic modeling processes. Twenty-six secondary students, working in dyads, were asked to improve a given model in the domain of physics. Modeling activities and conversations between students were recorded and transcribed. A coding scheme was developed and employed in order to capture: a) the type of reasoning process, b) the topic students are reasoning about, and c) the argumentation they employ for their reasoning. It seemed that most dyads were found to have a strong focus on quantifying variables in their model. Still, students greatly differed with respect to elaborateness of their approach to the modeling assignment. Based on the outcomes of the present study, suggestions for scaffolds in order to support students’ reasoning in a dynamic modeling tool are discussed. Paper session 4: Qualitative research methods Finnish students’ conceptions of Lutheranism Elina Hella, University of Helsinki, Finland Findings of my study of religious education are presented and evaluated. The study focused on the meanings of Lutheranism as understood by Finnish secondary students between 16 and 19 years of age. The qualitative approach of the study was based on the phenomenographic tradition, which provided theoretical and a methodological framework for the study. Written answers to the projective essay question were collected from 33 secondary students during two Religious Education classes. Furthermore, 12 students were interviewed with semi-structural procedure according to qualitatively different meanings found in their essays. The six categories of – 15 –

description as the results of the analysis and the whole research process are evaluated in terms of understanding phenomenography. Furthermore, educational implications and aspects for further research are considered. Researching an essay: A phenomenographic study Mandy Lupton, Australian National University Over the last decade, information literacy has emerged as an agenda in all sectors of education. Dominant models of information literacy in formal education consist of standards and process models that are based primarily on the librarians’ expert perspective. Alternative models that explore the information users’ experience are based on phenomenographic studies. This paper describes a study of undergraduates’ ways of experiencing information literacy through researching an essay. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 20 students enrolled in a first-year environmental science course. An outcome of this study is that information literacy is framed as a learning approach. These results have significance for students, teachers, librarians, academic skills advisors, academic developers and administrators in higher education. The development and facilitation of reflective thinking Helen Krige & Sarah Gravett, Rand Africaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa Since the first democratic election in South Africa, a new curriculum (Curriculum 2005) has been developed within the South African Education system. An important outcome is the use of outcomes based principles to enable all learners to reach their maximum learning potential. The National Curriculum Statements (2002) claims that in adopting integrated and applied competence, an integrated learning of theory, practice and reflection can be promoted. However, how reflection can be developed to improve learning is not explained. The purpose of this paper was to explore and describe within an Action Research design, the development and facilitation of reflection of undergraduate student teachers. These students participated in e-learning discussions, which is a compulsory component of their course. The results indicated that e-learning could be a useful tool in the development of reflection if the necessary supportive tools are utilised. Paper session 5: Elaboration & Language Concrete elaboration measured by read/think aloud protocols Herman Jonker & Jos Beishuizen, Leiden University, The Netherlands In order to study the relationship between concrete elaboration and the role of main ideas and examples in study texts, we first need to establish a reliable and valid instrument to assess concrete elaboration. Concrete elaboration has been defined by Vermunt (Vermunt & Van Rijswijk, 1988) as “relating course contents to concrete things that are already known, such as personal experiences, concrete visual images, events in daily reality, practical applications”. A subscale of Vermunt’s Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) is intended to measure concrete elaboration. In the context of the research reported here we needed an assessment procedure in which text comprehension was directly monitored and recorded. We designed an experiment in which participants had to think aloud during reading an expository text. The text consisted of theory paragraphs and example paragraphs. The think aloud protocols that the participants conveyed were scored on a slightly modified version of Vermunt’s taxonomy (1988). Which processes, that we accounted for in our scoring sheet, can be regarded as predominantly apparent during or directly after reading example paragraphs and which ones predominate in theory paragraphs in relation to concrete elaboration, as measured by the ILS subscale from Vermunt. Thirty seventeen-year old – 16 –

secondary school pupils were included by having them fill in the concrete elaboration subscale of the ILS. It was expected that high concretisers would come up with examples when reading a theoretical paragraph. Whereas low concretisers were expected to naturally focus on example paragraphs and start elaborating form there. A further aim of this study was to examine the proportions of frequencies of the processes accounted for, for further hypothesis formation. Spelling difficulties in French learners: Psycholinguistic analysis and educational perspectives Julie Franck,University of Geneva, Switzerland George Hoefflin, High school for pedagogy, Lausanne, Switzerland A number of French speaking children show difficulties in developing writing abilities given the high complexity of the orthographic system. In order to shed light on the nature of these difficulties, the present research examines the written productions of 7 children (mean age 10) in comparison to a control group of 22 age-matched normally developing children. Orthographic errors produced by the two groups in a dictation task are analysed according to the linguistic classification of Catach (1986). Analyses reveal: (1) important difficulties with grammatical morphology, both in the control group and in the impaired group, (2) a globally higher error rate for impaired children as compared to the control group (above 2 SD), and (3) a predominance of phonetic errors in the impaired group, while these are nearly inexistent in the productions of normally developing children. Importantly, the proportion of phonetic errors in impaired children was found to vary as a function of the global error rate. Our results underline the importance to provide explicit phonetic instructions on the side of morphographic teaching to children with spelling difficulties. Assessing and evaluating beliefs about language and their influences on language competencies Nina Jude, German Institute for International Educational Research One important factor of language competence is language awareness, which is traditionally assessed through tests of pragmatic and grammatical language competencies. So far, empirical evaluation rarely considers beliefs about language, an additional part of the traditional language awareness approach, to be a relevant factor influencing language competencies. This includes knowledge and beliefs about formal, pragmatic and socio-linguistic features of language use. In this empirical research, the following questions are investigated: Are there different beliefs about language in 9th grade students that can be assessed by a newly designed questionnaire? How do these beliefs influence students’ competencies in German as their mother language? Empirical data of 261 9th-grade students from a nation wide representative language assessment in Germany were used in the study. Students worked on reading, vocabulary, and grammar tests in German, in addition, a new designed questionnaire on language-related beliefs was administered. Different language related beliefs were compared to student’s language proficiency. Paper session 6: Social context in learning Supporting pre-service teachers’ self-regulated learning: An activity theoretical perspective Stefanie Chye, National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Teaching itself has today, become a learning profession. This suggests that supporting teachers’ self-regulated learning (SRL) is now an educational imperative. Over the last decades, individualistic views have dominated studies in this area. With the advent of social and situative perspectives of learning, studies need to take up the analytic challenge of portraying the settingrelated factors that matter most in facilitating teachers’ SRL. To address these challenges, the – 17 –

theory of activity is adopted as framework. Activity theory suggests that teachers’ SRL must be understood as embedded within the interactions occurring in the social milieu. Based on an exploratory case study of a module aimed to facilitate SRL in pre-service teachers, this paper reports on the results obtained through data collection strategies of a qualitative nature. The preliminary results of this pilot study highlight the importance of features of the social context, including the role of various modes of classroom discourse in supporting the metacognitive aspects of SRL. Motivation in a person-context perspective: Performer-audience relationships Susan Beltman, Murdoch University, Western Australia The aim of this research is to examine how person-context relationships shape the motivation of elite athletes and musicians. Onlookers (spectators or audience) form part of the context in performance settings (competitions or concerts). There is a lack of research regarding the relationship between performers and onlookers and this study examines links between such relationships and performer motivation. The use of qualitative methods addresses some of the methodological challenges associated with capturing a dynamic, reciprocal construct. Results showed that the nature of the relationship between performers and onlookers was shaped through the interface of different contextual and individual factors. The nature of the performer-onlooker relationship acted as an enabling or constraining influence in relation to participant motivation. The study provides support for conceptualising motivation as a complex, dynamic, interactive construct. The value of using qualitative research methods to examine person-context relationships is discussed. The role of exploration in the internalisation of religious beliefs: Integrating self-determination and identity formation theories Maya Cohen-Malayev & Avi Assor, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel The aim of this paper is to examine the process of internalising religious values in young adults. The joint consideration of Identity Formation theories (Marcia, 1993) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT, Deci & Ryan, 2000) suggested the importance of the exploration process (Marcia, 1993) to the development of successful value internalisation (SDT). The attempt to incorporate the notion of exploration into SDT, suggested that one of the relatively high levels of internalisation posited by SDT – identified motivation – actually includes two distinct phases or paths: explorative and non-explorative. A questionnaire designed to assess religious internalisation and exploration was distributed to Modern Orthodox Jews in there 20’s. Smallest Space Analyses (Gutman, 1968) and correlational analyses supported the distinction between explorative and nonexplorative identified, and revealed the existence of several types of religious exploration. However, the scope of the exploration, which is needed to obtain a stable religious identity, appeared narrower then hypothesised. Paper session 7: Professional development University students’ narratives of qualitative changes during internship in ways of experiencing situations’ meaning Kicki Ahlberg, University of Goteborg, Sweden The most advanced form of learning can be defined as qualitatively changed ways of experiencing something. Why some individuals are able to perform an assignment better than others appears related to in which way s/he experiences each assignment. The way an individual sees an – 18 –

assignment accordingly stipulates what competence that person is able to develop. Development of competence thus demands the ability of changing one’s way of seeing the same assignment. Knowledge formation of learning and competence needs to build on research into how processes of changing ways of understanding something are experienced. The aim of this research project is to seek knowledge about whether students experience qualitative changes in ways of understanding something as meaningful processes, if they are able to narrate the processes and if so to obtain knowledge about what is seen to constitute such experiences. Narratives from two years final term university students confirm that students experience changing ways of experiencing something as meaningful processes and are able to narrate them. Phenomenographic data analyses show that knowledge can be obtained about what is experienced to constitute such processes. Six inclusive hierarchic categories of what is seen to constitute changing ways of experiencing something were found: A) Restructuring of one’s Awareness as shifts in Whole/Parts, Perspective, Comparisons and Figure/Ground and B) Addition of Something New by Achieving Results or Receiving Information. The results lead to and are to be theoretically elucidated by Variation Theory of Learning. Continuing professional learning for facilitators of distance learning: A strategy towards lifelong learning Jean Grundling, Learning Developer at the University of South Africa (UNISA) There is a major drive in South Africa to reshape the higher education landscape. This drive has necessitated new development in teaching and learning practices. However, the remaining critical question is, whether the academic staff of higher education institutions are equipped to accept all the changes and to become effective facilitators of learning to ensure that the learners are ready to enter the new world of work. This paper reports on work in progress in research, focussing on the continuing professional learning in specifically distance learning institutions as a vehicle to address some of the needs of the facilitators of distance learning. The aim of the study is to investigate and assess the continuing professional learning needs of newly appointed, as well as experienced facilitators of adult learning at distance learning institutions. This paper includes an overview of the rationale of the study, a description of the need for, and significance of continuing professional learning for distance learning facilitators, and a description of the research design and methodology. Practical nurses’ conceptions of personally relevant learning experiences Katri Luukka, University of Helsinki, Finland The study aim is to elaborate and describe practical nurses´ conceptions of personally relevant learning experiences during their education and working in elderly care. The purpose of this study is to increase the authority awareness of issues, which considers practical nurses choices to study and work in elderly care. This paper considers a brief introduction to practical nurse education in Finland and also a presentation of the preliminary research findings of the dissertation study.

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Opening Address

26th Aug

13:30-14:20

Room

PSY 2 D

The role of social dimensions into the learning processes Luciano Arcuri, University of Padova The learning and instruction processes does not occur in a vacuum. The way in which individuals in a classroom perform academic tasks, perceive each other, and interact is strongly influenced by the representation and evaluation systems of the persons themselves. On the other hand, the educational system does not confine itself to the attitudes that students and teachers derive from the outside. The educational system often becomes a social environment, able to reduce or enhance the meaning, functions and trend of the processes of construction of students’ social identity. The aim of this talk is to present and discuss conceptual aspects which refer to the overlapping zone of the social and cognitive dimensions of the educational experience. My aim is also to consider the results of two lines of research developed by the social psychologists of the DPSS in Padova. In particular, in light of new approaches to the study of prejudice, data stressing the role of teachers in organising how young students belonging to a majority group perceive and evaluate behaviours of minority group members will be presented. Finally, results obtained in a study on school performances of male and female students in gender-stereotypic academic tasks will be presented and discussed. A1

26th Aug

14:30-16:30

Room BIO G C

EARLI Invited Symposium NEW PATHWAYS IN THE FIELD OF TEACHER EDUCATION (Part 1) Organisers: Chairs: Discussant:

Frank Achtenhagen, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Frank Achtenhagen, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Roger Säljö, University of Göteborg, Sweden

The symposium tries to bring together new approaches in the field of teacher education with the special focus on longitudinal development of teachers’ knowledge of Science and teaching, of Mathematics and teaching, and of improving Mathematics and Science instruction. In this context also questions of the diagnostic of teaching competencies and of the integration of formative assessment, teaching and learning in teacher education arise. All presentations show new and alternative ways of how to describe, analyze and evaluate teaching behavior by concentrating on teaching over time. This point marks a decisive step into the direction of treating teacher education and subject didactics not under a “lesson-perspective” but under the perspective of development over time. By that, new insights are gained which help to re-organize teacher training programs; it is remarkable that measurement and diagnostic instruments can also be used for teacher training purposes. Arzi & White report on interviews with Science teachers which include a period of 17 years. The results show very little development of Science teachers’ knowledge of Science. Baumert reports on an additional study within the PISA research exercise which bases on a model of teacher expertise that distinguishes between subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical classroom knowledge on the one hand, and declarative and procedural knowledge and epistemological beliefs on the other – with special focus on pedagogical – 20 –

content knowledge in Mathematics. The research is done by video-taped classroom episodes which have to be commented on by means of a computer. Prenzel and Ostermeier present findings of a German nation-wide project to increase the efficiency of Mathematics and Science teaching. There is a concentration on eleven modules which show the major teaching deficiencies in the subjects. The study tries to enhance co-operation of teachers and schools for a collaborative quality management – by 180 schools involved. Oser and Renold report on a study on standards of the teaching profession where they try to develop a diagnostic instrument for measuring the quality of the competence profiles of teachers who work in the field of professional learning environments. By a Delphi study important situation related teaching acts in different fields are identified. Film vignettes, then, shall be developed which visualize positive and negative examples for comparable situations. These films shall then be used for stimulating teachers’ reactions to these scenes and, thus, for training them. Shavelson focuses on formative assessment of students’ behavior and the corresponding necessary teacher capabilities to run this assessment efficiently and effectively. All presentations focus on empirical research and provide new insight into necessities of teacher education. They suggest very new pathways in this field. The time dimension in teacher education: Perspectives from a longitudinal study of science teachers Hanna Arzi, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia Richard T. White, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia In many countries, the tertiary education of secondary school teachers occurs in three phases: (1) pre-service acquisition of subject matter; (2) pre-service learning of didactics, history and philosophy of education, and psychology; (3) in-service learning, either to acquire new didactic skills, to get acquainted with new curricular materials and assessment requirements, or to refresh and update subject-matter knowledge. The phases are sequential but not necessarily continuous. Coordination among the phases is questionable, as they are usually planned and carried out by different institutions or authorities. Since research on teacher education rarely extends beyond a single phase, the total effects of the three phases remain hidden. Consequently, there is an insufficient knowledge base for long-term planning of teacher development. Our paper is concerned with the time dimension in teacher education and in research on teacher education. It is based on our follow-up of science teachers from the end of their science studies (phase 1 above) through 17 years of teaching experience. The longitudinal follow-up adopted a mixed research design, intertwining both cross-sectional and retrospective design elements. Between 1985 and 1987, young science graduates were interviewed during their pre-service training (phase 2 above) and then observed and interviewed during their first two years of school teaching. Nearly all participants of the 1985-1987 longitudinal study – both those who continued teaching and those who opted out – were traced and interviewed again in 2002. The study focused initially on change in teachers’ content understanding, yet views on school teaching and career patterns were also explored over time. In the paper, we will examine methodological issues in studying teachers longitudinally. We will describe insights that could not have been gained through short-term single-phase studies, and discuss implications for long-term teacher education. A longitudinal study of teachers’ knowledge of mathematics and teaching Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany The 2003 cycle of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) includes a longitudinal study on mathematics instruction. This study aims to investigate how teachers’ declarative and procedural professional knowledge and their epistemological beliefs about learning – 21 –

mathematics affect the design of learning opportunities in the mathematics classroom and the process of knowledge acquisition among 15-year-old students. The study is based on a model of teacher expertise that distinguishes between subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical classroom knowledge on the one hand, and declarative and procedural knowledge and epistemological beliefs on the other. The analyses focus on pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics. As a means of tapping teachers’ professional expert knowledge, a computer-based instrument was developed to involve teachers in a professional conversation about the planning and execution of their lessons using selected mathematics tasks and video-taped episodes from mathematics classrooms. This computer-based assessment instrument allows three aspects of teacher expertise to be examined: (1) evaluation and manipulation of mathematical tasks presented on the computer screen; (2) coping with critical events in videotaped mathematics lessons (unexpected ideas and student mistakes); (3) understanding different choreographies of mathematics instruction shown on video. During the development and testing of the instrument, it has emerged that, as well as being suitable for the analysis of teachers’ professional knowledge, the instrument can also be an effective method of teacher training. The teacher responses produced in the study provide excellent material that can be used to prepare trainee teachers for lesson analysis and design. Hence, the instrument represents a valuable tool for the development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. Improving mathematics and science instruction: A program for the professional development of teacher Manfred Prenzel, University of Kiel, Germany Christian Ostermeier, University of Kiel, Germany As a reaction to the insufficient results of Germany in the TIMS-Study a nation-wide pilot program to increase the efficiency of mathematics and science teaching has been started in 1998. In the quality development program 180 schools are involved. The program draws on three central characteristics. First, the program is highly problem-oriented and is based on relevant findings from research on learning and teaching in math and science. At the core of the program there are eleven modules which address the major deficiencies of science and mathematics instruction in Germany (e.g. the type and use of tasks in math or experiments in science, support of higher order thinking and cumulative learning). The modules sketch out approaches to teaching and learning which can be successfully changed by the teachers. Starting points for a collaborative effort to improve mathematics and science instruction are provided. So the second goal of the program is to promote processes of quality development at the level of the individual school. A third characteristic of the program is to foster the cooperation of practitioners (teachers, schools) and researchers (research in science and mathematics education, educational psychology) in local networks consisting of six schools. These local networks are integrated in a nationwide network with support structures (e.g. information management, teacher training, advice, provision of tools for self evaluation). Teachers and schools in that (also virtual) network are exchanging materials and experiences with innovative approaches in certain formats. In a long term approach the program aims at improving learning and teaching processes as well as outcomes, and with that, at the professional development of science and math teachers. Data from different approaches to evaluate the program show evidence for an ongoing progress in the collaborative quality development. Indicators for the acceptance of the program and the development of multiple cooperations between teachers in and between schools, changes in the professional understanding and in the teaching and learning approaches will be presented and discussed. Data from latent class analysis also show that there are differences between teachers in their approaches to innovation: teachers gathering and claiming for information, teachers claiming for guidance, and teachers who – 22 –

explore new approaches with high interest and engagement. These different types of teachers have to be supported in specific ways. The paper will discuss the data and experiences from the program and consequences for a nation-wide dissemination of that approach to improve math and science education in a collaborative effort. On the diagnostic of teaching competencies Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Ursula Renold, University of Fribourg, Switzerland In a new and comprehensive study on the standards of the teaching profession we try to develop a diagnostic instrument for measuring the quality of the competence profiles of teachers who work in the field of professional learning environments. First, in a Delphi study, we categorize important situation related teaching acts in different fields, such as teacher-learner-interaction, discipline problems, motivational problems, learning strategies, didactics etc. In a second step we will film vignettes in which these teaching acts are clearly represented in a positive and negative way. These filmstrips will be of high representational quality, and its function will be to stimulate reactions by experienced teachers, reactions that solve the respective situational problem, which is inherent in each filmstrip. Criteria for the choice of the situations are standard-orientation, instructional situatedness, content transparency, high possibility for a value judgement, transferability into testsettings, high representativity and exemplarity, good relatedness to professional acting etc. In a next and central part of our study we develop a diagnostic instrument that is of high reliability and validity. The basic idea is that teachers react in a certain way on the teaching vignettes and that these reactions can be systematized and valued on the basis of a theory on teaching standards. There are at least three cognitive framings of the vignette by a teacher, namely a) the description of the case, b) the judgment and justification of that judgment, and c) the proposed action alternatives. In a first phase experts must judge the same vignette with high interraterreliability. Here it is important that professionals differ significantly in their judgment from novices or from non-professionals with respect to declarative, procedural and strategic aspect of the respective teaching-learning situation. The tested person thus has two reference points, a) the expert and b) the non-expert. Adaptation to the situation means that their must be developed an coefficient on the distance from these two poles. In a second phase there will be developed an extern validation of the testing procedure. With the help of computer oriented working through the vignette the consistency of the behavior pattern of the respective teacher will be measured. With our test instrument we will be able to evaluate in an ecologically valid way teaching competencies of experienced teachers, then to plan interventions for the enhancement of the competence profiles of that teachers and finally to conceptualize new modules for teaching training situations of becoming teachers. On the integration of formative assessment teaching and learning in teacher education Richard J. Shavelson, Stanford University, USA In at least US and British education, student assessment is seen as something outside the regular course of teaching. Often it is done for summative purposes to provide grades or to inform and sometimes placate parents. The assessment stepchild is also apparent in teacher education programs where perhaps a “lecture” is given to teachers-in-training on “testing and assessment” or even a course is allocated, but the course conveys a very traditional notion of assessment, mostly teacher made tests and summative uses of tests. This situation is currently changing with the recognition of the importance of formative assessment in the improvement of student learning (especially as documented by Black and Wiliam in Britain). Two joint projects on formative – 23 –

assessment, one between Stanford and King’s College, London, and the other between Stanford and the University of Hawaii seek to devise ways of enhancing teachers’ capabilities to carry out formative assessment. The former focuses on teacher development of “informal” formative assessments, clinical assessment of students’ understanding in the ongoing flow of classroom activities. The other links such activities with “formal” formative assessment where assessments are designed on a conceptual model of achievement in a domain and embedded in curricular activities. In both cases, concern is with maximizing information gained by the teacher to bring about students’ understandings and conceptual changes by providing immediate feedback to students and teachers and focusing on reducing the gap between where the student is and where the student is to end up. Training, implementation, qualitative and randomized-trial data will be brought to bear on teachers' development of their assessment practices in the talk. A2

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G D

Symposium MOTIVATION IN EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS - ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO LOOK AT WAYS OF ACTING FROM A MOTIVATIONAL PERSPECTIVE Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland Doris Lewalter, University of FAF Munich, Germany Simone Volet, Murdoch University, Western Australia K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, USA

The aim of this symposium is to introduce a broad variety of new, even provocative ideas with respect to mainstream research on motivation. Traditional research has been concentrated on individual psychological processes of motivation in learning and they have been very seldom situated in classroom contexts or in processes of learning and instruction and can be also criticized not be solving real problems in educational settings (e.g. to optimise teaching and learning in certain classes or in new more flexible and open learning environments). In mainstream research on motivation there has been a tendency to investigate correlations in between motivational variables and achievement indicators and find in principle nothing real new: the relation is moderate high, and cannot be used to explain inter- and intraindividual differences in learning and achievement. All this is useful to understand the basic processes of human motivation and, indeed, there is plenty of studies to explore these kind of empirical relations. What is much more important is the question, how learning-related aspects of motivation can be fostered during teaching and learning process, in variety of learning environments and in education general as well as how motivational factors become a more or less integrated part of a persons self concept or identity. The research presented within the symposium particularly focus on social and content-related aspects of the educational contexts investigated. Students’ motivation and cognitive self-regulation in a new pedagogical culture – Context oriented and mixed method approach Hanna Salovaara, University of Oulu, Finland Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland Marjaana Rahikainen, University of Helsinki, Finland The aim of this paper is to study secondary school students’ cognitive and motivational selfregulation in computer supported collaborative context. Our assumption is that the new social and – 24 –

collaborative practices, with and without technology, challenges traditional motivation and selfregulation research by focussing on students’ engagement in the dynamic social activities in the immediate context of learning. This paper describes the results of the analysis of three years process-oriented interview data concerning secondary school students' goals and strategies in different computer supported collaborative inquiries. By looking at the ways secondary school students (N=18) at the age of 13-15 interpret and explain the different situations in new pedagogical context we are able to find out their subjective and context specific explanations. A mixed method model was used to compare the qualitative content analysis of interview data in different inquiry situations by non-parametric statistics. The data show how students’ explanations and interpretations of their goals and strategies vary in different inquiries. It can be concluded that the students seem to develop individual and contextual goals and strategies to self-regulate in the new pedagogical culture. Using multiple measures to assess students’ perceptions of classroom goal structures Tim Urdan, Santa Clara University, California, USA Achievement goal theory has become one of the preeminent theories of achievement motivation yet there are features of the theory that create significant measurement challenges for researchers. For example, it is not clear whether the goals that students pursue in a given situation are determined by relatively stable goal orientations held by each student or by specific situational demands. Similarly, research examining the influence of the learning environment on students’ goal pursuits has to date not adequately addressed how students attend to, interpret, and internalize multiple and ambiguous goal messages in the classroom or why students differ in their responses to the same goal messages. In the present study, I used a combination of methods to assess students’ goals and their perceptions of the goal messages in their classrooms. Using surveys, videotapes of classroom sessions, and interviews with teachers and students, I found that teachers rarely make their goals explicit, often present multiple goal messages, and that students often perceive the goal messages in the classroom differently than previous research would suggest. Age and achievement level differences in the interpretation of classroom goal messages are discussed. The influence of context and content on motivational orientations and emotional experiences in vocational education Doris Lewalter, University of the FAF, Munich, Germany Andreas Krapp, University of the FAF, Munich, Germany Based on theoretical considerations developed in the area of interest research (“person-object conception of interest”, POI; Krapp, 2002) it is assumed that there is no general but a contentspecific influence of learning contexts on motivation and motivationally relevant emotional experiences. To explore this assumption we investigated the impact of the learning context in the area of vocational education (training on the workplace vs. lessons about certain subjects in the company) on intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations and selected, motivationally relevant emotional experiences. In both contexts we distinguish between the assessment of the general contexts and the assessment of specific learning sequences. We are presenting results from an empirical study with trainees from 13 training groups within seven insurance companies (N=113). The students completed questionnaires assessing different motivational variables at the beginning and at the end of a sequence of about two weeks of vocational training. In addition experiencesampling-method was used to assess the emotional experience during the content-specific training situations. In accordance with our theoretical assumptions, the findings indicate only small differences with respect to intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations when the context is – 25 –

taken into account at the level of general characteristics. However, when comparing the effects at the level of specific sequence of teaching we find significant differences for content specific intrinsic motivational orientations and motivationally relevant emotional experiences. The results will be discussed with respect to theoretical and practical consequences. Engaged participation: A stridently sociocultural alternative to intrinsic motivation Daniel Hickey, University of Georgia, USA Sociocultural perspectives have been influential in efforts to broaden the study of achievement motivation. This presentation will explore the implications of the fundamental sociocultural assumption that knowledge resides in the context of its use. This “participatory” view of knowing and learning will contrasted with more conventional “acquisitory” views, and used to define a stridently sociocultural approach to engagement. Prior behavioral and cognitive views will be contrasted with the sociocultural notions of engaged participation in the co-construction of standards and values in learning contexts and maladaptive non-participation. This approach is compared to other ostensibly similar approaches that embrace some sociocultural assumptions while maintaining an acqusitory view of knowing and learning. The potential value of a strident approach will be explored with new data from a three-year classroom study that uses multiple perspectives to explore persistent tensions between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and between formative and summative assessment. A3

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G A

SIG Invited Symposium THE BACKWASH EFFECT OF ASSESSMENT ON LEARNING Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Mien Segers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Kari Smith, Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel Mien Segers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands David Nevo, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Alternatives in assessment have received much attention in the last decade and several forms of assessment have been introduced in various levels of education. Leading experts on learning and assessment are claiming the era of testing has changed in recent years into an era of assessment (Birenbaum, 1996). This change can be described on six dimensions: (1) from decontextualized to contextualized assessment, (2) from single numbers of measures to multiple number of measures, (3) from low levels of comprehension assessed to high levels of comprehension, (4) from few dimensions of intelligence to many dimensions of intelligence, (5) from isolated assessment to integrated assessment, (6) from teacher-centred assessment to student-centred assessment. The fifth dimension refers to the main function of assessment. In the so-called assessment culture, assessment procedures are seen not only as tools for crediting students but also, and to a growing importance, as valuable for monitoring and supporting students’ progress. It is expected that new modes of assessment will stimulate effective learning, as characterized within recent constructivist frameworks on learning. According to Moss (1995), Linn et al. (1991) and Haertel (1991), this backwash effect of assessment on education is an essential interpretative criterion for monitoring the quality of new modes of assessment, referred to as the consequential validity of assessment. To a growing extent, researchers in various contexts are exploring the backwash effects of new modes of assessment on learning. This symposium intends to present four research studies that contribute – 26 –

to the insight in the direct and indirect, intentional and unintended influences of new modes of assessment on student learning. Improving student learning through changing assessment – A conceptual and practical framework Graham Gibbs, Open University, United Kingdom Ranald Macdonald, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom A three year research study at the Open University and Sheffield Hallam University, in the UK, has been examining the way the design of assessment on a wide range of science courses affects the ways students go about their studying. Its starting point has been a set 11 conditions under which assessment best supports learning, based on theory and on empirical evidence from studies of strategic changes in assessment (Gibbs,1999; Gibbs, 2002; Gibbs and Simpson, in press). These conditions concern how assessment captures students time and effort and distribute it across a course, how assessment generates productive learning activity, how assessment provides sufficient prompt feedback, the quality of feedback, and how students respond to feedback and use it to inform subsequent learning. The way these characteristics of assessment systems operate in practice has been explored through interviews with students on a series of science courses at the Open University. The development of an ‘Assessment Experience Questionnaire’ (AEQ), which measures the extent to which the 11 conditions are met on courses, will be described. The AEQ has been administered to students on 14 Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy and Bioscience courses, each with different patterns of assessment. Problems have been identified in the volume and distribution of student effort and in the use students make of feedback. The project will go on to implement principled changes to assessment design on these courses and to study the impact of these changes on students’ responses and study patterns using the AEQ and other evaluation evidence. Do new assessment forms meet the expectations with regard to consequential validity? Sarah Gielen, University of Leuven, Belgium Sabine Dierick, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The Netherlands In line with the paradigm change in student evaluation matters, new assessment forms are studied from the perspective of (the awareness of ) the consequential validity. The research question is whether the characteristics of assessment are supporting the new key functions of assessment, and whether students recognised these advantages in there experiences with the assessment system. This study examined the consequential validity of a portfolio-based assessment, combined with formative peer-assessment, introduced in a first year teacher education program. The students (N=155) were asked what they thought the good features of this assessment were, and which suggestions they would make to improve it. Open questions were used and the answers were coded by two researchers. In reaction to the assessment, in which important characteristics were student involvement, authentic tasks, and integration into learning, students recognised all of the new key functions of assessment. The assessment was found to be valid and reliable as a markinginstrument. Moreover, students described the assessment as a tool to generate appropriate student learning activity, capture student time and attention, provide timely help and feedback, help students to internalise discipline’s standards and foster cooperative learning. They also appreciated strongly the clear relevance of the tasks for their professional apprenticeship and practice. Almost half of the respondents answered they would not change the assessment system; others had mainly practical remarks. A more fundamental suggestion of approximately 25% of the students was that they wanted even more feedback. We concluded that the theoretically assumed effects of – 27 –

assessment are found in practice, and that students recognise its new key functions as being fulfilled. A framework for project-based assessment in science education Yehudit J. Dori, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Israel and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA The project-based assessment framework has emerged as a common thread throughout three studies to be described in the symposium. In the project-based framework, new modes of assessment were woven in a way that constituted a natural extension of the learning itself rather than an external add-on. In three project-based learning studies, students were responsible for their own learning, teachers oversaw student teamwork, and community stakeholders were involved in school curriculum and assessment. In a school environment like this, higher order thinking skills and autonomous learning skills developed to a greater extent than in traditional learning settings. In the elementary school, the high level assignments, developed as research instruments, required a variety of higher order thinking skills and can therefore serve as a unique diagnostic tool. In the “Matriculation 2000” Project teachers improved students’ learning outcomes and shaped curriculum and instruction decisions at the school and classroom level through changing the assessment culture. The reform is a prelude to a transition from a nationwide standardized testing system to a school-based assessment system. The study that involved teachers has shown that projects can serve as a learning and assessment tool not only for students but also for teachers. Incorporating project-based assessment is recommended for both pre- and in-service teacher workshops, not only for serving as assessment means to evaluate teachers, but also for exposing them to new modes of assessment and encourage them to implement it in their classes. The findings of these studies indicate that project-based assessment when embedded throughout the teaching process has the unique advantage of fostering and assessing higher order thinking skills. The effect of assessing problem-solving skills on learning and teaching: The case of the overall test Mien Segers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands During the past decade, the assessment of students’ performances has been changed towards more accent on cognitive competencies such as problem solving and on assessment in an authentic context. It was expected that this change would have positive backwash effects on learning and teaching. In this presentation, the backwash effects of the OverAll Test, a case-based assessment instrument aiming to assess problem solving skills, are presented. First, semi-structured interviews with groups of students and teachers focussed on what students understood to be required, how they were going about the assessment task(s) and what kind of learning they believed was taking place. Second, a student survey measured the students’ perceptions of different quality aspects of the problem-based learning environment. The results indicated that the students as well as the teachers recognized the key goals of the OverAll Test and their relevance for the problem-based curriculum. However, despite the problem-based learning curriculum and the OverAll Test as part of it, the students did hardly engage in problem-solving activities. Students as well as teachers referred to the poor quality of different aspects of the learning environment. These findings indicate that the subjective learning environment seems to play a mediating role in the backwash effect of assessment on learning. Although new modes of assessment are expected to encourage learning activities such as problem solving, the quality of the learning environment as perceived by the students plays a crucial role in the extent to which students really engage in these kind of learning activities. – 28 –

A4

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G B

SIG Invited Symposium PROFESSIONAL LEARNING BETWEEN IDEOLOGY AND REALITY Organisers: Chairs: Discussants:

Hans Gruber, University of Regensburg, Germany Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University, The Netherlands Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University, The Netherlands Hans Gruber, University of Regensburg, Germany Hans Gruber, University of Regensburg, Germany Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University, The Netherlands

Professional learning extends far into or even over the whole period of professional life; formal and informal further education is of increasing importance due to considerable changes in the working life, e.g. technology-based changes. Especially during more advanced stages, professional learning and acquisition and tuning of expertise is mostly experience-based, less school-based or course-based. Consequently, many attempts can be identified to transfer “classical” theories of learning and instruction into the field of professional learning and development. The responsibilities for implementing educational approaches in professional life frequently are not held by a scientific community of experts, but by employers or professional organizations (e.g., companies, hospitals, the medical society). Thus, an increasing number of rules and regulations apply to traditional professionals. Many of them have left their independent status behind and more and more often work in organizations that claim to provide educational programs. Critics say that the processes these organizations introduce are merely symbolic, only meant to be able to call themselves “learning organizations”, whereas in reality professional learning does not play a major role. In the invited SIG 15 (Learning and Professional Development) symposium, four distinctive researchers discuss the question of “Professional learning between ideology and reality”. Innovative and provocative impulses for the development of professional learning in research and practice are to be expected from the contributions of Helmut Heid (former president of the DGfE, German Society for Education), Erno Lehtinen (EARLI president), David Berliner (former AERA president), and Robert-Jan Simons (former EARLI president). Myths and truths about professional learning - A critical perspective Helmut Heid, University of Regensburg, Germany The field of professional learning is dominated by concepts that are highly appreciated and receive commonly shared acceptance. On the one hand, changed and permanently changing demands referring to globalization and economic and technical development are emphasized as initial points for (lifelong) professional learning. On the other hand, professional education is suggested to follow certain mechanisms, e.g. equity of chances, achievement principle, highly oriented towards requirements. However, a critical discuss of the use of these concepts is lacking that pinpoints the gaps between programmatic statements and educational reality. The presentation intends to start such a discussion, exemplified by the German employment system. Two basic difficulties are identified: (1) The purpose of referring to highly appreciated concepts in professional learning frequently is the legitimization of selection and allocation of narrow goods. This can mask underlying processes of individual decisions; (2) The use of highly appreciated concepts in professional learning supports the objectification of individual perceptions and interpretations. This immunizes against criticism. It is argued that a major task for forthcoming educational – 29 –

research is to investigate these problems in more detail in order to clearly define myths and truths about professional learning. Professional learning as building networked expertise? Erno Lehtinen, University of Turku, Finland Tuire Palonen, University of Turku, Finland Kai Hakkarainen, University of Helsinki, Finland We summarise main findings of a larger research project, which aimed at examining the challenges of working-life in the age of networks and knowledge society. By relying on psychological, sociological and educational literature, a framework for examining human competence is presented. We elaborate the concept of Networked Expertise that is aimed at characterising the emerging features of professional activity in current and future working life. Networked expertise is relational in nature; it is constituted in interaction between individuals, communities, and larger networks supported by cognitive artefacts and it coevolves with continuously transforming innovative knowledge communities. We argue that a fundamental challenge of the knowledge society is to facilitate social transformations that support deliberate advancement and building of knowledge and the development of expertise. On the basis of the theoretical analysis and empirical findings we claim that expertise needed in knowledge society cannot be understood by referring only to a sum of individual cognitive competencies. Characteristic of the emerging types of expertise is also joint or shared competence manifest in dynamic functioning of communities and networks of experts as well as technical artefacts supporting communication and knowledge building. There is a large number of studies that focus either on examining individual expertise, workgroups, or organizational practices. However, these levels are hardly ever linked together in the same study. More studies in which the individual and communal aspects meet are needed. It seems to be the only way to catch such a complex issue, as the expertise in knowledge and network society. Professional development of teachers in the USA: How to do it wrong! David C. Berliner, Arizona State University, USA Research supporting the position that professional development for teachers is a worthwhile investment strategy that pays off in terms of student achievement will be examined and discussed. This will be followed by an examination of what occurs in such professional development programs, demonstrating that most programs are designed merely to be symbolic acts of professional development, often programs without much substance. It has been found that the primary purpose of much professional development is to help teachers receive more pay. Teachers' salaries in the USA are tied to courses and units taken, not to competencies demonstrated in the classroom or ratings by knowledgeable others. The more courses and experiences a teacher can acquire, the more money a teacher can earn, up to the limit of the pay schedule. This results in a profusion of professional development experiences many of which are only tangentially related to genuine problems of pedagogy. Some of these experiences are clearly worthless others are at best, motivational, with little concern for measuring change. A good deal of professional development is not derived from good theory, and these programs do not have the kinds of follow-up needed for mastery of what is to be learned. The kinds of professional development programs that might meet minimum standards for affecting student outcomes will also be noted.

– 30 –

Differing colors of professional learning Robert-Jan Simons, Utrecht University, The Netherlands P. C. Ruijters Manon, Twynstra Gudde Management Consultants, The Netherlands Recently, De Caluwe and Vermaak published a book in which they defined five different, implicit theories of change. The implicit blue theory about change is that people and organizations change when there are clear goals and plans (blueprinting). The yellow theory is that people and organizations change through coalitions and political force. The red theory of change is that people and organizations change when there is a supporting and rewarding climate. The white theory focuses on inspiration and flow: people and organizations change in dynamic open situations. The green theory is the learning perspective: people and organizations change when learning is supported and facilitated. In our work with professionals, we found that the colors are very effective aids for communication about change. Professionals readily understand the colors and start to use them within minutes. It is a new language that helps them to understand their own views about change, their organizations' views and the discrepancy between the two. Furthermore, the colors help people to explicate their implicit metal models about change. The question we try to answer in this paper is whether we can also define five colors of learning that fulfill similar functions as the colors of change. A conceptual system of five learning colors will be proposed as well as an overview of dilemma's we encountered in designing this system. Distinctions between ways of learning as defined for instance by Sfard and Bereiter are included in the system. The blue color of learning refers to transmission and acquisition. The yellow color of learning focuses on observation and imitation. Red is the color of participation and communication. The white learning theory emphasizes feeling and understanding. Finally, the green theory is about experimentation and reflection. In the paper, we will report about our experiences with these colors of learning and the relations between change colors and learning colors. A5

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 L

Symposium TRANSLATING BETWEEN MULTIPLE REPRESENTATIONS Organiser: Chair: Discussants:

Shaaron Ainsworth, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Shaaron Ainsworth, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Richard Cox, University of Sussex, United Kingdom Peter Reimann, University of Heidelberg, Germany

When people are learning complicated new ideas, interacting with multiple forms of representation such as diagrams, graphs and animations can bring unique benefits. Unfortunately, there is considerable evidence to show that learners can fail to exploit these advantages and often this has been shown to be rest on a lack of understanding of the relation between representations. This symposium aims to discuss the state of the art in understanding the nature and importance of translation between representations as well as how systems should best support this complex process. It will present four papers which have used a variety of innovative methodologies to understand (a) the processes by which learners come to understand the relation between representations, (b) the roles of learners’ goals and strategies when they interact with and relate multiple representations; and (c) the way that modern software extends the scope of representations and how it should best be designed to support users at varying levels of expertise. The issues involved in translating between representations are highly relevant to researchers and – 31 –

developers interested in designing effective multi-representational software, psychologists concerned with the cognitive and motivational effects of learning with multiple representations and teachers who have to support their pupils when faced with the complex tasks involved in multi-representational learning. Keeping track: Coordinating multiple representations in programming Pablo Romero, University of Sussex, United Kingdom Benedict du Boulay, University of Sussex, United Kingdom Rudi Lutz, University of Sussex, United Kingdom A computer program is a complex object with both static and dynamic properties that can be viewed from a number of different perspectives. These perspectives include the functional relationship between different parts of the code and what they do, flow of control information about the sequence of events when the code executes, the nature and evolution of data structures built dynamically during execution, etc. Modern software development environments exploit their graphical interfaces to provide varied notations and modalities to visualise these and other perspectives. One dimension of this variability is modality, e.g. from mostly textual to mostly graphical. An effective programmer, using a software development environment well, is able to coordinate the various representations available in a way that suits both the particular constraints of the kind of programming task in hand (module design or debugging, say) and the context in which it is being undertaken, as well as any personal preferences for, or expertise with, particular representations. This paper compares how programmers of varying expertise coordinate four simultaneously available representations of a Java program they are debugging. These representations are the code of the program, its flow of control, its data structures and its printed output. The paper explores which representations get used and when, the switches between representations, the effects of individual differences in preference for particular modalities or in expertise in switching between modalities, and the relationship of these factors to debugging performance. The paper describes a novel method of tracking the programmer’s focus of attention. A microgenetic approach to understanding the processes of translating between representations Nicolas van Labeke, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Shaaron Ainsworth, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Translating information between representations has been shown to be both one of the most complex aspects of learning with multiple representations and in many cases one of the most crucial as well. Previous work has addressed factors that influence the effectiveness of representational systems for supporting translation, individual differences in translating between representations and has produced computational models of multi-representational reasoning. However, very little research has related learners’ goals and strategies to their use of multiple representations. Consequently, papers may claim that learners find translating between representations complex when instead learners may not even have tried to translate between representations. To address this issue, we have conducted a microgenetic investigation of students’ use of a dynamic simulation of predator-prey relationship. Information is presented in many forms of representation (e.g. tables, time-series graphs, phase-plots, animations, equations). Learners chose which representations to interact with and can ask the system to dynamically map between representations. This study shows that by taking detailed protocols over a number of sessions, we can explicitly relate learners’ use of representations with their statements of the purposes for choosing and interacting with such representations. It also provides further evidence about the – 32 –

cognitive processes involved in translating between representations and the activities that learners engage in as they learn to relate representations. Supporting the translation between multiple representations Jan van der Meij, University of Twente, The Netherlands Ton de Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands Modern, computer based, learning environments often embrace a multitude of representations. Research with learning environments that contain multiple representations has revealed that learning with multiple representations can lead to deeper understanding but also that processing different representations can be a demanding process. In a multi-representational learning environment the learner has to understand each representation and, when the representations are (partially) redundant, has to translate between the representations. The current study is the first of a series of studies in which the translation between representations is studied within a simulation based learning environment. Students can be supported in this translation process by linking representations dynamically (which means that concurrent changes occur in separate representation) or spatially (which means that related representations are linked in place). In the present study three versions of the same simulation were compared: a simulation with dynamically linked integrated representations, a simulation with dynamically linked separated representations, and a simulation with non-linked separated representations. Eighty-nine Dutch students from four middle vocational training schools participated in the experiment. Subjects worked with a SimQuest simulation in which they studied the behaviour of moments in mechanical engineering. The experiments were held at the four participating schools and consisted of three sessions: pretest, working with the simulation, and post-test. Three types of items were used in the tests: items on subject matter content, items on translation between representations, and items on transfer problems. The paper will present the results of these experiments to examine how different forms of translation influence learning. Training and situational help for coherence formation in learning with multiple representations Tina Seufert, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Modern learning environments often use multiple representations with different representational properties, e.g. different representational codes or sensory modalities. The integration of information from different sources requires local coherence formation, i.e. learners have to understand each of the representations as well as global coherence formation which requires them to interconnect and translate between representations. Previous research shows that learners and especially those with little prior knowledge have difficulties in mapping between the representations and fail to construct a globally coherent mental representation. Therefore two experimental studies were conducted to investigate different ways to support coherence formation in a multirepresentational learning environment: The first study evaluated the effectiveness of a structure mapping training conducted before the learning unit. Analysis revealed that trained learners compared to an untrained control group - act more strategically and performed better, especially in higher order cognitive tasks. The second study investigated the effects of situational help presented within the learning phase, which was either directive or non-directive and was presented in either visual or auditory format. The results indicate a superiority of directive help and an interaction between the directivity and sensory modality of help: non-directive help is more effective if it is presented visually. Furthermore, learners with middle levels of prior knowledge particularly profited from help, whereas help overloaded learners with insufficient prior knowledge. The results are discussed with respect to theoretical aspects as well as practical consequences. – 33 –

A6

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 A

Symposium INTRODUCING ICT AND PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION INTO HIGHER EDUCATION: THE RECRE@SUP PROJECT Organiser and Chair: Discussants:

Bernadette Charlier, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Carmen Vizcarro, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Rupert Wegerif, Open University, United Kingdom

Every HE institution in Europe is concerned by the uses of ICT in teaching and learning and by the pedagogical innovation often related with these uses. In the RECRE@SUP project, teachers, researchers and the resources centres of ten HE institutions in Europe have collaborated to understand the innovative processes in which they were involved. Two pedagogical projects have been selected in each institution and studied during two years by four interdisciplinary research groups focused on complementary dimensions. Uses of technologies (WP1): Choice, implementation and uses of a virtual work environment; Pedagogical scenarios (WP2): A Tool for Designing ICT-based Learning Scenarios; Roles of the resource centres and the teacher training (WP4): New jobs and new structures as a result of ICT uses within higher education institutions; Change processes in learning and teaching (WP5): Issues in the organisational and change context for case study courses in RECRE@SUP. WP1: Choice, implementation and uses of a virtual work environment Daniel Peraya, University of Geneva, Switzerland Fabrice Joye, University of Geneva, Switzerland Bérénice Jaccaz, University of Geneva, Switzerland Christian Depover, University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium Bruno De Lièvre, University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium Sandrine Decamps, University of Mons-Hainaut, Belgium The main objective of WP1 was to provide technological support to the Recre@sup community, by creating an information-sharing tool. The implementation of this tool caused WP1 to think about a working method for developing this type of support in similar projects, while analyzing the notion of “adaptable campus” and its conditions of implementation and usage. Its second mission was to develop a portal of information about the resources and results of the project for an audience outside the community. At the end of the project, WP1 evaluated the use of the work environment. On the whole, the users found that the platform was well adapted to their roles and tasks within the project, but it was not integrated into their work for several reasons: the late incorporation of the platform in the project, the absence of a situation necessitating the use of the tools offered by this platform, the redundancy of the tools with relation to those of personal desktops and the complexity of certain functions. With the experience acquired in this project, the symposium will endeavor to better understand the reasons for this partial failure. It will also propose a certain number of questions inherent to the practice of designers and community work space users. These questions certainly do not present a typical itinerary that would indicate which tool to use or not to use, but, in the same manner as heuristics, they favor reflection prior to this choice. – 34 –

WP2: A tool for designing ICT-based learning scenarios Amaury Daele, University of Namur, Belgium Caroline Brassard, Quebec University, Chicoutimi, Canada Liliane Esnault, Management School, Lyon, France Michaël O’Donoghue, Lancaster University, United Kingdom Eric Uyttebrouck, Free University of Brussels, Belgium Romain Zeiliger, Gate-CNRS, France The main issue we are dealing with in our research group is the analysis of the implementation of ICT-based learning scenarios and the construction of a tool for designing consistent learning scenarios. A learning scenario is defined as the result of the design process of learning activities. It is implemented through a learning system which provides it human, technical and administrative resources as well as a legal framework. We interviewed 13 teachers having implemented innovative ICT-based activities in their courses about the design, implementation and evaluation processes they worked on. Four of them allowed us to submit a questionnaire to their students about how they lived the learning activities. The data have been treated with a category-based content analysis method. Thanks to our analysis of the main questions lived by the teachers and their students, we followed and enhanced an existing tool for designing learning scenarios (Reeves, 1996, 1997). This 18-dimensional tool is structured around practical questions teachers and course designers could ask themselves for making choices and decisions when developing ICT-based learning activities: what will be the roles of the teachers? how to choose the learning goals? how will the students be evaluated? how to implement ICT tools through the learning activities? etc. Some dimensions aim also to bring teachers and instructional designers to better define their presuppositions about what is teaching, learning, knowing, etc. Through a reflective view, the tool could help them to globally question teaching and learning in Higher Education. This tool was presented to a panel of higher education teachers and instructional designers who proposed interesting opinions for enhancing it. During next year, we will use the tool in contexts of design, implementation and evaluation of learning scenarios in universities. WP4: New jobs and new structures as a result of ICT uses within higher education institutions Françoise Docq, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Marcel Lebrun, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Amaury Daele, University of Namur, Belgium Simon Lusalusa, Free University of Brussels, Belgium Laurence Baldewijns, University of Liege, Belgium Carmen Vizcarro, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Ana Garcia, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain This research group analyzed how 10 Higher Education institutions reacted facing new needs appearing as a result of ICT introduction in teaching practices. Confronted with needs for teachers training, pedagogical consultance, technical support, innovation management, some institutions created “ICT resources centres”. We analyzed the missions of these centres (often in a first time more turned towards technical support and then evolving towards pedagogical support), their structure (how many people work in the centre, which competencies…), how the centres promote their services to the teachers and make them feel like innovating in their teaching practices. Despite the diversity of institutional contexts, those centres face similar problems: no specific professional status exists for pedagogical counsellors (must they be academic professors, administrative employees, researchers?), institutional authorities want ICT change to occur without a clear vision of all the organisational implications of this innovation, Higher Education – 35 –

teachers are used to be self-governing in their teaching practice (they do not need to learn teaching!). Between institutional authorities and teachers, the new ICT resources centers are not in a secure position. We paid a particular attention to teachers training activities proposed by the ICT resources centres. Most of the centres multiply forms of training: Lectures, teachers practice sharing, practical workshops according their preference to project following. Teachers are often first attracted by technical training contents (how to create web pages, how to create online courses…). Afterwards they become interested in more pedagogical training. WP5: Issues in the organisational and change context for case study courses in Recre@sup Bernadette Charlier, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Joël Bonamy, Gate-CNRS, Lyon, France Murray Saunders, Lancaster University, United Kingdom WP5 was charged with investigating the context in which change in learning and teaching practices might take place within Higher Education institutional environments in contexts. This contribution examines the way in which the 20 innovative courses using ICTs embody a change process from an enclave (maintaining cases outside the normal teaching practice of the institution) to a bridgehead (affecting the normal practice) and eventually to embedded practices (integrated in the normal practices which have radically changed) by analysing the characteristics of the innovative projects, the course leaders’ change experience and identity and the institutional support. In order to identify these change processes at the level of the course leader, we have developed and adapted a ‘Theories of Change’ approach. It adopts the perspective of evaluation and institutional research in which key participants are asked to consider how the activities they are undertaking will produce intended outcomes (Carol Weiss 1995, 1997a, 1997b; Connell and Kubisch, 1998). Thus, the analysis is based on semi structure interviews with the course leaders of the 20 courses. These interviews were analysed using a range of interrogatory concepts (relationship with the institution, type of innovation, change agent identity) and a range of grounded categories (theories of change, dissemination strategies). This process has been realised in two stages (during the first year and the second one). The communication will highlight the typologies produced as well as configurations that characterize change processes from enclave to bridgehead and embedded practices. A7

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G E

Symposium EXTENDING UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE EXPERIENCE OF UNIVERSITY TEACHING Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Gerlese Åkerlind, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Ference Marton, University of Göteborg, Sweden Keith Trigwell, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

These studies extend the findings of previous research (Kember, 1997; Pratt, 1999; Samuelowicz & Bain, 2001) into university teachers’ experiences of teaching both methodologically and substantively. Substantively, the studies give insight into the richness and complexity of the teaching experience by looking at teaching in relation to teachers' experience of change and development. They also highlight the typically neglected affective aspects of being a university teacher. Through the four studies, this symposium adds to our understanding of university teaching – 36 –

by focusing on academics’ experiences of change in understanding of the subject matter taught; growth and development as a teacher; the focus of change in their teaching; key themes in teachers’ awareness of teaching. Methodologically, all four studies take phenomenography as a point of departure, by focussing on the internal relatedness of teachers’ experiences. However, unlike traditional phenomenographic research, these different perspectives allow us to illuminate the experience of teaching and of being a teacher at both the individual and collective level. On this basis, the studies inform approaches to teaching development in ways which have previously been unexplored. Teaching and teaching development: What is the relationship? Gerlese Åkerlind, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Over the last decade, a substantial literature has developed based on research investigating university teaching from the perspective of teachers themselves. A consistent finding is that academics show a range of understandings of teaching, which vary from being primarily teachingfocused to primarily student-focused in nature. A student-focused understanding is uniformly regarded as the more sophisticated view of teaching. This paper extends existing research by investigating academics' understandings of growing and developing as a university teacher, and the relationship between this and their understandings of being a university teacher. The outcomes presented are based on semi-structured interviews with 28 academics, all on teaching and research appointments at a research-intensive university. The outcomes show that, while student-focused understandings of one phenomenon tended to be associated with student-focused understandings of the other, in some cases academics experienced student-focused understandings of teaching combined with teaching-focused understandings of teaching development - though importantly, not vice versa. These findings raise the possibility that, developmentally, a more sophisticated understanding of teaching may precede a more sophisticated understanding of developing as a teacher. The different combinations of understandings were further explained through the positing of an internal relationship between understandings of teaching and understandings of developing as a teacher, based on the holding of different aspects of the two phenomena in focal awareness at the same time. This is in contrast to the positing of a causal relationship, which would imply a much more one-to-one relationship between understandings of the two phenomena than was found in this study. Patterns of variation and change in university teachers’ ways of experiencing teaching Jo McKenzie, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Understanding whether and how university teachers’ ways of experiencing teaching develop or change has potential for improving teaching and learning in higher education. This paper aims to illuminate patterns of variation and change in university teachers’ ways of experiencing teaching. The methodology involved a two year longitudinal interview study of 27 university teachers, with transcripts analysed using phenomenographic and related approaches based on the two faces of variation and the structure of awareness). Six ways of experiencing teaching were related to five ways of experiencing change in teaching and to different patterns in the thematic fields of teaching. Teachers who came to adopt or who maintained student-focused ways of experiencing teaching, described change in teaching as relating teaching more closely to learning or as experiencing teaching differently. They became more aware of understanding student learning, and became more explicitly aware of variation in ways of experiencing teaching. Teachers who remained teacher-focused described changes in content or teaching strategies. They focused on students’ reactions to teaching, rather than on students’ learning, and seemed unaware of variation – 37 –

in ways of experiencing teaching. Both groups described feeling more confident, but about different aspects of teaching. The study suggests that teacher change is not simply a matter of development but varies critically with the teachers’ focuses on change and perceptions of the thematic fields of teaching. The development of university teachers’ experiences of teaching Carol Bond, University of Otago, New Zealand This longitudinal study reports the dimensional aspects of university teachers’ experiences of teaching. The sample consists of 20 university teachers who were either students in or graduates of a postgraduate course in tertiary teaching. Data were generated from a series of two semistructured interviews in 2001 and 2002. Questions focused on the teachers’ experiences of teaching, learning, knowledge, knowing and research. The phenomenographic notion of internal relation was the for a hermeneutic analysis that focused on individual’s experiences. The outcome, seven categories ranging from teaching as giving knowledge, to teaching as learning, illustrates both the variation and extreme complexity of teachers’ experiences. Evidence of within-individual development allowed the categories to be used as a basis for the identification of dimensional aspects of teaching along which changes in teachers’ experiences can be tracked over time. The research is cross-disciplinary, integrating literature from different sectors on teachers’ beliefs, conceptions of teaching, and experiences of teaching. The elaboration of dimensions of experiences provides a partial response to calls for more longitudinal studies of teachers’ experiences, and studies that clarify the relationship between categories, and the nature of transitions. The results indicate that the dimensional aspects of knowledge are key structures in teachers’ experiences, and that the teacher focused/learner centred continuum may require a different interpretation than that suggested by some recent studies. Change and development in teachers’ understanding of their subject matter: Satisfaction, exhilaration, disturbance and consternation Elaine Martin, Victoria University, Australia Mike Prosser, Sydney University, Australia Gillian Leukenhausen, Victoria University, Australia This paper considers the ways in which teachers change their understandings of subject matter as a result of teaching that subject. The paper results from a study that explored the relation between teachers’ understanding of the subject they teach and the way that they teach that subject matter. It builds on previous phenomenographic research describing the key ways in which change in understanding of subject matter is experienced by teachers by using metaphor to explore the feelings of excitement, disturbance and disruption the experiences of change of understanding can bring to teachers. Four levels of change are explored though metaphor and discourse analysis. At the most superficial level change is seen as a matter of keeping up to date and there is a general sense of satisfaction. At the deepest level change comes as a disturbance to the teachers’ “constellation of beliefs” about the subject and there are significant questions posed about future engagement with the subject, both as a teacher and as a scholar. The study on which this paper is based provides evidence of a link between the way teachers understand their subject matter, the way they teach it, and the ways in which they are likely to develop and change their understanding. It is clear that teaching can cause teachers to question their own understanding of subject matter in ways that are sometimes satisfying and sometimes exciting but may also be disruptive and disturbing. – 38 –

A8

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 G

Symposium TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO WORK OR TO UNIVERSITY: MULTIPLE THEORETICAL APPROACHES IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Olaf Köller, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany Olaf Köller, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany Katariina Salmela-Aro, University of Helsinki, Finland

The four presentations of the intended symposium will focus on the school-to-university and school-to-work transition from different theoretical perspectives embedded in different psychological traditions. Based upon recent work in educational psychology, Andrea D. Schwanzer and Olaf Koeller, “Transition from upper secondary school to university: The impact of academic selfconcepts on subject choices at university”, highlight the role of academic self-concepts for subject choices at university. The paper by Rainer Watermann and Kai Maaz, “Transition from upper secondary school to university: An application of the theory of planned behavior”, uses expectancy-value models in the field of social psychology to explain the intention to study at university. Goal theory provides the theoretical framework of the third paper by Oliver Luedtke, “Determinants of major life goals at the end of secondary school”. He focuses on how personal goals, particularly academic goals, are influenced by educational contexts. Kai S. Cortina, Corinne J. Alfeld and Nicole R. Zarrett, in their paper “Getting stuck on the beaten path: Antecedences of problems in college in Germany and the United States”, take a cross-cultural perspective and look at reasons for dropping out of university in the U.S. and the German educational system. Finally, Katariina Salmela-Aro will discuss the four papers. Transition from upper secondary school to university: The impact of academic self-concepts on subject choices at university Andrea Schwanzer, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany Olaf Köller, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany The current study investigated the effects of verbal and math self-concept on subject choice at university. It was hypothesized that math self-concept should increase the chance of opting for math/science at university while at the same time verbal self-concept should decrease the chance. Verbal self-concept on the other hand was hypothesized to increase the chance of opting for a university subject within the humanities, whereas math self-concept was expected to decrease the chance of opting for such a subject. In their final school year, 2852 upper secondary school students worked on standardized achievement and intelligence tests and questionnaires. Verbal and math self-concept were measured by means of modified SDQ III-scales by Marsh (Cronbach’s alphas > .80). In addition data on intelligence, coursework selection at high school, and academic achievement (grades in math and German) were collected. University subjects were classified according to four categories, i.e., math/science, humanities, economics/law, and others. Multi-level multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed clear support for our hypotheses. After controlling for gender, academic achievement, intelligence and coursework selection, a high math self-concept increased the chance of opting for math/science and decreased the likelihood of choosing a subject within the humanities. In contrast a high verbal self concept increased the likelihood of opting for the humanities, while at the same time it decreased the chance of choosing – 39 –

math or science at university. The findings underline the important role of self-concept variables for important career decisions during the transition from school to university. Transition from upper secondary school to university: An application of the theory of planned behaviour Rainer Watermann, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany Kai Maaz, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany The theory of planned behaviour was applied to German upper secondary students’ intention of going to university. The main focus of the study was to ascertain the predictive power of the focal variables of the theory (attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control) on intention and thus test the sufficiency of the theory. It is argued that the effects of academic achievement, academic self-concept and vocational interests are mediated through attitudes, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. A total sample of 4700 students attending vocational and traditional Gymnasium participated in the study. In their final school year, students were given a questionnaire including all elements of the theory of planned behaviour. In addition, they worked on standardized achievement questionnaires. Verbal, math and general self-concept were measured by means of modified SDQ III-scales by Marsh. Vocational interests were measured by means of a questionnaire including Holland’s Big Six domains of vocational interests. Data on academic achievement (grades in advanced courses) were also collected. A structural equation approach was used to test the construct validity of measures as well as the predictive validity of the theory. Results show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control account for 40% of the variance in the dependent variable intention. As expected, effects of academic achievement, self-concept and vocational interests are mediated through attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, while academic achievement (grades) still has a positive impact on intention (b = .22). Determinants of major life goals at the end of secondary school Oliver Luedtke, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany The end of secondary school represents an important transition in late adolescence. Moving on to a different learning environment in college, starting a vocational training program, or directly entering the workforce coincides with difficult developmental tasks faced during this period of life, namely, the ongoing development towards autonomy and the struggle to develop a personal identity. Mastering these tasks establishes a solid basis for successful development across the lifespan. Based on the idea that people shape their own development, it is assumed that individuals influence their own life course through setting and pursuing personal goals. In the present investigation, we try to identify individual- and school-level characteristics that influence the content of the life goals that students pursue at the end of secondary education. In their final school year, 4500 upper secondary school students were asked to write down their six most important life goals (Little, 1983). The goals mentioned by the students were classified independently by two assessors into four main categories (work, education, social, and self) and several subcategories. The students’ parents completed an additional questionnaire. Multi-level analyses (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) were used to separate the influence of individual-level (math and English achievement, grades, personality traits), school-level (school achievement, school climate) and parentlevel (social background, parents’ educational aspirations) variables on the content of the life goals selected. Preliminary analyses reveal a relationship between indicators of school achievement and the content of life goals. – 40 –

Getting stuck on the beaten path: Antecedences of problems in college in Germany and the United States Kai Schnabel Cortina, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA Corinne J. Alfeld, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA Nicole R. Zarrett, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA Cross-national developmental research on emerging adulthood typically focuses on difference in the social and psychological adjustment in the school to work transition after graduation from high school (Chisholm & Hurrelmann, 1995). At least across Western societies, those who move on to a full-time college are assumed to experience similar transition problems because the career trajectories are similar (Buechtemann, Schupp, & Soloff, 1993). However, aggregated similarities in behavior and actual career development do not imply similarity in the way the college environment is experienced and how students cope with specific challenges. It was hypothesized that structural differences in the academic educational systems and differences in the social status rather specific learning and living contexts for the students in different countries. In an exploratory comparative study of two longitudinal data sets from Germany (N=1425) and the United States (N=1755), students were asked at different stages of their college education what problems there encountered in the pursuit of their studies. As expected there were no substantial difference in the prediction of the college population: In both societies, high achievement at the end of high school, higher socio-economic background and adjustment to academic learning settings were significant determinants in both samples. In both societies, the immediate adjustment problem seems comparable. Peer group change and coping with the new learning environment are relevant for most freshman in Germany as well as in the U.S. However, while orientation problems prevail in the German sample over a longer period, U.S. students often report financial problems. The findings indicate that postponing graduation and drop-out of college have different causes in both countries. A9

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 4 R

Symposium INVESTIGATING DOCTORAL ASSESSMENT Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Sid Bourke, University of Newcastle, Australia Sid Bourke, University of Newcastle, Australia Gerry Mullins, University of Adelaide, Australia

This symposium consists of five papers that examine the issue of doctoral thesis assessment. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand examiners normally provide written reports on doctoral theses submitted. These reports contain more than evaluative information alone, also addressing disciplinarity, academic reciprocity and networking, and standard setting. In Australia, a doctoral thesis is normally examined by three independent examiners who are external to the university. Although many of these examiners are staff at another Australian university or research institute, Australian universities particularly are known to select a high proportion of overseas examiners, especially from the USA, United Kingdom, Europe, Canada and New Zealand. Each examiner provides a written report and a recommendation of a result for the thesis. A university committee receives examiner reports and makes a decision on each thesis. Work to date on the content of examination reports for two universities utilized text codes developed around four main domains – 41 –

examiner and process, assessable areas covered, dialogic elements and evaluative elements. These codes have been further developed and used to indicate the presence and relative proportions of different elements of the core text coding. The ways in which the nature and voice of the comments indicate the roles taken by individual examiners are investigated. These characteristics of examiner reports are used to identify what may be the most important qualities of a thesis, particularly thesis originality, significance and contribution. The study being undertaken is of mixed methods design, with approaches ranging from replicable, statistical analyses to purely interpretative approaches. The overall aim of the investigation is to contribute new knowledge with strategic significance for research pedagogy, doctoral studies, and doctoral examination. Emphases in 603 doctoral examination reports Allyson Holbrook, University of Newcastle, Australia Kerry Dally, University of Newcastle, Australia The written examination reports on research theses are idiosyncratic and individualistic documents, despite efforts to standardize or structure them. However, an analysis of 603 reports utilizing 5 text analysis software has allowed us to identify the spectrum of difference and the degree of consistency in examiner emphasis. This consistency extends to what examiners do not comment on – what topics and qualities of comment are typically rare. In the report, a public document intended to justify the rating given to the thesis, examiners rarely comment, for example, on the ethics of the research or the initial design, but they do comment at length on the robustness of the interpretation and demonstrated skill of the candidate in the exercise of the techniques. With respect to these features and the candidate’s handling of the literature, examiners can become closely engaged with the subject matter, offering instruction and advice. This paper focuses in particular on the core of the assessment discourse in the report – the evaluative comment, and in particular the summative elements, wherein the examiner attempts to convey in a particularly precise way they key strengths and weaknesses of the written thesis. The analysis captures what examiners ‘privilege’ in the assessment process. Doctoral examination: Some relationships between content categories of written examiner reports and overall assessments Sid Bourke, University of Newcastle, Australia Lorin Anderson, University of South Carolina, USA The texts of 603 written examiner reports for 201 PhD theses at two Australian universities have been coded and the examiner overall assessment on a five-point scale recorded. Thesis topics range across eight broad fields of study or discipline areas. This paper will investigate relationships within these data with a focus on two main themes. (1) The extent to which the text of individual examiner reports from the two universities form a consistent pattern of text code grouping is investigated using a principal components factor analysis. Previously with just one university, 23 of the 32 text codes used were located into six factors which were reasonably independent. Other relevant considerations are discipline similarities and differences, and any differences between examiners of different nationality and the level of assessments made. (2) Relationships of these factors with the overall assessment are investigated through multiple regression analysis with examiner assessment as the response variable to determine the relative strengths of the six text-grouping factors with respect to the thesis outcome recommended. Initial work with only one university suggested that five of the six factors were significantly related to the outcome, but discipline was not included in those analyses. The need for multilevel analyses will be investigated with individual examiner reports (level 1), and individual candidates (level 2). – 42 –

Depending on the consistency of patterns of text across the two universities, it may also be desirable to consider at least the major discipline areas at level 3 of the analysis. Ways of knowing and styles of assessment and the supervisory role Terence Lovat, University of Newcastle, Australia As identified in earlier work of this study, the ‘Ways of Knowing’ thesis of Jurgen Habermas suggests that there is a consistent pattern across discipline areas by which knowledge is revealed and further negotiated, and that this is an important thesis for a project attempting to identify and define patterns of research higher degree examination across discipline areas. Furthermore, this earlier work was able to identify ways in which these patterns revealed themselves in the text of the doctoral thesis examination report, including some case study work on re-examination reports. In summary, this work has identified that the preponderant mode of assessment employed by examiners conforms with Habermas’s ‘empirical-analytic’ way of knowing, complete with the potential discouragement of both original thought and genuinely new contributions to knowledge. This paper will re-capture the findings of this earlier work and extend the thesis to include an exploration of their ramifications for the role played by supervision and supervisors in research higher degree work. The perspective will be that of the examiners. How examiners define quality in the doctoral thesis Allyson Holbrook, University of Newcastle, Australia Sid Bourke, University of Newcastle, Australia Kerry Dally, University of Newcastle, Australia Since the 1980s there has been a growing interest in the ‘visibility’ of doctoral processes, particularly with respect to supervision, but more recently with respect to examination. Questions are being asked that encompass a range of issues from examiner selection through to the rigour and credibility of assessment procedures. Another vital question is what constitutes quality in postgraduate research. Drawing on 603 examiner reports for 201 completed doctoral theses from two Australian universities, this paper investigates the issue of what differentiates an 'outstanding' thesis from an 'acceptable' thesis. Typically, Australian universities offer examiners five possible categories of recommendation, ranging from accepting the thesis without amendment to failing the thesis without the opportunity for revision. This paper focuses on the theses which consistently received a top rating. Characteristics of the students and examiners from the group of top-rated theses as well as core categories of examiner comment are compared with the rest of the sample. Particular attention is given to the evaluative comment of examiners. Further analysis unpacks the text of the examiners to identify the key indicators of ‘quality’ and how originality, significance and contribution are construed in the context of quality.

– 43 –

A 10

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 B

Symposium EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES: RESULTS OF LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Benő Csapó, University of Szeged, Hungary Benő Csapó, University of Szeged, Hungary Andrea Kárpáti, Eötvös University, Hungary

The symposium aims to draw on recent European developments in language pedagogy. As a result of globalization and an increase in mobility, proficiency in foreign languages has become a must for students in public education. Now that the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages provides experts with points of departures, it is important to see how they can be implemented in large-scale assessment projects. All four papers show innovative avenues for educational research. The first paper examines the relationship between first- and foreign-language competencies in Germany. The study involved 1,200 students whose language skills were tested in German and English as a Foreign Language. Besides proficiency tests, a test of verbal intelligence and a questionnaire on language-related beliefs were also administered. The findings indicate that in languages awareness of pragmatics, and the knowledge of and active use of grammatical structures define distinct hierarchies of proficiency levels. The second paper gives a detailed account of an assessment project of 420 writings by 14-15-year-old learners’ in German as the language of instruction. It explores how applying item response theory (IRT) has contributed to the analysis of the data and resulted in higher validity measures. The third paper focuses on attitudinal aspects of foreign language study and their relationship with learners’ achievements in a largescale assessment project. It provides insights into how learners’ performances relate to their attitudes towards tasks, their frequency and work format, the starting time of their language study and the number of weekly hours, and other classroom-related variables. The last paper looks into how cognitive factors contribute to Hungarian learners’ development of foreign language skills. It is unique, as it analyses not only the relationship between language achievement and cognitive factors, but also models skill development based on longitudinal data collected in two large-scale cross-sectional assessment projects. Modelling first- and foreign-language competencies Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany Nina Jude, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany A major advancement in defining sub-dimensions and levels of language competencies has been made by the European framework for language proficiency. However, the structure of competencies proposed by this framework is mainly based on expert ratings, not on empirical analyses of test results. Also, the framework applies to the first (mother) language as well as to languages taught at school, while structural similarities between first and second language are still an unresolved research issue. An important factor that may link both language domains is language awareness, i.e. knowledge and beliefs about formal, pragmatic and socio-linguistic features of language use. In this study, data of 1,200 students from a large scale assessment in Germany were used to identify the dimensions and levels of language competencies. The study addressed reading, writing, and language skills in German and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Also, a test of verbal intelligence and a new designed questionnaire on language-related beliefs were – 44 –

administered. Based on item response theory (IRT) and in-depth analysis of cognitive item demands, proficiency levels were identified. Structural relations were modeled separately for German and EFL and compared across languages. One finding was that in both languages, (a) awareness of pragmatics and (b) knowledge of and active use of grammatical structures define distinct hierarchies of proficiency levels. Implications for language teaching will be discussed in the paper. Assessing writing proficiency in the context of educational system evaluation Rainer H. Lehmann, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany A major component of the current study of German and English as a Foreign Language (EFL), coordinated by the German Institute of International Educational Research (Frankfurt/Main, Germany), relates to 14- to 15-year-old students’ ability to produce texts in German as the language of instruction. So far, approximately 420 texts have been collected, pertaining to four different tasks. The student responses have been coded and rated by specially trained assessors according to a scheme which has proved to be reliable and valid in earlier large-scale assessments. This scheme is based on 0/1 codes for expected text elements as well as ratings for content, organization, style, and grammar/spelling. Judging by conventional standards, high levels of intercoder/inter-rater reliabilities have been attained. Whereas it does not appear necessary to seek further improvements with respect to objective coding (e.g., pertaining to the correct format of a formal letter), the paper will address the issue of using item response theory (IRT) to enhance the data quality for the ratings as they are used for further data analysis. This approach to estimating true scores in the domain of text production facilitates two major improvements over more conventional methodologies: Firstly, it allows for the identification of proficiency levels which are minimally dependent on individual rating tendencies and which can be validated against the predefined rating scheme. Secondly, this approach can be expected to be associated with higher validity indices as provided by external measures of language skills. The latter expectation can be tested quantitatively. Learners’ attitudes towards classroom activities and their performances on tests of English and German as a foreign language Marianne Nikolov, University of Pecs, Hungary This talk explores the relationship between learners’ attitudes towards classroom tasks, their frequencies, and their performances on English and German tests. A representative sample of year 6, 8, 10 and 12 (n>9000 per age group) students were tested across Hungary in May, 2002. The test booklets on listening, reading and writing skills were supplemented by a questionnaire on learners’ self-assessment, attitudes towards languages and teachers, on the frequency, likes and dislikes of classroom tasks and processes. First, the background and the rationale behind the study and the data collection instruments will be presented. Then, the results will be discussed based on correlational and factor analyses across the two foreign languages, with special emphases on how learners’ performances relate to their attitudes towards tasks, their frequency and work format, the starting time of their language study and the number of weekly hours, and other classroom-related variables. I will also explore how children’s self-assessment and achievements in other school subjects relate to their performances. The results indicate, among many other findings, that learners’ attitudes are more favorable towards English than German. As for the frequency of classroom tasks, no significant difference was found between the two target languages: traditional techniques, like translation and reading aloud, are more frequent than communicative tasks. The most popular activities include listening and viewing tasks (the latter being the least frequent), – 45 –

whereas the least popular ones are related to testing. Finally, I will discuss the limitations of the study and areas where further research is necessary. Cognitive factors contributing to the development of foreign language skills Benő Csapó, University of Szeged, Hungary In the framework of a large-scale evaluation project, over 40000 students’ foreign language skills were assessed in April 2002. The samples of the four age groups (6, 8, 10 and 12 grades) were representatively drawn from the schools of Hungary. Students’ reading, writing and listening skills of English and German as a foreign language were tested on paper and pencil tests. Besides these instruments other tests and questionnaires were also administered to the participants, e.g. a reading comprehension test in the mother tongue (Hungarian) and an inductive reasoning test. Data on students’ achievements in other subjects were also collected. A large proportion of the 8th and 12th graders of the present project had been assessed in a similar manner two years earlier (when they were in their 6th and 10th grades, respectively). In this way, the available data-sets allow modeling the development on the basis of longitudinal and cross sectional assessments. First, the relationships between skills development measured in the longitudinal design and estimated in the cross-sectional assessment will be discussed. Then, the relationships between language skills and other cognitive factors will be explored and it will be shown to which factors the gains in language skills between the two assessment points can be attributed. Finally, complex models will be outlined on how different developmental factors interact with one another. A 11

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 L

Symposium QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE INVESTIGATIONS OF LEARNING IMPROVEMENTS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Günter L. Huber, University of Tübingen, Germany Günter L. Huber, University of Tübingen, Germany Hannu Soini, University of Oulu, Finland

The aim of the suggested symposium is to demonstrate the benefit of an integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in educational research. Investigation and implementation of process oriented instruction aims at inducing and fostering the learners’ active construction of knowledge. Valuable insights have been accumulated by investigations on achievements, outcomes, and efficiency of learning and teaching. Improving learning and teaching particularly in approaches of active learning, however, cannot be based exclusively on research findings about outcomes. For purposes of application conclusions from these results have to take into account additional information on the processes of learning. Above all, information about individually available knowledge, subjective explanations, and their possible interferences with teaching is needed. Qualitative research methods promise to give access to the learners subjective interpretations and experiences in instructional settings. The contributions to this symposium provide examples of the added value of a complementary integration of qualitative and quantitative investigations. Qualitative oriented research designs in the field of learning and instruction – Overview, examples and combinations with quantitative approaches Philipp Mayring, University of Klagenfurt, Austria – 46 –

In suggesting a special interest group (SIG) within EARLI on qualitative approaches to learning and instruction an overview on central qualitative research designs is given. It is argued, that a qualitative orientation is not only a matter of specific research methods but of the underlying research logic or research plan. Six different qualitative oriented research designs are discussed in their central scope: Single case analysis aims at understanding complex relations in a holistic framework; explorative studies try to refine research questions or find hypotheses for further research; descriptive studies want to give an overview on a phenomenon; document analysis interprets existing materials; action research integrates analysis and intervention in a discourse situation with practitioners; qualitative evaluation research finally tries to accompany practice projects in an open consultant process. Examples from educational psychology for those six qualitative oriented research designs are given, which can show their special merits. In refining the logic and elaborating the course of these designs we can define specific criteria for reliability and validity. It leads us furthermore to discover the possibilities of a combination and integration of quantitative steps of analysis. This approach of mixed methodologies seems to be fruitful for relevant and substantial research. An example from ongoing research in learning processes is given. Qualitative oriented approaches in research on learning and emotions Michaela Gläser-Zikuda, University of Education Ludwigsburg, Germany Learning as central concept in education and educational psychology is conceptualized as an individual, self-regulated, cognitive and emotional process, influenced by situative and contextual factors. Emotional aspects of learning were neglected for a long time. Recent studies show that besides anxiety emotions like joy, anger, boredom, pride, surprise and hopelessness are reported by students in learning and achievement situations. Most of empirical studies in research on learning and emotions use quantitative measures. The results are often scarcely relevant for pedagogical practice and may hardly be transferred in concrete recommendations. In the course of the ”qualitative turn” numerous qualitative approaches have been established. They aim at description and comprehension of individuals in every day life. Therefore qualitative studies seek to use multiple instruments and methods in the sense of ”triangulation”. Two qualitative studies on learning and emotions are presented. With 92 8th grade students half-standardized interviews and diaries were conducted in the school subjects German language, Biology and Physics. Complementary video based observations of 35 school lessons were carried out focusing on students’ emotions and learning behavior as well as on teacher behavior and instructional methods. Further more students answered questionnaires to different emotional and cognitive variables. Qualitative data were analyzed with Qualitative Content Analysis, a method which allows inductive and deductive steps of analysis and the use of different analytical techniques. Results show that emotions are mainly related to experiences of competent and active learning. Advances of qualitative methods and possibilities of combination with quantitative methods are discussed. Fostering teachers’ will to learn in teacher training Günter L. Huber, University of Tübingen, Germany The implementation of a new curriculum for elementary schools in Bavaria provided the opportunity to study the efficency of different ways of preparing the teachers for their new tasks. The in-service training was planned according to the approach of supporting local groups of teachers by mentors, but was realized very differently. This contribution presents a study comparing prerequisites and effects of in-service training in small groups working self-regulatedly – 47 –

with mentors and in-service training organized according to the model of traditional presentations. Six mentors working in three “tandems” with teachers of 36 elementary schools organized two waves of training sessions at each school. Altogether 612 teachers learned about the new curriculum in small groups under the supervision of the mentor tandems. Free written feedback from some of the groups after the first wave was analyzed qualitatively. The results were used to construct a questionnaire. After the training all teachers were asked to fill in this instrument. As a control group, 300 teachers participating in traditional preparatory courses were also asked to answer the questionnaire. While both groups did not differ in their general previous school experiences, they evaluated their course experiences very differently. This led to markedly higher readiness to implement the innovations and to continue to cooperate with colleagues in order to learn more how to deal with the changes in classrooms under the condition of self-regulated training. Thus, as additional interview data underline, only this training condition promises to fulfil the expectation expressed in the new curriculum that the staff of each school gradually will become a “pedagogical team.” Exploration of humor from the teacher’s subjective perspective Leo Gürtler, University of Tübingen, Germany Humor research in psychology starts mostly from an outer perspective on humor. Humor is mainly defined by using either wits or cartoons. Personal constructs of humor seldom are part of the research framework. An investigation of humor in the field of teaching and learning to improve the social climate has not yet been done. The main purpose of humor research is to enhance learning performance and not to investigate social interaction in learning and instruction. The aim of this paper is to introduce a methodological approach based on action theory. It will be shown that without discussing and questioning belief systems of teachers, research would miss an important resource. Additionally, to enhance and validate interviews, the research design is split into two phases: (1) making an interview and (2) visualizing the most important concepts of the interview to reconstruct the belief system. The process of reconstruction is done by the research object himself/ herself. The role of the researcher is to discuss and to question the resulting argumentation structure. Then, this can be compared with established scientific humor theories. Mere interviewing would miss the explication of argumentation structures of what humor is and how humor can be applied in a learning context. Without the active involvement of research objects, research would fail to be able to work with actual subjective impressions that emerge from long experiences as teachers. Therefore, an understanding of teacher activities in the field of humor would be diminished. Learning how to say what is wrong: Silence-breaking within youth groups Mechthild Kiegelmann, University of Tübingen, Germany The aim of this study was to gain information about adolescents’ subjective constructions of conflicts within their peer groups. A special focus was on their experiences with conflicts about secrets and silencing. The theoretical framework drew on social identity theory and relational psychology. Fourteen Semi-structured interviews about group experiences, conflicts, and silencebreaking were conducted with adolescents at different youth centers in Germany. Study participants were men and women of Turkish, Italian, and German decent who were between 16 and 18 years old. A content analysis of the data revealed a range of issues that were experienced as silenced. Issues ranged from conflicts over where to spent leisure time to giving false testimony during police investigation of a crime. The qualitative research approach allowed for gathering insights into subjective meaning of challenging a peer-group. In this study, the quality of – 48 –

friendship to the peers of participants influenced the youths’ willingness and ability to break the silence. The existence of a competitive out-group was influential as well. This study is relevant for education in mediation. Training programs for conflict resolution can benefit from information about subjective construction of issues at question in peer conflicts and about conditions that help or hinder the ability to speak up within the context of an in-group. A 12

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 G

Symposium PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ITS IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING AND MOTIVATION Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Denis Bédard, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Denis Bédard, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Louise Langevin, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada

The quality of teaching has become a growing concern within universities. Professors, students and administrators are more and more paying attention to the quality of teaching provided in higher education institutions and on the impact it has on students’ learning. A lot of innovations have been implemented in order to improve the quality of learning environments, but on the whole relatively little is known about the actual impact of those innovative learning environment upon student learning and motivation. Moreover, the impacts that an innovation has can be link with the pedagogical conditions both teachers and students find themselves in. The proposed symposium addresses these issues. It will present and discuss the results of research conducted in European and Canadian universities that is aimed at examining the impact of innovative learning environments on student learning and motivation. It will focus more particularly on the impact of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curricula. Implications for teaching and implementation of PBL in Higher Education will be discussed together with the question of the development of new competencies in this context. New competencies in a PBL engineering curriculum Anette Kolmos, Aalborg University, Denmark Problem-based and project organised learning (PBL) as learning methods emphasises new process competencies. However, practising a PBL curriculum does not secure development of these skills. This paper presents an experiment using a group-based portfolio during the first year programme of engineering. The students have to submit a process analysis of their process together with their project report. The portfolio work support the development of this process analysis and is introduced through a course that incorporates co-operation, learning, and project management. An action-research approach allowed the students to integrate learning activities into their projects work through experimentation and investigation of processes and outcomes. Evaluation of 30 project and process analyses indicates that students following these methods are able to reflect on their own processes to a much higher degree and in a more systematic and comprehensive manner. The theoretical background and methodology for the experiment as well as the empirical results will be outlined in the paper.

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The impact of a PBL curriculum on students’ motivation and self-regulation Benoit Galand, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Kathleen Bentein, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Etienne Bourgeois, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Mariane Frenay, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is more and more widespread in Higher Education. Among other advantages, PBL is assumed to foster students’ motivation and self-regulation. But empirical evidence supporting this claim is scarce, especially at a curriculum level. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a PBL curriculum on the motivation and the cognitive engagement of undergraduate students. The study was conducted in an engineering faculty where a new two-years PBL curriculum has been implemented. The last cohort of students who attended the old curriculum was compared with the first cohort of students who attended the new PBL curriculum. Those students completed a questionnaire on perception of instructional practices, goal orientations, self-efficacy, self-regulation strategies, and learning strategies at the end of their curriculum (data collected in 2001 and 2002). Multivariate analyses show some positive effects in favour of students from the PBL curriculum, but they also point to some problems linked to the implementation of this new curriculum (work-overload, unequal contribution in teamwork, uncoherent assessment). Perceptions of instructional practices partially mediate the PBL curriculum effects. Implications for attempts to improve students’ engagement in Higher Education are discussed. Students’ learning strategies and motivation: The case of the PBL curriculum at the faculty of medicine Denis Bédard, University of Sherbrooke, Canada The general objective of the present research was to establish the learning profile of the students at the University of Sherbrooke. The more specific questions this presentation will try to answer are: (1) Which conceptions do students in the Faculty of medicine have towards themselves as learners? and (2) What impact does the Problem-based curriculum they are engaged in have on the learning outcomes, on their learning strategies and their motivation? 4 446 undergraduate students filled out the questionnaire. Out of that group, 240 were from the Faculty of medicine. The questionnaire aimed not only at establishing the learning profile of the students, but also attempted to contextualize this profile in relation to the pedagogical reality, i.e. teaching situations, used at the University of Sherbrooke, e.g. Problem-based learning. The questionnaire proposed that the student decide on a series of statements, which had to be scored on a Likert Scale. Among others, results show that the students engaged in this program highly value the development of professional competencies, though there is a significant drop for second-year students. Also, students perceive that their control over the tasks is not very high, those number dropping as they advance in the program. The results suggest that PBL offers a learning context that is perceived as favorable for the use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, though students still expect coaching and scaffolding on the development of those skills.

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A 13

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 C

Symposium SOCIAL INTERACTION AND LEARNING IN MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS IN AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SWEDEN, AND THE UNITED STATES Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia Lieven Verschaffel, University of Leuven, Belgium

This symposium explores classroom practices, the organization of instruction, and the associated consequences for learning in mathematics classrooms in Australia, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Sweden, and the United States. The five papers that make up this symposium report results from the Learner’s Perspective Study (http://www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/DSME/lps/) based on analyses of sequences of ten eighth-grade lessons, documented using three video cameras, and supplemented by the reconstructive accounts of classroom participants obtained in post-lesson video-stimulated interviews (Clarke, 2001). Each of the papers in the symposium seeks to connect the social interactions of the mathematics classroom with the learning that it is intended to promote. The papers share a common method of data collection, but the authors of each paper have adopted a different focus and a different analytical approach in order to offer complemen-tary perspectives on the central question of the relationship(s) between social interaction and learning. Constraints and affordances of reasoning discourses in mathematics classrooms: Examples from Germany, Hong Kong and the United States Eva Jablonka, Free University, Berlin, Germany This ongoing study aims to develop a conceptual framework to describe the relationship between culturally prejudiced and socially sanctioned forms of interaction in the classroom and associated forms of mathematical knowledge. Reasoning discourses are the core of all mathematical practices. It can be argued that the form taken by such a discourse in a classroom is an important indicator of the values in operation; and these values relate to mathematical knowledge as well as to social interaction. The overall aim of this study is to identify different “genres of reasoning discourse” in order to contribute to an understanding of how mathematical practices are recontextualised in classrooms in different cultural environments. For the purpose of the analysis reported here, “reasoning” indicates episodes of a discourse in which a person offers a reason for something. These situations have in common that something is interpreted as being not evident, doubtful or disputable and the attempt to increase evidence or acceptance has to be visible for participants. This definition of “episodes of reasoning” includes both unsuccessful and successful attempts to increase evidence or acceptance. In addition, it does not differentiate either between simple and sophisticated justifications, or between mathematically correct and incorrect reasons. To systematically analyse reasoning discourse, codes were developed on the basis of theoretical considerations and then refined in the process of their application to a sample of lessons from the German data. In the presentation some results of the ongoing analysis of data from German, Hong Kong and U.S. classrooms will be reported.

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Social formation of mathematical activity in a Japanese classroom: “Revoicing” as a unit of analysis Minoru Ohtani, Kanazawa University, Japan The study reported here analyses how teacher and students determine their obligations and take responsibility for engaging in mathematical activity. In search of a methodology that will provide a “unit of analysis,” the study drew on “revoicing” (O’Connor & Michaels, 1996). Revoicing means a particular kind of re-utterance of one’s contribution by another participant in a discussion. Revoicing is a specific discourse type that supported the investigation of the social formation of mathematical activity in a Japanese classroom. An analysis of transcripts of video-audio records reveals that revoicing is extensively and exclusively used by the teacher during classroom interaction. This result suggests that the teacher uses revoicing as a social resource to promote students’ participation in communal mathematical activity. In the course of this participation, revised definitions and conditions are progressively introduced. The teacher’s revoicing functions to sustain mathematical dialogue and to develop shared meaning or understanding among students with different conceptual horizons. Another important result is the dominance of revoicing in interview exchanges that was not apparent in the lessons. In the interviews, students locate their learning in the whole class activity and develop their understanding in relation to other peers. It seems that the teacher’s intensive use of revoicing in the lessons and students’ privileged use of it in the interviews may be a distinct characteristic of Japanese lessons (Ohtani, 2002). The story of a «teacher-dominated» lesson in Shanghai Ida Ah Chee Mok, University of Hong Kong, China Teacher-dominated classrooms in Confucian-heritage cultures have commonly been interpreted as an environment not conducive to learning by Western countries. However, recent studies have shown that students learning in such classrooms can still lead to high levels of student achievement. Therefore, it seems that simple labels, such as “teacher-dominated” or “studentcentred”, have not explained the crux of the matter. Whenever a teacher tries to teach, she/he will try to bring the object of learning to the fore of the students’ attention. What matters is how the object of learning is being presented to reveal its features or properties and how the students have experienced it. The basic assumption of this approach is that a learner learns when she/he can discern the object of learning and variation presupposes discernment. Therefore, an analysis that depicts the dimensions of variation created in the lesson explains what students may possibly learn. This paper reports the analysis of a single lesson in Shanghai from three perspectives. First, the lesson was analysed to see how the object of learning was being taught and explained in the classroom from the perspective of variation. Then, the students’ and the teacher’s interviews were examined for their comments on what was seen as important, thus providing some triangulation in the analysis of the lesson. Interaction and variation of content in a Swedish mathematics classroom Fritjof Sahlström, Uppsala University, Sweden Sverker Lindblad, Uppsala University, Sweden Josefin Häggblom, Uppsala University, Sweden Jonas Emanuelsson, University of Göteborg, Sweden The aim of this paper is to analyze learning processes in a Swedish Mathematics class in grade eight, focusing on the relationship between the sequential interaction context of affordances for learning, and the content variation in the construction of learning. The analysis is based on – 52 –

scrutinizing video tapes of classroom and interview interaction, transcripts of these interactions, and artifacts used in the interaction from two different perspectives: interaction organization and variation theory. The preliminary and integrated results show that the construction of learning processes is a complex, yet skilfully organized, process where issues of content and interaction sequence both have to be incorporated. Of special interest are comparisons of classroom interaction in different contexts. To consider this at the current stage of our research we discuss methods and results of comparisons of recordings of mathematics lessons in grade 8 in 1994 and 2002 in Swedish comprehensive schools and comparisons with recordings from Hong Kong and Shanghai. Initiation and elicitation: Applying a new framework to the analysis of classroom practice in mathematics classes in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia Rongjin Huang, University of Hong Kong, China This paper reports the application of a theoretical reformulation of teachers’ communicative acts in terms of function rather than form (Clarke & Lobato, 2002) to the analysis of classroom data collected as part of the Learner’s Perspective Study. This reformulation is founded upon the distinction between “eliciting” and “initiating.” By focusing on function (intention, action, and interpretation) rather than form, we overcome some of the difficulties experienced in analyzing the efficacy of teacher practices from a constructivist perspective. Criticism of “transmissive teaching” has an extensive history and has sometimes led to simplistic exhortations to avoid “telling” without serious discussion of those teaching actions that involve directly introducing new ideas. Reformulating “telling” as initiating, and conceiving of initiating and eliciting as interrelated sets of actions resolves some of the concerns raised with regard to “teaching as telling” and helps establish the legitimacy and the function of reformulated “telling” within a constructivist perspective on learning. When this framework is applied to classrooms in different cultures it offers a new perspective from which important differences in classroom practice can be identified. In particular, analysis of the practices of mathematics classrooms in a subset of the countries participating in the Learner’s Perspective Study reveal interesting differences in the agency (teacher or student) responsible for the introduction into classroom discourse of new mathematical ideas. The results problematise conventional distinctions between “teacher-centred” and “studentcentred” classrooms. A 14

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 D

Symposium METALEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: TAKING ACCOUNT OF THE STUDENT PERSPECTIVE Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Lin Norton, Liverpool Hope University College, United Kingdom Gina Wisker, Anglia Polytechnic University, United Kingdom Norman Jackson, Learning and Teaching Support Network Generic Centre and University of Surrey, United Kingdom

The purpose of this symposium is to bring together work that is being carried out with students from a variety of disciplines and levels of study in the UK, Australia and Finland, to encourage a greater awareness and understanding of themselves as learners and the requirements of higher – 53 –

education. The symposium draws on and develops foundation work on approaches to learning, study orchestrations and dissonance previously supported by EARLI symposia and now available in publications. The central theme considers how the will to learn can be fostered by encouraging students to reflect on their own learning approaches and conceptions within the context of subject demands (metalearning). The symposium consists of five papers, which take as their starting point the students’ perspective of their own learning processes. The presenters’ findings will be discussed in terms of their educational significance for curriculum design, student support and personal development planning. Understanding students’ conceptions of learning and subject in “introductory” courses: The case of introductory accounting Ursula Lucas, University of the West of England, United Kingdom Jan H. F. Meyer, University of Durham, United Kingdom Widening participation has led to the growth of first year “introductory” modules, which are taught to large numbers of students, including both specialists and non-specialists. This paper describes the findings of a research study into student conceptions of the subject of accounting; a subject that is frequently taught “en masse” to large numbers of students with varying subject specialisms. The Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI) and a pilot form of the Expectations of Learning Accounting Inventory (ELAcc) were administered to 1200 students (accounting and business studies) of introductory accounting across five UK universities. The RoLI seeks to operationalise a model of learning that is primarily defined in terms of prior knowledge and learning processes. The ELAcc draws on phenomenographic work in accounting to operationalise conceptions of accounting and processes of learning accounting. The findings indicate that business studies and accounting students enter their studies with quite different perceptions of accounting, and that these different perceptions can be differentially linked with transformative, accumulative and pathological learning processes in a conceptually consistent manner. In particular, for business studies students the accumulative and pathological learning processes merge and are correlated with a negative preconception of accounting, which include worry, and a lack of interest in the subject. The paper concludes with a proposal for the re-design of the introductory course, which incorporates the development of students’ awareness of negative preconceptions and the development of different conceptions of accounting as a subject. Raising students’ awareness of their approaches to study Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, Finland Studying law in Finland requires a great deal of independent studying for extensive examinations. In order to succeed well, they have to have good self-regulation and study skills. Experiences from study counselling at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, show that some students confront difficulties in adapting to this kind of learning environment. These students are aware that their study practices are not ideal but they do not have tools to develop their approaches to study or to analyse their conceptions of learning and knowledge. The participants of this small qualitative study were eight law students who received study counselling from the author. The students completed Meyer’s (2000) Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI). The students analysed their conceptions of learning and knowledge as well as their study practices with the author on the basis of the results of the RoLI. The results showed that the RoLI functioned very well as a diagnostic tool in study counselling. By analysing their own results of the RoLI, students became more conscious of their conceptions of learning and their approaches to studying, and they were able to develop more efficient and functional study practices in their learning environment. – 54 –

Encouraging metalearning in first year undergraduates Lin Norton, Liverpool Hope University College, United Kingdom Tessa Owens, Liverpool Hope University College, United Kingdom Widening participation in the UK brings challenges to institutions regarding students’ expectations about studying at degree level. If students hold views about learning which are incongruent with learning outcomes of the subjects they are studying, then they may face difficulties (Meyer & Kaschula, 1994). This study reports on an initiative to bring together students’ understandings of their learning conceptions with the expectations of their academic subjects. A generic learning module for first year students asked them to complete a number of self-assessment exercises and instruments including Meyer’s (2000) Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI). Part of their assessment required students to individually discuss their RoLI profiles with their academic tutor, and write about what they had discovered about themselves as learners and how this fitted the demands of their academic subjects. Findings from a multi-methodological approach are currently being analysed and will be reported to look at the effects of this initiative. The implications of this study for embedding metalearning in the undergraduate experience will be discussed in the framework of personal development planning. Developing metalearning capacity in first-year economics Jan H. F. Meyer, University of Durham, United Kingdom Martin Shanahan, University of South Australia, Australia Congruent with the University of South Australia’s mission to widen access, first year business students enter the university with a wide range of educational backgrounds and experiences. Earlier work by the present authors revealed that such students vary considerably in their views about what learning is, and how they engage learning as well as what Economics is, what Economists do, and so on. Students whose conceptions of learning are at odds with the demands of the institution, or whose conceptions of their academic discipline (in this case Economics) are incongruent with fundamental conceptions associated with the discipline (for example, they hold misconceptions of economics) are likely to face difficulties. This paper discusses the development of discipline specific processes to assist students in developing their metalearning capacity and so deal with these challenges. The processes aimed at enhancing students’ metalearning included the design of a discipline-sensitive learning inventory, the development of a web-based platform for the inventory; using resultant data to inform students on an individual basis about themselves as learners in context, using (variation in) inventory data to inform the course curriculum, the design of course materials, and academic staff development. A quantitative analysis of various aspects of the impact of this integrated program is presently underway (N>800) and will be reported, including analysis of measures of academic performance. The paper reports on the theoretical and practical issues and outcomes of incorporating metalearning processes among staff and students in an undergraduate course in a business school. Achieving a doctorate: Supporting international postgraduate students studying at a distance Gina Wisker, Anglia Polytechnic University, United Kingdom Ongoing research at APU, UK, aims to identify: (1) postgraduate research students’ learning approaches, preconceptions, and misconceptions; (2) learning, support and supervisory strategies at key moments which empower international postgraduates’ success in achieving doctorates. Quantitative and qualitative methods in an action research framework, involve postgraduates and supervisors as collaborators, encouraging metacognitive awareness. Meyer’s (2000) reflections on – 55 –

learning inventory (roli) identifies research students’ learning approaches and those 'at risk' taking dissonant approaches. focus groups, interviews, supervisory dialogues and analyses following research method development workshops, identify successful strategies supporting students’ doctoral achievement. Earlier papers (Wisker, Robinson, Trafford, in press) considered postgraduates’ choice of methods. This paper focuses on the final stages of their work, tracking changes in approaches to research-as-learning, and identifying development of successful strategies. International postgraduates, especially those studying at a distance, present a challenge for universities in terms of growing numbers and cultural differences. Differing learning approaches and preconceptions are a special case (Asplund, & O’Donoghue, 1994). This study identifies learning approaches, requirements and successful practices of support, development and supervision empowering students to achieve doctorates. A 15

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 I

Symposium LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING IN VIRTUAL TEAMS Organisers: Chairs: Discussant:

Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands Joseph Kessels, University of Twente, The Netherlands Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands Joseph Kessels, University of Twente, The Netherlands Päivi Häkkinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

There are sufficient reasons to conclude that virtual education is not just a hype. There are among others economic motivations such as bringing one learning module to a larger audience of learners, and pragmatic reasons such as achieving flexibility in time and space for learning, which is especially important for adult learners. However from a didactic point of view there are some doubts. We noticed for example that current technologies are designed for collaboration, e.g. sharing documents, but mostly they fail to support learning and understanding, e.g. understanding each others work, in virtual teams. In order to understand virtual teams, we need to know how we can study learning and understanding in virtual teams. Interesting research questions are: Which concepts are important in understanding virtual teams? How can we measure those concepts, and in what type of setting (e.g., experimental study, case study)? The aim of this symposium is to provide and discuss concepts and pragmatic insights in research on learning and understanding in virtual teams. Understanding designers, designing understanding Ingrid Mulder, Telematica Institute, The Netherlands Janine Swaak, Telematica Institute, The Netherlands Joseph Kessels, University of Twente, The Netherlands Understanding each other is not a trivial matter, both in face-to-face situations and in technologymediated situations. When group members are globally distributed and their communication depends completely on technology, it is even more difficult. The current work draws upon three research approaches: explorative, design, and hypothesis testing. First, we explored how virtual design teams work and learn together. Based on theoretical insights we observed and assessed shared understanding and group learning in a virtual design team during four months. Our major conclusion was that shared understanding was sub-optimal; mainly due to the effect that hardly – 56 –

any questions were raised and answered. We theorised that stimulating questioning behaviour results in more reflection, and thus in more learning and understanding. Secondly, we took a design approach to find out how we can support people in asking questions. On the one hand, prototypes of a design workshop were evaluated in a user pilot, and resulted in the development of a tool that supports questioning behaviour. On the other hand, we investigated the role of a facilitator. Finally, we validated if stimulating questioning behaviour really increases learning and understanding in virtual design teams. In other words, we studied if either the tool (technological support) or a facilitator (social support) stimulated reflective behaviour and therefore learning and understanding in distributed teams. In the presentation we explain the objectives and outcomes of our research. Determining sociability, social space and social presence in (a)synchronous collaborating teams Karel Kreijns, Open University, The Netherlands Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands The effectiveness of group learning in asynchronous distributed learning group depends on the social interaction that takes place. This social interaction affects both cognitive and socioemotional processes that take place during learning, group forming, establishment of group structures and group dynamics. Though now known to be important, this aspect is often ignored or forgotten by educators and researchers who tend to concentrate on cognitive processes and tasks contexts. This ‘one-sided’ educational focus largely determines the set of requirements in the design of CSCL environments resulting in “functional” CSCL environments. Our research is aimed at the design and implementation of sociable CSCL environments which increase the likelihood that a sound social space will emerge. It is based upon an ecological approach to social interaction centering on the concept of social affordances, the concept of the sociability of CSCL environments, and social presence theory. The hypothesis is that the higher the sociability, the more likely that social interaction will take place or will increase, and the more likely that this will result in an emerging sound social space and a community of learning. In the present research the variables of interest are sociability and social presence. Our research examines how software technology can be used to augment CSCL environments with social affordances devices that stimulate social interaction for socio-emotional processes and thus create sociable CSCL environments. The present study deals with the construction and validation of three instruments to determine sociability, social space and social presence in (a)synchronous collaborating teams. Creating meaning through a community of collaborative learners Karen Littleton, Open University, United Kingdom Denise Whitelock, Open University, United Kingdom In this paper we will draw on data derived from an ongoing study of students enrolled on the Open University's MA in Open and Distance Learning. This course is delivered exclusively on-line, to an international cohort of students. These students are from wide-ranging academic backgrounds and an analysis of their collaborative work affords a distinctive opportunity to understand the means by which such students negotiate shared understanding and support each other in the process of learning at a distance. In this context, drawing on contemporary socio-cultural theory and research, we will also explore the salient input of the moderator and the role the moderator plays in supporting joint meaning making and fostering a collaborative community of enquiry.

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Supporting social and task regulation of learning interaction in collaborative writing tasks Chiel van der Puil, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Jerry Andriessen, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Collaborative writing as a learning task should generate learning interactions, among which argumentation, as well as negotiation and sharing of meaning. To set up collaborative writing, synchronous (electronic) interaction and text- production are perceived as excellent vehicles for knowledge co-construction. To achieve constructive interactions is not an easy task for secondary school students; they have to combine cognitive as well as collaborative skills in a new pedagogical environment. We focus on the value of social- and task-interaction as regulative processes in achieving constructive interactions, that is, interactions that mediate learning in some way. The underlying pedagogical idea is to scaffold setting the stage for learning interaction without scripting the collaborators’ own pedagogical initiatives. Two studies explore the quality of learning interaction episodes in relation to the uses and effect of supporting the collaborative process through the communication-interface. To analyze the regulative qualities of social and task interaction, episodes were scored on their contribution to these aspects. The main goal is to create a dialogue-history score for learning interaction episodes. However, how an episode affects following episodes is unclear: do first impressions determine the process or do episodes scored simply add up (cumulative contributions), or do their effects for instance fade out after a while, and is then reinforcement of the collaborative relation needed? Another question that arises is how social and task aspects interrelate, are they interchangeable or are these aspects interdependent in promoting an effective climate for learning interaction? A 16

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 C

Symposium FOSTERING STATISTICAL LITERACY Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Arthur Bakker, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Koeno Gravemeijer, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Koeno Gravemeijer, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Richard Noss, University of London, United Kingdom

The growing acknowledgement of the importance of statistical literacy as a key ability for citizens and employees of information-laden societies has created the need to develop statistical education in new directions  both theoretically and in practice. Developing education for statistical literacy, however, is a complex task, since it aims at the actual use of statistics in society. This implies that it has to address both issues concerning the development of statistical interest, and issues such as modelling, tool use, and information technology. In this symposium, Cobb and Hodge will address the former when they speak about classroom instructional design that focuses on the issue of statistical interests. Bakker and Gravemeijer will both address the latter, while discussing classroom instructional design that focuses on statistical reasoning. Research on instructional design in statistics, however, cannot limit itself to what happens in classrooms. Rather, it needs to address the cultural practices in which statistical thinking  however defined  takes place. This aspect will be addressed by Hoyles, who will present research on the use of statistics in commercial and industrial settings.

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Cultivating students’ mathematical interests: The case of statistical data analysis Paul Cobb, Vanderbilt University, USA Lynn Hodge, Vanderbilt University, USA In this paper, we frame two classroom design experiments in which a teacher successfully cultivated a diverse group of middle-school students’ interests in analysing statistical data as a case in which to make an initial contribution to a prospective design theory of mathematical interests. The first design experiment was conducted in a seventh-grade classroom in the United States and the second, follow-up study was conducted with a smaller contingent of the same students a year later. The perspective that we take when speaking of students’ interests is compatible with that of Dewey and refers to activities that the students came to view as worthy of their engagement. Dewey argued that attention to students’ interests should not be restricted to the starting points for instruction. Instead, it should also encompass the cultivation of students’ interests in engaging in the activities of particular disciplines as an explicit goal of instructional design and teaching. We operationalise this notion of mathematical interests by defining them as patterns of engagement in collective and individual activity. In the analysis, we document a two-step approach that involved first cultivating students’ pragmatic interests in an issue under investigation (e.g. AIDS, salary differences), and then secondly cultivating students’ statistical interests in which the statistical issues that arose while comparing different analyses became objects of interest in their own right. This process of cultivating students’ statistical interests has implications for instructional design in mathematics education more generally, and for equity in students’ access to significant mathematical ideas. Emergent modelling as a heuristic for instructional design in data analysis Koeno Gravemeijer, Utrecht University, The Netherlands In this paper, we look at one of the two design experiments that Cobb and Hodges speak about, from the perspective of instructional design heuristics. The corresponding instructional sequence had as its goal that students would come to see distributions as object-like entities. The instructional design heuristic that underlies the design of the instructional sequence is called ‘emergent modelling’. This design heuristic offers an alternative for instructional approaches that focus on teaching ready-made representations. In relation to this, a distinction can be made between modelling as ‘translation’ and modelling as ‘organizing’. Emergent modelling fits the latter. Within this perspective, the model and the situation modelled are mutually constituted in the course of modelling activity. This gives the label ‘emergent’ a dual meaning. It refers to both the process by which models emerge, and the process by which these models support the emergence of more formal mathematical knowledge. This design heuristic also influenced the design of fitting computer tools. In line with the emergent modelling design heuristic, software tools were designed, which could be used for exploratory data analysis on an elementary level, and were tailored to the reinvention of the conventional inscriptions and tools. Analysis of the teaching experiment shows how the very act of structuring data sets with those computer tools fostered a process by which the students shifted from viewing a data set as a plurality of values to coming to view a data set as an entity that is distributed within a space of possible values. Diagrammatic reasoning about growing samples Arthur Bakker, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Dissatisfaction with the procedural way of teaching measures of centre and graphing techniques has led researchers to focus on overarching ideas in statistics, such as variation, distribution and – 59 –

sampling, also for students with hardly any prior knowledge of statistics. The question of the research reported here was how students aged 12 and 13 could learn to reason with these ideas in a coherent and meaningful way, such that it would contribute to statistical literacy. Design research with teaching experiments was carried out in four seventh-grade classrooms and one eighth-grade classroom in the Netherlands. Data collection included video recording, interviews, observations, student materials, tests and the documented changes in the instructional materials with motivation. From the cumulative design research cycles, one instructional activity emerged as particularly promising, namely that of growing samples. Students first predict a small sample and invent a graph to display their prediction; then they compare their graph with a real sample of that size. The cycle of prediction, production, and reflection is repeated several times for larger and larger samples. This activity engaged students in statistical reasoning in a way they had now shown before, probably due to its creative and playful character. In this paper we analyse this growing samples activity as an instance of what Peirce calls ‘diagrammatic reasoning’. It is shown how the interplay between graph production and conceptual development led to coherent and meaningful reasoning about variation, distribution and sampling. Mobilising statistical literacy in the workplace Celia Hoyles, University of London, United Kingdom Following case studies of companies in a variety of skill sectors, we have identified a major challenge facing industry and commerce in the ‘knowledge economies’ as the need for managers, in the context of analytical decision-making, to develop some understandings of the IT-based models that are increasingly part of their working practice. This means developing competence in Techno-mathematical Literacies (TmL): Technically-orientated functional mathematical knowledge, grounded in the context of specific industrial or commercial situations. We have documented and categorised episodes from our observations and identified one facet of TmL as statistical literacy. From this analysis, we have shown how manufacturing companies now employ quite complex models of production that include variables, relationships, thresholds and constraints, and managers are therefore required to take decisions based on output from these quantitative models, whilst simultaneously taking account of qualitative and grounded information, such as production capacity and the current “industry climate”. The presentation will illustrate how TmL is mobilised by reference to examples of decisions taken in the companies and recalled during in depth interviews with managers following observation. The analysis will illustrate the complex interplay of statistical literacy and experience of the work practice, which points to challenges in the instructional design of training modules in TmL that will allow time-served employees to learn these new skills. A 17

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 E

Symposium THE SOCIAL MEDIATION OF MATHEMATICAL LEARNING IN MULTI-ETHNIC SCHOOLS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Guida de Abreu, University of Luton, United Kingdom Guida de Abreu, University of Luton, United Kingdom Ed Elbers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

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The unprecedented levels of migration in most European countries have substantially changed the ethnic composition of the school population. This ethnic diversity within schools poses a major challenge to education in Europe. Multi-ethnic classrooms have to deal with the social, cultural and linguistic heterogeneity of their students. Research into the learning and development of students in multi-ethnic schools is however, an area that has received less attention than it deserves. This symposium aims to offer a contribution to this area by examining empirical research conducted in Portugal, Greece, England, Spain, and the Netherlands. Though the studies were conducted independently they have in common (i) a socio-cultural approach (defined in a broad sense and drawing from different traditions and disciplines), (ii) a focus on the specific case of mathematics classrooms (iii) a focus on processes of social mediation. While recognising the cultural nature of mathematics the contributors explore social mediation from different angles. A focus on the microcontexts enabled van Eerde and Hajer to explore issues of language, Planas and Gorgorio issues of communication, and Chronaki issues of identity development. On the other hand, focusing on the macro-context resulted in O’Toole and Abreu exploring the role of parents, and Cesar and Oliveira the curriculum as a mediational tool. In addition to the analysis of explicit processes (what is physically or verbally expressed) several of the contributions also explore symbolic social mediations. That is, the social valorisation of knowledge that may constrain social mediations but are of an implicit nature. Ways for developing mathematical literacy and constructing learning identities: The case of a young Roma girl Anna Chronaki, University of Thessaly, Greece It is well argued that mathematical literacy can enable people for a democratic participation in their communities, and for gaining control over their own lives in an increasingly technology-based world. Whilst formal learning of mathematics is mainly a matter of school practice, children of a Roma ethnic background often reject going to school despite parental encouragement. There is no doubt that the transition from home to school is not only conflicting but emotionally traumatic. This paper aims to explore what are the types of learning identities that these children construct and how they gain competence on school mathematical practices. In order to characterise in depth the individual’s learning path in these circumstances an ethnographic study of a 9 year-old Roma girl who experienced difficulties at school and denied going back was conducted. Data collection involved observation, diary notes, interviews with the girl, her mother and her teacher and focused sessions where the girl and the researcher were engaged in solving school mathematical problems. A basic assumption in the present study is that human development is interweaved with the use of cultural tools and that social mediation is not a neutral cognitive process but a value-laden activity. Specific questions guiding analysis include: What are the meanings that Roma children bring to school mathematical practices; What might be the role of an experienced ‘other’ in helping them to use appropriately cultural tools for their learning of mathematics; How the child experiences and values the social mediation of tools and practices. The curriculum as a mediational tool for inclusive participation: A case study in a Portuguese multicultural school Margarida César, University of Lisbon, Portugal Isolina Oliveira, University of Lisbon, Portugal In urban areas of Portugal, namely in Lisbon, schools became deeply multicultural. In these schools some pupils are quite distanced from the school culture and many repeat various school grades. In these contexts the curriculum may emerge as a way of (re)organising an inclusive– 61 –

shaped schooling practice. The principles of inclusive schooling promote the right to be diverse. They also consider the need to listen not only to the voices but also to the echoes that exist in a learning community who must establish an intersubjectivity (Wertsch, 1991) in order to appropriate knowledge and give a meaning to their school practices. Furthermore, the sociocultural approach (Vygotsky, 1978) stresses that appropriating knowledge and mobilising competencies is a complex process which includes social, emotional and cognitive elements that interact in a dialectic way. In this action-research project an alternative curriculum was developed in a class (5th and 6th grades), in a school from a poor and multicultural area in Lisbon. This curriculum was conceived as a mediational tool for inclusive participation. A follow-up was implemented investigating processes of change and its impact on the learners participation in their school practices. Data were gathered through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires and several documents. In this presentation we will examine changes in the students' academic and social competencies. Outcomes highlight that if we change our practices and teaching strategies during compulsory education many students attain both achievement and a better socialisation. So, the curriculum proves to be a strong mediational tool for an inclusive participation. Parents past experiences as a mediational tool for understanding their child’s current mathematical learning Sarah O’Toole, University of Luton, United Kingdom Guida de Abreu, University of Luton, United Kingdom This paper seeks to understand the ways in which parents use their own past experiences as a mediational tool for understanding their child’s current school learning. Supported by sociocultural theory, culture is seen as historically evolving, resulting in the person building upon and redefining the representations of the past. It is suggested here that parents’ own experiences make a symbolic transition through time from past to present, as well as utilising the future projected for the child in order to make sense of their child’s educational experience. We will expand on the notion of prolepsis (Cole, 1995) whereby the past, present and future forms, mediates and constrains the world of the present. Exploring these issues in multiethnic communities is complex. The parents and children within the classroom come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and have different educational experiences. Our analysis draws on 21 interviews with parents whose children were from two schools with different ethnic compositions, in a town in the Southeast of England. The children whose parents we spoke to came from year two (6/7 years-old) and year six (10/11yearsold). We will discuss parents’ academic references to their own past, highlighting those instances where references to their child in the present were made. It emerged that parents utilised their positive or negative experiences to try and create more positive circumstances for their children. It is within this process that parents projected a future ideal for their child, which was either congruent or discordant with their own past. On how cultural and social distances mediate the transition processes of immigrant students learning mathematics Núria Planas, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain Núria Gorgorió, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain This presentation examines how the cultural and the social distances emanating from interactions in a mathematics classroom influence the transition process of immigrant students to the point of non-participation. Drawing on socio-cultural theory we understand (i) cultural distance as different interpretations of the norms that regulate the dynamics of the mathematical classrooms, and (ii) social distance as resulting from the different ways participants value each other and the – 62 –

knowledge exhibited.The empirical basis of our analysis is a study conducted in three classrooms in urban high-schools in Barcelona, Spain, with students aged 15-16. Most students came from very low socio-economic backgrounds and many of them were immigrants. Micro-ethnographic data were obtained through video-taping focussed on the students who exhibited a higher number of breakdowns in their classroom participation. Our findings show that the difficulties in communication originating from cultural and social distances become obstacles to the students’ participation. These resulted in asymmetric social interactions, to the point that the students’ nonparticipation can be understood as an active contest of the norms and the perceived valorisations. How the students construe meanings for the classroom episodes, how they value others and the knowledge construed, and how they perceive themselves to be valued, mediate their transition process. Not only is their construction of mathematical knowledge mediated by the sociocultural processes, but more than that, their individual creation of mathematical meanings is subordinated to their capacity of making compatible their perception of the immediate sociocultural contexts and the identities they want to develop. From observation to creation: A developmental study of mathematics teaching and learning in multi-ethnic classrooms Dolly van Eerde, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Maaike Hajer, University of Professional Education, Utrecht, The Netherlands This paper explores the relation between teaching and learning mathematics and mathematics related language in multi-ethnic mathematics classes, based on two subsequent research projects. Dutch mathematics education has been strongly influenced by Realistic Mathematics Education, which builds on social interaction between teacher and students. This interaction puts high demands on students’ language skills. Theoretical assumptions have been made on the symbiosis of mathematics and second language learning, building on three essential factors. First, the exposure to new concepts and language input while orientating on mathematics problems, second the opportunities for language production in the interactive process of meaning construction, and third feedback on mathematics content and linguistic form of student utterances. Two studies in lower secondary education addressed this symbiosis in teaching practice. The first is an explorative observational study on interaction in multi-ethnic mathematics classes, which revealed that fruitful conditions for both mathematics and language learning were not all met by the teachers. The second developmental study builds on these findings, by developing educational software and teaching materials that promote comprehensible orientation, interaction and feedback to support mathematics teachers in language sensitive content instruction. Observations of teachers and learners showed whether these materials promote the mutual reinforcement of mathematics and language teaching in multi-ethnic classrooms. Interview data were used to improve our understanding of (changes in) teacher’s cognitions while working with the materials.

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A 18

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 F

Symposium STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE STUDIES IN THE FINAL YEARS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

John Ainley, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia John Ainley, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia Frank Naylor, University of Melbourne, Australia

In many European countries there has been a decline in the proportion of young people taking science subjects in the upper years of secondary school. This symposium will examine aspects of the uptake of science studies in four countries: Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The papers use statistical analyses of large national data sets to explore the relationships between science uptake (including biology, chemistry, physics and other science studies) and student and school characteristics in these countries. Smith and Hannan examine differences in school and student influences on the uptake of different science subjects in Ireland. Beavis shows how the interests of students direct them through school and university courses into congruent sectors in the world of work and so to attain an occupation. Elsworth and Ainley use longitudinal data from Australia to investigate the ways in which interests and achievements influence participation in science and technology (in conjunction with background and school characteristics). Coe and Daly investigate changes in the pattern of the influence of student and school characteristics on the take-up and achievement in science subjects for advanced level students in the UK over recent years. Van Langen, Dekkers and Bosker examine the choice of mathematics and science subjects by students in higher secondary education in the Netherlands using data at the level of the student, the family and the school. They also relate cross-national data on participation to information about social contexts. The discussion integrates findings on science participation from these countries with theoretical perspectives on the uptake of science. Individual and school level influences on the uptake of biology, chemistry and physics in Ireland Emer Smyth, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland Carmel Hannan, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland Recent rapid changes in the world economy have highlighted the need for a workforce that is numerate and scientifically literate. However, concern has been expressed internationally about the decline in young people taking scientific subjects in secondary and tertiary education. In the Irish context, there has been a decline since the early 1990s in the proportion of young people taking science subjects within upper secondary education. This is likely to have significant consequences for educational and occupational choices on leaving school. The take-up of science subjects can be seen in relation to the influence of student characteristics (both objective and subjective), school organisation and the approach to science teaching within the school. Studies of subject take-up within second-level education have tended to focus on student-level characteristics and have rarely attempted to take account of the broad variety of ways, formal and informal, in which schools can constrain or facilitate particular subject choices. In contrast, this paper explores both the school and student factors shaping the take-up of Biology, Physics and Chemistry at upper secondary level. In addition, it explores whether schools promote take-up across all three subjects or whether there is a trade-off, for example, between taking Biology and Physics. It draws on detailed – 64 –

information on almost 4,000 students in 100 secondary schools and supplements these data with in-depth case studies of science teaching within eight schools. The attainment of social status in Australia: Interests, education, skill and sector of work Adrian Beavis, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia This paper argues that there are five sectors in the world of work that are related to Holland's RIASEC theory of work environments. Evidence is presented from Australian, USA and Canadian data to show that these sectors exist and are associated with different levels of socio-economic status. A brief description is given of a typology of school course types developed by Ainley (1994) and of university course types developed by Elsworth (1986) and how these relate to the RIASEC classification. The paper then shows how the interests of students direct them through school and higher educational courses into congruent sectors in the world of work and so to attain an occupation with a given level of socio-economic status. The data support the view that interests, and types and level of educational courses chosen or preferred (plus the skill level of occupations) are the strongest predictors of the attainment of socio-economic status in Australia. The model includes measures of family background (educational level of parents and socio-economic status) plus gender). This effect is strongest for Investigative interests which are strongly associated with the uptake of science school subjects, science-type university courses and Investigative occupations. Data are taken from a large nationally representative study of Australian families, The Family and Lifestyles study (more than 6000 respondents), and a survey that examined demand for higher education (2,000 respondents). These data are analysed by structural equation modelling techniques. Patterns of interest, aptitude and background in participation in science and technology in the final year of secondary school Gerald Elsworth, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia John Ainley, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia This paper examines the influence of earlier interests, gender, socioeconomic background and earlier achievement on participation in science and technology. It is based on a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of 5,000 students who were first contacted when in Grade 9 during 1995 and who reached Grade 12 in 1998. Influences on participation in biology, chemistry, physics and technology during Grade 12 are examined using structural equation modelling and multilevel analysis. Interests are based on inventories that reflect the six RIASEC scales from the Holland theory of vocational choice as measured in Grade 10. Achievement in reading and mathematics was measured when the students were in Grade 9. In addition the influence of several school-level variables is examined. Structural equation models confirm that there are gender, socioeconomic status, earlier achievement and interest influences on participation in these sciences and in technology. Participation in physics and chemistry is strongly influenced by high levels of earlier achievement in mathematics and high investigative interests. Participation in biology is strongly influenced by social interests (which are themselves influenced by gender) and directly by gender. Multilevel models incorporate the clustering of students by state (there are differences between states) and school and reveal a number of within-level and across-level interactions. The results of these analyses indicate that interests are important for explaining educational choices and provide mediating effects for the influence of both gender and socioeconomic status. Alternative interpretations of the effects of these variables on subject participation are discussed.

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Influences on student uptake of science in the final years of school in the United Kingdom Robert Coe, Durham University, United Kingdom Peter Daly, Queen's University Belfast, United Kingdom This paper presents evidence on the take-up and achievement in science subjects for advanced level students in the UK, and the changes in these patterns over recent years. It draws on data collected as part of the A Level Information System (ALIS), a monitoring project for performance in the final years of school, in which currently over 1200 schools and colleges participate annually. Relationships between individual student level factors such as sex, socio-economic status, prior achievement and attitudes with take-up and achievement in science within the ALIS sample are presented. Associations with school level factors are also considered, including the type of institution, the relative proportions of students within different departments in it, and compositional factors. The stability of these relationships over time is examined using data from the same schools across different cohorts. Finally, we look at trends in the take-up of science subjects over time, against a background of curriculum and other change. Interdisciplinary explanations for differences in choice of mathematics and science subjects Annemari van Langen, University Nijmegen, The Netherlands Hetty Dekkers, University Nijmegen, The Netherlands Roel Bosker, University of Twente, The Netherlands The choice of mathematics and science subjects by students in Dutch secondary education differs strongly by gender, with girls choosing these subjects to a more limited extent than boys. Over the past few years, a declining interest in mathematics and science subjects has also become apparent for boys. Selection differences were also found to depend on ethnicity and, to a lesser extent, on level of parental education. International comparison figures show these differences to not be equally large across Western countries. The paper describes the results of our interdisciplinary research on these differences that consisted of two parts. The first part concerned the choice of mathematics and science subjects by students in higher secondary education in the Netherlands. Multilevel analyses were conducted on data at the level of the student, the family and the school. In such a manner, we could study the interaction between different factors while also taking the hierarchical levels of the factors into consideration. The second part concerned the influence of the social context. Explanations for the differences between countries with respect to the choice of mathematics and science subjects must be situated in the social contexts within these countries including the educational systems. An inventory has first been made of the participation figures in mathematics and science subjects in secondary education for a number of Western countries. In three of these countries, further in-depth study was undertaken. Interviews were conducted with key-figures (government officials, researchers, providers of educational services and so forth) to identify explanations for the cross-national differences.

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A 19

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 I

Symposium GETTING A GRIP ON GRAPHS: FOSTERING CHILDREN’S DIAGRAMMATIC UNDERSTANDING AND REASONING Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Anja Felbrich, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany Anja Felbrich, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany

Graphs and diagrams are valuable tools for reasoning, problem solving and communication of knowledge. They allow for an externalising and restructuring of knowledge and provide new information - these affordances of graphs are highly valued by experts. Though graphs are said to be too abstract for young children, several studies have shown that even pre-schoolers can correctly read off simple information from graphs. On the other hand, several studies revealed that the use of graphs for displaying non-spatial concepts is difficult to acquire and misconceptions concerning the interpretation of graphs remain even after classroom instruction. Given these early competencies and later deficits in visual reasoning, it seems advisable to draw on early knowledge and to develop a good understanding of representational systems. But how this can be achieved and which factors are essential for developing a sound understanding of graphs as representational forms and reasoning tools is an open question. The symposium organises four papers which shed light on this issue from various points of departure. The presentation by Kramarski reports effects of a metacognitive instruction in a cooperative learning setting on alternative graph interpretation and alternative graph construction. The Mevarech and Kramarski paper furthermore uses discourse analysis to explain why this metacognitive instruction was successful. Felbrich and Stern report on the effects of different contrasts for highlighting important principles of graphs. Finally, the paper by Koerber et al. shows that an intervention as early as forth grade can have sustainable benefits for graph understanding and its use in problem solving contexts. Making sense of graphs: Does metacognitive instruction make a difference on student’s mathematical conceptions and alternative conceptions? Bracha Kramarski, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel Graphs are central in literacy of reading, sciences and mathematics, they are equated with the ability to use written information to function in society. Graph sense represents certain ways of thinking rather than bodies of knowledge that can be transmitted to others (NCTM Standards, 2000; OECD, 2000). Making sense of graphs appears to be more complex than once thought. It was found that students hold alternative conceptions regarding graph interpretation (e.g., Leinhardt et al. 1990) as well as alternative conceptions regarding graph construction (e.g., Mevarech & Kramarski, 1997a). The use of the term conceptions denotes to students’ knowledge that is in accord with the accepted meanings and alternative conceptions denotes to description of knowledge that differs from that which is to be learned. The present study investigates the differential effects of cooperative-learning with or without metacognitive instruction on making sense of graphs. The metacognitive instruction was based on the IMPROVE method that emphasizes the use of self metacognitive questioning (Mevarech & Kramarski, 1997b). Participants were 196 eighth-graders who studied in six classrooms. Data were analyzed by using quantitative and qualitative methods. Results indicated that students who were exposed to the metacognitive instruction within cooperative learning (COOP+META) significantly outperformed – 67 –

their counterparts who were exposed to cooperative learning with no metacognitive instruction (COOP). The positive effects of COOP+META were observed on both graph interpretation and graph construction with regard to alternative conceptions. Furthermore, observations indicated differential characteristics of discourse behaviors during small group interaction under these methods. The practical implications of the study will be discussed on the conference. Effects of metacognitive discourse on learning graphs Zemira Mevarech, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel Bracha Kramarski, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel Research in the area of mathematics emphasizes the importance of discourse as an integral part of doing mathematics (The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000). The discourse in mathematics classrooms includes at least two factors: mathematical discourse and metacognitive discourse. Mathematical discourse includes the abilities to construct mathematical conjectures, develop and evaluate mathematical arguments, and select and use various types of representations. Metacognitive discourse refers to using self-regulating behaviors. The present study investigates the discourse in mathematics classrooms under two conditions: cooperative-learning with or without metacognitive instruction. The metacognitive instruction was based on the IMPROVE method (Mevarech & Kramarski, 1997). Under this condition, students were guided to activate metacognitive questions in small groups that focus on: (a) the nature of the problem/task (b) the construction of relationships between previous and new knowledge; (c) the use of strategies appropriate for solving the problem/task and understanding why; and (d) reflection on the solution process. Participants were 122 eighth graders who studied Linear Graphs. Two group problem solving tasks were administered: a graph interpretation task and a graph construction task. Data were video-taped and analysed by using qualitative and quantitative methods. Students’ mathematical discourse was classified into four criteria: Vocabulary; Fluency; Strategies Explanations; and Metacognitive expressions. Discourse analyses indicated different discourse characteristics under these two conditions. Students who were exposed to the metacognitive instruction within cooperative settings were better able than their counterparts in the cooperative condition to express their mathematical idea. Their mathematical discourse was more fluent and involved logic-formal explanations. In addition, their discourse was based on self-regulating behaviors (e.g., prove, check) than students who studied in cooperative settings with no metacognitive instruction. The practical implications of the study will be discussed on the conference. Effects of different contrasts on understanding the slope of line graphs Anja Felbrich, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany Efficient graph readers know which concepts may be mapped to visual space, and how. With line graphs one has to understand that complex information not represented by either axis may be inferred from the slope of the graph. In a distance-time-graph, the slope corresponds to speed, integrating information from both axes into a new concept. One successful method of learning about such abstract concepts is using contrasts. Contrasting cases, as been shown, facilitate insight and abstraction. The contrasts used, however, have to be finely tuned to the learning goals, since the specific nature of the contrast will highlight different information and properties. Two kinds of contrast potentially appropriate for learning the concept of slope have been explored in an experimental training study with 40 sixth grade students. Students in the content-contrast group learned to map two concepts from different domains to the slope. This contrast highlights that – 68 –

different proportional concepts can be mapped to the slope, but the direction of this mapping is not attended to. Students in the structure-contrast group mapped the concept of speed to the graph’s slope twice - once with axis description in line with graphing conventions and a second time with (unconventional) reversed axis descriptions. Therefore students in this group had the opportunity to directly observe how reversal of axis assignments changes the meaning of the slope from “speediness” to “slowliness”, while the context remains the same. Results from transfer to new domains indicate that students learning with the structural contrast develop a deeper understanding of slope than students learning with the content contrast. Understanding Cartesian graphs in elementary school: Long-term effects of a short training Susanne Koerber, University of Munich, Germany Ilonca Hardy, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany The goal of the present study was to investigate children’s early competencies in effectively using (line) graphs in order to overcome misconceptions in proportional reasoning. Generally children beyond secondary school are not ascribed with an ability to flexibly and effectively use graphs. Here we present data of a training study with fourth-grade students and a follow up study two years later, in which we show that it is not only possible to meaningfully introduce line graphs already in elementary school but that this also yields immediate and sustainable effects on understanding proportional reasoning two years later. In a two-afternoon training, fourth graders were taught to use a conventional graph or a graph adapted to the context of the training content (juice mixtures) as reasoning tool for understanding proportions. A third group was trained with a balance beam, displaying proportions with weights. The training was designed so that recognition of the multiplicative relationship between ratios proportional to each other was facilitated by interpreting the slope of the graph thus supporting conceptual change if holding a misconception. Apart from significant immediate effects of this training on understanding proportional reasoning, the two graph groups showed sustainable beneficial effects on proportional reasoning in comparison to the group working with the balance beam, as well as in comparison with at base line group who did not take part on the training two years before. Moreover, the group previously working with the conceptualised graph was especially apt in using the graph for reasoning in new contexts. A 20

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 H

Symposium METACOGNITION AND EMOTIONS - METAEMOTIONS, EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE AND EDUCATION Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Ottavia Albanese, University of Milan “Bicocca”, Italy Ottavia Albanese, University of Milan “Bicocca”, Italy Louise Lafortune, University of Quebec, Trois Rivières, Canada Marcel V.J. Veenman, Leiden University and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Metaemotions and emotional competence as social emotional regulation are very important issues in order to understand different concepts and relations among critical thinking, judgement and metacognition. Some contributions from Switzerland, US, Canada, France and Italy suggest – 69 –

actions, strategies and interventions to promote psychological awareness in subjects. The first study assesses children’s general understanding of emotions by using a Test of Emotion Comprehension after a training phase with a teaching program about emotions. The following study elaborates and validates a program including the affective domain in mathematics; the activities are carried out by parents and children at home. The third research suggests a philosophical dialogue among peers enabling five-year-old children to understand emotions; the basis is the emphasis on the cognitive level by some attachment theories. The following study focuses on emotional awareness and metaemotional competence because the positive emotions and affects could be a protective factor in adolescence; data are analysed with a coding system stressing gender differences. The fifth study investigates the guilt influence on self regulatory cognition according to the theory on affect as information view; the subjects wrote about either negative or a positive life event and then they received an attribution reminding that thinking about event could contribute to their feelings. The last study focuses on the strong difficulty of subjects suffering of eating disorders in recognising and discriminating body sensations, feelings, and emotional states; research is carried out in relation to attachment theory as well. Finally, the educational implications of all results will be discussed. Teaching emotions understanding Pierre-André Doudin, University of Geneva, Switzerland Paul L. Harris, Harvard University, USA Francisco Pons, Harvard University, USA The main goal of this research was to asses whether it is possible to help children develop their general understanding of emotions. Thirty – six nine - year old children divided in two groups were examined using a pre-test/train/post-test design. The emotion understanding of the two groups was measured in the pre- and post-test phases using the test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC). The experimental group received a teaching program about emotions during the training phase: School Matters In Lifeskills Education (SMILE). The control group received no special teaching about emotion during this phase. Results showed that the level of emotion understanding in the experimental group improved significantly between the pre- and post-test whereas no such change occurred in the control group. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. The development of emotional competence in using interactive-reflexive activities as a familyschool educative assistance program in mathematics Louise Lafortune, University of Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Canada In a research funded by the Human Science Research Council of Canada, we are elaborating and evaluating interactive-reflexive activities in mathematics which can be carried out by parents and children at home. We validated the program in presenting various activities including activities touching the affective domain in mathematics to teachers, pupils (9 to 12 years old) and parents. Some results of the first stage of our research is that the teachers find it essential that the activity be prepared in class and that there be a follow-up be done in class, to show to the pupils that work done at home is as important as work done in school. The parents show an open mind towards the activities, but they do not want do be powerless in embarrassing situations or in situations which depart too much from their usual practices. The pupils don’t want their parents to give them answers, but they do want to be given clues which can help them solve by themselves their math problems. The second part of this research is the implementation process of the program that will be finished in Spring 2003. In our presentation, we will present results concerning the reactions of – 70 –

pupils, parents and teachers when interactive-reflexive activities are used in doing mathematics at home. As some of these activities concern the affective domain in mathematics, we will discuss the results concerning the development of emotional competence arising when the children are in interaction with their parents at home about mathematics. Emotions and philosophical dialogue among peers Marie-France Daniel, University of Montreal, Canada Michael Schleifer, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada Martine Quesnel, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada Emmanuelle Auriac-Peyronnet, IUFM, Auvergne, France Among the approaches used to study the emotions of children, some ensue from attachment theories whereas others place stronger emphasis on the cognitive level. We place ourselves in the latter perspective. In 2002-2003, we conducted a research with eight groups of five-year-old children in Quebec and in France, totalling 140 children (including experimental and witness groups). One of the objectives of this research consisted in studying the extent to which a philosophical dialogue among peers enables a five-year-old child to understand emotions with greater subtlety and fair-mindedness. Methodology: Semi-directed individual interviews were carried out with the 140 children, both at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Each week, during a one hour period, the experimental group children were invited to participate in a group dialogue on concepts related to the body, to violence and to the emotions experienced by imaginary characters (either children or animals) in philosophical tales adapted to their age group. Six discussions were recorded and subsequently analysed. In this paper we will present preliminary results stemming from this analysis, on the one hand, of some children’s dialogues which took place during the year and, on the other hand, some semi-directed interviews that account for the evolution and comprehension (recognition and justification) of emotions by the children. Awareness of positive emotions in Italian adolescents: Gender differences Ilaria Grazzani Gavazzi, Catholic University of Milan, Italy Ottavia Albanese, University of Milan “Bicocca”, Italy Developing general understanding of emotions in young people by valid instruments is a crucial problem for educational interventions. We present a research that is part of a larger project aimed to investigate emotional awareness and metaemotional competence in life span development. The research focuses on positive emotions as an aspect of subjective well-being and as a protective factor in adolescence. To this purpose a 5-page diary on positive moments and related emotions experienced in everyday life was designed both in English and Italian version. The sample consisted of two hundred and fifty (250) adolescents (range: 16 to 19 yrs. old; mean age: 17,5) recruited in Milan and Monza from four high schools. Participants were asked to complete a diary page when they experienced a positive moment, describing the situation (for instance, whether they were alone or with others, whether they were at school or at home), labeling any accompanying emotions, recording their intensity and specifying whether they talked to others about their experiences and emotions. They were also asked to record their life satisfaction on a Likert scale from 1 to 7. Data, consisting of about one thousand episodes, were analysed using the coding system elaborated by Duncan and Grazzani Gavazzi (2002). Information regarding the type of positive emotions experienced, their intensity, the type of event eliciting positive emotions, the context of episodes were available. Results will be presented describing adolescents’awareness of – 71 –

positive emotions (type, context of emotion, and so on), and stressing gender similarities and differences. Guilt-as-information mechanism Francesco Mancini, School of Cognitive Psychotherapy, Rome Amelia Gangemi, APC, Rome According to the affect-as-information view, affective cues influence judgments when they are experienced as providing judgment-relevant information. People often ask themselves: "How do I feel about it?", when making evaluative judgments. At that point, any available affective cues may influence judgment. In keeping with the affect-as-information approach, we propose that guilt would influence self-regulatory cognition through the operation of an affect-as-information mechanism. Consequently, we assume that when an attribution is made salient for negative affect, affective influences on self-regulatory cognition would be reduced. An experiment with voluntary, young adult subjects will be conducted. It will investigate how trait guilt may influence how state guilt is used as information on judgment of risk (likelihood and severity of a negative outcome), and on evaluation of performance. To this aim we will observe how low- and high-trait-guilty individuals would use negative (guilt-affect) and positive affect (pride-affect) induced in the laboratory. Affect will be manipulated by having participants write about either a negative or a positive life event. Afterward, half of the respondents will receive an attribution manipulation reminding them that thinking about the event could contribute to their feelings. In negative affects, this attribution should reduce the apparent relevance of unpleasant feelings, decrease risk estimations, increase performance evaluations. In positive moods, this attribution should reduce the apparent relevance of pleasant feelings, increase risk estimations, decrease performance evaluations. Trait- and state-guilt will be assessed by Guilt Inventory. The educational implications of the obtained results will be discussed. Cognition of emotion in eating disorders Maria G. Strepparava, University of Milan “Bicocca”, Italy According to the cognitive-constructive model the dynamic between feeling, describing what is felt, integrate experiences in a coherent whole, is the core of human meaning making. A basic aspect of Eating Disorders [ED] - anorexia, bulimia, obesity – is the strong difficulty for those patients to recognise and discriminate body sensations, feelings, emotional states. This is due, according to clinical researches, to a developmental history with an intrusive and ambivalent attachment figure, whose behaviour prevent the child from freely exploring its own feelings and emotions. In a recent research a sample (116 subjects) of first grade children (8 to 10 yrs) was asked to describe events in which they felt anger, fear, sadness and joy. Situations eliciting emotional reaction were quite different in obese, normal weight children with an incoherent perception of their body shape (e.g. a thin boy or girl saying he/she is overweight), normal weight children without any weight, dieting or bodily concern. For example, in obese children, there was a higher rate of sadness and fear related to being physically hurt, but very few subjects identified sadness or fear as emotions related to separation from the attachment figure. Therapeutic intervention with ED adults and adolescents is based also on helping them to better focalise on their internal states and reconstruct the link between an event and the related emotion. To enhance and support children’s guided exploration, observation and reflection on their own emotional life could be a fruitful prevention activity for the early onset of ED.

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A 21

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO Aula Magna

Symposium SELF AND OTHERS IN THE REGULATION OF LEARNING Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Anastasia Efklides, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Anastasia Efklides, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Markku Niemivirta, University of Helsinki, Finland

This symposium aims at showing that students’ self-regulated learning is the outcome of the effects of personal factors as well as the effect of the responses of others to the students’ learning. The papers to be presented go beyond the dichotomy of intrinsic-extrinsic regulation as suggested by the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and focus on the processes that underlie students’ self-regulation in situations where the other person may be physically present or not, yet the student is aware of the other’s response towards his/her learning. The others’ response can be direct through the feedback they provide and this may cause changes in the students’ cognitive, affective, and metacognitive state. Or it can be indirect through parents’, teachers’, or society’s expectations and values, which influence students’ self-concept, motives, and affect. The five papers of the symposium show how others’ feedback responses or expectations interact with the students’ ability, self-concept, goal orientations, metacognition, and affect from the beginning of the students’ school career. Specifically, Dermitzaki’s paper deals with young childrens’ selfregulatory behavior whereas Iiskala and Vauras’s contribution deals with shared regulation in a collaborative mathematics learning situation. Efklides and Dina deal with the effect of positive or negative extrinsic feedback on students’ metacognitive experiences and self-concept, whereas Antunes and Fontaine follow longitudinally the effects of parents’ expectations and attitudes on students’ self-concept. Finally, Tanaka and Yamauchi show how culturally rooted self-construal affect students’ achievement goals. Second graders’ self-regulated learning and self-concept: Their relationship to achievement and goal orientation Irini Dermitzaki, University of Thessaly, Greece The first purpose of the present study was to investigate the self-regulative learning strategies that second graders use more frequently for effective problem solving. The second purpose was to investigate whether self-regulative learning behavior is related to the students’ academic selfconcept, level of academic performance and goal orientation. In the first phase of the study, 312 second graders from different Greek city schools participated in the study. The students’ school achievement was examined with a performance test including Greek language and mathematics exercises designed according to the national curriculum. The students’ goal orientation was also assessed using the Motivational Orientation Scales for 2nd graders. From the initial subject pool, 28 students were selected according to their achievement test results (high/low) and the combination of the two types of goal orientation (high/low task and ego orientation) thus forming four different groups. The purpose of this selection was to find out whether students’ self-regulative behavior was differentiated as a function of their achievement and goal orientation. During the second phase of the study, the previously selected students were individually examined for their academic selfconcept and their self-regulative behavior in a construction task. Each student was video-recorded during the construction task. The frequency of different self-regulative behaviors such as planning, persistence, monitoring, detecting and correcting errors was recorded on a structured observation – 73 –

form. Upon completion of the task, each student was interviewed: student’s metacognitive experiences, awareness of the construction process and evaluation of the final product were recorded. The relations between self-concept, metacognition, motivation, and self-regulatory practices will be discussed. The role of metacognition in students’ peer learning in the computer supported learning environments Tuike Iiskala, University of Turku, Finland Marja Vauras, University of Turku, Finland Little attention has earlier been paid to cognitive functioning in interaction with others (see more Levine, Resnick & Higgins 1993), although much of learning also occurs in social settings (Karabenick 1996). Typically, also metacognition is viewed from an individual’s standpoint. Our aim is to focus on how student pairs together can regulate their problem solving process in a metacognitive way in the computer supported learning environment. Four high-achieving, 10-year old student pairs (eight students) solved mathematics word problems in the computer-aided mathematics learning game in the spring 2001 for eight weeks, twice in a week, 30-45 minutes at a time. The problem solving sessions were videotaped. The researcher interviewed the pair before and after the game period and during and after every game session to get more information about the pair’s collaboration connecting metacognition under working. Verbal communication of the pair during the sessions (including interviews) is transcribed and non-verbal communication is written down. Time on task was measured. In our paper, we present case analyses of the pair’s joint regulation focusing on metacognition. According to our preliminary analyses, the student pair can regulate their problem solving process in a metacognitive and multilevel way. Feedback from one’s own self and from the others: Their effect on affect Anastasia Efklides, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Dina Fotini, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Research in the regulation of affect often implicates extrinsic feedback (EF), in the form of knowledge of results, as a factor determining one’s affective state. It has been found that EF effectiveness diminishes when self processes are involved. Our study aimed at investigating if the effects of EF on performance, self-concept, and state anxiety in students are mediated by metacognitive experiences, which provide intrinsic feedback regarding the task-processing. Participants were 183 students of 5th grade of both genders in 3 groups. The first group received positive EF, the second negative EF, and the third no feedback. The feedback did not necessarily match the students’ performance in the first two groups. Students were tested with tasks of mathematical ability, a Self-concept in Mathematics Questionnaire, Anxiety Questionnaire (trait and state), a Metacognitive Experiences Questionnaire, and math problems. Students were tested with the same tasks, questionnaires, and problems twice. A series of ANOVAs showed that EF did not influence performance and self-concept but influenced anxiety state and metacognitive experiences as well as the relations of metacognitive experiences with self-concept. Path analysis showed that the effect of EF was particularly evident when EF was negative or inconsistent with students’ performance. In such cases, students developed feelings and judgments that counteracted the negative or inconsistent EF so that self-concept remained intact. Besides this negative EF effect on self-concept, negative EF increased anxiety state, that is, intrusive thoughts over possible failure in solving math problems. The implications of these findings for educational practice are discussed. – 74 –

Adolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ attitudes regarding academic success: Its influence on academic results academic self-concept and self-esteem Cristina Antunes, Nursing School Vila Real, Portugal Anne Marie Fontaine, University of Porto, Portugal By the end of secondary school, academic results are highly valued both by students and their parents, in Portugal. It is therefore natural that parents get strongly implicated in the process of learning and in the academic results of their children, although this implication can have consequences on adolescents’ self-concept and self-esteem. Using a sample of about 800 students of both genders attending the two last years of secondary school, tested twice with one year of interval, the authors try to analyse the nature of the relationship between the variables: academic results, academic self-concept, self-esteem, and adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ attitudes regarding academic success. Academic results were assessed through self-reported final grades of previous year; self-concept and self-esteem were assessed using Marsh’s SDQ–II (SelfDescription Questionnaire for adolescents) and adolescents’perceptions of parents’ attitudes were assessed with a 20 item Likert scale, which was developed by the authors. This scale assesses two different attitudes regarding children’s academic success, which are called result-centered and process-centered. LISREL structural equations were used to test the models of causal ordering. The second wave data are now in the phase of analysis. The authors assume that parents’ processcentered attitudes influence more positively academic self-concept and self-esteem than resultcentered attitudes. Socio-cultural antecedents of achievement goals Ayumi Tanaka, Doshisha University, Japan Hirotsugu Yamauchi, Doshisha University, Japan Individuals’ achievement goals have been shown to play important role in determining the direction and quality of self-regulation. The purpose of this report was to investigate socio-cultural factors as antecedents of achievement goals in the classroom. Participants of our study were 172 Japanese college students. The interrelated influences of culturally rooted self-construal and several motive dispositions on achievement goals were examined. As a result of factor analysis of antecedent variables, individualistic, collectivistic, and fear of rejection factors were identified. Individualistic factor contains measures of Individualism, Independent self-construals, Work and Mastery orientation and Competitiveness, and Behavioral Activation System sensitivity. Collectivistic factor contains measures of Collectivism, Interdepen-dent self-construals, Need for affiliation, and Work and Mastery orientation. Fear of rejection factor contains measures of Fear of Failure, Sensitivity to Rejection, and Behavioral Inhibition System sensitivity. Multiple regression analyses showed that approach-avoidance goals were related to the collectivistic and the fear of rejection factors; the collectivistic factor was related to approach forms of achievement goals (mastery-approach and performance-approach), and fear of rejection factor was related to avoidance forms of achievement goals (mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance). It was also found that the individualistic factor was related to performance-approach and performanceavoidance goals. The interrelation of cultural-ly rooted self-construal and motive disposition and the importance of considering socio-cultural factors when examining achievement goals are discussed.

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A 22

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 E

Symposium STUDENT AND TEACHER LEARNING IN PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Diana Dolmans, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Cees van der Vleuten, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Arie C. Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Jan Vermunt, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Contemporary constructivist approaches to learning and instruction include an emphasis on learners constructing their own knowledge and stress the importance of self-directed and collaborative learning (Ertmer & Newby, 1993; Harris & Alexander, 1998; Simons, 2000). Problem-based learning (PBL) is built on these principles and is consistent with the constructivist view on human learning. PBL has gained a foothold within many schools in higher education. In this symposium, several studies on student and teacher learning in PBL are presented. Both students and teachers are viewed as active constructors of meaningful knowledge. Central element in the papers is to demonstrate how constructivist theories can be used to stimulate student and teacher learning in PBL. Stromso and Lycke conducted a study together in which they investigate differences in interactions between a face-to-face PBL environment and computer supported distributed PBL. Stromso focusses on student explanations and Lycke investigates the tutor’s role in knowledge building. Visschers-Pleijers’ study is aimed at validating a questionnaire to identify interactions in PBL that stimulate deep learning. Nieminen developed a questionnaire to measure key elements of PBL and focusses on group functioning and its relation to academic achievement. Finally, Tigelaar developed a teacher portfolio prototype and asked experts to assess whether the prototype is appropriate to stimulate teacher learning and for summative teacher assessment. These studies provide us with better insights into the processes of student and teacher learning in PBL in particular and constructivist learning environments in general, based on which suggestions can be drawn for improving these environments. Student explanations in face-to-face and in computer supported problem–based learning Helge Strømsø, University of Oslo, Norway Kirsten Hofgaard Lycke, University of Oslo, Norway Per Grøttum, University of Oslo, Norway The generation of explanations is regarded as central in processes of knowledge construction. In problem-based learning (PBL), a problem is supposed to trigger explanations in the group. The problems are of a complex nature, open to many different explanations. Several studies indicate that computer mediated group work implies efforts to increase the efficiency of communication and a decrease in the amount of interactions (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000; Jonassen & Kwon, 2001). This study focuses on the effect of computer-mediated communication on the number and richness of student explanations generated in both PBL (face-to-face) and computer supported distributed PBL groups (DPBL). Medical education at the University of Oslo is problem-based. In addition, DPBL was introduced in the program. 61 students were divided into 8 groups with 8 tutors. Students worked on 5 cases, two in a DPBL environment, two in face-to-face PBL groups, and one in a combination. Three groups were selected for inspection of differences. Activity in synchronous discussions on the two DPBL cases were logged and analysed. The faceto-face activities concerning the two PBL cases were video and tape-recorded, transcribed and – 76 –

analysed. The first analysis indicated that the DPBL environment seems to generate a lower number of student explanations and less task-related student explanations than the PBL environment, although the student explanations were more equally distributed in the DPBL environment. These results indicate that DPBL cannot replace PBL as an environment initiating a rich set of explanations in the group. Tracing the tutor role in knowledge building: Analytical phases and results Kirsten Hofgaard Lycke, University of Oslo, Norway Helge Strømsø, University of Oslo, Norway Per Grøttum, University of Oslo, Norway PBL tutors are more facilitators or coaches than conventional teachers. This indicates major tasks for tutors in problem-based learning: a) to secure a systematic progression of the group work, b) to support productive group interactions, c) to stimulate knowledge building, and d) to evaluate the processes (Lycke, 1997; Schmidt & Moust, 2000). This study is aimed at examining differences in tutor participation and the tutor’s role in knowledge building in problem-based learning in face-toface (PBL) and computer-supported groups (DPBL). Medical education at the University of Oslo is problem-based. In addition, DPBL was introduced in one term. 61 students were divided into 8 groups with 8 tutors. Students worked on 5 cases, two in a distributed PBL environment, two in face-to-face PBL groups, and one in a combination of PBL and DPBL. Three tutors were selected for closer inspection of interaction patterns in both environments. All tutors were experienced as PBL tutors, whereas it was the first time they participated in DPBL. Activity in synchronous discussions on the DPBL cases were logged and analysed. The face-to-face activities concerning the PBL cases were video and tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed. Our first analysis showed that tutors are more active in the PBL than in the DPBL environment. Tutors took the lead in PBL. The second analysis showed that tutors’ interventions in PBL are more directed at knowledge building and less at other tasks as compared to the DPBL environment. The conclusion is that relatively less knowledge building takes place in DPBL than in PBL. Development and validation of a questionnaire to identify interactions that promote deep learning in PBL Astrid Visschers-Pleijers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Diana Dolmans, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Ineke Wolfhagen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Cees van der Vleuten, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands In problem-based learning (PBL), the importance of interactions to promote deep learning is emphasized (De Grave, et al., 1996; Savery & Duffy, 1995). However, tools for analyzing interaction processes are still scarce (Van der Linden et al., 2000). Therefore, new instruments are required (Van der Linden et al. 2000; Dillenbourg, 1995). In addition, available instruments usually are observational instruments, which are relatively complex, time-consuming and sometimes hard to manage. There has been no evidence yet, whether it is possible to measure interaction processes by means of an instrument that is easier to manage and prevents timeconsuming observations and resource intensive, complex coding procedures. This study was aimed at developing and validating a questionnaire to provide insight into interactions oriented on learning in PBL. First, the questionnaire was tested and modified in a pilot study. Then, it was administered to all 240 second-year Medical students in the PBL curriculum of the Maastricht University. It contained items on three dimensions of interactions that are assumed to promote deep learning: critical engagement, cumulative reasoning and resolving conflicts (Van Boxtel, – 77 –

2000; Mercer, 1995). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a regression analysis were carried out. The results of the analyses (N =174) indicated that the three-dimension model was adequate and that the factors critical engagement and cumulative reasoning explain 26% of the variance in tutorial group’s productivity. This implies that the questionnaire is rather valid. The questionnaire can provide insight into strong and weak aspects of interactions in tutorial groups. On the relationship between group functioning and academic achievement in PBL Juha Nieminen, University of Helsinki, Finland Pekka Sauri, University of Helsinki, Finland Kirsti Lonka, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden In PBL, the discussion in the tutorial group plays a central role in stimulating student learning (van Berkel & Schmidt, 2000). Problems are the major input for stimulating the discussion. The quality of the discussion is assumed to influence student learning and in the end student achievement. This study is aimed at reporting on the development and reliability of scales to measure group functioning in PBL and the relationship between group functioning and academic achievement. The study was conducted in the PBL curriculum of the Medical School of the University of Helsinki. First-year medical students (N = 132), forming 12 PBL groups, filled in a questionnaire, containing 21 items, on aspects of a PBL session. At the end of the unit, a course exam was administered to the students. Reliability analyses were conducted and correlations were computed. The results demonstrated that the items represented three scales, measuring 1) the performance of the tutor (4 items), 2) the quality of the case (3 items), and 3) the quality of group functioning (two versions, 14 and 4 items). Further analyses of the group functioning scale revealed that a four-item version measuring students’ perceptions of group functioning was more reliable than the longer version, measuring several aspects of group functioning. In addition, group functioning was strongly correlated with students’ grades in a course exam. Further, group functioning and the quality of the case were strongly associated with each other. Our findings raise interesting questions about the relationships between group functioning and academic achievement. The development of a prototype for a teaching portfolio Dineke Tigelaar, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Diana Dolmans, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Ineke Wolfhagen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Cees van der Vleuten, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Portfolios are often used to stimulate teacher learning and to improve teaching practice (DarlingHammond & Snyder, 2000; Zeichner & Wray, 2001). One important dilemma is how standardized a portfolio procedure must be (Elshout-Mohr & Oostdam, 2001). This implies that some choices concerning the purpose, structure, assessment and use have to be made when developing a portfolio. Moreover, the coaching of portfolio composers is important (Wolf, 1994). In a former study, a teaching competency framework with five domains was developed. For each domain, guiding questions were formulated and taken as a point of departure for the portfolio prototype. In this study, a prototype for a teaching portfolio was developed. The prototype will be used to encourage teacher learning and reflection (formative) and for promotion decisions (summative) in a student-centred higher education context, e.g. PBL. Research question: To what extent is the portfolio prototype appropriate for its purpose? Experts (N=8) on assessment, most of them specialised on portfolio-assessment, were interviewed to comment on the prototype, i.e. its purpose, structure, assessment and use, as well as coaching of portfolio composers. In general, the experts judged the portfolio prototype as appropriate for its purpose. Discussion topics in the – 78 –

interviews were the relation between formative and summative assessment, how to find a right balance between the analytical and global approach to portfolio-assessment and how to implement the portfolio in the organization. This research provides insight into the use of portfolios as a tool for teacher learning in student-centred higher education. A 23

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 4 S

Symposium ADVANCING USABLE KNOWLEDGE: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT POLICIES THAT CONNECT RESEARCH AND PRACTICE Organiser: Chairs: Discussants:

Fritz C. Staub, University of Zurich, Switzerland Fritz C. Staub, University of Zurich, Switzerland Mary Kay Stein, University of Pittsburgh, USA Lauren B. Resnick, University of Pittsburgh, USA Noel Entwistle, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Research is believed to produce knowledge that will contribute to improving educational practice. Traditionally, this belief is based on a view of educational improvement that is linear and driven by findings of fundamental research. This view of a linear movement from research based knowledge to practice, however, is increasingly called in question. Examinations of successful work has revealed processes that are much more complex, interactive, and recursive. What then is the role of research vis-à-vis practice, if it is to be in the service of improved learning? Over the past decade a growing number of daring researchers began to closely collaborate with actors in fields of educational practice. The researchers’ role in this uncharted terrain, however, is still largely undefined. The symposium brings together projects in educational research and development that all try to make - in various ways – direct connections between research and practice. The symposium begins with Stein and Coburn setting the stage: Their differentiation of genres of improvement efforts did already guide the search for the kind of projects to be discussed in this symposium. In the tradition of the design experiment Gomez, Bryk, Bransford and Stein analyze work on transforming schools through information technology. Staub and Bickel analyze underlying development knowledge and design problems to be solved when aiming for large-scale professional development. Minnaert and Boekaerts present an account of a project, which focuses on fostering self-regulated learning in schools Kiyomi Akita closely looks at how japanese teachers share their practical knowledge in lesson research. Toward producing usable knowledge for the improvement of educational practice: A conceptual framework and typology Mary Kay Stein, University of Pittsburgh, USA Cynthia E. Coburn, University of Pittsburgh, USA In this overview paper, we will set the stage for the four symposium presentations by (a) briefly reviewing challenges to the linear unidirectional model of the transfer of research into practice (Sabelli & Dede, 2001; Stokes, 1997); (b) presenting a conceptual framework that provides an alternative way to conceptualize the relationship between research and practice; and (c) identifying four genres of approaches to research and educational improvement that differ along salient dimensions of our conceptual framework. Our typology of approaches was developed by reviewing literature related to how research and practice interact, by conducting in-depth literature – 79 –

reviews of several school improvement efforts that had strong ties to research and by reflecting on our early efforts to understand two projects currently underway as part of a MacArthur Foundation funded Network in which we participate. The genres that we have identified differ with respect to 1) the degrees to which they draw on research, development, and practitioner knowledge; 2) the degrees to which they seek to contribute to research and/or school improvement; 3) the way local context is used and/or situated within the overall work; and 4) the extent to which researchers actively intervene to improve practice. By putting forth a provisional typology of ways in which research can be reconceptualized vis-à-vis practice, we have articulated a set of dimensions that can be used to systematically articulate and investigate a variety of projects that have similar aims but go about their work in different ways. Our goal is to eventually refine the typology into a theory or the relationship between research and practice. Transforming schools through information technology John Bransford, Vanderbilt University, USA Louis Gomez, Northwestern University, USA Anthony Bryk, University of Chicago, USA Mary Kay Stein, University of Pittsburgh, USA The purpose of this project is to develop an instructional information infrastructure whose design principles start with the concern to support the improvement of teaching and learning in disadvantaged urban schools. Moreover, in the design experiment tradition, the investigators are committed to taking advantage of the opportunity provided by their active intervention in schools and classrooms to study the change process and to generate basic knowledge about teaching and learning, the effective organization of schools, and the constructive roles that policy can play in school improvement. The project is in the first phase of a two-phase cycle. As such, investigators, in collaboration with school-based personnel in three sites, are designing existence proofs, technological infrastructures to assist teachers and administrators with the effective implementation of ambitious, student assessment-driven literacy programs. In the next phase, researchers will adapt (rather than design) tools for a much wider range of schools. Throughout, the emphasis will be not only on the design of technology per se, but also on the way in which the introduction of technology transforms social interactions and work roles such that schools become more professionally driven and tightly coupled. This project involves cutting-edge American design re searchers, as well as some of their best-trained research assistants. They are undertaking this work with a commitment to — not only creating the best possible technological designs — but also to learning how to improve the field of ‘design science”; as such, they have initiated processes of self-documentation on the processes of ”doing” design research which will be discussed as well. Developing content-focused coaching in elementary literacy: A case study on designing for scale Fritz C. Staub, University of Zurich, Switzerland Donna DiPrima Bickel, University of Pittsburgh, USA Content-Focused CoachingSM (CFC) is a professional development model for the advancement of student learning and teaching by having a coach and a teacher jointly plan, enact and reflect on lessons. The model consists of a specific activity setting and a set of theory-based conceptual tools assisting coaches and teachers in conducting content-focused coaching dialogues (Staub, West, & Miller, 1998; Staub, 2001). Its most advanced existence proof has been accomplished at over the past 5 years in Community School District 2 in New York City for the teaching of elementary and middle school mathematics (West & Staub, in press). Based on the framework and the general tools of CFC in 2000 University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Learning began to develop and – 80 –

implement CFC for the teaching of elementary literacy in other large urban school districts. The goal of this case study is to reconstruct the tool development and implementation work involved in arriving at a model of CFC for the teaching of elementary literacy. The case is based on interviews with tool and staff developers, notes on pivotal deliberations within the design team and between designers and district personnel, and formative evaluations on the implementation of CFC in the districts. The study contributes towards making explicit the kind of expertise required for transferring CFC to a new subject matter area and for bringing it into large school districts. More generally, it begins to make transparent the kind of emerging design problems to be solved when designing for scale. The need for research-practice partnerships between teachers and researchers in an ongoing innovation program Alexander Minnaert, Leiden University, The Netherlands Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands Since 1995, we are engaged in a large-scale innovation program in vocational schools: namely the Interactive Learning groups System (ILS). The aim of this program is to change the behavior of students, teachers, and managers in an attempt to improve students’ self-regulatory skills. At the start of the program, a wide array of reform ideas obscured teachers’ view of the actual competences that they would need to translate instruction - set up according to the principles of social constructivism - into everyday practice. Partnerships were set up between researchers and advanced practitioners to help teachers acquire these competences, to promote dynamic interaction between colleagues, as well as the exchange of ideas and products. Advanced practitioners provided an on-the-job training to train teachers in the use of ILS instruction principles (target instruction strategy). Our basic assumption was that all ILS teachers’ behavior would mirror the target instruction strategy. This assumption was, however, often violated. Teachers took note of some of the principles (e.g. organize the classroom in interactive learning groups and provide resources for group assignments), but reported feelings of incompetence in relation to other principles (e.g. provide students process-oriented feedback and stimulate reflective thinking). In response to these shortcomings, we developed an assessment instrument to register the waxing and waning of students’ appraisals of cognitions and feelings about the quality of the learning process. The information collected with this instrument was used to provide feedback to each group member and to the teacher. The effectiveness of this instrument will be discussed with respect to the dynamics of research-practice partnerships. How Japanese teachers share their practical knowledge in lesson research Kiyomi Akita, University of Tokyo, Japan The ”lesson study” of Japan has recently become a central focus for some educational researchers in the US and in Europe. Japanese lesson study has a history of more than one hundred and thirty years as an approach to professional development. In Japan, however, the use of lesson study has drastically declined during the past 20 years and the formalized styles of lesson study has been changing. Through research comparing how expert teachers and novice teachers watch the same video of lessons and verbalize their thought processes, five features of practical thinking styles have been identified for Japanese expert teachers: impromptu thinking, situated thinking, multiple thinking, contextualized thinking and reframing strategies (Sato, Akita, and Iwakawa, 1993). How do younger teachers learn these practical thinking styles? The discussions after lessons among elementary school teachers were recorded and analyzed. One characteristic of teachers’ discourse is that they mutually appropriate key word of evaluation into their talks. Younger teachers use the – 81 –

evaluation words used by expert teachers and begin to think like these. The second one is that some expert teachers use metaphors expressing the children’s learning situation and teacher’s activity. (e.g. not get on the stage, teacher’s push). These metaphoric phrases work as frames for less experienced teachers to reflect on their own lessons. The third characteristic is that expert teachers narrate to make connections between various children’s activities and teacher’s activity in a lesson and make children’s learning processes visible through discourse. A 24

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 4 P

Symposium ACHIEVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTS Organiser: Chair: Discussants:

MOTIVATION

IN

COMPUTER-BASED

LEARNING

Susanne Narciss, Technical University Dresden, Germany Susanne Narciss, Technical University Dresden, Germany Caroline Dupeyrat, University of Toulouse “Le Mirail” France Nathalie Huet, University of Toulouse, “Le Mirail”, France

Learners’ initial motivation and the motivational factors of the learning process are of crucial interest for the effective design of computer-based learning environments. However in general, research on the benefits of multiple instructional strategies in computer-based learning environments focuses on cognitive effects such as knowledge acquisition, retention and /or transfer. Thus, motivational and achievement data are rarely analysed in the same experimental instructional context. Hence, the purpose of this symposium is to discuss studies investigating both achievement and motivation data collected in computer-based learning experiments. Specifically, the aims of the different papers are to contribute findings to the following issues: (1) How do individual motivational characteristics such as epistemological beliefs or goal orientation influence achievement and motivation in computer-based learning enviro-nments? (2) What is the role of initial motivation in computer-based instruction? (3) How can effective instructional and/or motivational strategies be designed and implemented in computer-based learning environments and how do they affect achievement and motivation? Motivational beliefs and electronic discussion engagement in a project based learning Christian Escribe, University of Toulouse “Le Mirail”, France Claude Navarro, University of Toulouse “Le Mirail”, France This research examines the relationship between two motivational variables “epistemological beliefs” (Schommer, 1990) and “achievement goals orientations” (e.g. Dweck, 1986) and students' engagement in a project based learning using new technologies and students' perception of this pedagogy requiring collaborative work. A first objective was to examine whether sophisticated beliefs in learning and knowledge and learning goal (students seek to improve their competence) were related with a high rate of engagement and a cooperative perception of pedagogy. A second purpose was to explore the change in the epistemological beliefs at the end of the program. Subjects were 28 technology-oriented students in a course applying project based teaching and requiring participation to electronic discussions forum. Epistemological beliefs were assessed using a French version of the Epistemological Questionnaire (Schommer; 1990) at the beginning and at the end of the learning. A French version (Dupeyrat & Escribe, 2000) of the Achievement Goal tendencies Questionnaire (Hayamizu and Weiner, 1991) was used. Pedagogy perception was – 82 –

assessed by a questionnaire. The total number of messages sent in electronic discussion were counted as a measure of engagement. Performance was assessed by the mark assigned to the project deliverables. Correlation and regression analysis revealed that students who showed a naive view of learning and knowledge did not participate to electronic discussions, displayed low performance. Cooperative perception was positively associated to a high learning goal. At the end of the program, some epistemological beliefs (e.g. ability is innate) were less naïve than at the beginning. How students with different initial goal orientations are coping with computer-supported collaborative inquiry learning? Marjaana Rahikainen, University of Helsinki, Finland Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland The instructional design used in this study, inquiry learning, differs from a traditional classroom situation in many ways. The design contains processes of constructing of knowledge characteristic of scientific inquiry. It guides, for instance, students to generate their own research problems and intuitive theories. Furthermore, all elements of inquiry are to be shared among the participating students, and a technologically sophisticated collaborative learning environment can provide advanced support for the process. Participation in this kind of process strongly emphasizes cognitive reconstructing; the shift from teacher centeredness towards students’ activity presupposes strong self-regulative efforts from students, and at the same time offers more space for individual’s activities. This may help students to increase their intrinsic motivation, but new cognitive responsibilities and collaborative interaction can also be quite demanding for some students. A case study was conducted to investigate what kind of individual differences students exhibit when they cope with inquiry learning situations. 21 students (age 10) and one teacher participated in the study. Two types of data were collected: 1) Students self-reported questionnaires on goal orientations, 2) Video data on the students’ learning processes and social interaction. The results revealed the importance of a situative perspective in instructional design, since the students not only differed in their coping attempts regarding their initial motivational orientation but also according to their individual situational interpretations that mediated their coping attempts. Motivation and learning with a multimedia program Anja Görn, University of Potsdam, Germany Regina Vollmeyer, University of Potsdam, Germany Falko Rheinberg, University of Potsdam, Germany The aim of our study was to demonstrate how motivation affects multimedia learning using our cognitive-motivational process model (Vollmeyer, & Rheinberg, 1998). This model assumes that initial motivation affects learning through mediating motivational state and strategy. Initial learning motivation includes four motivational factors measured with the Questionnaire on Current Motivation [QCM]; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, & Burns, 2001): anxiety, challenge, interest, and probability of success. To study the effects of motivation on learning, we used a multimedia program describing the outbreak of World War I. 104 participants had about an hour to fill out the QCM, work 24 minutes with the multimedia program and answer a knowledge questionnaire. As mediating variables we measured their motivational state during learning and we examined average time per page as indicator of strategy. Finally we applied a performance measure: a multiple-choice knowledge questionnaire in which we formulated questions regarding the presented pages in the program. Learners’ initial motivation can be described depending on the – 83 –

combination of the motivational factors. We found highly motivated learners HL (i.e., interest, challenge, probability of success are high, anxiety low), lowly motivated learners LL (i.e., interest, challenge, probability of success, anxiety are low), and anxious learners AL (i.e., challenge, anxiety are high, probability of success low). If HL have the most positive motivation and AL the most negative, regression analysis demonstrated that, as expected, initial motivation affects knowledge through motivational state. However, strategy can not be regarded as a mediator, but as a predictor for knowledge. The impact of bug-related feedback on achievement and motivation in a computer-based learning environment Katja Huth, Technical University Dresden, Germany Susanne Narciss, Technical University Dresden, Germany Feedback is considered to be an important factor to promote learning and motivation with computer-based training tools. However the findings of studies on the effectiveness of feedback are rather inconsistent. One reason for these inconsistent findings might be that the implementation of feedback is more based on intuition than on well-founded design principles. Thus, the aims of the present studies were (1) to develop theoretical well-founded elaborated feedback forms for a procedural skill like written subtraction, (2) to implement them in an adaptive feedback algorithm that induces the mindful processing of feedback, and (3) to evaluate this elaborated feedback regarding its impact on learning and motivation. Using results from prior feedback research and from cognitive task and error analysis of written subtraction tasks we selected information relevant to the correction of typical systematic errors (e.g. location of error, source of error, type of error and hints to the correct solution strategy). This information was used for designing different types of bug-related feedback messages. These different feedback messages were arranged in an adaptive bug-related algorithm presenting three levels of feedback with increasing informational value supporting the learner in finding the correct solution on his own. In two computer-based learning experiments with 30 respectively, 44 forth-grade students with learning difficulties in written subtraction, cognitive and motivational effects of this bug-related feedback algorithm were compared to the effects of a standard Knowledge of Result-Knowledge of Correct Response feedback algorithm. Results indicate that bug-related feedback has significant positive effects on achievement and motivation. A 25

26th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 F

Symposium COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION: DOMAIN-SPECIFIC ISSUES Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Carla van Boxtel, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Carla van Boxtel, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland

The symposium’s goal is to bring together and discuss work that investigates discourse and conditions for collaborative learning in a specific subject. The papers deal with collaborative learning within the domain of mathematics, music, history and social sciences. The symposium departs from the idea that in the study of collaborative learning, it is important not to lose sight of the specific features of the domain and the content of the task. The variety of domains and activity – 84 –

settings reported on in the papers deepen our insight into the conditions for collaborative knowledge construction. The following key questions will be addressed 1) What kind of student talk should be promoted to learn within the specific domain? 2) How do we analyse and relate the content-related and more general communicative aspects of collaborative knowledge construction 3) How can we provoke and support a productive peer interaction? Collaborating on music technologies – Supporting and fostering talk and creative thinking processes Teresa Dillon, Open University, United Kingdom Within the area of collaborative learning, much work is carried out in the traditional subjects, such as the sciences, where solutions are often fixed or predetermined. Although such work provides valuable insights into learning and development, it fails to question whether the thinking and knowledge promoted in these areas is applicable to other subject domains. To address this, the study examines through analysis of the verbal dialogues, young peoples’ (13-16 years) collaborations on music technologies. The study draws on two contexts a formal school, and a non-formal, camp environment. In both situations participants (total of 13 groups, 30 participants) collaborate using eJay, music software. Video transcriptions of the verbal dialogues is analysed using a coding scheme developed by the author (Dillon, 2002). Through statistical and interpretative analysis of the dialogues similarities and differences to other collaborative subject areas were found. For example, suggestions, extensions and positive support were found to be the most dominant types of talk. This is similar to collaborations in the sciences and humanities; however these categories of talk are articulated and co-constructed differently when collaborating on music tasks. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of investigating music and other domains so as to provide a clearer picture of the types of talk and creative thinking skills and processes that are necessary in supporting broader and cross disciplinary collaborative skills. The domain of music also addresses the importance of creative thinking when collaborating and how it can be fostered, supported and promoted. Communicational conflict and learning agreement: What turns obstacles to mathematical communication into effective triggers for learning? Anna Sfard, University of Haifa, Israel What is it that turns an act of communication with others into an opportunity for learning? Why do some students capitalize on these opportunities whereas many others regularly miss them? In order to answer the questions, I will be looking at brief episodes coming form mathematics classrooms and featuring different types of classroom interactions. In the analysis of the data, I will be guided by the basic tenets of communicational approach, according to which thinking is a special case of communication and school learning can be thought of as a change and extension of particular types of discourse. Taking these two assertions as a point of departure, I will define a communicational conflict – a conflict that arises whenever interlocutors differ in their use of the same words or in their interpretations of the same routine procedures. It will be claimed that communicational conflicts, while being obstacles to communication, are also valuable opportunities for learning. On the other hand, the mere existence of a conflict is certainly not enough to ensure the occurrence of learning. This point will be illustrated with several of my classroom examples. The concept of tacit learning agreement will then be introduced in order to account for the difference between successful and unsuccessful attempts at resolving communicational conflicts. Finally, the question will be addressed whether learning agreement can be expected to be equally frequent in the two – 85 –

basic types of classroom interactions: in interactions with peers and in interactions with the teacher. Supporting historical reasoning within CSCL Jannet van Drie, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Carla van Boxtel, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Gellof Kanselaar, Utrecht University, The Netherlands This paper aims to discuss the conditions which promote historical reasoning within a computer supported collaborative writing environment. The CSCL environment used, enabled students to collaborate on a historical inquiry task and in writing an essay together. In two experimental studies we supported collaboration and historical reasoning by using different kinds of graphical representations, such as an argumentative diagram and a matrix. The studies focus on two main questions. First, what kind of peer interactions promote historical reasoning? Second, how can we provoke and support such interaction? We analysed the dialogues, the use of the graphical tools and we evaluated the quality of the texts produced, and the scores on a pre and post test. The development of our analytical tools was guided by three distinct perspectives: a domain specific perspective, an elaboration perspective and a co-construction perspective. It will be argued that especially episodes that reflect elaborated historical reasoning and in which both participants equally contribute to the reasoning (co-elaborated historical reasoning) are valuable for learning history. Furthermore, the results of the study show that tools to support collaborative learning within a specific domain must be evaluated according to their potential to support domain specific reasoning, elaboration and co-construction. Collaborative knowledge construction: Effects of scripted cooperation in the domain of education Frank Fischer, University of Munich, Germany Armin Weinberger, University of Munich, Germany Heinz Mandl, University of Munich, Germany University students of education show severe difficulties in applying theoretical concepts to case problems. Empirical studies have begun to explore instructional interventions to enhance our understanding of the phenomenon and to improve practice. Especially, structured forms of small group collaborative learning can be regarded as promising approaches. However, approaches to structured cooperative learning (e.g., scripted cooperation) so far confounded the content-related guidance and the interaction support provided by the script. To find out about the relative effects of content-oriented vs. interaction-oriented components of scripts on important aspects of collaborative knowledge construction we conducted an experimental study varying the two factors independently in a 2X2-factorial design. 96 university students of education participated in groups of three. The scripts were realised in a computer-based environment as prompts and a as a sequencing mechanism. The participants had to apply theoretical concepts from attribution theory to authentic cases. Results show, that the content-oriented script led to a narrowing of the focus in the process of case analysis. This was often related to a highly efficient collaborative problemsolving activity. However, individual transfer from collaboration was low with the content-related script. On the other hand, the interaction-oriented script led to both, improved processes of collaborative knowledge construction and higher individual transfer. We discuss possible reasons for the differential effects of the content-oriented script on problem-solving on the one hand and learning on the other hand. Moreover, the possible domain specificity of these findings is discussed. Finally, consequences for research and for practice are drawn. – 86 –

Keynote Addresses Room

26th Aug

17:00-18:00

BASSI 3 F

Innovations in problem-based learning from a managerial perspective Arie C. Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Key elements of problem-based learning (PBL) are activation of prior knowledge, contextspecificity and collaborative and active learning. The student rather than the teacher is at the centre of this educational process. In addition to the learning process, the learning environment and the way the learning is organised are determining factors for the success of this educational approach. It has become clear that PBL is one face but not necessarily the only face of student-centred learning. Dependent on the disciplinary context a variety of approaches can be applied to reach effective learning. Furthermore, ICT enables not only extension and easy accessibility of learning resources but also intensification of student-student en student-teacher communication. These developments require tailored adaptations in the curriculum design and university infrastructure. To this end, central co-ordination and a clear description of strategic and operational objectives are essential. Room

BASSI 2 D

Multiple Goals and Multiple Pathways in the Development of Motivation and Self-regulated Learning Paul R. Pintrich, The University of Michigan, USA Goal orientation theory has traditionally focused on two general goals for learning and achievement, mastery and performance. Mastery goals, where the focus is on learning and improvement, are generally seen as adaptive, while performance goals, where the focus is on besting others and competition, are predicted to be maladaptive. However, recent work from a multiple goals perspective suggests that this generalization may not be accurate for all performance goals, especially performance approach goals. A general model of multiple goals will be presented that includes both approach and avoidance forms of mastery and performance goals. The role of these multiple goals in facilitating or constraining the development of different motivational, cognitive, affective, and achievement outcomes will be discussed. Room

BASSI 3 E

Knowledge restructuring as a powerful mechanism of cognitive development: How to lay an early foundation for conceptual understanding in science and mathematics Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany In research on child development, the importance of domain-specific knowledge for cognitive growth is now widely recognized. Children’s particular difficulties with formal tasks seem to be due to their limited access to learning opportunities – the child can be seen as an universal novice – rather than to more general constraints on cognitive functioning. Research on expertise, too, emphasizes the crucial role of prior domain-specific knowledge – many years of deliberate practice are necessary to achieve excellence in complex content areas. These results suggest that to learn science and mathematics at school students should, from the very beginning of their school career, be afforded the opportunity to acquire the domain-specific knowledge which lays – 87 –

the foundation for advanced competencies in these areas. My own longitudinal data on science and mathematics learning show that elementary school students who show advanced domainspecific conceptual knowledge enjoy a long-term head start. Research on learning and instruction has to meet the challenge of explaining how early conceptual knowledge is restructured to provide an elaborated and flexible understanding as a function of instructional input. I will discuss this issue by referring to cognitive theories of analogical thinking, symbolic reasoning, conceptual change, and constructivist learning. Moreover, I will present results from experimental training studies exploring how to stimulate elementary school students’ scientific and mathematical reasoning.

– 88 –

B1

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO G C

EARLI Invited Symposium NEW PATHWAYS IN THE FIELD OF TEACHER EDUCATION (Part 2) Organisers: Chairs: Discussant:

Frank Achtenhagen, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Frank Achtenhagen, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Gavriel Salomon, University of Haifa, Israel

The symposium tries to bring together new theoretical and practical concepts for teacher education. Nuthall discusses the problem that teacher educators are not clear about what kind of generalizable research-based professional knowledge preservice teacher should acquire. New proposals are proved with regard to their ability to link theoretically and practically teacher education and effective teaching. Pellegrino & Goldman present a longitudinal research project designed to understand the preparation of teachers to integrate technology effectively into their pedagogy. It focuses on the multiple forms of knowledge and skills teachers have to acquire for running their instruction efficiently. As the investment in teaching technology is increasing this research is decisive with regard to the optimal use of technology in the classroom. Achtenhagen discusses the consequences of the use of computer-based complex teaching-learning environments for teacher training, but also subject didactic. As such environments need instructional support via system-like procedures and guided as well as self-organized exercises, the corresponding instructional means will be presented together with data. Kansanen demonstrates by which measures under which goals a coherent model of teacher education programs should be developed and indicates at the same time the advantages of a corresponding research driven curriculum. Berliner discusses consequences of strategies which cope with teacher shortage caused by low pay and pure working conditions: allowing out-of –field training, designing faster alternative methods of teacher education, and allowing untrained people with college degrees to teach. By an empirical study on the effects of these measures with regard to student achievement can be shown which demonstrate many negative influences of these teacher hiring strategies. The presentations as a whole combine basic assumptions about the goals and need of teacher education with empirical data which demonstrate positive, but also negative effects of different concepts. Relating research on teaching to teacher education Graham Nuthall, University of Canterbury, New Zealand Virginia Richardson (editor of the latest Handbook of Research on Teaching) argued in her vicepresidential address at the 2002 meeting of the American Educational Research Association that we lack a center to research on teaching - a research-based theory of the relationships between teaching actions and student learning. This lack is reflected in current research on teacher education. A survey of recently published research on teacher education indicates that there is little theoretical understanding of the ways in which teacher education programs affect the teaching effectiveness of beginning teachers. In this paper I will argue that the "lack of center" that Richardson identifies in her analysis of contemporary research on teaching has handicapped and continues to handicap teacher education programs. It is not clear to teacher educators what kind of generalisable research-based professional knowledge preservice teachers should acquire. Oser & Baeriswyl's model of the relationship between teaching and learning provides a useful basis for – 89 –

describing the "center" that research on teaching and consequently teacher education lacks. When Oser & Baeriswyl's model is related to recent research on teachers' classroom decision-making, it is possible to describe the research-based professional knowledge that should be the central theoretical and practical link between teacher education and effective teaching. Teaching teachers to use technology: Understanding what works and why James W. Pellegrino, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA This presentation will focus on the initial phases of a longitudinal research project designed to understand the preparation of teachers to integrate technology effectively into their pedagogy. We begin from the position that information technologies can support fundamental change in teaching and learning at all levels, but to do so they must become more ubiquitous and productive in educational settings. Teachers need to have mastery over multiple forms of information technology, in addition to principled understanding of subject matter areas and how learning occurs in those domains, and they need to know how to effectively use technology in support of pedagogy and student learning. If information technology investments are to pay off in improved educational outcomes, teachers must be technology-proficient educators who know learning theory and how to use modern learning tools to help students meet high standards. We cannot expect teachers to create effective learning environments in their K-12 classrooms if they have not had opportunities to experience such environments themselves. Although institutions of higher education are attempting to provide teacher candidates with opportunities to acquire the appropriate knowledge and competencies, there are many challenges associated with doing so. We will describe a theoretical framework on learning, teaching and technology that is being applied to an analysis of the learning environments experienced by teacher education candidates. The work focuses on selected U.S. institutions where a major investment has been made in the integration of technology into the teacher education program structure. Initial outcomes of the research effort will be reported, including implications for teacher education program design. The increasing use of complex teaching-learning-environments – Consequences for subjects didactic and teacher education Frank Achtenhagen, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany Newly developed complex teaching-learning environments show success with regard to an improvement of learning results – e. g. in the areas of strategic or metacognitive knowledge, motivation and emotion or intercultural competence. But this success depends upon the reformulation of the corresponding subject didactics and also teacher education. Complex Teacher-Learning-Environments are not "self-runners" that means effective and efficient without any instructional support. The book "How People Learn" defines basic principles for the design of complex teaching-learning environments: They should be learner-, knowledge-, assessment- and community-centered. The presentation will show how these generally formulated principles can be exemplarily operationalized and which consequences for subjects didactics and teacher education have to follow. The examples are chosen out of the field of economic and business education and the corresponding teacher education. They have to be treated together, but are separated here for emphasizing different aspects which have to be taken into account. With regard to the categories "learner-centered" and "assessment-centered" it will be shown in which way a mastery-learning approach can be run with remarkably heterogeneous classrooms (with regard to age, but also branch and/or success of a training firm): With regard to the category "knowledge-centered" the curricular goals and the content are differentiated according to various kinds of knowledge: – 90 –

declarative, procedural, strategic and metacognitive. Especially, the training of teachers to cope with strategic and metacognitive knowledge becomes an increasingly important task. The promotion of the "community-centered" aspect of complex teaching-learning environments deals with the formation of communities of practice with regard to intercultural learning. It will be demonstrated how these different examples lead to consequences for the programs of subject didactic and teacher education. New system-like procedures and guided as well as self-organized exercises are necessary to cope with these changed challenges of teaching for improving cognitively and motivationally learning. Constructing a research-based program in teacher education Pertti Kansanen, University of Helsinki, Finland Recent trends in international teacher education seem to develop towards different directions. Integration of theoretical and practical studies, the problem of knowledge base and its relation to pedagogical content knowledge, and the role of research in the curriculum get different solutions. Teacher education of a country always follows its political, social and economic foundations. This might also be a reason for different results in teacher education. In addition to this, some formal features guide the building of a teacher education program. Individual viewpoints emphasize an experiential starting-point. Without any steering it is to be feared that it leaves things too much to chance. Increasing guidance in schools programs get characteristics of a school-based curriculum. Emphasizing systematic elements, on the other hand, programs develop towards a unit-based or problem-based curriculum. Combining the best parts of the programs a research-based curriculum can be accomplished. There is also a certain hierarchical order between the different bases. They can be combined or subsumed under each other in various ways and this depends on the base we select to function as a main organizing idea. In this paper I try to build a coherent model of teacher education programs and indicate the many advantages a research-based curriculum might have as a main organizing idea. The dangers of some alternative pathways to teacher certification David C. Berliner, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA In the USA three solutions are used to cope with a teacher shortage caused by low pay and poor working conditions: allowing out-of-field teaching, designing faster alternative methods of teacher education, and allowing untrained people with college degrees to teach. This paper documents the dangers in all three approaches, focusing on a recent empirical study that assessed student learning associated with teachers who enter the profession through alternative programs of teacher education, or who enter the profession without any formal teacher education at all. Recently hired un-certified and certified teachers from five low-income school districts were matched on a number of variables (N=109 matched pairs). At the end of the year, on mandated state achievement tests in reading, language, and mathematics, it was found that the students of alternatively trained teachers did not perform significantly different from students of teachers who had no training at all. Further, the students of regularly trained and fully-certified teachers significantly out-performed the students of teachers who did not receive regular teacher training. Effect sizes favoring the students of certified teachers were substantial. On all tests these students outperformed the students of un-certified teachers by about 2 months on a grade equivalent scale. Students of un-certified teachers make about 20% less academic growth per year than do the students of teachers with regular certification. Un-certified teachers, hired for the poorest schools, were found to increase the differences in achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged children. – 91 –

B2

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO G A

EARLI Invited Symposium EXCELLENCE AND EQUITY AS OUTCOMES OF SCHOOLING Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany Jürgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany Jaap Scheerens, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Reaching a balance between excellence and equity as outcomes of schooling presents a continuing challenge to educational systems across the world. It comprises a variety of facets and levels, some of which will be addressed in this symposium. Educational systems respond to the challenge of opening up educational paths to higher-level qualifications while ensuring minimum standards associated with these qualifications in different ways. This is the subject of the contribution by Watermann et al., which is based on data from the large-scale study “Transformation of Secondary School Systems and Academic Careers”. Using the example of vocational upper secondary schools, they examine effects of opening up alternative paths to university in terms of excellence and equity. Schoon also addresses effects of increasing participation in education on equity, yet she focuses on success after the transition to working life. This study, which is based on data from the 1958 British Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study, asks whether increasing participation in education weakens the link between socio-economic background and career success. The contribution by Baker and Goesling addresses the equality of distribution of educational resources. Using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, the authors take an international perspective to identify system characteristics associated with resource inequality. Schümer and Stanat, finally, investigate individual-level and school-level determinants of performance among students from less privileged social backgrounds and immigrant students. Drawing on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), they ask to what extent factors such as the composition of the student population influence the level of performance within a school. Educational resource inequality: Cross-national evidence from forty-seven nations David P. Baker, Pennsylvania State University, USA Brian Goesling, Pennsylvania State University, USA Mass education has spread throughout the world, and schooling is prominent in stratification processes in modern society. Given this, differential access to quality schools is a central theoretical and policy issue in the creation of social inequality. Although state-sponsorship of mass schooling officially intends to minimize unintentional resource inequality, preliminary analysis suggests that most national systems produce a substantial degree of inequality in school quality. The study examines the degree to which educational resources are unevenly distributed within forty-seven nations and the consequences for national levels of mathematics and science achievement. Using methods developed for the analysis of comparative income inequality, the study undertakes two analyses. First, summary inequality indexes measure national levels of inequality across three types of basic school resources that have been shown to influence school quality and educational outcomes. The degree of cross-national variation in educational resource – 92 –

inequality is estimated and described. Second, a number of sociological arguments about national and international factors associated with cross-national variation in resource inequality are modeled. These arguments include the relative effects of organizational complexity, political and governance structures, adoption of mass education, and economic development. Educational resource data that reflect school quality for nationally representative samples of middle schools in 47 nations are found in the 1994 Third International Math and Science Survey (TIMSS-94) and its 1999 replicate study TIMSS-99. Additional international sources of data on education, governance, history of mass schooling, economic development, and demographic process in each nation are used in multi-level models. The results are theoretically significant and relevant to education policy discussion. Opportunity structures, academic achievement, grades, family background and self-concept: How they impact on academic ambitions at the transition to university Rainer Watermann, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany Ulrich Trautwein, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany Olaf Köller, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany School systems in modern societies must find a balance between two challenges: providing equal educational opportunities to students with different backgrounds on the one hand, and allocating such educational opportunities based solely on academic merit on the other. In several European countries, vocational upper secondary schools have been established to open up a non-traditional path to university, providing broader academic opportunities especially for students with less privileged family backgrounds. Using data from the large-scale project “Transformation of Secondary School Systems and Academic Careers” (TOSCA) (N=4,700 students from 149 schools), this paper examines effects associated with the establishment of vocational upper secondary schools in Germany. We expected to find several differences between traditional and vocational upper secondary schools. Among other things, it was predicted that (1) vocational schools would attract more students with non-academic family backgrounds and (2) achievement levels of students in vocational schools would be lower. In addition, we explored how the two school types influence academic ambitions at the transition from school to university. Results from structural equation modelling and multi-level analyses indicate that offering alternative paths to university leads to higher participation rates among students with less privileged family backgrounds. However, achievement outcomes and grading standards were found to differ markedly between the two school types. Furthermore, the decision to proceed to university is determined by a complex interplay among family background, cognitive abilities, achievement as well as factors related to school type such as differential grading standards in traditional and vocational upper secondary schools. The discussion focuses on questions of compatibility of opportunity and excellence as goals for upper secondary education. Persisting inequalities in the transition from school to work: Evidence from two British birth cohorts Ingrid Schoon, City University, London, United Kingdom This paper investigates the role of family social position, individual academic attainment and educational aspirations in predicting adult occupational status in a changing socio-historical context. The study draws on data from two British cohorts: the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study. Cohort members grew up in a period when British society witnessed considerable changes in ways of living, socio-economic structure and educational opportunities. The paper assesses to what extent these changes have influenced the – 93 –

transition from school to work, by contrasting the experiences of young people who turned 16 in 1974 and 1986 respectively. A longitudinal approach is adopted to link data collected during adolescence to outcomes in mid adulthood. The results indicate that increasing participation in education did not lead to a process of equalisation between social groups. Young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with above average academic ability do not reach the same levels of occupational status as their more privileged peers. The results are discussed with regard to their implications for theories of social inequality, merit selection, and the life course perspective of human development. Predicting achievement of immigrant students: The role of student background at the level of individuals and schools Petra Stanat, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany In Germany, differences in school success between students with and without immigrant backgrounds are pronounced. Even if they have attended German schools since first grade, children from immigrant families have a considerably lower chance of entering higher tracks after elementary school than their non-immigrant peers. Findings from PISA and other studies indicate that these disparities are primarily due to differences in German language skills, such as reading literacy. Using a subset of data from the German sample in the Programme for International Student Assessment (approximately 15000 students from 770 schools), this paper explores the role of individual background factors and school-level differences for achievement of immigrant students. In a first step, it examines the extent to which differences in reading literacy between 15year-olds with and without immigrant background can be predicted by features of the immigration situation, family and motivational factors. The findings show that motivation does not contribute to the explanation of these differences. The role of aspects of students’ immigration situation (e.g., age of arrival in Germany) and of family factors (e.g., parental academic interest), on the other hand, varies considerably across different immigrant groups. In a second step, multi-level analyses are performed to analyse differences in achievement of immigrant students between schools. Among other things, these differences can be predicted by the composition of immigrant and nonimmigrant groups within schools. Overall, the pattern of results suggests that schools may not adapt sufficiently to the differential needs of students with varying immigration backgrounds. The findings are discussed in terms of micro-level and macro-level adaptation processes within the school system. Social composition of school populations as predictors of student achievement Gundel Schümer, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany The first OECD publication on results from PISA-2000 reports that the social composition of the student population within schools covaries with student achievement (OECD, 2001, p. 198ff.) and that the relationship is particularly pronounced in Germany. However, findings by Baumert and Schümer (2001) show that this result is based on an incomplete model which does not account for effects of ability tracking inherent in the German school system. When students’ mental ability and school-type attendance are controlled within a correctly specified multilevel model, the relationship between social composition of student populations in schools and test performance disappears. In similar analyses examining effects of the proportion of students with immigrant backgrounds in schools, however, Stanat (in preparation) identified a non-linear pattern suggesting that the initial impact levels off after the proportion of immigrant students reaches about 20-25 percent. Thus, by focusing on linear associations, Baumert and Schümer (2002) may have overlooked significant student composition effects. Using data from approximately 35,000 – 94 –

students in about 1,500 schools assessed in PISA Germany, the present paper tests the hypothesis that the aggregate impact of students’ social background on achievement at the school level shows a non-linear pattern. More specifically, hierarchical linear modelling was applied to examine how closely test performance is related to a) students’ mental ability and family background on the individual level and b) the composition of student populations in schools with regard to such characteristics as socio-economic and socio-cultural background. Results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms underlying the school-level composition effects. B3

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO 1 D

Symposium TECHNOLOGY-RICH LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: EXPLORING THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WILL TO LEARN Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

John Andrew Clarke, Queensland University of Technology, Australia John Andrew Clarke, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Mohammed Chaib, HLK, Jonkoping, Sweden

A central feature of the transformation of educational practices being bought about by the influence of the knowledge-based society is the substantial investment in technology-rich learning environments (T-RLEs) which are characterised by a decrease in face-to-face teaching and an increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This rapid evolution of T-RLEs is largely driven by economic and commercial forces along with technological advances and while advocates of T-RLEs claim enhanced learning outcomes in these environments, there is little critical understanding of how these outcomes are achieved and what form they take. This symposium attempts to redress that situation by reporting a series of research projects aimed at developing data-based critical understandings, from both teachers’ and learners’ perspectives, of just what is or should be happening in T-RLEs and how that influences students’ learning. The contribution from Singapore is a multi-method exploration of teacher education students’ and their lecturers’ experiences of the integration of several ICTs into their program. The Australian contribution, also multi-method, examines from the students’ perspective, the nature and locus of learner agency on a purpose-built technology-rich university campus. The Hong Kong contribution reports on a case study of how teachers can effectively introduce educational design principles into T-RLEs. While each contribution has a unique cultural perspective, the common thread is one of students either demonstrating a willingness to engage enthusiastically and positively with such learning environments or being provided with optimal conditions to allow them to do so. The Singapore experience: Emerging technologies in pre-service teacher education Lim Cher Ping, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore New ICTs such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) have become pervasive information and communication tools in Singapore over the last few years. To explore the opportunities and limitations of these new technologies in teacher education, the National Institute of Education (NIE) embarked on two projects: “Supporting EDiscussions with WAP Technologies in Learning Communities” (completed) and “Anywhere/Anytime Handheld Computing in Teacher Education” (on-going). Based on the collective case study of the two projects, this paper provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how the new technologies (WAP and GPRS) are integrated in teacher education to enhance the learning – 95 –

experiences of the pre-service teachers. The research design draws upon both qualitative and quantitative methods – focus group discussions with pre-service teachers, face-to-face interview with instructors, reflective journals, discussion discourse analysis, and questionnaire surveys. The account in this paper highlights what works and what appears right in particular settings, the problems encountered and addressed in particular situations, and the sociocultural perspective from which the setting is construed. It provides guidelines for the integration of new technologies into teacher education. The Hong Kong experience: The design of ICT-supported learning activities, communities, and environments Cameron Richards, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China Kar Tin Lee, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China Robert Fitzgerald, Hong Kong Institute of Education, China This presentation reports a project exploring the pedagogical design requirements of effective TRLEs. ICT integration in education tends to have either a technology focus (e.g. web-based tools and network infrastructure) or a models of learning focus (e.g. social constructivism). The idea being explored here is that ICT in T-RLEs requires the effective harnessing of educational design principles. The project investigates how teachers might effectively harness the educational implications of ICT as designers of ICT-supported learning activities, communities and environments which provide appropriately meaningful pretexts for interaction, communication and the transformation of either information or skills into applied knowledge. In this way, the project aims to identify and address the missing links between pedagogy and technology, and outline principles for the effective educational use of new technologies. The presentation will refer to both the project case study (an experimental teaching module about T-RLEs) and associated critical inquiry into: (a) Different modes of ICT-supported learning; (b) learning with ICT as an activityreflection cycle; (c) the requirements of developing a more integrated approach (e.g. ICT as a vehicle for across-the-curriculum literacy) beyond an oppositional perspective (e.g. technology vs. social constructivism, transmission vs. student-centred); (d) relevant notions of learning community grounded in the effective use of ICT in education. The project aims to incorporate relevant practice and theory of effective designs for learning within a larger convergent model. The presentation has a focus on a Hong Kong context in terms of the relation between individual learners and various notions of ICT-supported learning community and environment. The Australian experience: Learner agency in technological learning environments. What influences their willingness to learn? Hitendra Pillay, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Peter G. Taylor, Bond University, Australia John Andrew Clarke, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Learner agency is a combination of learners’ self-efficacy in working in a learning environment plus their desire to become proactive in engaging with it. In the urgency to develop innovative teaching learning practices, the learner agency to engage with T-RLEs has not been well researched. This paper draws on data from a longitudinal 2002-2004 project currently in progress and reports on the nature and locus of learner agency in participation in a particular T-RLE. The research site is a purpose-built flexible learning mode university campus where Web-based resources augment on-campus face-to-face activities. Given that individuals’ engagement in any activity is significantly influenced by their perceptions, attitudes and beliefs about the activity, the total project is focusing on students’ developmental patterns as they proceed through their degrees. – 96 –

Data collection involves annual measures of learning approaches, perceptions of learning environments and epistemological reflections, along with biannual group interviews. The 2002 data indicate a high level of voluntary engagement in specific elements of the T-RLEs, especially the ICTs and associated formal and informal group activities, suggesting that these students have experienced a relatively successful transition to these T-RLEs. Students seem to have found new opportunities for learning through accessing these particular features of the T-RLEs. The results reflect a locus of learner agency not evident in previous literature and which has potentially significant pedagogical implications. B4

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO G D

SIG Invited Symposium LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION: A DIALOGIC INQUIRY IN THE DISCURSIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL WORLD - QUESTIONS REGARDING QUALITATIVE STANDARDS WHEN INVESTIGATING SOCIAL INTERACTION Organisers: Chair: Discussants:

Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, Leiden University, The Netherlands Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, Leiden University, The Netherlands Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, Leiden University, The Netherlands

This invited symposium portraits contemporary research of social interaction in learning and instruction. While viewing learning and instruction as highly socially and institutionally embedded practices, the papers of this symposium all share a common interest to examine the conditions and processes of meaning-making and knowledge construction in and through social interaction in the institutional context of education. The paper of Pontecorvo investigates the conversational habits of “doing school”. In her analysis embedded in the ethnomethodological approach, she illuminates the ways in which classrooms operate as social institutions in which knowledge construction is socially mediated. The paper of Anderson and his co-researchers focuses on the social influences on children’s development of reasoning within the context of small-group discussions of texts. By their microgenetic analysis of the uptake of argument stratagems, the authors map the moment-bymoment dynamics of the social propagation of children’s reasoning. The paper of de Vries investigates student dialogues in the social context of a design-based learning situation embedded in the use of a computer-assisted design program. While investigating the processes of collaborative construction of external representations mediated by the learning situation and its specific aftefact, her analyses are directed to the representational and communicational aspects of students’ social interaction. In his paper, Arnseth maps out trajectories of knowledge formation during collaborative learning practices. The specific focus of this paper is on the rhetorical and institutional characteristics of students’ text and talk as well as on the ways in which knowledge and agency are translated and transformed across contexts and media. As the short overview of the symposium indicates, there is richness and variability of the nature of research questions and methodological frameworks applied in these papers. This gives evidence of the multivariete endevours and challenges research on social interaction in educational contexts currently confronts. Instead of providing mere answers, the papers of this symposium also open up new windows for future research on learning and instruction. – 97 –

Discourse as a mediator between instruction and learning Clotilde Pontecorvo, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy In order to understand which learning is going on within the school classrooms is to take into account and analyze the types of educational and instructional discourse that is used in schools. Our main idea - in beginning a new research endeavor in this domain - was to find out those conversational habits of “doing school”, in everyday classroom interactions, assuming discursive activities as the main mediator of school learning (Pontecorvo, 1997). In this field, important changes of perspective were introduced by the ethnomethodological approach, supported by the tools of conversational analysis (CA), that resulted in giving particular attention to all the dimensions of discourse (including intonation, pitch and pauses), that could clarify the ways in which classrooms operate as relevant social institutions where knowledge construction is collectively construed in interrelation with power distribution (including factors as attributed intelligence, gender, cultural identity: see Davies, 1997) and diverse communicative strategies used by teachers-and-students. Observing a number of fourth and fifth grade Italian classrooms (located in diverse sites of the country) in a quasi-experimental setting (similar requests were addressed to the teachers whose lessons were observed, video recorded and fully transcribed with CA method), we aimed at identifying the interactional processes – mainly activated by the teacher - that developed students speech and contained learning mechanisms, signaled by the presence of verbal elaboration relevant to the topic. Students’ free participation is an explicit indicator of their motivation, a necessary precursor of meaningful learning. Social influences on children’s development of reasoning Richard C. Anderson, Kim Nguyen-Jahiel, Archodidou Anthi, Il-hee Kim, Li-jen Kuo and AnnMarie Clark, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA This paper summarizes a line of research examining social influences on children’s development of reasoning. The setting is natural: small-group discussions of texts children have read in their classrooms. The texts raise significant issues that interest children. Discussions take place in a format called collaborative reasoning, during which children take positions on the “big question,” provide reasons for their positions, use story information and personal experience as evidence, present counterarguments, and respond to counterarguments posed by other children. Discussions feature open participation, meaning that children can communicate freely, without raising their hands and waiting to be called on by the teacher. We are attempting to trace the moment-bymoment dynamics of the social propagation of argument stratagems. Argument stratagems are recurrent patterns of talk that serve conceptual, logical or social functions in discussions. A major finding is that the use of argument stratagems snowballs. Analysis of a large corpus of discussion transcripts shows that, once a child introduces a useful stratagem, it tends to spread to other children and occur with increasing frequency. We see snowballing, not only in oral face-to-face discussions, but also in written Web discussions including children from distant classrooms. Stratagems acquired during discussions appear in the persuasive essays that children write. The growing edge of this research is microgenetic analysis of the uptake of stratagems. Our approach is two-pronged: case study and quantitative modeling. Data are aggregated and modeled using event history analysis, which enables the evaluation of factors that converge at a moment to influence the likelihood of a stratagem. The approach permits estimation of the influence, not only of antecedent factors - such as children’s gender, ethnicity, academic standing, and social status - but also concurrent factors, such as the immediately preceding rhetorical moves by other children or the teacher. – 98 –

Trajectories of knowledge formation in collaborative learning Hans Christian Arnseth, University of Oslo, Norway In this paper I examine trajectories of collaborative knowledge construction among students in upper secondary school. I am interested in the rhetorical and institutional characteristics of student’s text and talk at different junctures in their work, and the way knowledge and agency are translated and transformed across different contexts and media. In my analysis I build on analytical insights from discourse analysis and science and technology studies. The emphasis is on collaborative learning as something that is constituted in and through participants’ situated actions - actions that are mediated by semiotic and material artefacts. It is through locally negotiated forms of ordering actions as well as semiotic and material tools, that students agency towards some knowledge objects are established. These temporally stabilised forms of ordering both constrain and afford students’ participation in the guided construction of knowledge in the classroom. Studying student dialogues to uncover representational and communicational aspects of the instructional use of computer-assisted design programs Erica de Vries, University of Grenoble II, France This paper studies the collaborative construction of external representations with a computerassisted design (CAD) program in a design-based learning situation. In the light of a situated cognition approach, appropriate learning contexts resemble professional contexts. However, in the current context, such an approach encounters two types of difficulties. First, whereas in professional settings the use of CAD programs aims at representing (elaborating and drawing) objects for later production, several learning objectives constitute the rationale in educational settings, e.g. becoming skilled in using the program itself, learning to collaboratively construct solutions, and gaining knowledge about design practice in general. Second, very large disparities exist between the knowledge and skills of designers and learners especially regarding design processes, technical knowledge, computer use, and CAD programs. Still, design-based situations are considered a privileged context for learning on grounds related to the predominant role of representational activities. First, constructing on’'s own representation as opposed to merely using pre-fabricated representations is an integral part of any design task. Furthermore, designing with CAD programs involves simultaneously elaborating and drawing solutions as opposed to merely drawing solutions previously elaborated on paper. Finally, the external representations created with CAD programs are interactive and dynamic. In our presentation, we will analyse student dialogues to exemplify these representational aspects of the instructional use of CAD programs. Implications for the creation of design-based learning situations will be discussed.

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B5

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 2 A

Symposium LEARNING WITH ANIMATION Part 1: Using animation in multimedia learning environments Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Richard Lowe, Curtin University of Technology, Australia Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Richard Lowe, Curtin University of Technology, Australia Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA

This symposium is part I of a two-part symposium that aims to clarify and integrate the major themes of current research into learning with animation. It will explore requirements for the principled design of learning resources that make use of animation either to present content or to support more effective learner engagement with content. Animation is becoming a pervasive feature of online learning resources and similar technology-based educational environments. However, recent research has cast doubts on simplistic assumptions about the intrinsic efficacy of animation in teaching and learning. Rather, it seems that some aspects of animation may have potentially negative effects on learning because of the processing demands they involve and the way they are approached by students. There is currently a dearth of principled design guidance available to practitioners involved in producing educational animations. Such guidance should be based upon a detailed understanding of how learners come to develop understandings when they work with animations. This first part of the combined symposium presents research on the use of animations in multimedia learning environments with the goal of exploring the effectiveness of various approaches. Characteristics of both animations and the learners who use them will be addressed. An important benefit of bringing these two major themes of animation research together is that it will help to reveal ways in which design features of animations such as sequencing, segmentation, and interactivity can be manipulated to better suit learners who differ in their domain background knowledge, processing strategies, and learning goals. Animated pedagogical agents: How do they help students construct knowledge from interactive multimedia environments? Roxana Moreno, University of New Mexico, USA Can animated pedagogical agents be used to promote learner understanding of scientific explanations? In this paper, I examine two potential roles that animated pedagogical agents may have in instructional technology: a motivational role, in which animated pedagogical agents promote understanding by engaging students in the learning activity, and a guidance role, in which animated pedagogical agents promote understanding by facilitating the cognitive processes necessary for students’ understanding. After presenting a constructivist theory of how people learn from agent-based multimedia environments, I report a set of studies that tested the motivational and guidance roles of an animated pedagogical agent who teaches undergraduate students about botany in a multimedia game. First, to examine the animated agent’s motivational role, I present a set of four studies that tested a social-cue hypothesis according to which pedagogical agents that include social cues (such as having an animated visual representation and a human voice to communicate with the student), help students’ learning by promoting interest in the learning task. Second, to examine the animated agent’s guidance role, I present a set of two studies that tested a cognitive-guide hypothesis according to which it is not the social cues of the animated agent but – 100 –

rather the cognitive function of the agent during the process of knowledge construction that promotes students’ learning. The findings of these studies are compared to those of similar research in the area of animated agents and practical and theoretical implications are discussed. Turning the tables: Investigating characteristics and efficacy of student-authored multimedia Teresa Hubscher-Younger, Rensslear Polytechnic Institute, USA N. Hari Narayanan, Auburn University, USA The literature on multimedia learning is replete with investigations of expert-created representations. However, constructionist theories hold that learning will be deeper if students develop and share their own diverse understandings of a concept. If students gain their understanding from the same expert-created materials, they will likely develop a uniform understanding rather than a diverse set of insights. We summarize six experiments that probed this issue. The first was an observational study of computer-science students learning algorithms from typical instructional materials. Subjects prematurely converged on a representation that they perceived to have the most "authority". This blinded them to the limitations of that representation and impeded learning. So we investigated whether diversity is encouraged, and learning improved, when students author their own multimedia explanatory representations. A system called CAROUSEL was designed to aid students in sharing their creations with others, engaging in discussions about these representations, and rating them in six dimensions: familiarity, salience, usefulness, understandability, originality and pleasure. We found that authoring representations significantly improved learning. Students constructed a richer and more diverse set of representations than those found in typical instructional materials. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that youngsters like glitzy media, we found that while the addition of simple graphics, sound and animation to text improved a representation's overall rating, the presence of hypermedia and complex graphics had the opposite effect. Salience, pleasure and familiarity ratings had significant positive impacts on student learning. Originality had a significant negative impact. These findings point to desirable characteristics of multimedia representations, and suggest that a peer-to-peer approach to learning, in which students create and evaluate their own multimedia representations, can be quite effective. The use of instructional texts and animations during learning and problem solving by students with low and high pre-knowledge Rolf Ploetzner, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Daniel Bodemer, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Sieglinde Neudert, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany A frequent observation in research on learning is that students process dynamic visualizations such as animations only superficially. Students may undervalue the information included in animations or may lack the pre-knowledge necessary in order to process animations effectively, for example. In order to better understand how students with low and high pre-knowledge in different application domains make use of instructional texts and animations during learning and problem solving, we investigated two groups of students in an experimental setting. While one group was made up of eight psychology students in the third semester, the other group was made up of eight physics students in the first semester. Both groups took advantage of two different computerized learning environments, one about statistics and one about physics. Each learning environment consisted of an instructional hypertext and various dynamic and interactive visualizations. With respect to each application domain, the students processed a pre-test, the textual and graphical learning materials, a set of problems and a post-test. While the psychology students started to work – 101 –

with the learning environment on statistics and – within one week – proceeded to work with the learning environment on physics, the physics students dealt with the two learning environments the other way round. In our analyses, we contrast the use of instructional texts and animations by students with low and high pre-knowledge and relate the observed differences to the students’ learning success. The role of study strategies in comprehending animated documents Jean-Francois Rouet, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France Sylvie Merlet, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France Elfie Richard, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France Christine Ros, CNRS and University of Poitiers, France We investigated the effects of animated diagrams on the comprehension of scientific phenomena by adult learners. We designed static and animated versions of a series of documents dealing with specific topics (e.g., how sounds get to your brains). In the first experiment, 24 adults read the documents in one of the two versions, with the purpose of verifying a set of assertions. The animated versions took more time to study, but did not result in any improvement of verification accuracy. In the second (ongoing) experiment, we manipulated the participants' study purposes (i.e., easy vs. more difficult comprehension tasks), and we measured participants' level on a metacognitive knowledge task. Furthermore, the animations were redesigned so as to decrease split attention effects. The results are being analyzed at the time of submission. Our main expectation is that demanding comprehension tasks may trigger more focused study strategies, which in turn could interact with presentation format and students' metacognitive knowledge. Documents that include well integrated animated illustrations could improve comprehension in students with better metacognitive control, under the more demanding study conditions. Enabling, facilitating, and inhibiting effects in learning with animations Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Animated pictures can have different functions in the process of learning. They can have an enabling function if they allow the learner to perform a higher amount of cognitive processing than static pictures. They can also have a facilitating function if they make specific cognitive processes easier to perform through external support. Two experiments were carried out which investigated differences between learning from animated and learning from static pictures and which analysed whether different kinds of animation have different cognitive functions for different kinds of learners. Results indicate that manipulation pictures have primarily an enabling function for learners with higher prior knowledge, whereas simulation pictures have primarily a facilitating function for learners with lower prior knowledge. This facilitating function is not necessarily beneficial, because unneeded external support can hinder learners to perform relevant cognitive processes. The different functions of animations seem to be associated to different cognitive prerequisites. High prior knowledge learners seem to benefit primarily from the enabling function of animations. Low prior knowledge learners seem to benefit primarily from the facilitating function of animations. The facilitating function of animations can be helpful for learners with very low prior knowledge who would not be able to perform the corresponding mental simulations without external support. However, the facilitating function of animations can also be harmful for learners who would be already able to perform the mental simulations by themselves but make use of the unneeded external support and, thus, perform less cognitive processing.

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B6

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 3 F

Symposium COGNITIVE AND CULTURAL FACTORS IN NUMERACY DEVELOPMENT Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Ernest van Lieshout, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ernest van Lieshout, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Elsbeth Stern, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany

Although much research has been done to delineate the development of numeracy, many factors that influence this development are still not well understood. One of the topics is the question whether this development depends only on cognitive factors that have their own autonomous development, excluding cultural influences. Although numeracy development is seemingly uniform in many children, different environments and cultures can have an influence. A second topic is the question whether the factors and processes in numeracy development are uniquely connected to this development. There are many reports some of the factors and processes that influence reading development influence numeracy development as well. The four papers of this symposium will cover these two topics. Hidetsugu Tajika will review is work on comparisons of Japanese and U.S. students in mathematics and will explain differences in math performance in terms of cultural influences on cognitive processes. Margarida César will also deal with cultural factors, although, in this case, cultural diversity in the sense of microcultural environments differing from the mainstream culture were the object of study. Studies of the influence of nonmathematic factors in numeracy development will be presented both by Spyer and Van Lieshout. Spyer studied the cognitive processes that can explain why some childeren experience both mathematic problems and reading problems. Van Lieshout devided math abilities into early learned skills (number facts) and advanced skills to study the existence of processes that these skills have in common with reading skills. Differences in mathematical problem-solving skills between Japanese and American children Taijka Hidetsugu, Aichi University of Education, Japan The aim of the presentation at the symposium was to compare the mathematical problem-solving skills of Japanese and American children who were matched for basic mathematical knowledge. Three types of tests were used: an 18-item word problem-solving test, a 15-item mathematical achievement test, and a 5-item logical problem-solving test. The 18-item word problem-solving test tapped translation, integration, and planning skills as described by Mayer, Tajika, and Stanley (1991). The 5-item logical problem-solving test measured the efficiency of children's hypothesis testing strategies on a task involving mathematical reasoning. Each test was produced in Japanese and English versions. Participants were fifth-grade children in both countries. We carried out two studies. The number of students were 110 (females: 53; males: 57) in Japan and 132 (females: 62; males: 70) in the U.S.A in the first study, and 68 (females: 32; males: 36) in Japan and 72 (females: 32; males: 40) in U.S.A. in the second study. The results showed that children in Japan were more mathematically knowledgeable than were children in the U.S.A., but that mathematically knowledgeable children in the U.S.A. schools were better problem solvers than correspondingly knowledgeable children in Japanese schools. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive differences in mathematical problem-solving skill and instructional differences in schools in both countries. – 103 –

Giving voice to the echoes: A study about numeracy in micro-cultures Margarida César, University of Lisbon, Portugal In urban areas schools became deeply multicultural. Pupils from different cultural groups but also from diverse micro-cultures co-exist in the same school. Some of these micro-cultures are quite far from the mainstream one and those pupils usually experience underachievement and great difficulties in socialisation. Knowledge appropriation and competencies mobilisation are conceived as complex processes under the influence of social, emotional and cognitive elements interacting in a dialectic way. The principles of inclusive schooling (Ainscow, 1999) shaped our participation, stressing the need to listen not only to the voices but also to the echoes (Wertsch, 1991) that exist in a learning community as a way of empowering them. This study began as an action-research project (an alternative curriculum) implemented in two classes (54 pupils) during the 3rd cycle in a school from a multicultural area in the surroundings of Lisbon. These pupils came from disruptive families, belonged to micro-cultures quite far from the academic one and risked to drop out school before accomplishing the 9th grade. A follow-up was implemented ten years later to assess its impact, namely in terms of numeracy. Follow up data were gathered through narratives, interviews and informal conversations. Results show stressing examples concerning how this project shaped these participants’ lives. They allowed for a reflection concerning not only knowledge appropriation in mathematics but also something broader: the access to numeracy. The analysis of some selected cases show how relevant can educational practices be to promote numeracy even among those who usually reject academic knowledge. Differences between children with reading or arithmetic difficulty and both reading and arithmetic difficulty Ginny Spyer, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Evelien Dirks, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Jan Geelhoed, Het Pedagogical Institute, The Netherlands Ernest van Lieshout, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Pieter Reitsma, Het Pedagogical Institute, The Netherlands In general, studies on learning difficulties focus on one subject domain, e.g., reading difficulties or arithmetic difficulties. Although co-occurrence of reading and arithmetic difficulties is widely recognised, little is known about the magnitude of the coexistence and the characteristics of children with both reading and arithmetic difficulties versus those with only one of these. In a preliminary study we selected elementary school children, from third through sixth grade, whose achievement was below the 25th percentile in single-word decoding ability and/or in computational ability. Of the 65 children (mean age:125.4 + 15 months; mean IQ: 100.6 + 12.8) selected, 33.8 percent proved to have difficulties only in reading (RD), 21.5 percent only in arithmetic (AD), and 44.6 percent in both reading and arithmetic (RAD). The three groups were subsequently compared, along with a normal achievement group (NA), on 7 subtests of the WISC-R. The main findings were as follows: the AD group performed more poorly, when compared to the NA and/or the RD groups, primarily on measures of visual-spatial ability (Block Design, Object Assembly, Picture Completion, Spatial Ability Factor); the RAD group, when compared to the NA group, showed more general problems (verbal: Information, Digit-Span; and nonverbal: Coding, Block Design); the RD group only differed from the NA group on Digit-Span.Both the high incidence of children with coexisting reading and arithmetic difficulties (RAD) in this preliminary sample and the observed differences in performance between the groups underscores the need for differentiation among mixed learning difficulties and those in one subject. – 104 –

The relation between reading and math explained by memory functions and rapid automatised naming Ernest van Lieshout, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Annemiek Spiekerman, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ginny Spyer, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Often a correlation is found between reading and math performance. One of the explanations (e.g. by Swanson, 1994) is the common dependence on short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM). However, the results reported in the literature are equivocal. This study tried to clarify these relations by making a distinction between automatised basic skills and more advanced skills that require strategy knowledge and comprehension. It was expected that automatised academic knowledge would depend on STM and rapid automatised naming (RAN), whereas more advanced skills would depend on WM. Thirty-nine primary school students (22 boys and 17 girls, mean age 12.33, SD=0.53) from grade 6 were presented with several tests for academic skills, namely a test for knowledge of simple addition and subtraction number facts, a word decoding test, a general mathematics ability test and a general reading ability test. Besides, the children were presented with naming speed tests, measures for short-term memory and two measures for working memory. Simultaneous regression analyses showed that in accordance with the hypothesis naming speed had a significant effect on automatised arithmetic and reading performance. Contrary to the hypothesis STM did not have any effect. As expected, in the same type of regression analyses WM turned out to be an important predictor for general math and reading comprehension tests (which tap more advanced academic knowledge). The results corroborate most of Swanson’s findings. Besides it shows that making a distinction between basic automatised knowledge and more advanced knowledge helps to delineate the differential influence of RAN, STM and WM. B7

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO G E

Symposium TEACHER TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Steven Janssens, University of Leuven, Belgium Steven Janssens, University of Leuven, Belgium Erno Lehtinen, University of Turku, Finland

The four papers in this symposium focus on different stages in the professional development of teachers: the initial training (Kirschner and Schelfhout), the growth into the profession as a beginning teacher (Janssens) and the in-service training (Charalambos). The common denominator is the implementation of constructivist principles in the support of teachers during various stages of their professional development. The main characteristic is that student teachers and teachers build their own professional knowledge. Therefore, support should not just concentrate on how student teachers and teachers can perform their tasks, but get through to the underlying assumptions and beliefs about learning and teaching and about oneself as a teacher. During the symposium, we will discuss how this can be implemented in general as well as with reference to specific issues such as the use of ICT. Another topic for discussion is the role of ICT in the support of student teachers and teachers.

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The growth of beginning teachers into their profession Steven Janssens, University of Leuven, Belgium This study is about beginning teachers who recently finished their training and who are currently working in the upper years of a secondary school. Emphasis is put on the support they got during the induction period, the problems they experienced as a beginning teacher, their personal frame of reference (subjective theories, professional self) and their micro-political insights and skills. On the basis of an extended literature review, an interview guide has been drawn up. Thirty beginning teachers have been interviewed, of which 10 are teaching an “exact sciences” subject, 10 a “biomedical sciences” subject and 10 a “social sciences” or “humanities” subject. First, the answers of each interviewee have been analysed individually. In this ‘vertical’ analysis, the protocols were restructured in a common ‘format’. The second step was a ‘horizontal’ analysis: similarities, differences and recurring patterns were traced in the profiles of the interviewees. The results show that beginning teachers get too little structural support. The quality of the support they get depends primarily on the person of the “godfather”/“godmother” who has been assigned to them within the school. Moreover, “working” support, focusing on how to perform their duties as a teacher gets the upper hand. “Learning support”, focusing on their personal frame of reference hardly occurs. Hence, that personal frame of reference evolves scarcely during the first year as a teacher. On the other hand, they learn how to keep a group of pupils under control. Finally, beginning teachers primarily worry about the classes they have to teach. They adapt themselves seamlessly to the school culture and hardly stand up for their professional interests. The state of affairs of teacher education with respect to ICT: ICT3 - ICT in teacher training Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands Iwan Wopereis, Open University, The Netherlands If the Internet is an information superhighway, then teachers just might be the road-kill on the asphalt of the information superhighway. Possibly, for the first time in history, students are more adept at using the tools necessary for acquiring and transmitting knowledge than are their teachers. Children everywhere are creating their own virtual communities through the use of new technologies. They make use of chat facilities (MSN®, ICQ®, etc) to stay synchronously in touch with both old and new friends and email and short message services (SMS) to stay in touch with asynchronously. They take part in discussion groups, navigate through virtual worlds and assimilate new hardware and software as if it were a second nature. In many ways they are lightyears ahead of their parents and teachers with respect to the possibilities of ICT. As a result students are getting bored and frustrated and teachers are getting frustrated and distraught. To try to remedy this, the Educational Technology Expertise Center of the Open University of the Netherlands lead an international review study on good practices with respect to the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) into the mental and physical toolbox of both the aspirant teacher (pre-service) and practicing teachers (in-service) and to try to draw from this preliminary curricular benchmarks for teacher colleges. The study was carried out in a virtual project environment by a network of teacher training and ICT-experts throughout the world. The study was carried out with the aid of evaluation / description instruments which were based upon a collaboratively agreed upon theoretical reference framework. The good practices were then subjected to a meta-analysis with respect to premises, goals, methods, pedagogical principles and curricular set-up. This resulted in five benchmarks for ICT-training in teacher colleges, namely: (a) personal ICT competency; (b) ICT as mindtool; (c) pedagogical use of ICT (adOpting ICT and not adApting education); (d) ICT as teaching tool (integral and NOT add-on); (e) social aspects of ICT use (values, norms, uses, traditions). This contribution will present the results of this research on – 106 –

good practice and benchmarks for calibration and/or modelling of an ICT-teacher training along with a number of pedagogical and policy repercussions of their adoption. Issues in the design and evaluation of online professional development Charalambos Vrasidas, Intercollege, Cyprus Michalinos Zembylas, Intercollege, Cyprus Angelides Panayiotis, Intercollege, Cyprus Richard Chamberlain, Western Illinois University, USA During the last five years we have been developing online professional development for teachers. We have prepared large-scale projects that served thousands of teachers (e.g. STAR-online stands for Supporting Teachers with Anywhere-Anytime Resources and can be found online at http://www.star-online.org). We are currently developing a new project that consists of a set of online modules designed to train teachers how to design and teach online classes. This new project is titled “Teaching and Learning Online” and is a collaboration among 4 Universities in Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. During this presentation we will discuss findings from evaluations we conducted and share lessons we learned from our experiences as developers of online professional development. A sample formative evaluation of project will be presented. The main goal of the evaluation was to improve the project. Data were collected from teacher interviews, focus group discussions, observations of development meetings, and survey questionnaires. Descriptive statistics from the surveys were calculated and data were analysed following content analysis procedures. During the discussion we would like to address the following: (a) Briefly present samples of our online projects designed for in-service teacher training; (b) discuss issues relating to curriculum development of online modules and effective strategies for e-learning; (c) discuss issues relating to assessment of online learning and the use of digital portfolios; (d) present findings from evaluations we conducted of various online programs; (e) provide suggestions for practitioners and policy makersinstructional strategies for online learning. Educating for constructivist teaching: Determinant factors and successful learning environments in teacher education Wouter Schelfhout, University of Leuven, Belgium Eline Sierens, University of Leuven, Belgium Steven Janssens, University of Leuven, Belgium Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The Netherlands A moderate constructivist view on learning and instruction will require a different educational approach from teachers, and thus from teacher education. In this research we investigate the influence of different approaches within existing teacher training institutions on the (moderate constructivist) teaching behaviour of prospective teachers. During our research in three different teacher training institutions (N=10, N=8 and N=5), we searched for the educational approach within these institutions by means of questionnaires to be filled in by prospective teachers, interviews with teacher educators and content-analysis of the notes of students and for the conceptions about learning and teaching of the prospective 3rd year teachers, teacher educators and mentors by means of questionnaires. As dependent variable we evaluated the degree of constructivist teaching of the 3rd year teachers during practice teaching by means of a questionnaire to be filled in by teacher educators, mentor and the pupils within that class. Our research confirmed the hypothesis that an educational approach oriented towards moderate constructivist teaching must be far-reaching to be able to influence prospective teachers towards putting these principles into practice. This influence is mediated by the conceptions of the – 107 –

prospective teachers and of their mentors on teaching. A broad educational approach involves a moderate constructivist curriculum ànd way of teaching. An inductive approach in which practice experiences, reflection on these experiences, structuring new insights and applying these insights are well sequenced, seems a promising approach. In our opinion, design experiments in which this comprehensive approach will be elaborated as far-reaching as possible, seem necessary to get a clearer view on the way in which it can influence prospective teachers to change their educational behaviour towards a moderate constructivist one. B8

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 4 P

Symposium INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT COMPARED: CLASSIFICATION, PREDICTION AND THE INFLUENCE OF NON-COGNITIVE FACTORS Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Marco G. P. Hessels, University of Geneva, Switzerland Wilma C. M. Resing, University of Leiden, The Netherlands Marco G. P. Hessels, University of Geneva, Switzerland Jerry Carlson, University of California-Riverside, USA

Performances on different kinds of tests are influenced by the individual’s environment and by previous (learning) experiences. In this symposium, it is shown that learning potential assessments can provide more accurate estimations of persons’ cognitive abilities than traditional intelligence tests, and that these are less influenced by environmental factors, such as socio-economic status (SES) and conative and affective factors. In the first study, Beckmann and his colleagues discuss a comparison of testees’ performance on Raven’s CPM and a dynamic measure, showing that the results on the first are much influenced by SES. The authors discuss what this means for clinical diagnostics. In her study, Fernández-Ballesteros applies a battery of learning test to healthy participants, participants with mild cognitive impairments and participants with mild Alzheimer. Contrary to what is generally expected, Alzheimer disease participants could benefit from training in almost all conditions. Furthermore, Learning Potential scores nearly classified all cases correctly. She discusses her results from a theoretical as well as practical point of view. Woide and her co-authors research the effects of conative and affective factors in testing situations. In an experimental design, they analyze the effect of feedback upon performance in reasoning tests, in relation to intellectual ability and non-intellective personality traits. Woide discusses the implications for the potential design of dynamic testing procedures. Hessels addresses some of the shortcomings of learning potential procedures. Few standardized tests with good psychometric qualities have been published and these are sometimes perceived as time consuming and difficult to interpret. In his present project he tries to develop a test for group wise assessment, that has the favorable characteristics of a learning potential measure, but is more economic. Some results of his first investigations will be presented. “Tell me where you live and I will tell you your IQ”. The impact of socio-economic differences upon the assessment of intelligence Jens F. Beckmann, University of Leipzig, Germany H. Beyer, University of Leipzig, Germany Jürgen Guthke, University of Leipzig, Germany – 108 –

It is widely accepted that the assessment of fluid intelligence should be fair in the sense that test performance should be independent of cultural and/or educational influences. For this reason, Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) are commonly accepted tools for intellectual assessment. In the framework of dynamic testing, so called learning tests are widely held to be superior to traditional static cognitive measures in that by familiarising testees with test techniques and providing contingent feedback, socio-economic factors may prove to have less influence upon performance. To what extent, however, might a learning test prove superior to the CPM in this respect? This paper reports findings from a study of 164 Brazilian first graders from varying social backgrounds. The study compared performance on a traditional intelligence test (CPM) with that on the Leipzig Learning Test: in particular, the extent to which performance on each could be predicted by testee’s socio-economic background. The results indicated that performance on the static CPM test procedure could be predicted by the child’s background to a considerably greater extent than for that the dynamic learning test. In the light of this finding, the implications for clinical diagnostics are discussed. Learning potential in healthy subject, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD) patients Rocio Fernández-Ballesteros, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Learning Potential can be considered as a relatively new concept which is based on a “dynamic” assessment (test-training-retest). But, LP was defined long time ago by Vygostky in 1939 as the “distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving (including psychometric intelligence measurement devices) and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”. Along history, this construct has been tested across young or adolescent samples trying to predict the impact of environmental conditions in education. Although, during the last twenty years, this concept has been also tested in older subjects, a very new context refers to the clinical field of dementia in old age. Several authors emphasised the lack of capability in learning of those people diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, at least when cognitive strategies are used. In order to test this hypothesis a battery of learning test have been developed based on task assessing those impaired cognitive abilities in dementia: visual memory, verbal memory, executive learning and verbal fluency. These four learning tests were administered to healthy subjects (N=97), and subjects diagnosed as MCI (N=44) and mild AD (N=39). Although dramatic differences between these three groups were found, Alzheimer disease subjects could benefit from training in almost all conditions. When discriminant analyses were performed, Learning Potential scores classified correctly 98% of cases. Results are discussed from a theoretical as well as practical point of views. Effects of feedback – What a difference feedback makes Nadin Woide, University of Leipzig, Germany Jens F. Beckmann, University of Leipzig, Germany Julian G. Elliott, University of Sunderland, United Kingdom Dynamic testing procedures, it is widely contended, offer a more appropriate diagnostic approach to the assessment of cognitive ability. In contrast to traditional intelligence tests (static tests) testees are given the opportunity to learn and improve their intellectual performance during the test application by the provision of contingent feedback and hints. Conative and affective factors, while seen as important by advocates of dynamic approaches, have rarely been differentially assessed. This study represents an attempt to redress this shortfall. This paper will report findings from a study analysing the effect of feedback upon performance in reasoning tests. In examining – 109 –

testees’ ability to profit from feedback, we considered not only intellectual ability but also nonintellective personality traits (e.g. academic self-concept, goal orientation, effort, anxiety, attribution). Utilising an experimental design, 400 students in a mainstream English secondary school (aged 13 to 15) were variously presented differing series of computerized reasoning problems (number series and figural series). In each grouping, some students received feedback as to the accuracy of their responses while others gained no information about their performance. In the light of the findings from the study, implications for the potential design of dynamic testing procedures will be discussed. Group wise assessment of learning potential of pupils in mainstream primary education and special educational classes Marco G. P. Hessels, University of Geneva, Switzerland Learning potential assessment has often been criticized for its highly clinical nature and/or lack of reliability and validity. European learning potential assessment, however, has always had a strong focus on the development of highly standardized procedures that met with general accepted psychometric standards. These studies also more and more come to show they have a greater predictive validity than traditional intelligence tests. This observation applies to the general populations researched, but even more so for special or ‘at-risk’ populations. Even though standardized learning potential tests clearly have their benefits, they still seem too rarely employed in practice. One of the reasons for this is that the implementation of these tests can be time consuming. Most tests require individual administration, whereas a group wise administration procedure would render the test more useful for, e.g., general screening purposes. The aim of my present project is to construct a general learning potential test in the domain of inferential thinking, that can be administered both individually and group wise. The test will be developed on the basis of a large Rasch-scaled item bank. Different administration procedures will be scrutinized and the reliability and validity will be evaluated. Some first results of a sample of 121 children in mainstream primary education, with regard to intelligence, learning potential and the relationship with achievement in arithmetic and teachers’ evaluation will be presented. B9

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO 1 M

Symposium FLUID VALIDITY: ON THE EMPIRICAL FOUNDATION OF THE DYNAMIC ASPECT IN INTERACTIONS BETWEEN COGNITIVE AND MOTIVATIONAL VARIABLES Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Andreas Frey, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Peter Nenniger, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Marold Wosnitza, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany

With the notion of “Fluid Validity” we would like to point to the problem of alterations in the validity of concepts related to cognitive x motivational interactions over time. Initially stated concepts tend to change in their qualitative foundations during the course of the research period due to the experience of the subjects made over time. Such changes can be attributed to several reasons. On the one hand methodological conditions in the planning and execution of research may be a source from which the appropriate grouping of the subjects in an experimental design or the structure of the measuring model may become inadequate. On the other hand, during the period of investigation, because of a particular intervention or simply by chance subjects may alternate or – 110 –

construct their own (new) interpretation of the concept under consideration and thus change their perception and reaction towards the measuring instruments. We might start in our research, for example, with a concept of two motivational and three learning-strategy dimensions. But over time and due to our intervention, the motivational dimensions may be differentiated so that the second dimension will be split into two dimensions and, with respect to the learning-strategies, our concept may shrink to just one dimension: The dimensional validity of our initial concept became fluid. Thus, if we find out that the two initial motivational dimensions have increased and the three learning strategy dimensions have tended to a decrease, our interpretation becomes insignificant because of alteration of the initial concepts and in consequence loss of validity. Based on empirical work at several fields and in several research areas we would like to discuss this problem first in its theoretical and then in its methodological aspect and try to determine some consequences in the treatment and in the interpretation of such phenomena. In the first paper Alonso-Tapia contributes from a primarily theoretical viewpoint to the aspect of consistency and reliability of the concepts he used in his empirical research and raises the question in how far multiple examination could help in the reconstruction or modification of concepts. Outcomes from previous studies were compared with the results of a recent research with students from three different schools, that were based on questionnaires about different learning environment characteristics aimed at enhancing learning motivation and about learning orientation, performance orientation and avoidance orientation. Although from (the comparison of the actual outcomes) support of previous results was expected with respect to the extent of interest and learning motivation arisen by these characteristics, the findings point also to the fact that motivational traits and orientations mediate the motivational value attached differentially to the characteristics assessed. In the second paper Klaus Breuer and Balthasar Eugster explain problems coming from fluid validity and contributing to misinterpretations of developmental concepts within an explanatory model of the subjects’ target seeking process within the period of research. Based on data from a longitudinal evaluative study about the impacts of the new vocational training approach of the Asea Brown Boveri Learning Centres in Switzerland, results concerning aspects of the perception of the instruments applied, as well as aspects of the development of self-regulation abilities will be presented. The changes in perception and abilities during the course of the training and the eventually related alterations in the validity of the concepts over time will be interpreted as elements and instances of a target-seeking process. In the third paper Lars Balzer, Andreas Frey and Peter Nenniger primarily discuss the problem of the appropriateness of models of measurement for the conceptualisation of evaluative purposes from a methodological point of view. From a two years evaluation of apprentices related to 4 instants of measurement within the reform period of Swiss business education, data regarding several dimensions of cognitive and social competences and regarding a number of subjective aspects of the learning environment were analysed. For this purpose a number of questionnaires regarding several dimensions of cognitive and social competences on the one hand, and a number of subjective aspects of the learning environment (including expectancies and further motivational aspects) on the other hand were submitted to 1000 apprentices in the German, French and Italien speaking regions of Switzerland. In the interpretation of the results, questions about the impact of different research perspectives applied to the course of development and about fluid validity of the underlying scales are discussed in view of the possible influence of different ways of scaling and of grouping persons and their relation to a pedagogically appropriate formulation of concepts and of the evaluation goals. In the forth paper Jaap Roeleveld, Thea Peetsma and Reinoud Stoel raise question about the extent missing-data problems can be a source of distortion that decreases validity of developmental concepts offer some possible solutions in handling with cases. The starting-points of their contribution are marked by problems of a recent study on the relationship of motivation with language achievement in elementary education. However the applied longitudinal design that – 111 –

should serve for the analysis of intra-individual growth as well as inter-individual differences between subjects, was plagued by missing data and measurement invariance. In presenting selected results of some analyses the authors will first describe the way they treated several types of missing data, offer a more general approach to handle such problems, discuss the consequences of the outlined approach for parameter estimates and interpretations of the results and demonstrate some consequences with respect to a reduction of fluid validity. In the concluding remarks and discussions with Marold Wosnitza the notion of “Fluid Validity” will be addressed in an integrative view. Combining the theoretical with the methodological perspective and referring to some of the common characteristics of the different contributions, a first attempt will be made in order to structure this concept in a way that allows a further development of theoretical explanations as well as methodological models. Assessment of learning environment quality from the point of view of secondary and high-school learners Jesús Alonso-Tapia, Auonomous University of Madrid, Spain There is a growing body of knowledge about the effectiveness of learning environments in which learning motivation and self-regulation can best be enhanced. However, an important number of questions about the general effectiveness of educational interventions and also about the scope of and the reasons for such effectiveness remain without reliable empirical support. In particular, consistency regarding the following two questions needs to be achieved in order to improve such environments: “How much motivational value do students attribute to each particular component of these environments?”, and “In what degree is such value mediated by students' motivational orientations?” In order to improve the empirical basis an effort was made in direction to replicate the respective studies and to compare the results with outcomes from the previous studies (Alonso Tapia & López, 1999). In the particular research 630 students, 15 to 17 years old, from three different schools were given two questionnaires. The first included different learning environment characteristics aimed at enhancing learning motivation. Students had to declare how much interest and learning motivation was arisen in them by these characteristics. The second assessed students' motivational traits and orientations: Learning orientation, performance orientation and avoidance orientation. Mean and multiple-regression analysis are being performed to answer the questions. Outcomes from this replicative research are expected to support previous results concerning the first question. However, we expect also that motivational traits and orientations mediate the motivational value attached to the different characteristics assessed. Referring to the general theme of the symposium, the issue of this presentation contributes from a primarily theoretical viewpoint to the aspect of consistency and reliability of concepts of empirical research and to the extent multiple examination would contribute to its modification. The development of self-regulation abilities based on self-evaluation questionnaires Klaus Breuer, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany Balthasar Eugster, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland The fostering of self-regulation abilities has become a widely shared objective of vocational education. Self-regulation abilities are considered to be prerequisites for qualified vocational performance as well as for self-directed life-long learning activities. The development of such traits can be evaluated be means of longitudinal studies only that may however run into obstacles of methodology. Most commonly abilities of self-regulation are depicted by self-rating instruments. Applying such instruments may however result in processes of self-reflection and thus result in modified scale perceptions, if trainees become aware of the notion of self-regulation, – 112 –

start elaborating on their individual perception and develop their different notions of such abilities. Considering such elaboration processes, we have to keep track of the validity of our measurements and to monitor the development of the constructs over time, because fostering development from such a perspective may not simply mean to boost values on scales, but to promote adequate perceptions of the individual abilities. Based on results from a longitudinal evaluative study about the impacts of a new vocational training approach with 133 trainees of the Asea Brown Boveri Learning Centres in Switzerland (during a period of 3 years and measures at 4 instances concerning various work and personality related cognitive, motivational and social concepts), aspects of the perception of the instruments applied, as well as aspects of the development of selfregulation abilities will be presented. The respective changes during the course of the training and the eventually related alterations in the validity of the concepts over time will be interpreted within the frame of a target-seeking process. Referring to the general theme of the symposium, the issue of this presentation primarily contributes to the theoretical aspect of the problem. In particular it discusses problems of validity that may contribute to misinterpretations of developmental concepts in research on motivation. Development of expectancies, motivation and competence: About the moderating role of the research perspective on validity Lars Balzer, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Andreas Frey, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Peter Nenniger, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany One of the main objectives in evaluating the reform of the New Basic Business Education in Switzerland considered the development of competences required for self-directed problemsolving as a widely shared objective in vocational education. In this context, among others, motivational aspects of the learning environment and individual expectancies were expected to play an important role. For this purpose a number of questionnaires regarding several dimensions of cognitive and social competences on the one hand, and a number of subjective aspects of the learning environment (including expectancies and further motivational aspects) on the other hand were submitted to 1000 apprentices in the German, French and Italian speaking regions of Switzerland at four instants of the two years’ reform period. In the interpretation of the data analyses, questions about the impact of different research perspectives on the course of development and the validity of the underlying scales were raised. Within this context results about the influence of different ways of scaling and grouping persons are presented and discussed with respect to pedagogically appropriate formulation of concepts and goals of measurement, as well as with respect to some consequences for the evaluation of the reform. Referring to the general theme of the symposium, the issue of this presentation contributes primarily to the methodological view of the problem: The appropriateness of models of measurement for the conceptualisation of evaluative purposes. Issues in longitudinal research on motivation Jaap Roeleveld, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Thea Peetsma, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Reinoud Stoel, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands In the last decade there has been an increasing amount of studies on motivation that use a longitudinal design. Longitudinal designs may provide information for answering questions regarding intra-individual change, or growth, as well as inter-individual differences between subjects. However, the longitudinal data coming from such a design are often plagued by factors – 113 –

that may lead to biased estimates of the interesting parameters. This contribution discusses two issues that popped up in a recent study on the relationship of motivation with language achievement in elementary education. The first issue is related to missing data, the second issue to the measurement structure of repeatedly measured variables, so-called measurement invariance. As is frequently in the case with panel data, some of that data were missing in our study. A part of the missing data was due to selective mortality in the panel, an other part concerned the usual “coincidental missings” and a last part was missing by design. Thus, we will first describe the way we handled these missing data, and discuss the consequences of our approach for parameter estimates and interpretation of the results. Regarding the second issue, measurement invariance ensures a comparable definition of the latent construct over time. Violation of measurement invariance may render it impossible to assess change within a subject, because this change will be confounded with the change in meaning of a construct over time. Although the same indicators were used at each occasion, their measurement properties had slightly changed. Here also, we will discuss the peculiarities of the problem and offer a way we tackled this problem. Referring to the general theme of the symposium, the issue of this presentation contributes to the methodological aspect of the problem. In particular it offers some possible solutions for problems that most commonly are a source of distortion that decrease validity of developmental concepts. B 10

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO 1 H

Symposium PERSPECTIVES ON INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF LESSON STRUCTURE IN MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS IN GERMANY, JAPAN, THE USA, AND AUSTRALIA Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The Netherlands

This symposium reports recent research into the structure of eighth-grade mathematics lessons in Australia, Germany, Japan and the USA. Stigler and Hiebert (1999) identified «lesson patterns» for Germany, Japan and the USA, suggesting the teachers’ adherence to a culturally-based “script”. The four papers in this symposium, which report results of the Learner’s Perspective Study (LPS, see http://www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/DSME/lps/), challenge the contention that teaching in each of the three countries could be described by a «simple, common pattern» (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999, p.82). The reports are based on analyses of sequences of ten lessons of teachers judged competent by their local communities, documented using three video cameras, supplemented by the reconstructive accounts of classroom participants obtained in post-lesson video-stimulated interviews. This methodological approach (Clarke, 2001) has the potential to address each of the following issues, which are the focii of the papers that make up this symposium: (a) The degree of variation in lesson structure in the practices of competent teachers within a given culture and across cultures; (b) the legitimacy of international (cross-cultural) comparisons of lesson structure; (c) the extent to which any variation of lesson structure over a ten lesson sequence is linked to the location of the lesson in the instructional sequence and to the teacher’s instructional intentions; (d) students’ awareness of the lesson structure and how this is related to their perception of significant educational moments in the lesson and to their subsequent learning. – 114 –

The problematics of international lesson structure comparisons David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia This paper will raise four issues related to international comparisons of lesson structure in mathematics based on classroom video data. First, for whom is the lesson the most appropriate unit through which to analyse instruction: the teacher, the student, the researcher, or the stakeholders of a particular culture? It will be suggested that even the answer to this question is a cultural artefact. Second, how is the distinction between public and private talk to be accommodated within any consideration of lesson structure? If instructional practice encourages or simply tolerates studentstudent interaction or one-on-one teacher-student interaction, then to what extent should the embracing lesson structure accommodate the detail of such sub-structures? Third, to what extent can a common coding scheme be developed to systematically analyse classroom data from several culturally-distinct countries. Specifically, such a scheme presumes legitimate reference to a common “metric” although the meaning, purpose, and even the practice of any coded event or activity (such as “presenting the problems for the day”, “practicing”, or “checking homework”) can vary significantly from culture to culture, and arguably from classroom to classroom within the same culture. Fourth, if comparison at the level of code for events and activities is problematic, can classroom structures be compared internationally at another level or in another way? It will be argued that useful comparison of lesson structure can be made at a level “above” that of the constituent codes in the form of patterns of participation that apply to entire lessons or to instructional units within or beyond a single lesson. Also, important and informative fine-grained comparisons can be made of the culturally-specific enactment of superficially-similar lesson elements. Lesson patterns in superficially similar cultures: The USA and Australia Carmel Mesiti, University of Melbourne, Australia David Clarke, University of Melbourne, Australia Joanne Lobato, San Diego State University, USA The TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study reported the United States lesson pattern as: (a) reviewing previous material by checking homework or doing a warm-up; (b) demonstrating how to solve the problems for the day; (c) practicing; and (d) correcting seatwork and assigning homework (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999). For the purpose of identifying the extent to which this lesson pattern is reflected in two sets of ten consecutive US lessons from the Learner’s Perspective Study (LPS), a coding system was developed that was based on the categories used in published accounts of the TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study. The resultant diversity of lesson structure challenged the notion of a typical lesson pattern. It became clear that this system of codes had to be extended if the analysis was to give adequate recognition to the complexity of the structure of U.S. mathematics lessons evident in the LPS data. This complexity is particularly graphic when one considers a set of ten consecutive lessons in each classroom rather than the set of single lessons collected for the TIMSS study. Results from U.S. schools reveal significant differences in the lesson patterns between schools, variability of lesson structure within a school, and important differences from the lesson script identified in the TIMSS study. The same approach was employed with data from Australian schools. It appears that while it may be inappropriate to postulate a single lesson pattern as nationally characteristic, there is still significant difference in the nature and deployment of the constituent elements from which a lesson is constructed; even for such superficially similar cultures as the USA and Australia.

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Cross-national elements in lesson structure Eva Jablonka, Free University, Berlin, Germany The descriptions of the lesson patterns of German, Japanese and U.S. lessons based on the data from the TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study employ culture specific descriptors of segments of a lesson that are highly interpretive, such as warm-up, reviewing a quiz, or seatwork (Stigler and Hiebert, 1999; Stigler et al., 1999). For the purpose of cross-cultural comparison the use of such terms would be extremely problematic if it served to subsume unfamiliar events under a category that might not be part of the local vocabulary and of the conceptions used to plan and organise lessons. However, it is reasonable to search for elements of lesson patterns that are reported as being characteristic for one of the three countries by Stigler and Hiebert (1999) in the data from the two other counties in the Learner’s perspective study, in order to look more closely at how these are enacted in the classrooms, if such elements occur. An analysis based on this rationale shows the frequent occurence of activities that were reported as typical in Japanese lessons (“presenting a thought-provoking problem,” “working on the problem in groups,” and “presentation by students”) in U.S. lessons and the typical Japanese activity of “highlighting and summarising the main points” in German lessons. In a significant proportion of the lessons from one U.S. classroom the teacher engaged in an activity, which can be called “guided development”. This activity is very similar to the one found in German classrooms in both the TIMSS and the LPS projects: “Fragendentwickelndes Unterrichtsgespräch” (questioning-developing classroom talk). Contrasting teacher and student perceptions of lesson structure in Japan Yoshinori Shimizu, Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan This paper examines how Japanese teachers approach teaching mathematics in a way that is frequently referred to as “the structured problem solving mode” and how their students perceive such a lesson structure. Findings from an analysis of sequences of ten consecutive mathematics lessons in public schools in Tokyo, monitored as part of the Learner’s Perspective Study (LPS), will be reported. Particular attention is given to how the teacher intended to structure the lesson and how the students perceived classroom events within the lesson structure. First, the Japanese lesson pattern, as identified by the analysis of a set of single lessons in the TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study, is examined by comparing it with the analysis of ten consecutive mathematics lessons from the LPS. The results suggest the need to identify an overarching feature of the “lesson structure in the sequence” as contrasted with the lesson pattern identified by the analysis of a set of single lessons. Second, based on the analysis of video-stimulated post-lesson interviews, discrepancies in perceptions of classroom events between the teacher and the students are described. Finally, some issues raised as a consequence of the results of this analysis are discussed. B 11

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 2 B

Symposium HETEROGENEITY OF DISCOURSES AND PRACTICES IN INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Michèle Grossen, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Ed Elbers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Michèle Grossen, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Harry Daniels, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom – 116 –

This symposium starts from the assumption that institutions play an integral part in the construction of identity, in social practices and in the individuals’ everyday (inter)actions. However, individuals do not simply take on predetermined roles, or conform to preformed institutions, they interpret them according to previous experience and use them as resources in their present activity. Moreover, they have to deal with institutions which have heterogeneous, and sometimes conflictual, discourses and practices. Drawing upon cultural psychology and other related theoretical frameworks, the papers collected in this symposium raise three series of issues: 1) How do participants in an interaction use institutional categories to make sense of the situation and orient their actions? For example, to which categories do parents and teachers refer when they “talk about” the child? Which institutional categories do vocational guidance officers invoke when they have to answer job applicants’ requests? 2) How do members of the school institution interpret and appropriate institutional tools, practice and discourse? Namely, how do teachers interpret new educational settings and how do they transform them through their practice? 3) How do individuals deal with heterogeneous institutional discourses, tools and practices? For example, how are school teaching practices taken up by parents in their everyday interactions with their child? Different social and institutional practices are scrutinised: Teaching-learning situations between teachers and students, parents and child, or between peers; vocational guidance where officers have to orientate job applicants; parent-teacher communication concerning the child/student's school achievement and behaviour at school. Institutional framing: Co-constructing children with special needs during parent-professional “talk” Juliet Choo, Griffith University, Australia Peter Renshaw, Griffith University, Australia Helena Austin, Griffith University, Australia In this paper we examine how specific institutional categories are deployed by parents and educational specialists with regard to children with special needs from diverse cultural backgrounds. The participants were educational specialists (classroom teachers, psychologists, and special educators) and the parents of children with moderate to severe disabilities attending schools in a suburban area of Brisbane, Australia. In planning and conducting the educational program for the special children, parents and the educational specialists at the schools employed a “communication booklet” that was sent back and forth each day with the special child. The data for our paper is based on an analysis of the alternating sequences of messages that form an extended conversation between the parents and specialists about the children. We draw upon both sociocultural theory and ethnomethodology in framing our project. We are interested in the everyday, more experiential categories that parents employ to “talk” about the children, in contrast to the more abstract, institutional categories employed by the professionals. In their alternating conversation in the booklet, parents and specialists construct a particular version of the special needs child in relation to the distinct and at times conflicting requirements of the institutions of schooling and the family. Our data show that children’s characteristics – how “bright” they are, or how compliant, or how moody or calm – are constructed in relation to specific institutional requirements and activities. The alternating “talk” is shown to be a powerful social process in coconstructing the special child as an unusual member of the institution of schooling.

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Categories as contextualising tools: Approaching participants interaction in institutional settings Åsa Mäkitalo, Göteborg University, Sweden Analysts interested in learning, sense making and knowledge production in institutional settings, face an interesting dilemma when it comes to the problem of how to account for the relationship between structural and enduring features of institutions and interactional dynamics. At a general level, this issue concerns how talk is occasioned by organisational context, and precisely what is ‘institutional’ about talk. In the literature, the “study of institutional interaction has been the site of some fierce debates between ethnographers, discursive psychologists and conversation analysts”, and in this discussion the “nature and relevance of the context of institutional interaction has been a key issue” (Silverman, 1999, p.401). The aim of this paper is to document how institutional categories are invoked to index what is relevant situated knowing in interactional sequences where there is a need to bridge the gap between action and expectation. This general problem of relevance to learning and reasoning has been studied in face-to-face interactions between job applicants and vocational guidance officers in a public institution. The claim is that to understand sense making and co-ordination of perspectives, as an analyst, in the study of institutional settings, the role of ‘categorial’ knowledge must be attended to. In this setting, institutional categories are not invoked as fixed and ready-made entities, rather, they work as flexible tools generated from a living tradition of argumentation that allow the participants to recontextualize and negotiate the issues at stake. The institution of schooling and teaching-learning practices in a native American village Ed Elbers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Mariëtte De Haan, Utrecht University, The Netherlands This paper addresses the role of the institution of formal schooling in a Native American community that has a teaching/learning tradition relatively different from that of traditional schooling. In this community there is a large variety with respect to the amount of years that people have attended school. Also, their experience with schooling seems to turn out in different ways when it is applied to their informal teaching practices. The data we present show interaction patterns between parents and children in a teaching-learning situation. In the presentation we will focus on the differences between parents with practically no schooling and those who attended school for a longer period. The analysis shows that the differences in teaching-learning practices between those two group are more related with the attitude they have towards their child’s school career than with schooling per se. Also, the analysis shows that parents use teaching patterns characteristic for formal schooling in interaction with their children but adapt them to purposes that are related to traditional teaching. We will discuss these results in the light of the question how institutions are (re)presented in everyday interactions between people and how institutional rules are reinterpreted in specific sociocultural contexts. Peer-tutoring as an educational setting for students in difficulty: Institutional discourse and practices Karin Bachmann, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Michèle Grossen, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Despite its long-lasting history, peer-tutoring as a means for helping students with learning difficulties regularly reappears under new forms. So was it in the five Swiss secondary schools in which our study was carried out. In these schools, peer-tutoring was introduced on the basis of some general guidelines, for example that “good” students would be tutors and “poor” students – 118 –

tutees — an option which is far from evident in the light of research into peer-tutoring. Each school was then responsible for the concrete implementation of this educational setting. As a consequence, “peer-tutoring” took different forms from one school to another; for example, the role of the teacher who supervised the work carried out in the tutor-tutee dyads was different and revealed diverging conceptions about peer collaborative work. Drawing on cultural psychology, we shall consider that: 1) this setting is an institutional tool that individuals use according to their own representations and goals, and to contextual constraints; 2) as soon as it is contextualised and used, this institutional tool becomes a tool-in-use which is liable to transform the prescribed educational project. On an empirical level, analysis of official documents written by the schools, ethnographic observations, and analysis of tutor-tutee interactions will enable us to show how “peer-tutoring” as a tool-in-use has been interpreted by the teachers in the different schools, and what representations of learning can be inferred from these variety of practices. B 12

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 3 H

Symposium INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY AND STUDENT MOTIVATION IN MATHEMATICAL LEARNING: RESULTS FROM INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany Kurt Reusser, University of Zurich, Switzerland Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany Andreas Krapp, University of Bundeswehr, Munich, Germany

Research on classroom instruction has recently made considerable progress in terms of theoretical foundations and empirical methods. Multiple criteria of instructional quality are addressed (student motivation as well as student achievement), and the domain-specificity of teaching and learning is taken into account. The papers presented in this symposiums use motivational theories (such as self-determination theory or expectancy theory) and constructivist conceptions of learning to develop hypotheses about processes which mediate the relation between classroom practice and cognitive/affective outcomes. Special emphasis is given to the development of students’ domainspecific interests. These hypotheses are tested with data from large-scale, cross-national studies, i.e. the OECD-PISA and the TIMS-(repeat)-video-studies (Stigler et al.). Within the German and the Swiss samples, the scope of these studies has been extended by additional questionnaires and – for the video studies – by longitudinal designs and high-inference ratings of instructional quality. Researchers from both countries have been cooperating in developing designs and analytical tools. Instructional processes and effects are studied from multiple perspectives (students, teachers and observers) at multiple levels (individual, classroom/school, and national). Profiles of instruction and student outcome: Multi- level analysis of data from Pisa-2000 Eckhard Klieme, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany Katrin Rakoczy, German Institute for International Educational Research, Frankfurt, Germany According to self determination theory (Deci & Ryan), the development of subject-related interest is dependent on the social integration of the students, the autonomy they experience, and their experience of competence. We assume that the quality of both teacher-student and student-student – 119 –

relations directly determine the extent of social integration, while non-directive forms of instruction will promote the experience of autonomy, and an individual frame of reference for the grading of student achievement can promote individual students’ experience of competence. These features of instruction are integrated into the construct “student orientation”, and it is hypothesized they will foster students’ domain-specific interests. Based on classical instructional research and constructivist ideas, it is assumed that clarity and structuredness, cognitively demanding tasks and high-level classroom discourse will foster students’ understanding of mathematical concepts. These features are described as “cognitive activation”, and it is hypothesized they will foster students’ mathematical competence. Within the German extension to PISA-2000 (Baumert et al. 2002), both student orientation and cognitive activation in mathematics classrooms were operationalized by scales from the student questionnaire. Multi-level-analyses including 409 Gymnasien (highest track of secondary schools) prove that even if general cognitive abilities are controlled for, student orientation is in deed linked to high interest in mathematics, while cognitive activation is linked to higher levels of mathematical literacy. Some of the instructional quality scales can also be compared cross-nationally within PISA-2000. The profile of instructional quality corresponds to national cultures of mathematics education. Insider’s and outsider’s perception of instructional quality in classrooms with different achievement levels and motivational patterns - Results from the Swiss video study Monika Waldis, University of Zurich, Switzerland Kurt Reusser, University of Zurich, Switzerland Urs Grob, University of Zurich, Switzerland Christine Pauli, University of Zurich, Switzerland In the context of the Swiss participation in the cross-cultural TIMSS-R Video Study (J.W. Stigler et al., Los Angeles), a representative sample of 150 videos of eighth grade mathematics lessons have been collected and analyzed. In addition to the international setting video data were complemented with national teacher and student questionnaires and achievement tests. The wide data corpus allows for the combination of different perspectives in analyzing instructional quality and effectiveness: The perspective of observers, students and teachers. To identify instructional quality in Swiss classrooms, characteristics of perceived (insider’s perception) or judged (outsider’s evaluation) instruction were combined with multidimensional outcome criteria. Teaching practices in classrooms with highly motivated students with high achievement scores were compared to classroom practices in low motivated classes showing rather low math performance. As a general result, teaching practices of successful classes got better ratings or judgements. Furthermore, the observers’ judgements on instructional quality showed a certain correspondence with the students’ perceptions. This finding is remarkable as the expert judgements rely on one single video-lesson, whereas the students’ perceptions mirror their long-time experience with particular patterns of classroom teaching. However, these results need to be carefully interpreted. Teaching behavior and student/class characteristics should be understood as interacting with each other. Findings from our extended investigations on the interplay between instructional patterns, teacher and student characteristics, context variables and learning outcomes will be presented. Causal beliefs: A neglected aspect in the analysis of teaching-learning processes? Alex Buff, University of Zurich, Switzerland Kurt Reusser, University of Zurich, Switzerland

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Emotional and motivational consequences of attributional processes are considered central dimensions of learning and achievement behaviour. Attributions as actual cognitions in single situations are influenced not only by the characteristics of the situation, but also by dispositional characteristics of the person. In this case our interest focuses on causal beliefs, which can be regarded as subjective theories about the causes of (own, real life) successes or failures, e.g. in mathematics. The development of causal beliefs is generally influenced by ontogenetical processes as well as experiences in everyday life. Apart from studies on goal-oriented interventions, e.g. attributional retraining, little is known about the second mechanism, i.e. the influence of latent context characteristics - like specific aspects of teaching arrangements - on the development of causal beliefs.Based on a subsample of the Swiss video study (Reusser, Pauli, Grob, Waldis, Hugener, & Krammer, 2001) with more than 1200 8th grade students from 72 classes, we first examine associations between characteristics of teaching culture and causal beliefs for good, respectively poor grades. We ask the question: which everyday characteristics of the teaching culture correspond with more or less favourable causal beliefs referred to further learning? Apart from intelligence and prior knowledge, interest and control beliefs are crucial variables for mathematics achievement. For this reason we are also interested in the network of specific aspects of teaching arrangements, causal beliefs and motivational consequences, i.e. so called performance mediators like interest and control beliefs. We suspect that the influence of teaching characteristics on interest and control beliefs is mediated to a great extent by causal beliefs. Should that be true, a stronger consideration of causal beliefs in the analysis of teaching-learning processes seems to be appropriate for the future. Highly structured classrooms and self-determination: Can effective classroom management support the development of domain-specific interest? Mareike Kunter, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany This presentation investigates whether “classical” aspects of instructional quality that focus on discipline, rule clarity, and effective use of time are also beneficial for interest development. From the perspective of self-determination theory, a teacher-centered, pre-structured learning environment may reduce students’ sense of autonomy, and thus undermine the development of intrinsic motivational tendencies such as domain-specific interest. Conversely, explicit rules and prompt feedback on inappropriate actions may enable students to predict the consequences of their own behavior and provide them with reasonable action alternatives, thus fostering their feelings of competence. This hypothesis was tested in two studies with students in secondary school mathematics classrooms. In the first, cross-sectional study, students completed questionnaires on their math teachers’ strategies, and on their own experience of self-determination in the classroom. Results show little association between effective classroom management and sense of autonomy, but high correlations between classroom management and feelings of competence. Moreover, autonomy and competence were highly related to interest in math. The second, longitudinal study employs data from the German TIMSS video survey. Observational data from 82 mathematics classrooms are used to examine the effect of classroom management strategies on interest development. Using hierarchical linear modeling, it is tested whether features of instructional quality on the classroom level can predict individual students’ interest development from grade 7 to grade 8.

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B 13

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 2 D

Symposium DEVELOPING MOTIVATION AND SELF ESTEEM THROUGH WORKING WITH ICT Organiser: Chair: Discussants:

Paul Brna, Northumbria University, England, United Kingdom Paul Brna, Northumbria University, England, United Kingdom Benedict Du Boulay, University of Sussex, United Kingdom Kim Issroff, University College, London, United Kingdom

Aims: to examine the assumption that ICT can support the development of self esteem in different educational contexts for learners with different levels of achievement; to consider methods of assessing motivation and self esteem; to consider mechanisms which may account for the ways in which ICT may assist in the growth of self esteem. Scientific and Educational Relevance: ICT is an important component of education for all stages of formal education as well as for lifelong learning and informal learning. The interaction with ICT and the various ways in which motivation is constructed within the learning context may well promote learning of knowledge, skills, social awareness and self awareness. It is believed that self esteem has an important impact on learning and motivation but there are challenges that need to be met in relation to how to measure self esteem within a real world context, how the motivational mechanisms both support the learner in developing self esteem and in learning, and how to support learners across a wider range of achievements, abilities and skills. Learning to love ICT in teaching and learning: The significance of staff and student esteem Bridget Cooper, Northumbria University and Leeds University, United Kingdom Paul Brna, Northumbria University, England, United Kingdom This paper considers the role of design and research methodology, teachers and ICT itself in building esteem for both staff and students. It examines data from a current project, ICT and the Whole Child sponsored by The Nuffield Foundation which seeks, over two years, to evaluate the effects of high quality ICT provision embedded in infant classrooms, on achievement, esteem and classroom relationships. Using participant design methodology and claims analysis, the project aims to meet needs closely and analyse them deeply with data from different perspectives. The paper focuses on the early staff interviews and ongoing field notes. It examines the way in which staff nurture and promote esteem in students and understand the role of ICT in raising esteem. We argue that an empathic design methodology also supports staff esteem and motivation and that such an approach can support a positive emotional response to the change inherent in the implementation of new ICT systems, dissipating anxiety and dissolving defensive barriers. Staff esteem is supported by both the methodology, the researchers attitudes and the also their successful acquisition of cross-curricular ICT skills which they see as directly beneficial to students. Staff esteem and enthusiasm is likely to generate student esteem and enthusiasm and allow the confident take up of new skills in a positive atmosphere. The paper considers the theoretical role of affect in learning for staff and students and concludes that both people, computer systems and the method of their design and implementation have a significant role to play in the emotional scaffolding of learning. Creative learning architectures for self-expression, inclusiveness and self-esteem Lisa Gjedde, Danish University of Education, Denmark – 122 –

There is in Denmark concern about a considerable percentage of students not succeeding within the main Danish educational framework, thus being excluded during the primary and secondary school years for a variety of reasons. This calls for a focus on how to provide a learning environment that allows for greater differentiation and greater inclusiveness and how the use of ICT may play an important role in this approach. This research is focusing on the use of creative self-expression through narrative in 5 primary school classes, comprising more than a hundred students ages 10-13 and 5 teachers during a year. It is done as action research involving useroriented content development of software. Main points of focus for the research is how the use of ICT in this process may influence the role of students and teachers, and thus the learners sense of involvement, collaboration, responsibility and self-confidence. The research is also looking at how the experience of identity and self-esteem for the learners may be enhanced by a learning architecture that allows for the creative expression of the learners supported by the software and the use of different modalities in the learner’s creative expression. It is further discussed how the preliminary findings from this study, may provide models for learning scenarios using ICT, that may be applicable to different learning situations in order to provide scaffolding and differentiation relative to learners needs and thus allow for development of an inclusive sense of accomplishment and expression. Why don’t learners ask for more help? Exploring young learners attitudes to tackling challenges and seeking assistance Rosemary Luckin, University of Sussex, England, United Kingdom Software scaffolding has been successfully employed within educational technology to help bridge the recognition-production gap between what learners want to be able to achieve and what they are able to effect themselves without. This work has however concentrated on scaffolding the learner at the domain level with less attention to the potential for providing explicit support at the metacognitive level. Evidence from previous research into learners’ use of scaffolding assistance has indicated that less able and knowledgeable learners are ineffective at selecting appropriately challenging tasks and seeking appropriate qualities and quantities of support and guidance. But how can we make learners more effective at reflecting on their own needs, at seeking appropriate challenges and appropriate support? This is where we are using a variation of participatory design to assist learners into the design process. We discuss our empirical work with 10 and 11-year-old children in which we have been exploring their attitudes towards tackling challenging activities and asking for help. If they donít like asking for help why is this? If they are willing to have a go at a challenge and accept that they may not succeed the first time, what gives them the confidence to have a go? These are the sorts of questions our studies try and investigate as part of our work on the development of the Ecolab software, which offers children scaffolded investigations of food chains and webs. Enhancing classroom learning through live interactions with field trips Nick Hine, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom Ros Rentoul, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom Susie Schofield, University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom The research seeks to explore the enhancement in learning that can arise from multi-site international mobile collaboration between field trips and classrooms, and the associated use and production of reusable learning objects. The learning will involve the exploration in context guided by professionals and experts, and the collaboration between peers distributed between the – 123 –

classroom and field. In addition to measuring increased knowledge and more informed and organised thinking, the research will consider the aspects such as motivation and self-esteem that arise from successfully outworking roles in the field and in the classroom in support of a comprehensive interactive experience. These aspects will be measured by analysing the interactions that take place between the children and by determining the change in the coherence and breadth of the presentations made by the children following the field trip events. Two key effects are expected to arise from the participation in the experience, whether in the classroom or the field. The first is the clarification of the nature of the vocational aspects of the professions involved in the field (historians, chemical engineers, biologists, artists, etc) and the potential that this has in helping the children to make informed and motivated career choices. The second is the increasing integration available for students with disabilities as they can play an equal part in significant roles in the classroom or the field. B 14

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 3 G

Symposium PROMOTING TOLERANCE AND THE PRACTICE OF CITIZENSHIP IN YOUNG PEOPLE Organisers:

Helen Cowie, University of Surrey, United Kingdom Rosario Ortega, University of Seville, Spain

Chair:

Helen Cowie, University of Surrey, United Kingdom

Discussant:

Maria Luisa Genta, University of Bologna, Italy

There has been a growing concern worldwide during the past decade to identify children’s rights and to create contexts in which those rights can be safeguarded and enhanced. Specifically, the 54 articles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1991) have been categorised as: (a) Protection: of children and young people from violence and abuse; (b) Provision: for children and young people of a reasonable quality of life, involving state care, education, health services and social security; (c) Participation: of children and young people in decision-making on matters affecting them, either directly or through representation. Despite these commendable aims, many young people still experience unacceptable levels of violence and abuse in their homes, schools and communities. Bullying and social exclusion are experienced daily by many children, despite years of research and policy-making to counteract the problem. Violence in society is a growing issue and too many children feel unsafe and unprotected in their own communities. There is widespread stigmatisation of young people who are experiencing some form of mental health difficulty. Thus, for many children, particularly those in vulnerable or at-risk groups (including those who have special educational needs, those from minority groups, those with mental health difficulties, asylum-seekers, those from impoverished families) society and its social, health and educational services are failing to provide a reasonable quality of life. Furthermore, there are very few opportunities for children to engage in any real form of democratic participation in decision-making processes that affect them directly, or to be represented on decision-making bodies. In this symposium the authors of each paper indicate ways in which pro-social behaviour and active citizenship in schools may be fostered through methods that include whole-school policies such as in-service training of teachers (UK) or the development of a system of discipline and behaviour management (Spain), out-of-school activities (Italy), – 124 –

classroom interventions focussing on co-operative group work (Spain) and the understanding of individual student participant roles in relation to others in the peer group (Italy). Naylor and Cowie evaluate the impact on relationships and general school ethos of a two-year intervention in the UK that trained teachers in basic counselling skills. Del Rey and Ortega explore the ways in which Spanish school systems of discipline and behaviour management are perceived and explore differences of perception on the part of students who are involved in violence, whether as aggressors or victims, in comparison with other peers. Argenton, Boscolo and Zambelli investigate the impact of out-of school activities involving the arts in Italian schools on students’ attitudes towards their environment and the implications that this may have on their sense of responsibility towards their cultural heritage. Ortega and Fox (Spain) evaluate the effect of a programme of cooperative group work on the attitudes and behaviour of students nominated by their peers as aggressors, victims or defenders. Finally Ferrazzuolo, Menesini and Cowie (Italy and UK) explore the different narratives of students in a range of participant roles, including bullies, victims, outsiders and defenders. The implications for citizenship education in a European context are discussed. The impact of a teacher counselling scheme on a comprehensive school Paul Naylor, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Helen Cowie, University of Surrey, United Kingdom The aim of this study was to assess the impact on a London, UK, comprehensive school of every teacher in the school being trained in basic counselling skills. The expectations of this programme of training were that it would result in: (a) a decrease in anti-social pupil behaviour such as bullying, vandalism, graffiti and disruptive behaviour in the school; (b) an increase in pro-social pupil behaviour marked by a greater respect and concern for and care of others within the school; (c) positive shifts in teachers’ and pupils’ attitudes towards the school; (d) improvements in ‘outcome’ measures such as attendance rates, pupil suspensions and exclusions, bullying rates and public examination results. There were three data collection phases: baseline measures gathered by May 1999 before the training of teachers in counselling skills began; mid-term monitoring of the impact of the programme completed by July 2000; evaluation of the impact of the programme completed by July 2001. The design also permitted the cross-sectional comparison of the 1999 cohorts of pupils with subsequent pupils of the same age. In general, teachers had positive and improving attitudes towards the school. For the school as a whole, authorised and unauthorised absences showed a decline over the five years from 1996 to 2001. The Year 9 National Curriculum Test results 1998 and 2000 showed an improvement in each of the three subjects, particularly in English. For the GCSE results, over the period 1994 – 2000 the school’s GCSE results have shown an improving trend. As a percentage of the pupils on roll, there has been a twofold increase in suspensions and a one-third reduction in exclusions. There are indications that the counselling scheme has resulted in teachers’ heightened awareness and sensitivity of the needs of their pupils. Teachers became more willing to listen to and deal sympathetically with pupils’ concerns and anxieties. We argue that a longer-term view of the impact of changes in teacher attitudes and behaviour on pupil behaviour and achievement should be taken in order to enhance citizenship education in schools.

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Secondary pupil’s perceptions about the school discipline Rosario Del Rey, University of Seville, Spain Rosario Ortega, University of Seville, Spain The establishment of a method of school discipline is an important way of preventing school violence, as was found in an earlier analysis (Ortega, Del Rey, & Fernández, 2002) of Spanish recommendations on interventions against school violence. The present study aimed to identify what were the perceptions of Spanish pupils about discipline in their schools using a sample of 1,764 secondary school pupils (12 to19 years old) from nine schools in the Andalusia region as part of the International Survey of School Climate, using the Secondary School Students’ Questionnaire (Debarbieux, 1996), translated and adapted – including new questions - by our research group (Ortega & Del Rey, 2001). Students from a range of socio-economic backgrounds were included and there was an equal balance of boys and girls in the sample. The aspects evaluated in relation to discipline included: knowledge of rules, sanctions and consequences of not following them, personal experiences of the discipline system, and perceptions about the teachers’ responses in conflict situations. In this paper, we present the results of this survey and discuss in particular the differences in the responses of pupils who are involved in violence as victims, as aggressors, or as bully-victims in comparison with peers. The implications for future citizenship education are discussed. Achieving a sense of citizenship through art and environment education Alberto Argenton, University of Padova, Italy Pietro Boscolo, University of Padova, Italy Franco Zambelli, University of Padova, Italy In Italian schools, helping young people achieve a sense of citizenship is a very important educational goal. One aspect of citizenship education regards students’ appreciation of works of art and the environment. Many educational projects aimed at fostering students’ interest in and appraisal of the arts and the environment have been undertaken, particularly in elementary and middle schools. These projects usually include various out-of-school activities for teachers and students, such as visits to museums and monuments, and trips to historic and artistic cities and towns. These activities are aimed at leading students towards an aesthetic appreciation of works of art and the environment. However, the effect of these experiences on the development of young people’s sense of “belonging” to a community have been scarcely investigated. The study to be presented was aimed at investigating the ways students of different school level – from elementary to high school approach their environment: it was hypothesized that young people’s appreciation of art and the environment develops through different phases: a) knowledge of the arts and salient aspects of the environment; b) aesthetic appreciation; c) the sense of participation in common property which must be preserved and protected. On the basis of preliminary interviews, one questionnaire was prepared and administered to 500 students from elementary, middle and high schools in Padova. The questionnaire data were integrated by more fine-grained analyses based on repertory grids carried out on specific monuments and works of art. Although analysis is still in progress, from collected data the hypothesis of a hierarchical relationship between different levels of art appreciation seems to be confirmed. The relationship between students’ experiences of art education and their attitudes to the arts and environment is a major focus of the study. The implications for fostering students’ sense of citizenship will be discussed.

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Destabilization of the bully’s roles through the Learning Together Second Language programme Rosario Ortega, University of Seville, Spain Thomas Fox, University of Seville, Spain This paper reports the results of a programme designed to prevent school bullying as part of the Seville SAVE anti-violence project (Ortega, 1997). This programme, Learning Together Second Language Programme, was developed and implemented in English Language classes in secondary schools. The programme related, on the one hand, to the emotional life of the group, through the development of positive attitudes and cooperation among group members, and, on the other hand, to the development of the abilities to resolve conflicts, violence and bullying. The programme was developed in four classes of a Secondary School with 12 to 15 year old pupils and evaluated using an adapted version of the Participant Role Questionnaire (Salmivalli et all, 1996) designed by Sutton and Smith (1999). This instrument was administered before and after the intervention. After the intervention, the number of pupils not involved in school violence had increased, as had the numbers of those involved in the role of defenders of victims. In addition, the numbers of aggressors and their supporters was reduced. In summary, we found a significantly different pattern of participant roles after the intervention from the one that existed before the introduction of a cooperative and narrative curriculum. Evaluating the different narrative styles and patterns related to the participant roles of adolescents involved in bullying using the SCAN cartoons Stefania Ferrazzuolo, University of Florence, Italy Ersilia Menesini, University of Florence, Italy Helen Cowie, University of Surrey, United Kingdom The purpose of this study was to evaluate the different narrative styles and patterns related to the participants’ roles of adolescents involved in bullying. From a potential sample of sixty interviews by SCAN cartoons (Almeida & Del Barrio, 2000) six were selected: A defender, an outsider, a victim, an individual who played an interchangeable role, and a male and a female bully. A case study analysis on the selected interviews revealed interesting patterns regarding personality characteristics, narrative style, attribution of emotion, perception, and empathic skills related to each participants’ roles. The defender demonstrated a high sensitivity in perceiving others’ feelings, motivations, and relationships, as well awareness of her own feelings. She showed developed observational and empathic skills and was able to focus on and report her own and others’ experiences throughout the interview. The outsider tended to be a detached and objective reporter of the scenarios. She gave a detailed description of the story and listed distinct emotions and motivations related to the behavior of the cartoon characters. The victim focussed attention only on the main characters in the story: the victim and the bully. He described their feelings and motivations briefly, as if he lacked empathy. Furthermore, although he attempted to be an impartial narrator, he showed prejudice against the bully, portraying him as a tough and vicious person who found in the victim an easy scapegoat for his nasty behaviors. The male and female bullies revealed common characteristics, such as lack of empathy, the tendency to minimize the effects and consequences of bullying, and the denial of responsibility by blaming the victim. The main feature of the case study designed as “interchangeable role” was the process of liberation from the role of victim. He was firstly an outsider, secondly a defender, and thirdly a victim. Through a global analysis of the interview with him, and a comparison with the shared and different traits displayed in the previous cases studies, it was possible to summarise the elements that revealed this process. There are useful implications to be drawn from this study about the development of student awareness of the effect of participant roles on the emotional climate of the group and of the potential for change that individuals possess. – 127 –

B 15

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO Aula Magna

Symposium MULTIPLE GOALS AND SELF REGULATION Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands Simone Volet, Murdoch University, Western Australia

A variety of goal frameworks are available in the personality and social psychology literature. These models reflect some differences but also many similarities in focus. In most models a distinction is made between goals that individuals pursue because they have attached value to them and goals that individuals pursue because somebody else has deemed them important. A great deal of student behavior that we see in the context of the classroom reflects the students’ willingness to comply with the goals of somebody else (imposed goals). In order to understand why students pursue some goals and neglect other goals, but also why they show persistence in one situation and avoidance in another situation, it is essential that one has insight into the students’ goal structure and into the self-regulatory processes that they perform to make their goal structure consistent and coherent. Despite the high potential of the goal construct for explaining motivated engagement in every day learning contexts, students’ pursuit of multiple goals has received scant attention. A handful of researchers have tried to put multiple goals on the research agenda in educational psychology. They have argued that the content of students’ goals is highly informative to explain and predict their behavior in a given situation, mainly because it reflects their unique needs, temperaments, and social experiences. Accumulating evidence reveals that students’ ability (1) to keep their goal structure coherent and (2) to navigate their goals in the intended direction may well explain why some students are successful at school and enjoy the learning environments that are created there, and others do not. In the symposium, three different approaches to the study of multiple goals will be presented. After these presentations, a discussant will comment on the three different approaches and invite the audience to participate in the discussion. The goal priorities of first year university students, and their relation to successful adaptation Marina Serra de Lemos, University of Porto, Portugal Within a larger research project on students’ successful adaptation to university, in this paper we focused on students’ personal goals for attending university courses. Both the literature on developmental tasks, and the acknowledgement of the multidimensional nature of the university context suggest that, besides academic achievement, young adult students will also pursue social and relational goals. Based on the view that goals are individual purposes, steering and directing motivated activity, evaluating students’ goal priorities is specially relevant to the understanding of their interests, engagements, performance, and outcomes. More specifically, in the study that will be discussed we analyze the relationships between, on the one hand, the salience of various goals and, on the other, students’ academic, social, and biopsychological adaptation to the university. The study had 3 main aims: (a) to empirically examine the relative importance attached by university students (494, 1st year university students) to academic, social, and relational goals, (b) to analyze differences in goal priorities of different groups of students (defined by gender, age, and enrollment in different academic programs, and (c) to analyze the relationships between students’ goal priorities, their satisfaction in the different goal-relevant domains, and indicators of adaptation such as academic interest, achievement, and well-being. – 128 –

School motivation in cultural context: Psychometric perspectives Dennis McInerney, University of Western Sydney, Australia School motivation and achievement for an individual are the products of a complex set of interacting forces which include the individual’s conception of what is appropriate, what other people pressure him or her to do, how much he or she enjoys or dislikes the behavior, what consequences are seen to be connected with the behavior, and how much these consequences are valued. Social and cultural norms, values and beliefs impact on these and help determine an individual’s norms, values and beliefs. As such, this interplay of various forces may be differential for individuals and across social and cultural groups. This paper reports on a series of studies which examine the multidimensional nature of achievement motivation across a range of social and cultural groups, the determinants of this achievement motivation, and the relationship of achievement motivation to criteria of school success, such as attendance, retention, achievement, further education and occupational choice. In particular, the research looks at the correlates of “at risk” school behavior such as poor attendance, poor academic achievement and “dropping-out”. It addresses the issue: “Does cultural background really make a difference?” by comparing the achievement motivation profiles of a wide range of groups including Anglo Australians and Anglo Americans, Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians and Immigrant Australians. A particular focus of the paper will be an examination of the multi-method and psychometric approaches used to ensure the validity and reliability of the information obtained, and will pay special attention to the etic-emic considerations important in cross-cultural research. Toward an integrated model of student goals Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands In order to contrast the behavior of students who can and those who cannot navigate successfully in the direction of academic success, many psychological constructs have been evoked. It is generally accepted that individuals steer and direct their behavior in the direction of valued goals and away from non-valued goals. Educational researchers find it hard to explain why some students do not value academic goals and seem to act in the service of keeping their socioemotional goals consistently in the right direction. They argued that students meet many unpredictable forces, which make it hard to steer behavior in the intended direction. At such a point, different reactions can be seen: Some students will us will power to keep on course, others will put their academic goals on hold, intending to come back to these goals later, while still others will abandon goal pursuit altogether. I will argue that a complete understanding of students’ behavior in the classroom requires a conceptual framework that casts student behavior in terms of the selfregulatory processes that constitute the pursuit of desired end-states and the avoidance of undesired end-states. An integrated model of student goals will be presented, focusing explicitly on the interactions between goals, and between goals and elements in the social environment that facilitate or frustrate the pursuit of salient goals. Gaps in our knowledge of these relationships will be pointed out.

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B 16

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO G B

EARLI Invited Symposium CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACHES – STILL POWERFUL FRAMES FOR IMPROVING INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE? Organiser: Chair: Discussants:

Reinders Duit, University of Kiel, Germany Reinders Duit, University of Kiel, Germany Ference Marton, Göteborg University, Sweden Richard White, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

Present attempts to improve instructional practice are based – at least to certain extent – on constructivist views of teaching and learning of some kind. Quality development programs on improving science and mathematics instruction that have been developed in many countries due to insufficient results in international monitoring studies like TIMSS and PISA, for instance, usually explicitly draw on constructivist views. However, there appear to be serious problems with these constructivist views. First, there are many variants of such views discussed and used. Is the common core a small set of ideas only that is psychological and educational common sense? Second, whereas recent developments of inclusive constructivist views appear to allow understanding teaching and learning processes more adequately, the gulf between research knowledge and what teachers may set into practice becomes deeper. These two issues are addressed in the four contributions of the symposium and by the discussants. On the one hand research findings on improving practice of teaching and learning are presented. On the other hand, research on the reality of instructional practice in schools and possibilities to improve this practice by constructivist approaches are discussed. There is a certain focus on science education here. Science education clearly is a domain in which much constructivist research on teaching and learning, often under the heading of conceptual change, has been carried out. It is also the domain where cognitive psychologists and science educators closely co-operate. Constructivist research on teaching and learning – A cognitive psychology view Heinz Mandl et al. University of Munich, Germany Research based on constructivist approaches on teaching and learning show how learning environments can support the construction of knowledge. Such approaches were based on studies on reciprocal teaching of reading skills (Palinscar & Brown, 1984), procedural scaffolding of writing (Scardamalia, Bereiter & Steinbach, 1984), improvement of learning transfer (Beach, 1999; Cox, 1997) and learning in communities of practice (Lave, 1991). The community of practice model has become a successful model for learning because it enables shared knowledge construction within groups. Furthermore it expands the perspective of individual knowledge towards shared knowledge (Resnick, Levine, & Teasley, 1991). These constructivist-oriented approaches are subsumed today under the collective term “situated learning” (Gerstenmaier, 1999; Greeno, Collins & Resnick, 1996; a critical perspective on this topic by Anderson et al., 1995a, 1995b, 1997; Klauer, 1999). Analyses of situated learning preferably focus on the analysis of effective learning environments and their characteristic. Some of these characteristics have been realized in the “cognitive apprenticeship approach” (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989), the approach “collaborative learning culture” (Brown, 1997) and the “authentic learning approach” (Bruner, 1990). The main focus of the presentation concerns examples from our research on IT – 130 –

learning environments in the domain of medicine and knowledge management. They show that constructivist approaches may improve instructional practice. Conceptual change approaches for improving teaching and learning science in the schools Stella Vosniadou, University of Athens, Greece The main conceptual change approach to teaching science is usually identified with the work of Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (1982). They have argued that there are four fundamental conditions that need to be fulfilled before conceptual change can happen: (1) there must be dissatisfaction with existing conceptions, (2) a new conception must be intelligible, (3) a new conception must appear initially plausible, and (4) a new concept should suggest the possibility of a fruitful research program. They also argued that cognitive conflict should be the main mechanism for bringing about conceptual change. This theoretical framework became the leading paradigm that guided research and instructional practices in the science education profession for many years, but also became subject to a number of criticisms, that current research in science education is attempting to answer. Some of these questions are the following: How productive is the analogy between students and scientists? How coherent and resistant to instruction are students’ initial conceptions about the physical world? Is cognitive conflict a good strategy to produce conceptual change? Should science education aim at producing “conceptual change” or towards fostering the use of “multiple representations?”. The above mentioned questions will be addressed on the basis of our current theoretical and empirical understanding of how conceptual change happens and we will discuss the specific instructional implications that spring out from this research. Improving science learning and teaching Peter W. Hewson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA A great deal of research in science education over the past 25 years has been spurred by a belief in the failures of didactic, content-oriented, teacher-centered instruction in science: far too many students leave science classrooms with a patchwork of disconnected facts that make little sense to them. This research has focused an students’ conceptions and teaching approaches that explicitly address these conceptions. In many innovative learner-centered, inquiry-oriented science classrooms, extraordinary learning outcomes have been documented, as students have demonstrated deep scientific understanding. This research has been informed by different theoretical approaches that address science, learning, curriculum, and instruction in fundamental ways. Many of these practices and principles are now reflected in standards and curriculum documents around the world. Yet the adoption in practice of these new approaches is not widespread: the didactic, teacher-centered instruction that spurred much of this research is still very prevalent. I will present an overview of these research approaches that highlights the complex, systemic nature of science teaching, learning, and teacher education, and raises questions about the disappointing influence on practice. Constructivist views and teaching and learning practice - Teachers’ views, classroom behaviour and instructional results Reinders Duit, University of Kiel, Germany Ari Widodo, University of Kiel, Germany In the other presentations of this symposium it is argued that constructivist views may provide powerful frameworks for improving practice. In the present presentation the argument put forward – 131 –

by Peter Hewson that actual school practice is not significantly informed by theses views so far will be further discussed. A video-study on “normal” introductory physics instruction in Germany has shown that most teachers’ subjective theories of teaching and learning physics and also their actual teaching behaviour are usually not informed by constructivist views. Their considerations on physics instruction are very much topic oriented and do not include issues of how students may learn what is presented in class. Further, most teachers are not familiar with key views of conceptual change and major research findings. The video-study includes an instrument to code key characteristics of “Constructivist Oriented Science Classrooms” as documented in the actual teaching behaviour and in teacher interviews (developed by Ari Widodo). Therefore, it is possible to investigate teachers’ subjective theories and actual teaching behaviour from the perspective of constructivist oriented science classrooms and also to analyse in which way certain teacher “profiles” lead to better development of cognitive and affective outcomes of instruction. Constructivist oriented teaching usually results in better cognitive outcomes. Interestingly, a number of teachers who are not informed about constructivist ideas and approaches nevertheless show certain “constructivist orientated” teaching. B 17

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 4 S

Symposium KEYSTROKE LOGGING: A WINDOW ON ON-LINE WRITING PROCESSES Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Eva Lindgren, Umeå University, Sweden Marie Stevenson, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Kirk P. H. Sullivan, Umeå University, Sweden Kirk P. H. Sullivan, Umeå University, Sweden Sven Strömqvist, Lund University, Sweden

Keystroke logging is a data collection technique that is gaining increasing popularity in writing research. The writers’ computer keystrokes are registered, enabling on-line writing processes to be studied with greater precision and detail than is otherwise possible. The changes to the text that a writer makes throughout the text creation process can be tracked. Moreover, a variety of language production fluency measures such as pause durations and size of language production chunks can be collected in a form which is easily accessible to analysis. Through such research applications, the use of keystroke logging techniques can provide information that is valuable for writing instruction, and some logging techniques can also be employed directly as teaching tools. Teaching insights may be of benefit in either the native language (L1) or in the foreign language (FL) classroom. The objectives of this symposium are to introduce key-stroke logging to a wider audience, to facilitate discussion between those already working with this technology and to establish the educational implications and applications of research in this area. The symposium starts by presenting methodological considerations and their relevance to data collection before moving on to examples of how keystroke logging can be used in educational research and applied in instruction as a tool to support learning. What is a pause when you are learning to write? Åsa Wengelin, Lund University, Sweden and Florida Atlantic University, USA Pauses in language production are often associated with planning, encoding and monitoring of linguistic messages and are therefore viewed as an important window to the mental processes – 132 –

underlying language production. One important tool for the analysis of pauses in writing is keystroke logging. With keystroke logging all keyboard and mouse events are recorded with high precision, allowing locations, durations and frequencies of pauses to be investigated. However, keystroke logging has one important drawback: people have different typing skills. A pause for one writer may not be a pause for another. While the spoken signal is continuous and therefore all silences could be counted as pauses, a typed message consists of discrete keystrokes where each transition between two keys is a possible pause candidate. Obviously not all such transitions are pauses. Intuitively a pause should be an interruption of the writing which is longer than a normal transition between two keystrokes. How long this interruption should be to count as a pause is probably individual and depending on the typing speed of the writer. In research on adult writers it is easy to choose subjects whose typing speed falls within a certain range. However, in dealing with children or people with learning disabilities this is not an option. This paper will review existing pause criteria and, based on different empirical datasets, suggest how the transition times of each person could be used to set individual pause criteria and how writers could be compared to each other despite having different pause criteria. Pausing, productivity and the processing of topic in on-line writing Kristyan Spelman-Miller, University of Reading, United Kingdom A fundamental issue for those of us engaged in the study of writing in real time is how we describe and measure the stream of language produced. Relatively little attention has been paid within the psycholinguistics literature to principles underlying the description, and ultimately quantification, of language production within the context of writing research. The opportunity for the pausological study of on-line writing afforded by keystroke logging methodology prompts timely reflection on this neglected area, and forms the background to this presentation. In this paper we discuss ideas for the extension and modification of existing schemes for the identification of pause location, which have traditionally focussed on the grammatical characterisation of units of production. The development we propose is to view pause location in terms of boundaries of language units which serve a potential role in the development of topic within the discourse. In other words, pause location is related to the function of the units of language produced in introducing, maintaining and developing topic in the discourse. A number of “framing device” categories, including subject theme and a range of thematised structures, are proposed as a way of interpreting pause location from a discourse oriented perspective. One of the questions which our keystroke study of L1 and L2 writers addresses is whether features of pausing behaviour may be associated with writers' processes in handling topic introduction, maintenance and development in real time. Our analyses reveal interesting, but subtle, differences between writers in their pausing at framing device locations, suggesting some potential for a more discourse-sensitive interpretation of where and why pausing occurs. A comparision of writing processes in L1 (Dutch) and FL (English) using keystroke logging Marie Stevenson, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands For learners at elementary and intermediate levels of FL proficiency, foreign language writing is likely to be an effortful process. It may require conscious attention to retrieve words and structures, leaving little attention available for addressing concerns such as global informational content and organization. Thus, it could be expected that there will be differences between first language (L1) and foreign language (FL) writing in regard to process measures such as fluency of language production and revising behavior. In this paper, the writing processes of high school age writers in L1 (Dutch) and FL (English) will be compared. Firstly, students’ degree of writing – 133 –

fluency in L1 and FL will be compared, using data from keystroke logfiles. Secondly, students’ on-line writing revisions in L1 and FL will be compared, using keystroke-logging data collected with the programme, Trace-it. The relationship between these writing process measures and text quality will also be examined. The results will be discussed in the light of the hypothesis that writers reduced fluency in FL writing will affect both the kinds of revisions which writers carry out and the resulting quality of their texts. As the ability to revise problems in texts is commonly considered to be an important skill for young writers to develop, the relevance of the findings to FL writing instruction will be discussed. In addition, practical and theoretical problems associated with keystroke logging will be highlighted. Using key-stroke logged writing as a learning and research tool in the classroom Eva Lindgren, Umeå University, Sweden Kirk P. H. Sullivan, Umeå University, Sweden Mats Deutschmann, Umeå University, Sweden This paper discusses two application areas for key-stroke logging: learning and research. Needless to say, the applications for key-stroke logging in writing research are many. We will give examples of some of those before we move on to focus on key-stroke logging in relation to language learning research and corpus methodology. Examples will be given from a study in which key-stroke logging was used to enhance awareness of writing and language. Results showed that young writers improved their texts significantly in both their first and foreign languages after reflection and discussion of the key-stroke-logged writing sessions. Furthermore, revision of textbased features increased significantly after the treatment, indicating a raised awareness of content. Finally, we will discuss the initial stages of a project with the primary aims of forming a corpus of key-stroke-logged writing sessions and applying the corpus in an educational setting. B 18

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO 1 E

Symposium EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN COMPLEX DOMAINS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Ton De Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands Ton De Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands Stephen Alessi, University of Iowa, USA

Experiential learning has since long been seen as a powerful way of learning in which a learner constructs knowledge and skills from direct experience. Theories on experiential learning, or learning by doing, emphasise the larger involvement and commitment of learners, (e.g., Rogers), the necessity to reflect and make abstractions from the experience (e.g., Kolb or Freire) or the role of feedback (e.g., Anderson). In line with these starting points fruitful experiential learning depends on the reality level of the available learning material, the design and sequencing of the cases, and the support and feedback given to the learner. ICT nowadays helps to realise the goals of experiential learning by modelling and shaping reality in for example, video’s, animations, and simulations, by enabling a flexible and dedicated presentation of the cases, and by offering the possibility to provide learners with adaptive and just-in-time feedback. The presentations in this symposium try to shed more light on the process of experiential learning, both by looking at design characteristics of experiential learning environments and by examining in a detailed way processes that learners employ while engaged in experiential learning. The presentations in this – 134 –

symposium take there examples from a diversity of complex domains: medicine, physics, and psychology. The discussion will frame the contributions in a taxonomy of overt and covert learning processes for experiential learning. Experiential learning in medicine: Methods, prospects, and limitations Hans Gruber, University of Regensburg, Germany Birgit Hawelka, University of Regensburg, Germany Wilhelm Stolz, Munich-Schwabing Hospital, Germany Several studies on medical expertise show that the development of central clinical competencies requires extensive experience. In consequence, new concepts of medical education emphasize the importance of experiential learning. The idea of these teaching methods is to offer students a learning environment where they can have experience with multiple cases and reflect their results and mistakes with the aim to generalise abstract concepts of clinical knowledge. The opportunities of making experience by bed-side teaching are very limited, however. For example, the demonstration of some diseases could compromise patients. Moreover, learning from mistakes can not occur at real patients. To overcome these difficulties, a virtual dermatological training programme called “Dermatology2000” based on experiential learning theory was designed at the university of Regensburg. In this virtual hospital students’ task is to construct the medical history and to develop diagnoses of different dermatological patient cases. The students are supported by an virtual coach who requests them to articulate and reflect their input. To ensure the quality and the effect of this programme, it has been formatively evaluated in a field study. Main results of this study are: (1) Tthe multimedia and interactive case-representation was rated as highly realistic; (2) the students estimated the possibility to doing mistakes and (3) benefited from the opportunity do reflect their actions; (4) Particulary cognitive aspects of clinical competence were supported. These results show that even if virtual training can only provide simulated experience, it can contribute to further clinical competence by experiential learning. Diagnostic reasoning through multiple clinical cases: What do students learn from their experiences? Margje van de Wiel, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University, The Netherlands Nicolaas Schaper, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Research on medical expertise has shown that experienced physicians have developed a large body of integrated knowledge that allows them to diagnose clinical cases accurately and fast using highlevel clinical concepts. Medical students, in contrast, use more biomedical knowledge in diagnostic reasoning. It is supposed that through the repeated use of knowledge in diagnosing and treating patients elaborate networks of biomedical knowledge become encapsulated into more comprehensive clinical concepts. In the present study, the effect of repeated reasoning through related cases was investigated in fourth-year medical students. The students were asked to thinkaloud while diagnosing a large series of written clinical cases. The only feedback they received was the correct diagnosis after each case. Data analysis of nine cases of heart disease revealed that students needed less time to diagnose the successive cases and used fewer words in their protocols. However, diagnostic accuracy did not increase with number of cases reasoned through. More detailed protocol analysis will have to show whether biomedical lines of reasoning helped them at first to relate signs and symptoms to diagnostic hypotheses and were left out too early. Subsequently, qualitative analysis of the knowledge used will be related to diagnostic – 135 –

performance, metacognitive awareness and self-explanatory behavior. The data will suggest how expe-riential learning from multiple cases may be enhanced. Using heuristics to facilitate experiential learning in a simulation-based discovery learning environment Koen Veermans, University of Twente, The Netherlands Ton De Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands Wouter R. van Joolingen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Learners are often reported to experience difficulties with simulation-based discovery learning. Heuristics for discovery learning (rules of thumb that guide decision-making) can help learners to overcome these difficulties. In addition, the heuristics themselves are open for transfer. One way to include heuristics in a discovery learning environment is to incorporate them implicitly, i.e. building in the decisions that can be derived from the heuristics. While this supports learning domain knowledge, it doesn’t necessarily elicit the experiential learning needed for transfer. Communicating the heuristics explicitly in addition to the implicit heuristic support is more likely to trigger reflection on and conceptualization of the heuristics, and potentially transfer to other situations. In an experimental study these two ways of including heuristic support were compared in terms of their impact on the learning process, and learning outcomes. The domain to be learned was from physics, the learning environment was a simulation based discovery environment. The results showed considerable domain knowledge gains in both conditions from pre- to post-test, but no differences between conditions. Differences were found with respect to the learning process. Especially at the beginning, learners in the explicit heuristics condition exhibited more selfregulatory behavior, which is an indication of experiential learning. It seems these learners reflected on the heuristics, made their own conceptualizations, and based their decisions on these conceptualizations. Including heuristics explicitly in discovery learning environments seems a promising approach to elicit experiential learning that deserves further exploration. Experiential learning in psychology: The ZAP project Tessa Eysink, Twente University, The Netherlands Casper Hulshof, Twente University, The Netherlands Sofie Loyens, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands The ZAP (‘very active psychology’) project aims at developing a set of interactive computer programs (ZAPs) to allow students to experience psychological phenomena in a vivid and selfexplaining way. This provides a way of learning in which students are invited to actively engage in the subject matter. Interaction with ZAPs can foster experiential learning in two ways. Students can either take the role of subject and experience phenomena themselves (e.g., by taking part in experiments), or they can take the role of researcher and learn by discovery (e.g., by performing experiments with a dog to learn about classical conditioning). To examine whether students were able to work with ZAPs, three measurements were used. First, navigation through ZAPs was examined by registering students’ actions. Second, students’ appreciation was evaluated by a questionnaire. Both measurements were taken during two sessions of 90 and 65 students who completed six ZAPs in total. Third, by having students think aloud, their reasons for performing operations within ZAPs were determined. Two groups of ten and eight students respectively completed two ZAPs each. Results show that students experienced ZAPs as an interesting and enjoyable way to learn about psychology. The students were highly motivated to actively engage in the subject matter. It can be concluded that ZAPs provide added value to existing learning materials about psychology and that they can be used to elicit experiential learning activities. – 136 –

Interaction strategies which facilitate or hinder experiential learning Stephen Alessi, University of Iowa, USA If experiential learning is learning by doing, then a key to its effectiveness lies in what the learner is doing. Whether the methodology is simulation, laboratory work, or role-playing, the type of learner actions and interactions is critical to learning outcomes. Furthermore, both overt (observable) and covert (internal) activities are critical. Computer simulations typically depend on four types of overt activity: selecting, assembling, activating, and controlling. Non-computer methodologies add some additional activities: speaking and writing being two of the most important. Designers of experiential learning environments include such activities with the intention that they promote critical thinking skills such as diagnosis, experimentation, and maintenance. Learners often fail to achieve desired goals because they can engage in the required covert activities without engaging in the desired covert activities. Better outcomes depend on designing interaction sequences (action, reaction, judgement, feedback) which ensure the desired covert activities (observing, reflecting, evaluating, remembering). Heuristics are suggested, and examples given, for facilitating particular covert actions with patterns of overt interaction. These heuristics and examples follow from the author’s taxonomy of learning interactions, which include not only on-line interactions, but overt and covert off-line interactions, collaborative interactions, and meta-interactions (such as “gaming” and “experimenting”). A primary argument is that many learning environments fail because designers assume learners will be motivated to engage in the desired covert actions. Learning activities will be more successful if they are designed to ensure those actions, rather than assume they will occur. B 19

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 2 E

Symposium PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION Part 1: Technologies for visualizing complex and abstract knowledge Organisers: Chairs: Discussants:

Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Friedrich Hesse, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Friedrich Hesse, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Shaaron Ainsworth, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Jeroen van Merriënboer, Open University, Heerlen, The Netherlands

Recent developments in information and communication technologies have resulted in a variety of tools that are supposed to possess an enormous educational potential for individual as well as for collaborative learning. However, although advances in technology-based instruction allow to deliver to students information in ways that teachers cannot, in many cases there is neither convincing theoretical nor empirical evidence from a psychological perspective to support the claim that the use of advanced technology is more effective than more traditional educational approaches. In particular, it is not clear (1) which psychological processes relevant to learning may be facilitated by different advanced technologies, (2) which instructional goals may be more easily achieved by them, and (3) for which learners as well as (4) under which circumstances they may be beneficial. In response to this state of the field this symposium brings together conceptual as well as experimental contributions that provide insights into the prospects and drawbacks of up-to– 137 –

date instructional devices. In particular, there is a focus on those features that are unique for particular technologies and that may be responsible for learning outcomes not easily obtained with already well-established types of multimedia instruction. The first part of the symposium will deal with individual learning scenarios based on technologies for visualizing complex and abstract knowledge. These technologies comprise mapping tools, 3-dimensional information spaces, virtual reality as well as interactive hypervideo. Organization, representation, and localization of knowledge with mapping tools Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Heiko Haller, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Whereas traditional concept mapping tools only offer possibilities to map conceptual knowledge, more advanced computerized mapping tools also allow for the efficient organization, representation, and localization of knowledge about contents and resources. It is suggested that these tools may augment the capacity of the human brain and may support students in managing knowledge in complex cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, web-based studying, or hypertext writing. The goal of this presentation is to analyze the rationale and the potential of using computerized mapping tools for supporting aspects of individual knowledge management in complex self-regulated learning scenarios as well as the conditions under which they may be successfully applied. In this analysis we will focus on three types of mapping tools: Concept Mapping, Mind Mapping, and Spatial Hypertext. Firstly, the theoretical basis and the conceptual rationale for the use of mapping tools in e-learning scenarios are presented and the requirements for a cognitive mapping of conceptual, content, and resource knowledge are outlined. Secondly, the different types of computer-based mapping tools are analyzed with respect to their potential to meet requirements for effective knowledge organization, representation, and localization. Thirdly, the rationale of different tools as well as their functions for fostering aspects of knowledge management are juxtaposed, compared, and discussed with respect to their contribution to support students in coping with complex and knowledge-rich cognitive processing tasks. Finally, shortcomings in using computerized mapping tools as well as requirements for empirical research are highlighted. Recommendations for the use of computerized mapping tools in e-learning scenarios are given. Using 3-dimensional information spaces for information retrieval and learning Tanja Keller, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Matthias Grimm, Computer Graphics Center, Darmstadt, Germany Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany The availability of vast amounts of information in today’s information society (e.g., large databases, WWW) makes it necessary to develop efficient devices to structure and organize these huge and complex information sets. To achieve this goal, there is currently a strong trend towards information visualization, in particular with regard to abstract data structures that have no natural visual representation in the real world. Information visualization aims at conveying a mental representation of data structures which in turn allows for an efficient retrieval and utilization of this information. An important discussion in the field of information visualization focuses on whether 3-dimensional information spaces are superior compared to more traditional non-spatial visualizations with regard to the representation of information structures as well as with respect to information-retrieval tasks. Recent research demonstrates that information spaces could in principle have potentials that are not offered by non-spatial information visualizations. For instance, one important advantage of information spaces may be that the representation of – 138 –

information can be adapted to natural (spatial) experiences of the users. In this presentation we will discuss cognitive processes involved in how users interact with information spaces when they employ these environments for information retrieval and learning. A focus will be on how users construct mental models of 3-dimensional information environments and how they navigate through them. Furthermore, the question will be addressed whether information spaces may not only be beneficial for facilitating information retrieval but whether they are also suitable for information visualizations in learning scenarios. Viewpoints in 3D-environments: Implications for learning and knowledge acquisition Stephan Schwan, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria Bärbel Garsoffky, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany With the development of new graphical capabilities like virtual realities, new types of learning scenarios emerge. These scenarios situate the learner within a three-dimensional arrangement of dynamic, manipulable learning objects and allow her/him to interactively navigate through this arrangement. Therefore, from the standpoint of instructional design, a number of questions concerning the spatial arrangement of the learning episodes and its cognitive processing come into play. Firstly, to what extent does learning and understanding of a given three-dimensional information presentation depend on the specific viewpoint from which it is observed? Secondly, given the viewpoint-dependence of learning and understanding, do specifically suited, so-called canonical viewpoints exist, which foster the understanding of the presentation? Thirdly, if so, should the media author predefine possible viewpoints according to these canonical viewpoints, or should s/he leave decisions concerning the viewpoint to the learner? For all three mentioned problems, the empirical literature both from traditional audiovisual media like educational movies as well as from new media like virtual realities is reviewed. Additionally, findings from a number of empirical studies conducted in our own laboratory will be discussed. They show that learning and understanding is influenced by viewpoint and that it can be facilitated both by providing multiple perspectives and by choosing canonical viewpoints. Additionally, it bears the danger of disorientation and cognitive overload when learners have to determine the viewpoint for themselves. As an outlook, against the backdrop of these findings, a number of issues for the design of three-dimensional learning environments are specified and discussed. Learning with interactive hypervideo Carmen Zahn, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Matthias Finke, Computer Graphics Center, Darmstadt, Germany Stephan Schwan, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria Non-linear information structures are not confined to texts, but can be applied to audio-visual presentations, too. As a result, new variations of interactive video arise, called hypervideo (Locatis et al, 1990). Hypervideo structures are expected to contribute to learning, because they combine dynamic visualisations with the interactive features of complex hypermedia; thus supporting both, experiential and reflective modes of cognitive processing (Guimarães et al., 2000; Norman, 1993). It is still open, however, how single parameters of designing instructional hypervideo might affect knowledge acquisition. Within a 2x2-factorial experimental design we investigated how the factors ‘number of hyperlinks’ (high vs. low) and ‘position’ (sequentially integrated vs. grouped) would influence navigation and learning in an individual learning situation. The investigation was based on four hypervideo versions, each containing videoclips and texts about a biological topic. 74 subjects, who had performed a pre-test assessing their prior knowledge, were asked to work with these hypervideos for about 90 minutes. During learning, navigation activities of the learners were – 139 –

recorded in computer log files. Knowledge acquisition was assessed by comparing pre- and posttest results. Results indicate that subjects working with the different hypervideo versions could substantially increase their knowledge. On an individual level, indicators of navigation activities (e.g. extent of using interactive functions) were significantly and positively correlated with knowledge acquisition. However, neither navigation activities nor knowledge acquisition were significantly influenced by the between-subjects factors. Thus, evidence signifies that all four hypervideo designs potentially could support knowledge acquisition for individuals. Future work now includes investigating appropriate designs for collaborative learning scenarios. B 20

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO 1 L

Symposium EMOTIONS AND MEMORY IN LEARNING ACTIVITY IN THE LIGHT OF PROBABILISTIC PROGNOSIS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Josef Feigenberg, Jerusalem Interdisciplinary Seminar, Israel Onno G. Meijer, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Peter (Rodler) Ferdinand, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany

The aim of our symposium is to discuss possibility of using the Probabilistic Prognosis (PP) [1-3] for more effective learning process. The presented reports are based on investigation and on college and school experience of teaching science (physics and mathematics), foreign language and motor training in sport [4-6]. The new concrete teaching methods are elaborated on this basis with promotion of the students’ emotional reaction, such as selective mobilization of students’ attention. The structure of memory will be analyzed from this point of view as the basis for PP. Probabilistic prognosis and emotions in purpose-oriented learning activity Josef Feigenberg, Interdisciplinary Seminar, Jerusalem, Israel Tatiana Olevsky, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Eugenia Kaplan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Both biological and social development of life on the Earth, take place in the probabilistically determined environment. Thus, the consequences of the events that require one’s exact, quick, and purposeful reactions, are neither finally determined on the one hand, nor chaotic and unpredictable on the other. As a result of acting in such an environment, animals have developed a function, which we call probabilistic prognosis (PP). PP is an ability to foresee what events will follow the existing state with a greater probability. This prognosis is based on the probabilistic structure of previous experience, contained in memory, it seems to be one of memory’s most important functions. On the basis of PP there develops a presetting - a “preparation” for future actions that are relevant to a predicted state. The presetting helps organisms to get ready for the change of the coming situation. The reaction started in advance to the according external state becomes more exact, quick, economical, and purpose-oriented. On this symposium we will discuss how PP is related to the learning activity and creation of students positive emotional reactions. Several methods of teaching, based on PP, which promote to the change of the concepts within the student’s consciousness, will be presented here. An approach to learning, based on PP, proved to be successful in the teaching of science, languages, and sports.

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Motivation and emotions in active learning: Probabilistic prognosis and selective attention’ mobilization in science teaching Lea Valentina Lavrik, Michlelet Lifshitz Teachers Academic College, Israel Efficiency of the lesson is a function of a series of factors, but to a large extent it depends on the students’ motivation and attention. One of the pedagogical technique aiming at emotional activation and increasing motivation is the selective mobilization of attention which based on the knowledge of the typical misconceptions in the content of the teaching material and using the PP theory. This technique is efficient in cases when the lesson deals with something, on which the students have preliminary knowledge (even at the level of everyday routine), while for some of them this knowledge may be erroneous. At the very beginning of the lesson the students are asked a question related to the material to be taught. The question is formulated in accordance with the principle of multiple choice, while characteristic misconceptions should be presumed as possible answers. After the student made his choice, he is immediately responded and provided with the correct answer. The discrepancy between the student’s opinion (in case he was wrong) and the correct answer arouses an emotional reaction and increases his attention that very moment, when the teacher begins his discussion of the issue, which was misunderstood by the student. Several video-documented examples of this technique will be done in reference to mathematics and sciences teaching in colleges. Results of our investigation and teaching perspectives will be discussed. Probabilistic prediction (PP) in teaching and mastering foreign language Nelly Krelenshtein, Moskow‘s monthly pedagogical newspaper in Germany “Der 1 September” Teaching foreign languages, PP is very essential in the lexical region - to provide an understanding of the sense of unknown words in context without appealing to a dictionary. The PP makes it possible to avoid a complicated memory process when teaching free reading, speech and synchronous translation. The PP of the meaning of unknown words is based on the fact that in oral message every word is tied by many threads with neighboring words and the context. This contact is often based on psychological associations. Appealing to PP in learning process, we are able to develop psychological characteristics of students, which attribute to understanding of those connections. The perception of speech in native language always involves PP, usually intuitive one. Teaching a foreign language, it is necessary to transfer those skills into it - making PP conscious by means of corresponding training. PP of words meaning is determined by the macrocontext (titles, paragraphs, preceding and subsequent text, background knowledge) and the microcontext (word combinations).Understanding of the grammatical carcass of a sentence is a necessary condition in the PP. Therefore, teaching the PP is possible only at both a certain level of the grammatical knowledge and vocabulary of 500-700 words. The educational value of the method consists in the perception of language as a pithy whole, in elevation of the interest to the language and in development of intellectual activity. Prognosis in sports training Roman Golemba, Interdisciplinary Seminar, Jerusalem, Israel Prognosis of your partner’s activities and their development in a fighting situation in the course of sports coaching is considered in the present report. The model of Eastern mutual fighting art training is used as an example. A reliable prognosis is necessary in any fight to provide fast and accurate activities both in defense and attack. Unlike J. Feigenberg, who considers the prognosis as based on the probability of the origin of certain situations, which took place in one’s past – 141 –

activity, this work considers the prognosis as based on the recognition of any early stages of the partner’s activities, those of his movements (often hardly noticeable) that precede his main movement, constituting the “nucleus” of his attack. These peculiar “pre-signals” allow a welltrained sportsman certain ground for the prognosis of any further motions of his partner and for the initiation of his own adequate activities in proper time. The author has developed a new method for coaching sportsman, its basis being the prognosis of partner's movement. Most encouraging results have been obtained. It’s interesting to note, that’s the coaching aimed at the improvement of prognosis of the results in some particular kind of sports, calls forth the improvement in the results of the same sportsman in other kinds of sports.In his report the author wishes to present the account of the main principles of his methods in sports’ couching. Probability prognosis and structure of memory in learning activity Vladimir Maharik, Tel Aviv University, Israel The author of the current report has constructed a logical model of memory following ideas presented by J. Feigenberg in a number of publications. His main assertion is that the memory being a product of evolution and developing from primitive forms to the very sophisticated constructions, never loses its utilitarian purpose. The memory is storing data and provids access to them. However, the data storing is useless (and the useless has no chance to evolve in the process of evolution) unless it provides better adaptation tools in the conservative or changing environment. As soon as similarities to the past occur, the correspondent patterns of reactions that have been successfully tested in similar cases, are reproducing themselves. In other words, the memory is a technique of prognosis. Our model of the memory consists of scripts each one being a link of episodes of behaviour. First, the memory model is capable of calling some script by its initiating episode. Second, it is able to create new scripts, thus educating itself. Third, it can forget (but not forever), and forth, it can recover forgotten pieces under urge. The model contains the concept and algorithm of learning. B 21

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 4 R

Symposium A BETTER LOOK AT INTELLIGENCE AND ITS APPLICATIONS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Johannes E. H. van Luit, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Johannes E. H. van Luit, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Johan H.M. Hamers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

In this symposium the main theme concerns the study of the relations between how students with learning difficulties learn and the cognitive processes included in the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) theory. This kind of assessment gives teachers insight in adequate instruction for low performing students. The paper ‘Cognitive processes and learning: Planning and potential learning relations’ of Taddei (Università di Firenze, Italy) shows a better understanding of the relations between planning and learning development with particular attention to potential learning. The paper ‘When cognitive education is successful: Reading disability and a program for cognitive enhancement’ of Das and Papadopoulos (University of Alberta, Canada & University of Cyprus, Cyprus) shows the relation between theory and educational practice, in specific the translation of theory into a program for cognitive enhancement in reading. The paper ‘Cognition an instruction: A summary of research using PASS theory and – 142 –

math’ of Naglieri (George Mason University, United States of America) shows the connection between the PASS theory and classroom instruction in arithmetic computation. The paper ‘Mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes’ of Kroesbergen and Van Luit (Utrecht University, the Netherlands) presents the results of a study aimed to investigate the relationship between mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes. In the symposium discussion a critical reflection will be given on the relations between PASS processes and effective instruction, particularly with respect to the abilities of students with learning disabilities. Cognitive processes and learning: Planning and potential learning relations Stefano Taddei, University of Florence, Italy The paper of Taddei is about the fact that in the past decade, both the methods of instruction and the assessment of students’ performance have changed considerably. One element of this change is the accent on cognitive competencies such as problem solving. In conjunction with this change, new modes of assessment were implemented such as process assessment and learning capacity. The conceptualization of intelligence called Planning, Attention, Successive and Simultaneous Theory (Das, Naglieri, & Kirby, 1994) is one of the more interesting tools implemented. Moving from the evidence that planning processes are related to school achievement (Naglieri, 1999), the aim of this study is to understand the relations between planning and learning development with particular attention to potential learning. A sample of 48 children of First (10 males and 6 females) and Third grades (14 males and 17 females) of an Italian elementary school was examined by the Italian version of Secret Write Test (SWT) (Veggetti & Taddei, 1995) and a paper and pencil version of Planned Codes and Matching Numbers from the Cognitive Assessment System (Naglieri & Das, 1997). Correlation indexes between planning tests and SWT were calculated, and variance analyse were realised using different levels of transfer ability scores in the SWT as an independent variable. Results underlying the relation between process assessment and learning capacity are discussed. When cognitive education is successful: Reading disability and a program for cognitive enhancement Jagannath P. Das, University of Alberta, Canada Timothy C. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus The paper of Das and Papadopoulos presents an innovative remedial program structured around a theoretical core for enhancing reading ability. The roots of the "PREP" program, its philosophical foundations, and the design of both 'global' process training and 'bridging' activities are described in Part 1, while in Part 2, essential elements of the program are presented. References are given to support the efficacy of the program for cognitive enhancement. It is suggested that no single program will provide a remedy to all of the varied problems expressed by children with reading difficulties. But if reading and cognitive deficits are linked, as in PREP, we can assist children in improving word reading and passage comprehension.

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Cognition and instruction: A summary of research using PASS theory and math Jack Naglieri, George Mason University, Virginia, USA The paper of Naglieri concerns children who perform poorly in arithmetic computation and may be deficient in both knowledge of facts and problem solving skills (Das, Naglieri, & Kirby, 1994). Direct instruction of skills and teaching problem solving can improve performance, especially when the child’s cognitive characteristics are taken into consideration (Naglieri, 1999). This is particularly so if a new conceptualization of intelligence called the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) Theory (Das, Naglieri & Kirby, 1994) is used. These processes are: Planning (provides cognitive control, development of strategies and plans, self-regulation); Attention (focused cognitive activity, resistance to distraction); Simultaneous (integration of information into inter-related groups); and Successive (integration of information in a specific linear order). The connection between this theory of intelligence and classroom instruction in arithmetic computation will be presented. The connection between PASS and interventions for children with learning disabilities was suggested by studies that focused on Planning by Cormier, Carlson, and Das (1990) and Kar, Dash, Das, and Carlson (1992). This foundational research method stimulated children’s use of planning based on the assumption that planning processes should be facilitated rather than directly instructed. Their studies were extended by Naglieri and Gottling (1995, 1997), and Naglieri and Johnson (2000) who demonstrated that an intervention that facilitated planning led to improved performance on math calculation for those with low scores in planning, but minimal improvement was found for those with high planning scores. Thus, learning disabled students benefited differentially from the instruction based on their PASS scores. Matching the instruction to the cognitive weakness of the child was shown to be important. These studies will be summarized and implications discussed. Mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes Evelyn Kroesbergen, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Johannes E. H. van Luit, Utrecht University, The Netherlands The paper of Kroesbergen and van Luit presents the results of a study aimed to investigate the relation between mathematics learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes. The CAS, which measures Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive processes (PASS; Naglieri & Das, 1997), was administered to a group of 267 students with math learning difficulties, attending either regular or special education. It was studied if these students have other PASS-profiles than their normal achieving peers. The students’ math performance was measured with three math tests for basic skills, automaticity, and problem solving (Kroesbergen, Van Luit & Naglieri, 2002). The results showed that students with math difficulties perform lower than their peers on all of the four PASS processes. Furthermore, it was found that in this group relatively many students have a specific cognitive weakness in Planning or Successive processing. In addition, those students with specific difficulties with the acquisition of basic math facts were found to score particularly low on the Successive processing scale; those students with automaticity problems produced particularly low scores on the Planning, Attention, and Successive processing scales; and the group of students with difficulties solving word problems produced relatively lower scores on the Attention and Successive processing scales. Since it has been shown that students with specific cognitive profiles benefit from specific interventions, these results have significant implications and relevance for remediating math learning difficulties.

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B 22

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 2 C

Symposium TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE SELF- REGULATION OF THEIR LEARNING Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Monique Brodeur, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada Colette Deaudelin, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Julien Mercier, McGill University, Canada Monique Brodeur, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada Harm Tillema, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Since the work of Kremer-Hayon and Tillema (1999), the bridge between teachers’ professional development and the self-regulation of their learning has been clearly established. Descriptive studies have been conducted and others are necessary to better understand this new domain, which is very important in these days of curricular reforms and professionalization of teaching. Recently, experimental studies attempt to design and evaluate interventions aimed at enhancing this selfregulation, during both initial and continued training. The suggested symposium is important to allow researchers to share their work and orient upcoming research, in order to better understand and maintain the development of teachers’ self-regulation of their learning, ultimately to the advantage of the students. Self-regulated learning as a learning object and a learning strategy in the context of teachers training Colette Deaudelin, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Olivier Dezutter, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Jean-Claude Kalubi, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Self-regulated learning (SRL) has been recognized since many years as an important field of knowledge and inquiry related to education and training. More recently, this concept is being used in the context of teachers’ learning. Beside that, SRL is increasingly integrated to distance education courses as an essential component. It enables the fostering of general skills as well as various communication abilities that are typical of the contemporary teacher. Theses abilities are the target of a series of courses provided through “ le Canal Savoir “ (a television programs production and broadcasting organism) This series is complemented by a website facilitating the supervision of the student. These courses have been developed through an experiment of integrating innovations to preservice teacher training programs (preschool, primary and secondary school, and special education) In this context, SRL is conceived of both as an object of learning and a learning strategy. Thus, in each 30-minute program, the concepts of metacognition and SRL are presented using examples taken from real-life classrooms, previously videotaped. Learning activities over the Internet are designed to guide the students in their analysis of the video sequences and in their reflexive thinking about their teaching practices. This projects leads to multi-level outcomes: at the level of teachers working in their classrooms and preparing to be filmed, and at the level of preservice teachers taking the targeted training programs. This talk reports on a pre-experimentation of this training device and proposes a discussion regarding the various strategies put to contribution in its development.

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Self-regulation and collaborative learning in teachers’ professional development Deborah L. Butler, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada In the past decade, concerns have been raised about traditional models of professional development and the assumptions on which they are based. For example, problems have been noted with top-down transmission approaches to disseminating knowledge (e.g., Gersten et al., 1997) and the ability of one-stop workshops to promote meaningful learning (e.g., Palincsar, 1999). Alternative conceptions of teaching and knowledge construction have led to professional development models that emphasize both individual and collaborative learning processes. On the one hand, teachers are engaged in constructing, trying out, and evaluating instructional approaches, all activities definitional of “self-regulated learning” (e.g., Butler et al., in press). On the other hand, teachers are supported in the context of collaborative learning “communities” (e.g., Lave & Wenger, 1991). Given the advent of these blended professional development models, the research described in this presentation was conducted with two complementary aims: (1) to assess the outcomes associated with use of an integrated professional development model; and (2) to examine the respective roles of collaborative and individual learning in teachers’ professional development. To trace both outcomes and processes, in-depth case studies of the process of professional development were conducted for teams of middle school teachers across 6 schools. Data were collected through classroom observations, gathering of documents (e.g., instructional materials), and semi-structured interviews. The report of findings will focus on both learning outcomes and processes, and will have implications for how best to structure professional development so as to promote teachers’ sustained collaboration and self-regulation in the context of professional practice. A study of self-regulated learning among pre- and primary school teachers engaged in lifelong learning Monique Brodeur, University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada Marc Dussault, University of Quebec, Trois-Rivières, Canada Colette Deaudelin, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Julien Mercier, McGill University, Canada We present a study of socio-cognitive factors, regarding preschool and primary school teachers’ lifelong learning, as part of a professional development activity concerning the educational integration of ICT. The 95 participants, split up into an experimental and a control group, participated in an action research. Measures of self-regulated learning (SRL), self-efficacy and organisational commitment have been collected at the beginning of the project and then, eight months later. These measures have been carried out using scales developed and validated especially to this end. Results reveal that the participants in the experimental group benefited from the professional development activity with respect to 9 of the 12 dimensions of SRL considered in this study. Concerning self-efficacy about the integration of ICT in the classroom, the participants in the project obtain mean scores significantly higher than those of the control group with respect to efficacy espectations as well as outcome expectancies. Regarding organisational commitment, only 2 of the 6 dimensions are significant (continuance and towards students). This study shows that a professional development activity integrating SRL has an impact on socio-cognitive dimensions among teachers, in a relatively short time. Future studies are required to isolate the specific contribution of SRL training to the outcomes of a professional development activity.

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Self-evaluation: A critical process in self-regulatory strategy use and professional development Carolyn Orange, University of Texas San Antonio, USA Traci Hodges, St. Louis University, USA The aim is to provide evidence that students low in self-evaluation process will show lower selfregulatory strategy use than students that are high and to discuss the implications. Sixty-eight preservice teachers were given the Self Regulation Inventory. Exploratory factor analysis identified common factors from the SRI , using a Varimax rotation. New variables Help Seeking, Managing Distractions, Self Monitoring and Self Pacing. were created to represent latent indicators for high SRI variable loadings on common factors. Nonparametric tests, Kruskal-Wallis and Median test analyzed differences between groups identified by low, average or high score on Self Evaluation. Test results indicate significant differences and support the hypothesis. Groups low on self evaluation used fewer self - regulatory strategies than the high group, which could affect their immediate and future achievement outcomes. The differences in groups may be explained by outcome expectations in Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1986). Professional development of the pre-service teacher should teach students how to self-evaluate, offer social comparison using exemplary peer models, create awareness of self-regulatory deficiencies, promote having an internal locus of control, help maintain self-evaluative expectations, teach more problem-focused strategies to improve coping efficacy, encourage realistic barrier perceptions and outcome expectations, provide opportunities to practice self-checking and to develop personal learning goals that promote self-efficacy and self-regulatory competence. B 23

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room PSY 3 I

Symposium TOWARDS A KNOWLEDGE BUILDING CULTURE: KNOWLEDGE FORUM ACROSS CONTEXTS AND CULTURES Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Stefano Cacciamani, University of Valle D’Aosta, Italy Stefano Cacciamani, University of Valle D’Aosta, Italy Robert-Jan Simons, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

The main purpose of this symposium is to analyse how a Knowledge building theoretical perspective can be applied in different contexts and cultures using the collaborative on line environment called CSILE- Knowledge Forum. From a common theoretical background, the contributes highlight how different situational conditions with different problems (either in educational or professional fields) require to create new strategies to apply the knowledge building community idea and the knowledge building practices. How is a knowledge building community different from a learning community? Marlene Scardamalia, University of Toronto, Canada Although the terms “knowledge building community” and “learning community” are often used interchangeably, they refer to approaches that differ profoundly in goals and dynamics, even though they both fall within the broad category of constructivist approaches. The differences follow from the difference between learning and knowledge building: Learning is an internal, unobservable process, that results in changes of belief, attitude, or skill. Knowledge building, by contrast, is an overt, deliberate process that results in the creation or modification of public – 147 –

knowledge. Whether they are scientists working on an explanation of cell aging or first-graders working on an explanation of leaves changing color in the fall, knowledge builders engage in similar processes with a similar goal. That goal is to advance the frontiers of knowledge as they perceive them. They may at the same time have personal learning as a goal; human beings, unlike machines, are fully capable of simultaneously pursuing multiple goals. But the knowledge building goals and the learning goals are not the same. A program might succeed in one yet fail in the other, although the two kinds of goals should be mutually supportive. Several differences that have consequences for practice will be elaborated in this presentation: (1) The difference between a community that attaches primary value to idea improvement and one primarily concerned with warranted belief; (2) the difference between problems of understanding and problems of prediction and control; (3) the difference between shared responsibility for knowledge advancement and shared responsibility for project work. The computer screen as a cultural meeting place Carl Bereiter, University of Toronto, Canada In CSCL and CSCW, the computer screen is the place where people come together as a community of practice to do work — to learn, to solve a problem, to advance the frontiers of knowledge, or whatever their mission. With the rise of distance education, the computer screen also becomes the place where the community itself is formed. This larger cultural aspect of interface design has received relatively little attention, compared to the attention devoted to more elementary issues of usability.In the discussion forums commonly used in education, the main thing the computer screen presents to the participants is a list — the familiar indented list of postings in a threaded discussion. As a cultural meeting place, this design leaves much to be desired. An informal search of Internet forums has failed to turn up discussion that would support the formation of a knowledge building community. By and large, so-called “forums” are not really forums but bulletin boards that serve purposes of question-answer exchange and expression of opinion. Throughout almost 2 decades of development, the CSILE/Knowledge Forum team have experimented with ways to make the computer screen serve as a place where communities and subgroups can form around knowledge building goals. Experimentation continues and I will be presenting recent developments that highlight the empowerment of users to craft a communal knowledge building space. Progress toward knowledge-building inquiry Kai Hakkarainen, University of Helsinki, Finland Marianne Bollström-Huttunen, Helsinki City Department of Education, Finland Riikka Pyysalo, University of Helsinki, Finland The purpose of the present article is to analyze progress toward Knowledge-Building Inquiry (KBI) in the context of computer-supported elementary-school classroom in Finland. The article describes a process of moving from project learning towards KBI, by introducing the pedagogical model of progressive inquiry and examining through a series of elementary school students' CSCL projects the nature of their inquiry (e.g., the role of question transformation and pursuit of explanation) and to what extent their educational activities represented various elements of knowledge-building (e.g., symmetric knowledge advancement, constructive use of authoritative sources). Qualitative analysis of the content of students' productions, social network analyses of their discourse interaction, and videotaped participant observations (as well as interviews) are used to analyze the study material. Teacher-researcher dialogues are used to illustrate psychological, socioemotional, and social challenges involved in facilitating KBI in education; we aim at making – 148 –

explicit the multi-voiced characteristics of our joint efforts to improve the quality of learning and instruction with the help of collaborative technologies. The paper arise a number of questions and challenges that we have encountered while facilitating knowledge building in elementary school education in Finland, such as the optimal relations between face-to-face and virtual working, integration of students own hands-on field working with conceptually-oriented knowledge building, and scaffolding of cognitively and motivationally diverge groups of students. Changing pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning through knowledge building discourse Carol Chan, University of Hong Kong, China This study investigated pre-service teachers’ collaborative knowledge building in a computersupported learning environment called Knowledge Forum. Pre-service teachers tend to hold traditional beliefs about teaching and learning; we argue that the opportunity for them to work with pedagogical ideas and practice as conceptual artifacts in a knowledge-building environment may help them change their beliefs and make collective knowledge advances. Accordingly, the objectives of the study are: (a) to design a learning environment that fosters the development of knowledge building discourse; (b) to assess and characterize knowledge building inquiry and discourse among pre-service teachers; and (c) to investigate whether pre-service teachers changed their beliefs and develop deeper understanding. Participants included 210 pre-service teachers taking a course in educational psychology at the University of Hong Kong. The instructional design included engaging students in collaborative problem-centred inquiry on Knowledge Forum; asking them to work as experts specializing on different problems (views); and using constructivist assessment to scaffold collaborative knowledge construction. Analyses using Analytic Toolkit (ATK) indicated that pre-service teachers were actively engaged in computer database usage; they changed their beliefs about teaching and learning shifting from a transmission to a constructivist view of learning; and students’ use of knowledge-building indices assessed by ATK was significantly related with portfolio-assessment scores. Qualitative analyses were also conducted to characterize the nature of knowledge building in this community; specifically, knowledge-building episodes exemplifying different knowledge-building principles (Scardamalia, 2001) were identified. Knowledge forum in Italy: Overview and future perspectives Maria Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, Italy Donatella Cesareni, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy Knowledge Forum (KF) has been introduced in Italy more or less a decade ago. In this presentation we will give a short overview of the different projects within which KF has been embedded and the distinctive features of its application in the Italian educational contexts. We found that the introduction of KF in Italy has been characterized by the following aspects: (a) tendency to integrate KF with other web based software (web-sites, data-bases, three-dimensional software); (b) thus, the type of knowledge built through KF has been enriched by the knowledge built through other software (conceptual knowledge building with the collaborative construction of products); (c) it has been mainly a tool to support collaboration at a distance, between users located in distance sites (same course attended by students from different cities or different countries); (d) it has been tested as support for university courses to combine scientific thinking with co-construction of argumentation. (e) Based on the results gathered with these experiences, uses and applications of KF will be extended in the Italian scenario. The Collaborative Knowledge Building Group (CKBG) has been established lately to promote the use of KF also in new – 149 –

educational contexts - beside university and primary education. The CKBG is aimed at introducing and experimenting the KF as a tool for discussion and knowledge building among educators, teachers, and researchers. B 24

27th Aug

8:30 - 10:30

Room BIO 1 G

Symposium ENHANCING UNIVERSITY TEACHING-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING Organiser: Chairs: Discussant:

Noel Entwistle, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, Finland Max Scheja, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

This symposium focuses on ways in which university teaching-learning environments may be improved so as to increase student engagement and the quality of learning outcomes. All the papers have their origins in the developing research approach described as Student Learning Research (SLR). One paper comes from The Netherlands and reports attempts to improve the level of self-directed learning within Problem-Based Learning (PBL), and demonstrates the importance of precision in the degree of ‘forced self-direction’ that can be used to improve the quality of student learning. The other papers in the symposium introduce preliminary findings from a crossdisciplinary British study which involves collaboration with staff in five subject areas and some 15 higher education institutions. Given the focus on subject-specific teaching-learning environments, it seemed important to present three such examples, relating to biology, economics and history, while the first paper introduces the project as a whole. The symposium will provide a valuable opportunity to discuss university learning environments, both generically and in relation to contrasting traditions of academic scholarship. University teaching-learning environments and their influences on student learning Noel Entwistle, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom This paper will outline the research design, methods of data collection and analysis, the initial conceptualisation and some preliminary findings of a major four-year research study within the British Teaching and Learning Research Programme, entitled “Enhancing teaching-learning environments in undergraduate courses” (the ETL Project - http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl). The main purpose of the study is to investigate ways of enhancing student engagement and the quality of learning within contrasting university subject areas and across a variety of different course settings, focusing systematically on the important differences in teaching and learning that occur across subject areas and course settings. The project involves analysis of the literature on teaching and learning in each subject area and, within each course setting, analysis of curriculum materials, in-depth interviews with staff and groups of students, and questionnaire measures of students’ approaches to studying and their perceptions of teaching-learning environments. These data are collected in successive academic years. During the first year, base-line data is collected within a particular course unit. That evidence is then used to negotiate research-informed changes in that environment for the following year, designed to improve student engagement and the quality of learning being encouraged. The data collection is then carried out again in relation to the modified course unit and differences between the two years explored. This paper will set the scene for the – 150 –

next three papers which are looking at the teaching-learning environments being provided within the subject areas of biology, economics and history. Final-year biology courses as teaching-learning environments Dai Hounsell, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom Velda McCune, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom This paper reviews emerging findings on key aspects of teaching-learning environments in undergraduate Biology, with particular reference to three final-year, Honours-level course options with a combined intake of about fifty students. In contrast to the first-year course units which are also being investigated by the project, these typically have a tightly-knit course team and relatively small intakes of self-selected students. The central concern of the paper will be with how highquality learning is defined, pursued and supported in these three course settings. Biggs' concept of 'constructive alignment' is used to examine these settings as teaching-learning environments, exploring the 'goodness-of-fit' between high-quality learning outcomes and various contextual features, including the nature of the student intakes, curriculum design, teaching-learning activities, and assignments and assessments. As a proxy for high-quality constructivist learning outcomes, the concept “'ways of thinking and practising in the subject” is introduced. This encompasses not only knowledge and understanding but also skills, values and forms of discourse which are regarded as central to graduate-level mastery of a discipline or subject area. The data on which the paper draws chiefly comprises semi-structured interviews with students and with staff, analysis of course documentation, and questionnaires, informed by a review of the literature on the teaching and learning of biology in higher education. Teaching-learning environments in economics Nicola Reimann, University of Durham, England, United Kingdom This paper will offer a description and analysis of teaching-learning environments in economics, thereby contributing to an increased understanding of the subject-specific nature of such environments. Evidence will be derived from two kinds of sources: a review of the disciplinespecific literature in economics education at university level as well as qualitative and quantitative data (interviews, field-notes, questionnaires, documentary evidence) collected in six course units in three UK economics departments as part of the ETL Project. Where appropriate, insights gained in economics will be related to the generic characteristics of effective teaching-learning environments which research on student learning has identified. Both the literature and the empirical data suggest that teaching-learning environments in economics tend to follow a fairly standard format across institutions and even across different countries. This applies in particular to the selection of curriculum content and to the teaching-learning activities, tasks, materials and assessments which are used on undergraduate economics programmes. Differences, on the other hand, can mainly be attributed to variation within the wider environment, in particular the institutional context and the kinds of students which the institution and the department recruit. Alignment to students has therefore been found to be an important concern when designing teaching-learning environments, particularly in those institutions which recruit students from more varied, less traditionally academic backgrounds.

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Making history: Engaging students in the values and practices of a discipline Kate Day, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom Charles Anderson, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom This paper concerns the understanding of teaching and learning environments for undergraduate history. It will pay particular attention to the ways in which the values and central practices that characterise a disciplinary community shape teaching and learning practices. It will move on to examine how the goal of enabling students to engage with these central disciplinary concerns is instantiated within specific course/module settings, taking account of the local constraints and affordances. Drawing on socio-cultural perspectives on learning and development, existing literature on teaching and learning in history, a corpus of interview data with history lecturers and their students and the experience of involvement in collaborative initiatives to enhance the design of individual history courses, this presentation will focus on: (1) Delineating the central developments in understanding of the purposes and nature of history, in perspective-taking skills and reflexivity that history lecturers wish to foster in their students over the course of their university career; (2) considering learning, teaching and assessment approaches and activities that can help students to achieve these ways of thinking and a sense of confident engagement with the purposes and values of the discipline; (3) illustrating the ways in which skilled history lecturers take account of the academic background and life circumstances of their students in their design of learning, teaching and assessment activities; (4) identifying the ways in which resourcing, degree structure and other institutional level ‘environmental’ factors impinge on course design and everyday practice. Improving problem based student learning through self-directing study teams Jan Vermunt, Leiden University, The Netherlands Han Dahlmans, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational method in which students work in small groups at trying to understand and explain real-life problems. Although PBL claims to stimulate selfdirected learning, in our view this only holds to a certain extent: the unchanging nature of the method throughout the curriculum prevents a growth in self-regulated student learning beyond a certain level. Therefore, in a second year block of a Faculty of Health Sciences, self-directed study teams were introduced. Problems were made bigger and more complex, one tutorial meeting a week was replaced by study team meetings. Moreover, study teams had to document their progress and approach to team learning in a group portfolio. Measurements were conducted with regard to learning strategy use, time spent, achievements, appreciation of the course, etc. The results showed that students had spent more time on this block than on previous, classical PBL blocks. Moreover, students developed a far less reproduction directed way of learning than before. Meaning directed students appreciated this newly designed block much more than other students. There was also a paradox in the results. Many students felt that external regulation had actually increased through the introduction of self-directing study teams. It was concluded that in a next run study teams should get more freedom to determine their own way of working and there should be less demands for products to be put into the portfolio. Theoretically, the study points to the importance of precision in the degree of ‘forced self-direction’ that can be used to improve the quality of student learning.

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C1

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 2 B

Paper Presentation GOOD TEACHING AND GOOD TEACHERS Chair:

Theo Bergen, University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands

New learning and the arrangement of learning environments by secondary teachers Jos de Kock, University of Nijmegen and KPC Group, The Netherlands Peter Sleegers, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Rinus Voeten, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands In this study a new classification scheme of learning environments in secondary education is presented, which means a descriptive scheme of 14 types of learning environments that covers existing and theoretically possible learning environments in schools. To construct the classification scheme, recent literature on 'new learning' is discussed and existing classification schemes of learning environments, published in the last five decades, are reviewed. The classification scheme is based on three aspects: (a) learning goals, (b) the division of teacher and learner roles, and (c) the roles learners have towards each other. It is argued that the classification scheme can be used for two goals: First, as a tool for teachers in secondary education to design and evaluate their learning environments; and second, as a research framework for a next generation of processproduct research. The special purpose of the paper session is to discuss this classification scheme of learning environments. The role of self-efficacy beliefs in the adoption of pedagogical innovations by prospective teachers Thierry Karsenti, University of Montreal, Canada Gilles Thibert, University of Montreal, Canada Carole Raby, University of Montreal, Canada Stephane Villeneuve, University of Montreal, Canada The focus on information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education has shifted towards curriculum integration. Consequently, teacher education programs need to prepare new teachers to use ICTs in their teaching. The goal of the present study was to understand, empirically, the impact of self-efficacy beliefs (efficacy expectations and outcome expectations) on the use of ICTs by prospective teachers during their field practice. A questionnaire was administered to 6987 prospective teachers in Quebec (Canada). Interviews were also carried out with 32 participants. Statistical analyses were conducted in order to assess the impact of selfefficacy beliefs on the use of ICTs during the practicum. Our results show a strong relationship between the belief structure of prospective teachers and their behavior (use of ICTs during their practicum, even when they encounter various problems). These findings could have important implications for teacher education programs, teacher trainers, universities, school principals, school districts and policy makers. The new teachership - The pragmatic constructivist perspective on teachership Kirsi Pyhältö, University of Helsinki, Finland According to the pragmatic constructivistic learning theory, learning is the most important coping mechanism of human being both from a biological and from a social point of view. Learning is an – 153 –

active process in which the person selects, codes, interprets and tests information and the feedback gained from her actions, in relations to her current world view (representation of reality). Moreover, learning is assumed to be an interaction process which continues throughout the person's life. In the present study, aspects of teachership are analysed both theoretically and empirically within the frame of pragmatic constructivistic learning theory. Attention is paid to the consequences of this paradigm for a) the characterization of teachership (the teacher's action competence), and b) teacher training as a learning environment for constructivistic teaching. The empirical observations presented, and context of their analysis, are related to teacher education in Helsinki University. Adaptive teaching competence Franziska Vogt, College of Education, St. Gallen, Switzerland Erwin Beck, College of Education Rorschach, Switzerland In this paper, findings from a case study research involving classroom observation focusing on science lessons, interviews and tests on teachers’ knowledge are presented. The case study involves 8 teachers of primary and secondary schools, comparing teachers at the beginning of their careers with experienced teachers. The research is aimed at capturing the interplay between teacher knowledge and teacher action in enabling self-directed and understanding-centred student learning. The construct of adaptive teacher competence is proposed to allow an understanding of the conditions of planning and acting in instruction. We define ‘adaptive teacher competence’ as teachers’ ability to adapt their instruction to conditions and changes in the teaching/learning situation. The purpose of this adaptive performance is to reach an optimum in students’ learning. Adaptivity is central to successful teaching. C2

27th Aug

11:00 – 12:20

Room PSY 3 G

Paper Presentation AUTONOMOUS LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Chair:

Max Scheja, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Autonomous learning zones Peter Hughes, University of Durham, United Kingdom This paper aims to review and clarify the theoretical and philosophical meaning of autonomous and independent learning and to introduce the concept of “autonomous learning zones”. Enabling students to exercise more control over their learning is one way to develop self-motivated learners. A range of theories have been put forward to justify such an approach, however one problem that has emerged is the tension that exists when giving students freedom within HE institutions and disciplines that are hierarchical and that have cultural expectations as to how a student must perform. Bey has introduced the term “Temporary Autonomous Zones” to describe spaces of liberatory activity that act as a resistance and alternative to existing hierarchies. Drawing from this, it will be proposed that teachers and learners can create “Autonomous Learning Zones”- spaces of learner freedom which maximise the opportunities for the development of self-motivated, autonomous learners.

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Survey of the learning profile of university students: Learning strategies and motivation Denis Bédard, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Karine Von Bochmann, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Martin Couture, University of Sherbrooke, Canada Professors, students and administrators are more and more concerned with the quality of teaching provided in universities. But what do we really know about the students we wish to help and of the influence of educational situations on their learning profile? The objective of the present research was to establish the learning profile of the students at the University of Sherbrooke, Canada. This presentation will try to answer one question: What are the patterns of causation among the set of variables identified in the present study? The causal model that was developed proposes that the exogenous variables (five pedagogical environments) affect the indogenous variables (motivation and cognitive strategies), which in turn affects GPA. Path analysis was used to shed light on the question of whether or not the causal model is consistent with the data. Determinants of learning strategy use and academic achievement: Results of a four-year longitudinal study with university students Lilian Streblow, University of Bielefeld, Germany Ulrich Schiefele, University of Bielefeld, Germany Ulrich Ermgassen, University of Bielefeld, Germany Barbara Moschner, University of Oldenburg, Germany In this longitudinal study a relatively complex model of college student achievement was tested. Specifically, it was hypothesized that effects of motivational and cognitive predictors on achievement are mediated by the use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies. The sample consisted of 330 German university students from eight different majors who were tested each semester. The study began in 1996 and ended in 2001. Students were presented with the following scales: need for cognition, study interest, intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, various learning strategies, self-concept scales, and the final grades in high school. The findings suggest that metacognitive strategies and effort managment are significant mediators of motivational and cognitive predictors of achievement, the effects of scholastic ability are partly mediated by academic self-concept, and there are interesting differences between men and women and between the natural and the social sciences. These findings may be important for training or counseling programs. The effects of supporting students’ self-dependent learning in a problem-based learning environment Emily Teunissen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Piet van den Bossche, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Mien Segers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands The use of problem-based learning approaches in higher education has been promoted by many educators. However, up-to-date comparative research on the effects of PBL on learning outcomes does not present conclusive results. Design variables are suggested as explanations of these results. It is argued that PBL curricula, in the way designed, do not foster self-dependent learning to an optimum level. Effective educational systems should gradually offer a higher control over the process of learning by students. Students not experienced with self-dependent learning in a PBL context, should be supported. The paper presents an intervention study aimed at improving firstyear students’ performances by fostering self-dependent learning. The research focuses on the – 155 –

cognitive effects of the intervention as well as on students’ perceptions of the various quality aspects of the PBL-environment. An Untreated control group design with proxy pre-test measures was used. The cognitive effects of the intervention were measured by the end-of-course test. To measure students’ perceptions, focus-group interviews and a Course Experiences Questionnaire were used. The results of this study indicate that, supporting first year students in their development towards self-dependent learning, did not affect their learning outcomes. However, the students perceived various design variables of the problem-based learning environment as motivating, affecting the productivity of working/learning and stimulating to be self-dependent learners. On the basis of the results, it can be argued that, in order to have significant effects on students’ test results, an intervention as implemented in this study needs to be more clearly embedded in the first year curriculum. C3

27th Aug

11:00 – 12:20

Room PSY 2 D

Paper Presentation SOCIAL ASPECTS OF MOTIVATION Chair:

Andreas Krapp, University of the Bundeswehr, Munich, Germany

Fostering the will to learn: Motivation is socially shaped Susan Beltman, Murdoch University, Western Australia This research examines the relationship between person and social context, between an individual and other people, in relation to motivation in sport and music. From a sociocultural or situative perspective, other people play a crucial role as individuals appropriate norms, values and skills through joint activity with others within communities of practice. The study reported here aimed to explore, from the perspective of athletes and musicians, how interactions with significant others influenced their motivation to participate. Rich descriptive data relating to motivation were obtained from thirty participants across settings and communities of practice. Although the actions of others were important, individual perceptions and coping strategies were also vital in affecting the longer-term impact on motivation. The findings of this study illustrate that motivation is complex and that it is reciprocally constructed through the everyday interactions between people within various contexts. Both the person and the context play a part in shaping motivation. Social and emotional processes in collaborative learning groups - Virtual changes in a real school: Survival methods of teachers facing pressures to change Shulamit Fisher, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel Gadi Alexander, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel Collaborative learning is based on various types of interactions among members in the learning group. This study is trying to highlight the emotional relationships that develop between members in the group and on the dynamic buildup of its social cohesion. The first author observed interviewed and administered questionnaires to 3 different groups of girls in two schools. The groups consisted of 7th grade girls who had previous experience in collaborative learning and were asked to plan a mutual learning project. In the current presentation we will analyze data from the three 52 hours observations which sheds light on the specific ways in which each group is trying to find a modus vivendi between the different levels of collaboration. It will be demonstrated how – 156 –

each group attempts to play a different game for external and internal purposes, and how the cognitive task is dependent upon the resolution of the emotional problems. IRT-based scale of relatedness-related motivation in classroom language learning Naoyuki Naganuma, Tokyo University, Japan In this study I have developed the relatedness-related motivation scale in classroom language learning based on item response theory, which measures positive and negative effects of relatedness towards more general others such as classmates. Classroom language learning could be facilitated or debilitated according to the relatedness with others. The result of factor analysis confirms that there are two kind of relatedness-related motivation, one of which makes learners to approach learning, while the other makes them to avoid learning. This scale is expected to diagnose the status of motivation in a more precise way through item response theory when learners are learning a language in a classroom. This is particularly useful in detecting learners who have problems in classroom language learning on the basis of the balance between positive and negative influence from peers. Further research is required to investigate how to foster positive relatedness-related motivation. The effects of basic psychological needs on motivation and well-being Kiho Tanaka, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan Hirotsugu Yamauchi, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan Based on the concept of basic psychological needs in self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), we aimed to examine the effects of psychological needs on motivation and well-being. 175 Japanese undergraduate students participated in this study. Cluster analysis showed four groups of students that differ in the degree of need satisfaction. Comparing scores for well-being, a group of students with full need satisfaction showed the highest level of well-being, whereas non need satisfaction group showed the lowest level. A group of students who were not satisfied on either one of the needs resulted in some diminish of their well-being. The results of structural equation modeling, which was conducted to examine the effect of psychological need satisfaction on motivation and well-being, suggested that satisfaction of psychological needs were positively associated with well-being, partly directly and partly indirectly through self-determined type of motivation. C4

27th Aug

11:00 – 12:20

Room BIO Aula Magna

Paper Presentation INTERACTION AND COGNITION Chair:

Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland

Student interactions and learning under resource interdependence Céline Buchs, University of Geneve, Switzerland Fabrizio Butera, University of Grenoble, France Two studies investigated the effect of resource interdependence during dyadic cooperative learning. Study 1 showed that students report more efforts under interdependence, whereas confrontations and competence are more frequent under independence. Performance is poorer – 157 –

under independence and this effect is mediated by the stake of competence. Moreover, students’ perception of their partner’s abilities to understand and explain information is positively linked to students’ performance under interdependence and negatively under independence. Study 2 manipulated the quality of partner’s input (brilliant vs. medium) thanks to a confederate. It appeared that the stake of competence was threatening under independence, and a brilliant partner impaired performance compared to a medium partner. Conversely, a brilliant partner led to better performance under interdependence. These results suggest that different dynamics of students interactions take place in the two cooperative methods, which has implications for determining the conditions in which cooperative learning can be more effective. Reflecting in private, in public and together: Metacognitive strategies in interaction among distance language-learners Marie-Noëlle Lamy, Open University, United Kingdom This is a study of distance language-learners interacting online. Using an established framework of metacognitive strategies, and a method derived from conversational analysis, we study the peer exchanges of adult learners of French working on form-focused tasks, and we examine the relationship between private study, reporting to the forum, and sharing of metacognitive perceptions with peers. We find that this relationship is discontinuous, and that the success of a metacognitive conversation in attracting enduring commitment from the participants is more closely related to the socioaffective roles that participants play successively on the forum than to the modelling and scaffolding planned by the task designers into the reflective task. We identify some of the conditions which encourage learners to turn individual study into interactive metacognitive discourse, and we discuss the consequences for future task design. How do students communicate knowledge in online groups? Impact of task type, communication setting, and communication behavior on group performance Manuela Paechter, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich, Germany Karin Schweizer, University of Wuppertal, Germany Bernd Weidenmann, University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich, Germany How do students communicate knowledge in different online-communication environments? Is there a relationship between the type of the task and the environment? These questions were analysed in a long-term study in which 96 students participated in an online seminar. Students formed learning groups of four members each who met at three points in time. Each student received joint learning material (shared knowledge) and additional material that was different for each group member (unshared knowledge). After two weeks of individual learning the groups met in newsgroups, chats, videoconferences, or face-to-face. They were to cooperate on different tasks that referred either to shared or to unshared knowledge. The results show a relationship between the task type and the communication environments. Depending on the degree to which the tasks require the exchange of knowledge different environments proved to be useful. Besides, communication behaviour differed in various settings and different behaviours contributed to task performance.

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Creating powerful learning environments in the corporate world to facilitate transfer of research on learning and instruction into practice Peter Rosseel, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Educational research acknowledges the divide between research and practice. Problem -solving Research and Development has been suggested as an appropriate model to bridge this gap. The goal of this study was to introduce four topics of research on learning and instruction to (create an environment to) solve current problems of practice in the corporate world with regard to the human side in change processes. Results show that use and ownership by practitioners of the research topics can be obtained. However, autonomous use to solve similar or new problems within this domain is rare or non-existent. In this paper we will analyse the possible reasons for this, discuss the opportunities and limitations of forms of research-practice collaboration and make suggestions on how to compensate for some of the limitations. We will also show that the results of our study can contribute to bridge the gap between educational research and classroom practice. C5

27th Aug

11:00 – 12:20

Room BIO G E

Paper Presentation CAN TECHNOLOGY FACILITATE NEW FORMS OF COLLABORATION? Chair:

Stefano Cacciamani, University of Padova, Italy

Internet communication technology and higher education learning experiences Heather Kanuka, University of Calgary, Canada Integration of Internet communication technology in the learning process has been perceived as a solution to identified problems by a growing number of higher education institutions around the world. Implicit in the decision to use Internet technology is the assumption that the Internet has the capacity to transform the learning experience in positive ways. While it may be true that transformations brought about by Internet technology enhance certain aspects of the learning experience in positive ways, it may also be true that it diminishes others. The purpose of this study was to increase our understanding of how Internet communication technologies are reshaping higher education learning experiences. Outcomes of this study were twofold: (1) the development of a theoretical framework for eLearning that recognizes the non-neutrality of Internet technology and (2) identification of ways that Internet communication technology is reshaping learning experiences in higher education in traditional Western Canadian Universities. Cooperation scripts – A conceptual analysis of research on traditional and computer-supported collaborative learning Ingo Kollar, University of Tuebingen, Germany Frank Fischer, Eberhard-Karls-University Tuebingen, Germany Friedrich W. Hesse, Eberhard-Karls-University Tuebingen, Germany This paper presents a conceptual analysis of cooperation script approaches from two different research traditions: The more traditional field of research on cooperative learning and CSCLresearch. The main questions are: (1) What are central conceptual components of cooperation scripts? (2) In the empirical literature, what are the main objectives of providing learners with cooperation scripts? (3) What are the specific contributions of the research traditions to get a better – 159 –

understanding of cooperation scripts and what points of cross-fertilization can be detected? In order to answer these questions, we reviewed empirical research literature on CSCL and instructional research on cooperative learning. As a major result, we suggest to bring the two research lines together in order to develop cooperation scripts for CSCL accounting for both supporting communication and inducing learning activities which are more strongly related to higher-order thinking and learning. Consequences for research and practice are discussed. Collaborative argumentation at secondary school: Learning argument in computer-based and face-to-face environments Lia Litosseliti, University of London, United Kingdom Laurie Hirsch, University of London, United Kingdom Jeanne Cornillon, University of London, United Kingdom Masoud Saeedi, University of London, United Kingdom This paper focuses on research conducted in the UK as part of a European project on the learning of computer-supported argumentation at secondary school (SCALE). Quantitative and qualitative methods were used, to explore students’ learning of argument in two environments: using computers and face-to-face. Quantitative analysis examined the richness, elaboration, balance, coverage, and coherence of students’ arguments, without showing significant differences. Qualitative analysis of students’ interaction in both conditions focused on interaction around social relations, interaction management, task management, opinions, argumentation, and the exploration and deepening of the debate. A positive finding was that students engaged in more (counter)arguments than opinions, and in more exploring/deepening than simply expressing arguments. Further, argumentation and exploration/deepening of arguments was more extensive face-to-face than in computer-based debates. The lack of visual cues in the computer-based debates did not seem to hinder social relation interaction. We propose a combination of specific computer-based and face-to-face argumentation elements, towards enhancing collaborative learning. Learning and development – Exploring a fifth dimension learning system Berthel Sutter, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden Carina Andersson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden Rosita Andersson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden The aim of the study is to explore how individual learning occurs in an activity system designed for learning and how learning relates to development – how the individual participants are learning as well as how the activity system is being developed. The individual learning trajectories of the first grade pupils, high-school students, and the undergraduates shows that the students have been learning during a three-months period. They cover the content of their respective curriculum, but they learn other things as well. The development of the whole activity system during four years is seen in several ways – more partners involved, better organisation, and becoming nodes in several international networks of learning. A theoretical and educational contribution of the paper is an analysis of the relation between learning actions and learning activity, and the educational consequences this has for education.

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C6

27th Aug

11:00 – 12:20

Room PSY 2 C

Paper Presentation STUDENTS' CONCEPTIONS IN DIFFERENT DOMAINS

Chair:

Silvia Caravita, CNR, Rome, Italy

Changes in students’ explanation of seasons during exposure to different frames of reference Nalini Chandra, University of Toronto, Canada This study extended previous research about misconceptions in astronomy and investigates how students’ explanations of seasons change as they are introduced to the concept from a variety of frames of reference over seven days. The instructional study was designed to utilize a computer simulation that would present students with an egocentric view of seasonal change from a variety of latitudes on earth. The results showed how students’ previous exposure to exocentric perspectives of seasons limited their understanding and reinforced misconceptions. By day seven, the majority of students had abandoned their misconceptions and successfully coordinated egocentric explanations of seasons with exocentric explanations. This study showed how computer simulations can be used to present concepts from frames of reference that would otherwise be difficult for students to experience. In addition, it has important implications for instruction as it demonstrated how some frames of reference may limit students’ understanding and support misconceptions. The particulate nature of matter: How understanding develops in 12- to 18-year old Erzsébet Korom, University of Szeged, Hungary Based on a large sample, the research presented used both qualitative and quantitative methods and was extended to background variables to investigate the stages in the development of the understanding of the particulate nature of matter and the factors influencing the process of conceptual change. Context, misconceptions, relationships between the knowledge on particles and other variables (gender, family background, academic achievement, and school related attitudes) were analysed along with teachers’ judgement on their students’ knowledge. The sample (N=900) comprised of four age groups (12, 14, 16, and 18-year-olds) and three school types (elementary, secondary academic and secondary vocational). The instrument administered assessed the knowledge and application of the particle model; all students received the same test. Further data were collected through interviews and student and teacher questionnaires. The results show a connection between the understanding of the particle model and the length of science education, school type, attitudes to school subjects, and context. Conceptually, qualitative differences were identified between the knowledge of 12 to 14-year olds and that of 16-year old students in secondary academic education, but, as regards the application of the particle model, it proved to be problematic even for 16- and 18 year-olds. Elementary school children’s understanding of adaptation and the emergence of new species Kayoko Inagaki, Chiba University, Tokyo, Japan Eiji Morita, Osaka Kyoiku University, Japan Giyoo Hatano, University of the Air, Tokyo, Japan

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This study examined the “spontaneous” understanding of adaptation and emergence of new species in elementary school children who have not been taught evolution formally. Fifty-seven 5th-graders of an elementary school in Japan were given a questionnaire consisting of a plausibility judgment task consisting of 20 statements regarding the evolution of animals, for each of which respondents were asked to judge its plausibility on a five point scale, and a description task consisting of three open-ended questions about the origins of the human species and others. Results indicated that a majority of the children judged plausible the notion of dynamic adaptation of animals' body structure, but did not accept the possibility of mutation nor of immediate transmission of acquired features. It was also found that the children possessed a strong belief that humans evolved from monkeys, not a creationist view about the origin of the human species. Analysis of student’s conceptual patterns about human respiration: Which degree of coherence in their conceptions? Joëlle Vlassis, University of Liege, Belgium Annick Fagnant, University of Liege, Belgium We first try to find different levels of conceptual patterns from the confrontation of two questions about the function of respiration: one open-ended (non inductive) and one closed question (explicitly inductive). These analyses showed that students’ conceptions are spread across a continuum which goes from initial pattern that seems to constitute the “naive conceptual framework” to “scientific patterns” where students present a coherent integration of the function of the respiration and of the processes involved. The first pattern is characterized by a very vague conception of the function (“we respire in order to live”), often associated with a misconception of the role of blood and with a great importance attributed to the heart and the lungs (for example, “the “oxygen” arrives at the lungs and the heart and, after, goes out of the body”). This pattern evolves towards a more precise idea of the function and of the role of blood and toward a growing move of the localization from the lungs to organs or cells. At the same time, the importance attached to the heart decreases. Other results are actually under way. C7

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO 1 D

Paper Presentation ASSESSMENT OF THINKING SKILLS Chair:

Carmen Vizcarro, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain

Computer-supported formative assessment in mathematics – Developing skills through adaptive testing Andrea Kárpáti, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary Kornél Varga, Association of Hungarian ICT Teachers, Budapest, Hungary MOVELEX is a complex computer-based environment for constructing tasks and tests with the use of animation and rich visual imagery. Teaching content is collected in a central database that serves as a pool for teachers to construct different types of assessment tools. New educational potentials of MOVELEX were revealed in a teaching experiment that will be discussed in our presentation. In the experimental groups teachers evaluated the tests in detail, analysing the timeline and records on trials and corrections for each item. Thus sophisticated teaching strategies could be developed that helped overcome hidden learning difficulties. Experimental groups – 162 –

manifested significantly better results in the post test then control groups. The presentation will describe the testing instrument for mathematics, discuss the benefits of computer-supported assessment and provide examples for improving skills in mathematics. The experiment proved also that the usage of MOVELEX definitely enhanced the students will and inspiration to learn. Developing problem solving abilities in technology- supported pedagogical practices Yeung Lee, University of Hong Kong, China Nancy Law, University of Hong Kong, China Problem solving is considered to be one of the most important competencies in the 21st century identified by education policy makers all over the world (SCAN 1991, OECD 1997, NCREL, 2000). Here problem solving is not defined as the close-ended type of problem solving commonly found in academic studies, but the kind of authentic problem solving that professionals are expected to engage in. It is generally believed that to help students develop such abilities requires pedagogical innovations supported by the appropriate use of technology. The key research question for this study is to examine such innovative technology-supported practices would lead to the development of problem solving abilities in preparing students for the challenges of life in the 21st century. Preliminarily results indicate that with the help of information communication technology students do not only actively engage in problem solving but also demonstrate a high level of metacognitive awareness during the process. Assessing pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching higher order thinking Anat Zohar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel Noa Schwartzer, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel The aim of this study is to develop and validate a qualitative assessment instrument designed to measure pedagogical knowledge in the context of teaching higher order thinking. Examples of categories include the following: Cognitive level of tasks presented to students; variety of thinking skills addressed during the lesson; whether or not teachers engaged their students in metacognitive thinking, and the extent to which the teacher uses the "language of thinking". Data collection took place during two sets of classroom observations, one before the beginning of the course and the other after its completion. Inter-rater reliability was 85% or more for all categories. A comparison between the analysis of the early and late classroom observations showed considerable gains in all categories, thereby establishing construct validity. The new assessment instrument may be useful for assessing teachers' initial knowledge and for assessing the effects of professional development courses in this field. New teaching and learning goals in science education require alternative HOCS-promoting assessment methodologies Uri ZolIer, University of Haifa, Oranim, Israel The essence of the current reform in science education, worldwide, is a purposed effort to develop students’ HOCS capability; i.e. question-asking (QA), critical thinking (CT), system (lateral) thinking (ST), decision-making (DM) and problem (not exercise!) solving (PS), at the expense of the so far dominant ‘delivery’ of LOCS-oriented knowledge.In response to the LOCS teaching – HOCS learning paradigm shift challenge, we have recently developed, implemented, field tested and evaluated innovative, HOCS-promoting courses, teaching strategies and assessment methodologies in science teaching. Selected “representative” research-based case studies (in Israel and the US) and findings will be presented and critically discussed in terms of the implications for – 163 –

future science teaching and instruction for ‘HOCS learning’ and what it should take in science teaching and teacher education. Our research findings suggest that the switch from contemporary LOCS, algorithmic teaching – to HOCS-promoting evaluative learning, aiming at transfer is rocky but, nevertheless, feasible. It can and should be done. C8

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO G A

Paper Presentation DEVELOPING TEACHING COMPETENCES Chair:

Anna Maria Ajello, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy

Reflection across communities of practice: Similarities and differences Catherine Beauchamp, McGill University, Canada Lynn McAlpine, McGill University, Canada This study addresses the disparity in the literatures on reflection by distinguishing different communities of practice that focus on reflection. An underlying premise of this analysis is that different communities of practice have differing purposes for and thus perspectives on reflection. Questions considered in this study include the issue of whether there is a common framework for reflection suggested in the literatures. The language used to define and describe reflection in texts representing different communities was examined. The results of the study provide a conceptual framework for reflection that distinguishes communities of practice and shows relationships in their definitions of reflection. The value of the analysis lies in the resulting framework which allows comparisons across the boundaries of the communities and provides a meta-language for discussing reflection that transcends these boundaries. Novice and expert teachers’ perceived benefits and difficulties of project-based learning (PBL) Orna Fallik, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Bat-Sheva Eylon, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Sherman Rosenfeld, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Although PBL (Project-Based Learning) is a constructivist teaching-learning strategy with significant educational potential, teachers need support to successfully implement this strategy in their classrooms. Our goal was to identify the perceived benefits and difficulties of novice and expert PBL teachers, in order to lower the teacher anxiety of novice teachers and to improve the in-service PBL program. The study included 57 novice teachers and a seven-year case study of expert PBL teachers. We found that after their initial PBL workshop (as learners), novice teachers perceive many more benefits than difficulties for their students, but many more difficulties than benefits for themselves (as teachers). These difficulties represent teachers’ anxiety to implement PBL. However, after guided PBL implication in their school, the anxiety level of expert teachers drops. Expert PBL teachers transform many of the perceived difficulties of the novice teachers into challenges to be solved. This perspective leads the expert teachers to develop specific tools and strategies for successfully managing PBL. Implications for improving professional development programs are suggested.

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Preservice teachers’ use of a classroom case Angela O’Donnell, Rutgers University of New Jersey, USA The goals of this study were to examine a) how preservice teachers actually use a case and what kind of knowledge they use when discussing a case; b) how discussions of a case might be influenced by the materials available; and c) how the individual contributions to a group and subsequent recall of group discussions were related. Groups of 3 students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) Control; 2) Behaviour; 3) Distributed; and 4) Massed. Groups differed in the number of ideas generated and in the degree to which they shared ideas during discussions. Discussions requiring problem solving were more extensive than those involving description and students focused on procedural elements of the case and evaluations during discussions. The nature of the case and additional material available influenced how students worked with the case and influenced the nature and quantity of the discourse about the case. Factors influencing teaching choice: Development and validation of the ‘fit-choice’ scale Helen M. G. Watt, University of Western Sydney, Australia Paul W. Richardson, Monash University, Clayton, Australia Declining numbers of teachers in the teaching profession have prompted calls for research about factors which influence people’s decision to teach. This study reports the development and validation of the new ‘FIT-Choice’ [Factors Influencing Teaching Choice] scale, using data from first-year undergraduate Education students (N=298) at a major university in Sydney NSW Australia. The scale also assesses perceived deterrents to choosing teaching as a profession. Major influences on the choice of teaching as a career are reported, as well as the extent of candidates’ agreement about ‘deterrents’ to choosing teaching commonly voiced by the media. Our scale integrates findings from previous studies with emphases from existing motivational models (specifically the Expectancy-Value framework), in developing factors for inclusion in the FITChoice scale, thereby providing an integrative framework based on motivational theory for future research. C9

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO G B

Paper Presentation EXPLORING MOTIVATION: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT STUDENT ENGAGEMENT? Chair:

K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, USA

Self-exploratory motivations for learning: A new concept in motivation research Avi Assor, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel Haya Kaplan, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel Yaniv Kanat-Maymon, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel Ariel Knafo, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel Maya Cohen, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel This study focused on three types of self-exploratory motivations for learning that were not studied systematically until now: (1) Occupational interest exploration; (2) Occupational aptitude exploration; and (3) Experience oriented exploration. In the first type, students study because they – 165 –

want to know if the domain they study can interest them as an occupation. In the second type, students study because they want to know if they have capacities that would allow them to cope well with the challenges posed by occupations related to their studies. In the third type, students study because they seek new experiences - with no direct implications for future oriented decisions. 293 Israeli students completed instruments assessing the three motivations and other variables. Results of SSA analyses indicated that students clearly distinguished among the three types of self-exploratory motivations and various reasons or goals for learning posited by SelfDetermination and Achievement Goals theories. Understanding student engagement as a function of the emergent structure of learning activities Flavio S. Azevedo, University of California, Berkeley, USA Bruce L. Sherin, Northwestern University, USA Andrea A. di Sessa, University of California, Berkeley, USA We model student engagement as a function of the “space of possibilities,” or the territory that students are likely to explore in a given activity. Although such a territory is constructed by the joint action of teacher and students, repeated trials across several contexts allow us to capture regularities in this construction process. By developing a terminology for describing such regularities (i.e., the activity’s territory), we seek to understand student engagement based on the structural features of the activity’s territory, e.g., the nature of the “places” in which students find themselves, the number of places students can “visit,” the “pathways” connecting these places, and so on. We use our terminology to describe what features of a territory make for engaging explorations. Lastly, we illustrate our approach by explaining differences in engagement patterns observed in two representational design activities. Improving learning, fostering the will to learn through engagement with school Sue Fullarton, Australian Council for Educational Research, Victoria, Australia While student engagement with the intellectual work of schools is a primary goal of education, it is not the only goal. Engagement with school, in this study measured as the level of participation in a range of extracurricular activities, can foster an attachment that is reflected in positive outcomes both educationally and socially. This study used student and school-level data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth program to investigate the effects of background and contextual factors such as gender and socioeconomic level, and teacher and school factors, on student engagement. Initial analysis found that a number of background variables were correlated with engagement. The effects of the background variables were examined using multi-level modelling techniques, to account properly for the hierarchical structure of the data. Although the amount of between-schools variance accounted for was not high, it was significant, and it indicates that it matters which school a child attends. Is believing in effort a key to improving basic abilities? Angelica Moè, University of Padova, Italy Francesca Pazzaglia, University of Padova, Italy Rossana De Beni, University of Padova, Italy Elisa Angeretti, University of Padova, Italy The present research studies the effects of instructions which stress an entity or incremental view of personal ability in a cognitive test measuring spatial abilities. An improved performance by subjects induced to take an incremental view was hypothesized. 120 students were divided into – 166 –

three groups (entity theory, incremental theory and control) following the instructions given. They were administered the MRT (mental rotation test) in two parts. Between the two parts, they received one of three kinds of instruction. Results confirm that subjects induced to think in an incremental way improved their performance between the first and second administrations of the test. This improvement was greater for subjects low in spatial abilities. While some general differences were found between males and females, this improvement occurred independently of gender. No improvement was observed for the entity and neutral instructions groups. Educational implications for how to praise students are suggested. C 10

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO G C

Paper Presentation COGNITIVE ISSUES IN LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION WITH TECHNOLOGY Chair:

Campbell McRobbie, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Embodied knowing in virtual environments Gloria Dall’Alba, University of Queensland, Australia Robyn Barnacle, RMIT University, Australia Educational programs in higher education have traditionally focused on imparting knowledge and skills. More recently, this focus has been challenged. Where once knowledge was thought of as foundational and absolute it is now seen as situated and localized into various 'knowledges'. At the same time, the status of the body has taken on renewed significance in epistemological debates, where the situatedness, or embodiment, of the knower has become a key factor in understanding the nature of knowledge. In contrast, the body has become notable for its ostensible absence in many of the virtual worlds students encounter through developments in information and communications technologies (ICTs). Situating the body in relation to new ICTs is important, however, if we are to understand how, and to what extent, worthwhile learning occurs in on-line environments. In this paper, we adopt a phenomenological perspective in exploring implications of embodied knowing for ICTs in higher education programs. Learning-by-exploration in a hypermedia system: An exploratory study about the cognitive prerequisites Jérôme Dinet, University of Poitiers, France What abilities should be initially developed by an end-user (e.g., young pupil) to use hypermedia systems with efficacy? In a recent exploratory study, we examined relations between some cognitive abilities (i.e., prerequisites) and performances of young learners in an information search task in a hypermedia system. Three main cognitive abilities (i.e., cognitive prerequisites) of 31 pupils recruited in Grade 5 were assessed by three standardised tests: Intellectual abilities were evaluated with the WISC-III (Wechsler, 1991); counting span was evaluated with the non verbal test created by Case et al. (1982) and Siegel and Ryan (1989); reading span was evaluated with the test called “la pipe et le rat” elaborated by Lefavrais (1989). Results showed that if learners in Grade 5 can effectively acquire referential knowledge by searching for information in a CD-Rom, this acquisition is significantly related to the initial General and Verbal abilities.

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Hypertext disorientation and learning achievement: The effects of graphica overviews, prior knowledge, and self-concept Thiemo Müller-Kalthoff, University of Bielefeld, Germany Jens Möller, University of Bielefeld, Germany In a sample of 82 university students working on a hierarchically structured hypertext about the psychology of memory, we tested how domain-specific prior knowledge and the self-concept of computer-related ability affect perceived disorientation and learning outcomes as a function of access to a navigational aid. The findings emphasize the need to include both learner variables in studies investigating the effects of navigational aids. Participants provided with a graphical overview experienced somewhat less disorientation, particularly those with high prior knowledge. The acquisition of factual knowledge was largely dependent on the interaction of the overview condition with the two learner variables. Access to the navigational aid was only associated with improved retention in participants with high prior knowledge if they also had a high self-concept. However, a deeper understanding of the subject matter (i.e., more structural knowledge) was not achieved simply by providing users with a graphical overview. The role of expert and novice tutors in distributed and traditional problem-based learning Joerg Zumbach, University of Heidelberg, Germany Peter Reimann, University of Sydney, Australia Peter Spraul, University of Heidelberg, Germany This study investigates the role of a tutor in traditional as well as distributed Problem-Based Learning. We examined whether a tutor should use expertise in facilitating small group problem discussion or not. In a first experimental condition the tutor acted as a moderator providing no information regarding the problem. In a second condition, the tutor provided learners with his expertise and corrected wrong statements or answered direct questions. Results suggest that learners assessed the setting more positive and achieved higher scores in a final test when the tutor imparted his knowledge. The motivation of the learners was generally high and there were no differences between the two experimental groups. After the session learners were asked how sure they are about their knowledge. We were able to show that they were more certain in the “moderation”-condition. Results also suggest that intensive tutoring helps to overcome several problems in computer-mediated distance education. C 11

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO 1 G

Paper Presentation ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION Chair:

Kirsti Lonka, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Why do first-year medical students compile a portfolio? Erik Driessen, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Cees P.M. van der Vleuten, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Jan van Tartwijk, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands Jan Vermunt, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

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The ability to reflect on his own action is seen as an important skill for a doctor. A thorough introduction of the portfolio planned in the early stages of their studies seems to be the way to train medical students in reflection. The Maastricht Medical School designed a portfolio system by transposing the experience with portfolio systems outside and inside medical training to a situation of first-year medical students. During academic year 2001-2002 242 first-year medical students compiled a portfolio. Student and mentor experience was collected by semi-structured interviews. The majority of students were of the opinion that analysing one’s competences in a portfolio was instructive and meaningful. With regard to learning how to reflect and recognise learning needs, however, mentor coaching proved to be necessary. The results thus far show that the portfolio is a worthwhile addition to existing assessment and learning tools. How can we assess complex achievements? The case of employability in English higher education Peter Knight, Open University, United Kingdom Higher education is primarily concerned with complex learning. The notion of ‘complex’ learning refers to that which is (a) advanced (b) not determinate (c) usually slow to grow. The view that higher education should enhance student employability implies fostering those achievements that employers value. Although certain groups — engineering, medical and legal employers, for example, have distinctive expectations, research shows that they also value a set of general, complex achievements. Some feel that employability and the values of higher education are in conflict but this analysis suggests otherwise — there is no need for employability and good learning to be at loggerheads. Two important questions for higher education remain: how to we promote such achievements and how do we assess them? The first has been discussed elsewhere (http://www.open.ac.uk/vqportal/Skills-Plus/home.htm). The second is the subject of this paper, which argues for a differentiated approach capitalising on the different strengths of high-stakes and low-stakes approaches to judging achievement. Portfolios and the development of reflective thinking Helen Krige, RAU University, Auckland Park, South Africa Sarah Gravett, RAU University, Auckland Park, South Africa This paper reports on the findings of an action research project that aimed at using portfolios to facilitate reflection and develop a reflective disposition with the intention to foster not only learning within the course, but also lifelong learning. The research participants were student teachers enrolled in an undergraduate course at RAU University in Johannesburg, South Africa. These students developed a portfolio in which they reflected on salient issues regarding their learning. Data was collected through an analysis of the portfolios using the data analysis method of Dick (2002). The findings indicated that the successful utilisation of portfolios involving reflection requires that explicit guidelines be negotiated with students. Further, engaging in reflection gradually led to a more positive attitude towards learning, which fostered ownership of learning; promoted better understanding of the self and more informed career decisions; encouraged metacognitive thinking and self-directed learning; and enhanced deep learning enabling substantiated opinions.

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Factors influencing the succes of large scale introduction of electronic portfolios in higher education Jan van Tartwijk, Wes Holleman, Fried Keesen,Wilfred Rubens and Robert-Jan Simons, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Electronic portfolios are popular in higher education. However, practise is often disappointing. Using theory on educational change, success-fail factors are identified for innovations using electronic portfolios. Data were gathered at Utrecht University, where about 50 bachelor programs use electronic portfolios. A smoothly operating electronic portfolio-system and management support are important conditions for success, but are not enough. Differences between more and less successful programs can be related to the number of students and teachers involved in the innovation; differences in culture between the programs; and the extent to which educational processes have been (re)designed. C 12

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO 1 E

Paper Presentation TEACHER EDUCATION Chair:

Michal Zellermayer, Levinsky College of Education, Israel

Students’ and supervisors’ experiences of postgraduate research Paul Ginns, University of Sydney, Australia Linda Conrad, Griffith University, Australia Paul Ramsden, University of Sydney, Australia Michael Prosser, University of Sydney, Australia Theory in student learning at the undergraduate level justifies the hypothesis that certain kinds of learning contexts will lead to better postgraduate research student outcomes. This paper reports initial findings from large scale surveys of Australian postgraduate research students and supervisors, focusing on the factor structures of student and faculty experiences measured by responses to postgraduate research experience questionnaires. Alternative models of the structures of both instruments are described using confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability analyses confirmed that the proposed dimensions of both instruments had good psychometric properties. Similarities between student and supervisor experiences of the same research training environments are identified. Teacher applicants’ motivation for their studies and future profession: Effects of sociocultural features Lars-Erik Malmberg, University of Oxford, United Kingdom The present study investigated sociocultural effects (gender, parents’ educational level, religiousethical commitment) on Finnish teacher student applicants’ motivation for their previous studies according to the trichotomous goal theory of Elliot (1999) and their motivation for the teacher profession on an intrinsic-extrinsic axis (the TCAM, Malmberg, 2002). Mastery approach study goals predicted intrinsic professional motivation (e.g., enjoying teaching), and performance avoidance study goals predicted extrinsic professional motivation (e.g., earning respect and meeting expectations of parents). Religious-ethical commitment positively and moderately predicted study – 170 –

mastery goals, and negatively and moderately performance goals and avoidance goals, suggesting a buffering role of belonging to a certain sociocultural educational context in which those beliefs matter. Intrinsic teacher motivation predicted high entrance exam points of applicants. Gender and age effects were observed, but no effects of parental educational level. Validation of student selection process for admission to a college of teacher education Zipora Oshrat, Gordon College of Education, Israel Tsafrira Shur, Gordon College of Education, Israel The process of selecting candidates for admission to institutes of higher education is a subject of controversy for the different agencies involved: the Council for Higher Education, university and college authorities, the Ministry of Education, the political system and other organizations involved in the socialization and integration of groups and individuals into society. Selection procedures vary greatly and include those that are liberal and open versus those that are conservative and rigid, each of which is anchored in social, economic, political and other considerations. The open approaches enable all candidates to begin their studies without having to go through any prior selection process but demand that the students satisfy the standards the institute sets for them. This is actually a long term self-selection process, satisfying the demands throughout the whole period of study enables the students to complete their studies successfully and receive a degree. This approach is mainly associated with open universities throughout the world. At the other extreme there are institutes of higher learning that use rigid selection criteria that include minimum scores on different kinds of psychometric examinations, minimum grades in the matriculation certificate and, sometimes, a personal interview. The accepted premise of these institutes is that the first two, considered to be more objective, are generally better at selecting potential students. Colleges that use interviews generally use them to assist in the decision to accept or reject students but not as the crucial factor in the decision. The role of the supervising teacher: Perceptions of student teachers and their supervising teachers Maureen Rajuan, Achva Academic College, Israel This paper presents research based on a focus group interview technique developed for the purpose of improving relationships between student teachers and their supervising teachers. The findings provided the pedagogical advisor with knowledge about the needs of both parties. Two groups (one of teachers and one of students) participated in a workshop designed to bring expectations concerning the role of the supervising teacher to awareness. When the results of each group were compared, it was found that both students and teachers view the giving of feedback as one of the most important roles of the supervising teacher. However, it was also found that the teachers and the students differ in their perspective concerning the hierarchy of the student-teacher relationship. These seemingly opposing expectations can be seen as complementary in light of the stages of integration into the profession of beginning teachers: a supportive relationship is a pre-requisite to the absorption of practical and professional teaching knowledge.

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C 13

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 2 A

Paper Presentation STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN SCIENCE Chair:

Kaarina Merenluoto, University of Turku, Finland

Elementary-school children’s ability to distinguish hypothetical beliefs from statements of preference Irene-Anna Diakidoy, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Christos Ioannides, University of Piraeus, Greece The study examined second- and sixth-grade students’ ability to understand hypotheses as beliefs that can be empirically verified and to differentiate them from preferences. Students considered scenarios of disagreement about hypothetical beliefs or preferences, decided whether the validity of each expressed belief could be determined, and justified their decisions. Half of the cases represented biased beliefs while the rest represented neutral beliefs. The majority of the students, regardless of age, proposed empirical tests as a way of determining the validity of a belief statement. However, younger students did not distinguish preferences from hypotheses and proposed empirical but subjective tests as a way to determine their validity. In comparison, older students were better able to recognize that preferences are legitimately variable and to propose empirical tests for hypotheses only. Implications for the development of scientific reasoning and the teaching of science are discussed. Children’s roles and use of evidence in science: An analysis of decision-making in small groups Jane Maloney, University of London, United Kingdom Shirley Simon, University of London, United Kingdom This paper reports the findings of a research project concerned with children engaging in scientific argumentation. Discussion activities were designed to enable groups of children to use evidence when making decisions. The findings show a variation in the success with which children construct scientific arguments; some groups debate most of the evidence and consider a range of options, whilst others explore a limited range of options and discuss only the evidence that supports their choice. Analysis of the data indicates that the roles children adopt have an important influence on how evidence is used. Drawing of the work of Belbin (1981), a Management Theorist who explored the roles adopted by members of successful teams, key roles emerged and a taxonomy of children’s roles was devised. This paper explains the characteristics of these roles and their effect on the way the groups use evidence when making decisions in science. Learning complex cognitive skills: The role of self-explanation in vacious learning Silke Schworm, University of Freiburg, Germany Research has shown that learning from worked out examples is of major importance for initial acquisition of cognitive skills. However, the learning outcomes depend on how well the learners explain the examples to themselves (self-explanation effect). A worked-out example can be interpreted as the description of a problem solving process performed by an expert. The modeling of a behavior or a cognitive process can also be understood as such an expert performance. In this context self-explanations could be regarded as an activity to symbolically code the key behaviors – 172 –

of a models performance. For the current study, a computer-based learning environment on argumentative skills has been developed using video-based examples as an expert model. Different promptings of self-explanations have been implemented to foster symbolic coding. Results show that self-explanations foster learning of complex cognitive skills and principle based promptings thereby showed the most favorable effects. A longitudinal study of children’s growth in knowledge and reasoning in science Russell Tytler, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia Suzanne Peterson, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia This paper describes results from a study which has been tracing twelve individual children's science learning across their first four years of schooling. The paper describes children's performance on open exploratory interview tasks which require them to generate or evaluate knowledge claims against evidence. The findings demonstrate the nature of the interrelationship between knowledge and scientific reasoning, and the way these change over age 5-9. This includes the possibilities for idea-evidence coordination that open up as children acquire domain specific conceptual and procedural knowledge, and the constraints offered by lack of these. The use of varied, open exploratory tasks, in different content domains, over a number of years, allows insights into the different dimensions of the way children coordinate knowledge claims and evidence, including approach to exploration, design, and analysis. A framework describing children’s epistemological reasoning is proposed to characterise children's changing approaches to exploration and knowledge construction. C 14

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO G D

Paper Presentation INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY WITH PEDAGOGY Chair:

Päivi Tynjälä, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

An integrated model of multimedia learning and motivation Hermann Astleitner, University of Salzburg, Austria Evidence from multimedia research is far from being conclusive because of producing confounding effects or of neglecting parameters. A major role within this shortcoming plays motivation, as traditional multimedia theory is mainly based on cognitive factors widely ignoring that motivation influences significantly learning resources. Within this paper, an integrated model of multimedia learning and motivation is presented which is based on current research in the field of educational psychology. The model can stimulate research, as it represents an expansion of the most popular cognitive theory of multimedia learning from Mayer (2001). It integrates additional variables, such as motivation, attention, cognitive engagement, and reflection. The model can also provide instructional designers with a summary of main factors that have to be considered when developing multimedia-based learning environments. The creation of an Internet site for developing novel pedagogies, accompanied by a collaborative action research Ida Heilweil, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel Ilana Margolin, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel – 173 –

To enhance the integration of technology among faculty members in the spirit of professional learning communities (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Grossman et al., 2000) and of CSCL (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994; Salomon, 2000), the Levinsky Digital Learning Center (LDLC) was established, based on models developed by the University of Central Florida, Orlando (CD&WS) and the University of Illinois (WTG). The center initiated the creation of an Internet site, focusing on developing novel pedagogies for educating teachers for the 21st Century. The site development has been carried out by a team of 25 teacher educators, led by an expert in pedagogy and an expert in educational technology and accompanied by a collaborative action research. Through the continuous development process, team face-to-face and digital discussions, transcripts were qualitatively analyzed. It was found that most participants were eager to let technology enhance their pedagogic elaborations, and that each participant defined his/her goals for the site according to his/her own unique needs. The development of the site, aided by the use of digital communication, helped in the creation of a community of learners who strove together to build new pedagogical concepts. The relevance of instructional goals for the design of instructional materials Tina Schorr, University of Tuebingen, Germany Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tuebingen, Germany Katharina Scheiter, University of Tuebingen, Germany The process of designing instructional materials is often guided by the belief that materials can be generally classified as being good or bad. However, this appears to be too simplistic as the quality of a specific instructional design can only be evaluated against an instructional goal. In an experiment on mathematical problem solving with children from primary schools, we compared two designs of instructional materials based on examples whereby the designs either emphasized the examples’ surface or structural features. The results showed that the instructional materials differed in their effectiveness, i.e., the surface-emphasizing example set was superior when solving equivalent problems (i.e., same surface features as the examples) whereas the structureemphasizing example set supported transfer, i.e., solving isomorphic problems (i.e., different surface features). Therefore, none of the designs of instructional materials could generally be proven good or bad, rather the quality of a specific design dependent on the instructional goal. Supporting learning from worked-out examples in computer-based learning environments Julia Schuh, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tuebingen, Germany Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tuebingen, Germany Katharina Scheiter, University of Tuebingen, Germany Gerjets, Scheiter and Tack (2000) demonstrated that learners experience difficulties in utilizing instructional examples according to their profitability when interacting with a hypertext-based learning environment. We conducted two experimental studies to examine instructional methods for improving learners’ example utilization. First, we designed a linear condition of the learning environment that contained the same information as the nonlinear-hypertext condition and forced learners to recognize all information available in a predefined order with the goal to reduce cognitive overload due to navigational demands. Second, we fragmentized the examples, asked learner to complete these gaps, and gave them feedback for their answers. This procedure aimed at improving intensive example processing as it may help learners to realize that they lack an in-depth understanding. Providing subjects with linear hypertext increased exampleprocessing time but not their learning performance. Feedback seemed to be useful for learners with low prior-knowledge but they did underrate its profitability. – 174 –

C 15

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 3 H

Paper Presentation ASSESSMENT: WHAT TYPE OF INSIGHT DOES IT PROVIDE? Chair:

Leone Burton, Visiting Professor, King’s College, London, United Kingdom

Dimensional structure of reading assessment tasks in the IEA reading literacy study 1991 and the progress in international reading literacy study 2001 Jan-Eric Gustafsson, Göteborg University, Sweden Monica Rosén, Göteborg University, Sweden The purpose is to investigate measurement properties, in terms of systematic and random sources of variance, of the reading assessment tasks used in the IEA 1991 Reading Literacy study and the PIRLS 2001 study. The study relies on data from the Swedish PIRLS study, which comprises some 5 300 students in each of grades 3 and 4. As an extension to the basic design, not only the PIRLS tasks were administered, but each student also completed one of the two booklets from the 1991 study. This makes it possible to estimate covariances among all the tasks in the two studies through application of missing-data techniques. These covariances are then used to estimate and test confirmatory factor analysis models of the dimensional structure of the complete set of reading tasks. Preliminary results indicate that text type is of importance (continous text versus noncontinous text), as is response type, type of content, and speed of reading. Criterion-referenced evaluation of basic skills as an indicator for school readiness Józsa Krisztián, University of Szeged, Hungary In educational systems where school entrance age is treated flexible the issue of school readiness is of crucial importance. The aim of our research was to create an indicator for school readiness based on the developmental level of basic skills. The mastery of skills serves as the criterion for defining the developmental level of children. A diagnostic map of each subskill can be prepared. Further development of basic skills can be based on this diagnosis. Our cross-sectional study investigates the development of seven basic skills among 23 000 four- to nine-year-old children. The development of these basic skills correlate strongly with each other. A so-called «elementary basic skills index» was calculated to express school readiness and cognitive maturity. Individual differences in basic skills do not necessarily denote intellectual differences. Very often, they only signal different rates of development. This can be compensated for by delaying school entrance and by individualized teaching methods. Reform implementation - Understanding motivations and beliefs of participants and actors in case of a language examination reform in Hungary Éva Major, ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary In Hungary political changes resulted in modernising educational policy, an important step of which is the development of a new national examination system. This presentation outlines a research project, connected to the examination reform in English language, which intended to examine the attitude of participants and actors in the reform procedure. The theoretical background is the political approach of education, which - deriving from public policy analysis - examines the – 175 –

possibilities and techniques of influencing educational changes. The presenter - after a short introduction on delivery and implementation theories - will describe, through the concrete example, the process of identifying relevant actors, using empirical data to examine their motivations, beliefs and possible sources of resistance. Finally some recommendations will be formulated specifying the policy instruments that may be used to help successful implementation in case of all actors of the planned reform. Assessment of learning environment motivational quality from the point of view of secondary and high-school learners Jesús Alonso-Tapia, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain There is a growing body of knowledge about learning environments enhancing learning motivation. However, two questions need to be answered to improve such environments: How much motivational value do students attribute to each particular component of these environments? In what degree is such value mediated by students’ motivational orientations? To answer both questions and in an effort to replicate results coming from previous studies (Alonso Tapia & López, 1999), 630 students, 15 to 17 years old, from three different schools were given two questionnaires. The first included different learning environment characteristics aimed at enhancing learning motivation. Students had to declare how much interest and learning motivation was arisen in them by these characteristics. The second assessed students' motivational traits and orientations: Learning orientation, performance orientation and avoidance orientation. Mean and multiple-regression analysis are being performed to answer the questions. As in previous studies, results are expected to support predictions concerning the first question. However, we expect also that motivational traits and orientations mediate the motivational value attached to the different characteristics assessed. C 16

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 4 P

Paper Presentation LEARNING TO WRITE Chair:

Bianca De Bernardi, University of Verona, Italy

How symbolic is young children’s writing? Anna Both de Vries, Leiden University, The Netherlands Adriana G. Bus, Leiden University, The Netherlands Children (N=96) wrote and drew two sets of 8 words, one set with a particular purpose (making labels) and the other without (dictation). There were three age groups: 3½-4, 4-4½, 4½-5. The findings show that children as young as 4 years are able to produce graphic forms that include characteristics of writing. However children only understood written signs to be symbols from the age of 4½. From that age they used letters instead of drawing to denote a particular meaning. Using letters often coincided with a basic understanding of the alphabetic-phonetic principle but children’s knowledge of letter-sound rules rarely passed some incidental knowledge. The developmental dynamics of reading and writing Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Helena Rasku-Puttonen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland – 176 –

Kaisa Aunola, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Jari-Erik Nurmi, University of Jyväskylä, Finland The aim of the study was to investigate prospective relationships between reading and writing performance during the first grade of primary school. The data was collected from 83 Finnishspeaking children who were examined four times on reading, spelling and productive writing skills during the first grade. At the beginning of the school year, they were also tested on letter naming and reading accuracy. The results showed that reading and spelling manifested a reciprocal relationship during the first semester: reading performance increased subsequent spelling proficiency, and spelling skills enhanced subsequent reading. Later on, however, reading predicted spelling in a less reciprocal association. In turn, productive writing predicted subsequent reading performance during the first grade although the reverse was not true. The results suggest that it may be important to emphasize the support which compositional writing may offer to the development of reading. Children's ideas about landmarks in their autobiography of learning to write Nora Scheuer, National University of Comahue and CONICET, Argentina Juan Ignacio Pozo, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Silvina Neira, National University of Comahue, Argentina Montserrat De la Cruz, National University of Comahue, Argentina We study the ways children represent and order on paper the achievements and goals in the processes of learning to write. Sixty children participated in an individual interview, where they were requested to write “as you used to write when you were just beginning to write”. This basic question was repeated for 1-year-intervals until the child’s current age was reached. Subjects, who attended public schools in Bariloche, Argentina, were equally distributed according to school grade (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 4), sociocultural sector (underprivileged and middle) and sex. Category analysis distinguished among the changes children marked (graphically and verbally) in the successive productions they produced to illustrate the learning process. FCA and Cluster analysis showed an ordering from Kindergarten and Grade 1, to Grade 4, in the following dimensions: 1) from simple notational products, to complex products and procedural aspects; 2) from non conventional notations, to the adjustment to conventional writing rules and text meaningfulness; 3) from the inclusion of drawing and numerals, to the focus on writing. The impact of preschool children's invented spelling on phonemic skills Cristina Silva, ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal Margarida Alves Martins, ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a training program, that was intended to lead children to evolve in their invented spelling, on their phonemic skills. The participants were 107 preschool children who were divided into six groups (3 experimental and 3 control groups) in function of their invented spelling: pre-syllabic, syllabic, and syllabic with phonetization. Phonemic skills were evaluated with an initial-phoneme classification test, an initial-phoneme deletion test and a phonemic analysis test. The experimental groups were equivalent to the respective control groups in terms of the children’s intelligence and the number of letters they knew. All the children in the experimental groups evolved in their invented spelling, after the training programme. This evolution entailed enhanced performance in phonemic classification and analysis tests in all the experimental groups. In the deletion test, syllabic children with and without phonetization also progressed whereas pre-syllabic children did not. – 177 –

C 17

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 3 L

Paper Presentation SOCIAL COMPETENCE VERSUS ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR Chair:

Gavriel Salomon, University of Haifa, Israel

Working in cooperative group to destabilize the school violence roles Rosario Ortega, University of Cordoba, Spain Thomas Fox, University of Seville, Spain Rosario Del Rey, University of Seville, Spain The Learning together a second languages Programme has been a curricular intervention to prevent school violence working in the English classes of Spanish Secondary Students. The keys of this instructional model were the constructivism and the narrative thought as a cognitiveeducative model (Smorti, 2001). The programme was developed in four classes of a Secondary School with pupils who were from 12 to 15 years old. In order to evaluate the intervention, we administered a questionnaire of nominations, concretely the reduced and adapted version (Sutton & Smith, 1999) of the Participant Questionnaire Rolls (Salmivalli et all, 1996) before and after the intervention. After the programme, the not implicated on school violence roles had increased, as well as the defending of victims’ roles. However, the aggressors and, very specially, the supporters and active collaborators of the aggressors had been reduced. Judgements and justifications of 6-7 years old about reflective racial tolerance Rivka Witenberg, University of Melbourne, Australia Sabrina Chung-Voon, University of Melbourne, Australia Laura Hogan, University of Melbourne, Australia Using a cognitive developmental model, this study assessed the pattern of judgements and justifications about racial tolerance in 6-7 years old children. Based on responses to stories relevant to the Australian context about people from Indigenous, Asian and English backgrounds, it also aimed to assess whether these patterns were affected by the content of the stories (context) and a set of behaviours dimensions (belief, speech, act). Analysis revealed that neither context nor behavioural dimensions mediated tolerance judgements. That is, the majority of the children made tolerant judgments, irrespective of the context and behavioural dimensions, rejecting all forms of intolerance. It was also found that tolerance was commonly supported with fairness and sometimes empathy and that children who were able to reflect on the story content with relevant justifications were more tolerant. To promote tolerance, education should focus on developing a strong sense of fairness rather than just empathy with the plights of others. Educational goals for social competence Annemieke Zwaans, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Geert Ten Dam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Monique Volman, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands This paper focuses on enhancing the social competence of students in vocational education. Based on a recently developed theoretical framework a survey questionnaire has been sent to 1500 – 178 –

teachers to explore their educational aims on social competence. Former research indicated a difference in aims on social competence for two types of students: one of the tasks set in this projects is to test whether vocational education students are educated with a less rich conception of social competence than those in general secondary education. This hypothesis could be confirmed. Moreover other differences between the two types of education and the respective teachers have been explored, such as some demographic aspects and the relation between social competence aims and several educational subjects (language, care, technology and the social sciences). Those results will be discussed as well. C 18

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 2 E

Paper Presentation LEARNING TO READ Chair:

Eduardo Vidal-Abarca, University of Valencia, Spain

Learning to use a new (invented) linguistic skill: Implications for language acquisition and cognitive skills learning Sara Ferman, Levinsky Academic Colleges of Education, Israel Elite Olstein, Levinsky Academic Colleges of Education, Israel Avi Karni, Haifa University, Israel In order to investigate the processes and mechanisms that take part in the acquisition of a linguistic skill we followed systematically the process of learning an invented morpho-grammatical rule (IMGR) in 8 adults throughout 10 learning sessions. The results show that learning of the IMGR makes use the same mechanisms as the acquisition of non-linguistic skills. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are: 1) Learning (accuracy and RT) of a new linguistic skill: a) requires mass and long practice, b) is fast at the beginning but decreases, c) demonstrates significant performance gains between-sessions rather than within sessions (consolidation phenomena) d) is preserved for long-term. Learning to use repeated items of the IMGR is relatively easy and resemblances simple skills learning. However, the generalization to new items is a multi-stage process that is dependent upon the abstraction of a) a phonological rule using of procedural (implicit) processes, b) a semantic rule using of declarative processes, c) a syntactic rule that is implemented through proceduralization. Examining the development of English reading proficiency in three language groups using multiple sources Anne Hafner, California State University Los Angeles, USA Sharon Ulanoff, California State University Los Angeles, USA The aim of this paper is to use multiple sources of reading data to describe the developmental trajectories of English reading proficiency in various language groups and to ascertain whether developmental patterns vary depending on the source of language data. It also aims to determine which sources of language data are most reliable and valid in assessing and predicting reading proficiency. Using the nationally representative ECLS-K database, three language groups were identified: English proficient, language minority and English learners. Findings showed that although all students had very low reading skills in kinder, most of them showed gains by the end of first grade. Although similar overall patterns of development were seen using IRT scale score, – 179 –

language groups showed significant differences in specific skills, depending on the source of data. Implications of these findings for early childhood educators are discussed. Learning to read in multigrade classes in New Zealand: Teachers make the difference Ian Wilkinson, Ohio State University, USA Richard Hamilton, University of Auckland, New Zealand This study tested a theory to account for the slightly lower reading performance of students in multigrade, as compared to single-grade, classes in New Zealand elementary schools. We compared the ranges of students’ reading abilities, nature of teachers’ groupings, and other aspects of instruction in carefully selected pairs of multigrade and single-grade classes from each of 9 schools. We found little evidence of a greater range of abilities in multigrade classes, little evidence of less homogeneous groups for reading, and little evidence that teachers had difficulty catering for the needs of students. These findings provide little support for the explanation that the slightly lower performance of students in multigrade classes is because they are given less direct and/or less precisely tailored support for literacy learning. Whether a class is multigrade or singlegrade matters less than the nature and quality of instruction in the classroom, whatever the withinclass variability in achievement. Subsyllabic processing in Dutch beginning readers: Exploring the role of frequency Gwen E. Wolters, Leiden University, The Netherlands Wim van den Broeck, Leiden University, The Netherlands Wied Ruijssenaars, Leiden University, The Netherlands The role of subsyllabic processing in reading development has been explored in various ways. From this, three ideas on using subsyllabic units whilst reading can be distilled: one attributing no function to subsyllabic units, one suggesting an explicit function of onsets and rimes, and one indicating an implicit role for subsyllabic units based on distributional aspects in reading a language. In this Experiment we examined whether bigram frequency influenced reading speed and accuracy in Dutch beginning readers. Results indicate that bigram frequency does influence reading speed and accuracy. In addition, data showed that this frequency effect tended to play another role at different reading levels, which was also reflected in reading styles of the children. These findings have considerable consequences for reading instruction. C 19

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room BIO 1 C

Paper Presentation COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE ASPECTS OF LEARNING

Chair:

Barbara Arfè, University of Padova, Italy

Guiding learning processes in schematising activities in early childhood education: Possibilities and effects on children’s mathematical thinking Eelje Dijk, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Bert van Oers, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Jan Terwel, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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This paper reports empirical findings regarding learning processes during schematising activities in early childhood education (4-6 year-olds). This study is a part of a longitudinal research project conducted in the Netherlands. The main purpose of the whole project is to investigate the influence of early schematising (at age 4-6) on their later mathematical development (at age 7-8). We hypothesise that more dynamic and reflective forms of schematisations (like diagrams of growth and maps with direction marks on it) have a bridging function between the concrete practical thinking of young children and their later mathematical development. The paper focuses on the effects of guided schematising activities in play contexts of the younger children on their actions and learning (N=75). The data are collected during this first year of our study and include field notes, tests scores and video recordings. The outcomes are compared to the performances of a control group (N=60). The development of the profile of social-emotional characteristics and special educational needs Miriam Fossen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Joost Meijer, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Aryan van der Leij, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands This study focuses on the development of an instrument to measure the social emotional characteristics and special educational needs of students in the last grade of primary education. The instrument was administered in a student and a teacher form. Results showed that students who were in need of structure were rated by the teacher as lacking in interest for school and showing disturbing behaviour and were rated by themselves as lacking a positive attitude towards school. Teachers rated students who needed emotional support as withdrawn and emotional instable. These students described themselves as lacking self-confidence. Although intelligence was the most important predictor of secondary educational track level, lack of interest for school also explained some extra variance of the criterion. Secondary schools adapted their education by offering subject matter related support, extra time for fulfilling assignments, remedial teaching and anxiety-reduction training. Anxiety as a factor affecting planning performance among children with attention deficits Timothy C. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Georgia Panayiotou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus This study examined whether the poor performance of children with attention deficits on actionplanning tasks are entirely due to attention or magnified by co-existing anxiety. A group of 98 children (grades 4 and 6) were assigned to an ADD group and a control group (n = 49 in each) based on their scores on a variety of attention measures (DN-CAS, 1997) and teachers’ ratings of attention (Attention Checklist; Das, 1986). The two groups were matched on age, gender, parental education, Non-verbal and Verbal IQ and Language and Math achievement. Participants were divided into high and low anxiety groups using a number of anxiety measures. The two groups were compared on the Crack-the-Code (C-t-C) action-planning task (Parrila & Papadopoulos, 1994) on latency and accuracy measures. Analyses indicated that the failure of executive inhibition that deteriorates the performance of ADHD populations on executive function tasks is directly linked to attention deficits and not to comorbid anxiety.

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Grade retention, a measure dealing with school failure: An analysis of efficiency on academic achievement Marianne Schuepbach, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Gérard Bless, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Patrick Bonvin, University of Fribourg, Switzerland This paper presents information about the aims, procedures and outcomes of the project Grade retention: an analysis of a measure dealing with school failure of the Swiss National Science Foundation. Among measures dealing with school failure, grade retention is still frequently applied in Switzerland and in other European countries. The first part of this paper provides a short overview of the project’s intentions and design as a longitudinal study involving children from primary schools in the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland, taking into account the specificities of linguistic regions. The second part will focus on the final results of this study. We will concentrate on questions about the effects of retention on academic achievement of primary grade students. In the third part, a short international comparison of results will be presented, as well as some implications for the research and the practice relative to the efficiency of grade retention as a measure to deal with school failure. C 20

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 3 F

Paper Presentation LEARNING IN THE EARLY YEARS OF EDUCATION Chair:

Neville Bennett, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

The development of printed word recognition in Greek Athanasios Aidinis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Although several models for printed word recognition exist in the literature, their limitation lies on their focus on English orthography, which has atypically low grapheme-phoneme consistency considered with other alphabetic orthographies. In this study, the strategies used in the first stages of reading development in Greek – a transparent orthography - are examined, in order to test the idea that reading acquisition in Greek follows a similar to English developmental path from simple to complex phonological rules. This hypothesis was examined into two studies. In the first study children were asked to read words and non-words of different difficulty. The results showed that from early on Greek children rely on simple phonological strategies in reading but they have problems when reading words that involve variable but predictable orthographic patterns. Children’s reading strategies for these words were examined in the second study, showing that in order to read words that involve complex phonological rules Greek children do not rely only on phonological strategies. School program influences on learning to read in the early years of school John Ainley, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia Marianne Fleming, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia This paper reports on the influences of school programs in the early years of school on students reading development. It is based on data from two cohorts of nearly 5,000 students in more than 150 Catholic schools in Victoria (Australia) that were part of a system-wide reform. Assessment – 182 –

data were gathered at the beginning and end of Years 1 and 2 and at the end of Years 3 and 5. Data about school and class teaching, and about each student, were gathered by surveys during each year. Achievement growth was analysed in a series of multi-level analyses using student-level data and school/classroom-level data. Student progress in reading during Year 1 was influenced by the approach to teaching, individual intervention, the time devoted to literacy and student engagement in reading. The effect of the approach to literacy teaching during Year 1 endured but individual intervention effects did not. The development of the relationships between representation of quantities, verbal oral and arabic representations for two-digit numbers Marie Collet, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Jacques Grégoire, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium This research studied the developmental order of the relationships children construct between the analogical representations of quantities, the verbal oral representation and the Arabic representation for two-digit numbers. This study confronted Fuson’s (1997), Dehaene’s (1992) and McCloskey’s (1992) models. The relationships were tested on a sample of 120 first- and secondgrade children. Twelve tasks have been individually administered to each child. The data were analyzed using the Rasch model to order the relationships between the three kinds of number representations on a developmental continuum. The results provide new answers to the debate on the relationships between the three kinds of representations of two-digit numbers. They allowed us to refine the developmental model of the abilities underlying the base-ten system initially developed by Fuson et al. (1997). This model can be useful in understanding learning of two-digit numbers. Young children’s learning in early education settings and at home: Parent’s understandings and practices Judith Loveridge, Massey University, New Zealand The education of children in the early years (birth to eight) New Zealand occurs in two separate educational settings: early childhood settings and junior primary. This paper presents findings from fieldwork which focussed on young children’s learning in each of these settings, specifically a kindergarten and year 0 and year 1 of primary school, and in daily life at home. In particular the paper examines parents’ understandings and practices concerning their young children’s learning. It also examines their statements about their relationships with their children’s teachers in supporting their learning. The data obtained from interviews with parents and observations are also discussed in relation to the dominant understandings and practices in each educational context of the kindergarten and the primary school. Developing independent learning in children aged 3-5 David Whitebread, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Holly Anderson, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Penny Coltman, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Charlotte Page, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom This paper presents interim findings from a project exploring the development of independent learning in English Nursery and Reception classrooms. The development of the range of abilities involved in becoming a self-regulating, independent learner are conceptualised in terms of reasearch and theory relating to the development of 'metacognitive' abilities and dispositions. In – 183 –

the first year the project has explored the work of 16 teachers/educators working with children in the 3-5 age range, using a range of methodologies including questionnaires, interviews and reflective dialogues (based on video recordings of particular classroom episodes), reflective journals and child assessment checklists. The paper will present interim findings in relation to the nature of independent learning abilities which appear to develop in this age range and the impact of a range of pedagogical practices. C 21

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 4 S

Paper Presentation LEARNING ABOUT SOCIETY, DEMOCRACY AND RIGHTS Chair:

Gunilla Petersson, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute, Sweden

Multiculturalism in education: A case of a diverse minority Adina Bar-El, Achva Academic College, Israel The purpose of this presentation is to describe an example of a multicultural minority group that succeeded in establishing cultural, political and religious diversity in its various educational networks. In addition, an important research method for the study of the history of education will be presented: the analysis of children's periodicals. The specific case is the Jewish educational system that existed in Poland between the two World Wars in which eight separate networks coexisted side by side. The research was based on content analysis of Polish Jewish children's periodicals that were edited by teachers and published by the different educational networks. The periodicals were written in different languages according to the language of instruction of each network. All existing issues were analyzed. The presentation will describe this unique educational polysystem, highlighting the differences and similarities of the subject materials, the trends and the educational principles. Research based on children's periodicals will be illustrated. Experiences in school and thoughts about society. A comparison of adolescents of seven nations Monika Buhl, University of Jena, Germany Connie Flanagan, Pennsylvania State University, USA The study concerns the association of teaching practices and school climates with adolescents’ thoughts about society. As school is an institutional context with a high socializational impact on all adolescents we aspects clear correlations with the perception of society. Analyzes are based on a survey of more than 5600 12 to 19 year-olds from seven different countries (Australia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, Sweden and the United States) focussing on various aspects of young peoples’ experiences of membership in the institutions of their society and their beliefs about their rights and obligations. Comparison of thoughts about society and described school experiences show different levels between the countries. While some of the found correlations between both are due for all countries, other show nation specific patterns. Discussion will focus on democratic education in school as way to transfer the sense of community to the following generation in different democratic societies. Teaching democracy through multidisciplinary points of view Leah Segal, Gordon College of Education, Haifa, Israel Ruth Richter, Mofet Institute, Israel – 184 –

The paper describes a holistic approach and an interdisciplinary curriculum in enhancing critical thinking and education for democratic values and behavior at the collage level. The curriculum includes academic subjects such as the humanities, sciences, social sciences, communication and art. The theoretical framework has two bases: The first derives from eighteenth century rationalism and scientific thinking, while the second derives from the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. Both produced social economies and a political structure of mass democracy. The focal point here is that critical thinking is a prerequisite for the existence of democratic values and principles in a post-modern society. The program integrates the didactic strategies of McPack on the conception of critical thinking and the dialectic technique of Richard Paul. It is built in a modular fashion, in which each subject stands on its own, and is presented by various lecturers from different domains. C 22

27th Aug

11:00 - 12:20

Room PSY 3 I

Paper Presentation PERSPECTIVES ON LEARNING AND ACHIEVEMENT Chair:

Helmut Niegemann, University of Erfurt, Germany

From theory to practice: Looking for achievement goal theory in classrooms Jennifer Archer, University of Newcastle, Australia To what extent does achievement goal theory figure in teachers’ beliefs about students’ motivation, and to what extent does this theory make sense of students’ classroom behaviour? Teachers were interviewed about their beliefs and observed as they taught. Even though goal theory acknowledges that students juggle academic and social goals, this study has revealed a goal not discussed in the educational psychology literature: students will work not because they want to please the teacher but because they want the teacher to appear competent. In effect, the balance of power between teacher and students has shifted – as described by sociologists like Foucault. Harackiewicz and her colleagues have called for a re-thinking of goal theory to provide more explanatory power in “real” classrooms. The present study adds to this re-think by identifying a goal that plays a major role in shaping students’ relationship with teachers and mediates their willingness to work. Cooperative learning and goal coordination Daphne Hijzen, Leiden University, The Netherlands Paul Vedder, Leiden University, The Netherlands Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands This study aims at improving our understanding of the relationship between the goals that students in secondary vocational education want to achieve and the quality of their cooperative learning. It is assumed that misregulation during cooperative learning may be caused by goal frustration or by a mismatch between imposed goals and students' personal goals. For example goal conflicts may arise when students are expected to cooperate with their peers but are engaged in the pursuit of individual goals. We expect that the importance that students attach to certain goals and the extent to which they are able to reach these goals influence their willingness to engage in cooperative learning. Subjects were 2000 students in secondary vocational education in the Netherlands. The – 185 –

study has a longitudinal design with three moments of data collection. It is hypothesized that goal choice and goal frustration influences the quality of cooperative learning. Preliminary findings suggest that students with high rates of goal frustration experience troubles while working on group tasks and their attitude towards cooperative learning seems less positive. Theoretical background, method and results of data-analysis of this study will be presented and discussed. Goal-dependent processing of pupils’ attributes – Another facet of teachers’ expertise Sabine Krolak-Schwerdt, Saarland University, Germany Ralf Rummer, Saarland University, Germany An experiment investigated the effects of different information processing goals on the attention and the recall of information about pupils. Experienced teachers (experts) and university freshmen (laymen) were presented case reports about pupils. The reports were either read under the instruction (a) to form an impression of the personality of the described pupils or (b) to predict their future development. Reading times for each case report were recorded. Afterwards subjects had to recall the case reports as accurate as possible. The results show that, depending on their processing goal, experts are able to switch their attention and memory for pupil information from top-down strategies involving the activation of prototypical categories about pupil personalities to bottom-up processing which consists of focussing characteristics of the individual child. Thus, processing goals appear as moderators in teachers’ judgements. We conclude that the ability to flexibly adapt to different processing goals is one important facet of expertise. The effects of attitudes at the level of the student, the classroom and the school on gender differences in achievements Eva van de gaer, University of Leuven, Belgium Jan van Damme, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Agnes De Munter, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium In this study we investigated whether attitudes at the classroom and school level influenced students’ achievements over and above the attitudes at the individual level. Furthermore we tested whether the attitudes at the group level had differential effects on the achievements of boys and girls. Data are used from a longitudinal project in which a cohort of more than 6000 students was followed during secondary school. Since the data are hierarchical we use multilevel analysis. The results showed that the attitudes of the classroom are important and differential effects of attitudes at the classroom level on the achievements of boys and girls were found.

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Keynote Addresses Room

27th

Aug

12:25-13:25

BASSI 3 F

The multiple sides of the same moon: learning, teaching and instruction between science and common sense Felice Carugati, University of Bologna, Italy Congresses, symposia, poster sessions and keynotes are unceasingly opportunities for producing, discussing and disseminating in the realm of scientific arena new perspectives on classical themes, new themes, or original interpretations on ongoing phenomena. The tool box of scholars grow rich so far and new ways of understanding become available. Learning, teaching and instruction are by no means impervious to these socio-cultural dynamics, for several reasons. One of them which will be presented and discussed here is the underlying issue of intelligence, as a matter of both scientific and common sense debate. Over the last twenty years the research on the dialogue between science and common sense interpretations about what intelligence, learning, teaching and instruction really is, has sensibly improved. The theory of social representations has been playing a major role in this line of research. A brief excursus on the theoretical framework and empirical results about these issues will allow to understand how people concerned (e.g., teachers, parents) construct and share specific ways of interpreting the same topics of scientific research, borrowing from and reorganising scientific models as original socio-cognitive tools, or lay theories. These tools allow these categories of people to cope with everyday experience (as teachers and/or parents) of individual inequalities in intelligence, and learning abilities, both at school and at home. The technologies of information and communication (TIC) in the everyday life is a phenomenon which allow us to discuss how well-established lay theories of intelligence and learning are provoked to reorganise themselves, in order to cope with the scientific interpretation of intelligence and learning embedded in the TIC. Empirical results will be presented as a basis for a discussion of how people both benefit from and resist to scientific models of learning and instruction. Room

BASSI 2 D

Emotional and cognitive aspects of motivation Suzanne Hidi, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada At the last EARLI Conference, during an invited symposium on motivation, the panelists argued for the reconceptualization of motivation in context from self-regulatory, socio-cognitive and socio-cultural perspective. They suggested that by conceptualizing motivation in context, we may be able to capture the dynamic ways in which learners and context interact in classrooms. Whereas some of the presenters focused on a basically cognitive perspective, others, namely Boekaerts and Efklides, argued that learning situations influence learners emotional functioning and intrinsic contexts, suggesting that learners’ motivation should also be considered from these perspectives. My talk continues to develop the argument that the emotional aspects of motivation and learners’ subjective experiences need to be integrated with the more prevalent cognitive approaches. More specifically, I consider how various motivational variables (e.g., goals, self-efficacy and interest) can contribute to a multidimensional approach of motivation that considers our cognitive and affective functioning together with current and relevant neuropsychological data.

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Room

BASSI 3 E

Studying processes in writing and in reading literary fiction: Outcomes for resear-chers & learners Gert Rijlaarsdam and Team: Huub van den Bergh, Martine Braaksma, Michel Couzijn, Tanja Janssen, and Marleen Kieft, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands The study of writing processes now has a tradition of about 30 years. In this presentation, we will show highlights from our studies, applying think aloud protocols in two ways. We use them to study effective processes in students in secondary education, in two domains: writing argumentative texts, and interpreting literary texts. Research questions are: to what extent do processes differ in different circumstances (for instance: writing in L1 and writing in L2), and: to what extent are these differences related to the quality of the result (text quality, quality of interpretation). The other way we use think aloud protocols is in designing teaching sequences. Especially when introducing new tasks, students seem to learn more from observing other students (listening or viewing audio- or videotaped processes from peers) than from executing these tasks themselves.

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D1

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO Aula Magna

EARLI Invited Expert Panel DOES PEACE EDUCATION DURING CONFLICT MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE? Organiser: Chair: Discussant: Panelists:

Gavriel Salomon, University of Haifa, Israel Gavriel Salomon, University of Haifa, Israel Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Switzerland Yifat Biton, Tel-Hai College, Israel Hava Shechter, High School Kiryat Motzkin, Israel Irit Bar-Natan, Kibbutz Maagan Michael, Israel Ilana Lustig, Kibbutz Geva, Israel

Peace education takes place all over the world. However, little research and evaluation is conducted, raising the question of its effectiveness, particularly to programs in regions of intractable conflict where peace education faces numerous grave challenges. This symposium is devoted to the discussion of research findings from four studies carried out on peace education programs with Israeli and Palestinian youngsters. The first study by Shechter examined whether visits by Jewish youth to Auschwitz affects their empathy towards Palestinians. Two contrasting hypotheses were tested – that identification with suffering increases sensitivity and empathy or that increased monopoly over victimhood decreases empathy. The second study by Lustig examined whether studying a foreign, remote conflict serves as an analogy to a local conflict in which one is involved, and thus leads to new insights of the latter. The third study by Bar-Natan examined whether personal friendships that develop during meetings of Israeli and Palestinian youth generalize to become new ways of perceiving the “other” collective. The forth study by Biton examined the way that participation in a peace education program affects the conceptions of “peace” by Israeli and Palestinian youngsters. Discussion focuses on the more generalizable lessons to be learned from this research and its applicability to anti-racism programs in other contexts. D2

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 L

EARLI Invited Panel CONTEXTUALISING COGNITIVE ACCELERATION Organiser: Chair:

Philip Adey, King’s College, London, United Kingdom Philip Adey, King’s College, London, United Kingdom

Cognitive Acceleration projects in mathematics, science, technlogy, and other subject areas have been producing evidence since 1985 of effects on the development of general cognitive processing abilities of students of various ages in the school sytem. The claim has been that the subject context (science, mathematics, or other subject matter) is relatively unimportant and that what matters are the general psychological approaches through cognitive conflict, social construction, and metacognition. However, there is a demand from within the educational system for more than abstract cognitive development, and in this symposium we will describe some experiments and thinking which may link the principles of general cognitive acceleration to the specifics of either academic achievement or of motivational development. Adey will describe work in which the – 189 –

‘pillars’ of cognitive acceleration are expressed through the science concepts which are required by the UK national curriculum for 7 and 8 year old.s. Kuusela and Hautamäki will describe a large scale implementation of cognitive acceleration across contexts in one small city. Von Aufschnaiter approaches the problem from the perspective of conceptual development in physics, and Shayer will describe the application of cognitive acceleration to the UK national numeracy strategy. Case and science curriculum objectives in the primary school Philip Adey, King’s College, London, United Kingdom We have found that teachers of Year 1 children (aged 5 and 6) take quite easily to the principles of cognitive acceleration, since their education has stressed pedagogy appropriate for the cognitive and social development of their pupils. With this work, we do not pay undue attention to the content objectives of the curriculum. However, with slightly older students in Year 3, the curriculum becomes more pressing and in science we meet the old problem of primary teachers’ lack of confidence. In a new project funded by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust, we have been designing and trialling activities which call on the ‘pillars’ of cognitive acceleration (cognitive conflict, social construction, metacognition) but set them in the context of science concepts which are specified in a nationally produced ‘workscheme’ for Years 3 and 4. So far we have data only from a year in which we were, at once, developing the activities, introducing them to teachers, and running a quasi-experiment testing their effectiveness at promoting both cognitive development and science understanding against a control group. Under these conditions, no significant differences were found in either cognitive gains or science understanding, although there are some curious correlations. We will discuss possible reasons for this in terms of the methodology of combining development and trials, and the psychology of ‘critical windows’. Conceptual acceleration in physics education? Claudia von Aufschnaiter, University of Hannover, Germany Intervention programmes of CASE and CAME aim at raising general levels of thinking amongst school students of different grades. Tasks and methodology are designed to challenge children’s concepts of science and mathematics. However, there is still little known in detail about how children’s conceptual understanding of science subjects evolve and how their concepts develop trough instruction. The study presented uses video-documentation of in total 45 students from grade 8 and 11 working in groups of three on physics tasks in the domain of electrostatics. Category based investigations of students’ activities and utterances were used to analyse how concepts were developed and applied to tasks. Categories developed from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective demonstrate that in more than 50% of time spent on tasks students did not refer to any kind of conceptual based understanding. After exploring contextual aspects students became more and more able to develop an intuitive rule-based understanding which enabled them to tackle classes of phenomena in a specific manner without being explicitly able to express the underlying rule (concept). In such phases explicit formulation of conceptually based explanation of phenomena was generally not understood by the students. Concepts usually only evolved if students had developed and experienced an intuitive rule in respect to contents of the concept. These results stress the importance of well structured learning environment including several concrete experiences in respect to the development of intuitive concepts rather than teachers giving “good” conceptual based explanations.

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CASE and CAME in Finland – Good results and surprising outcomes Jorma Kuusela, National Board of Education, Finland Jarkko Hautamäki, Helsinki University, Finland CASE (Adey, Shayer & Yates, 1995) and CAME (Adhami, Johnson & Shayer, 1998) were used in this intervention study. Subjects were 6th grade pupils (276, 12 years) of all 14 primary schools (19 classes) of a small city. The design was a randomised model with a pre-testing, an immediate posttesting, a one year delayed post-testing, and a three year delayed post-testing (blind testing). The pupils were randomised within classes into CASE, CAME and control groups. The intervention lessons (40 hours per ‘class’) were done in eight ‘classes’. The measurement scales were the Learning-to-learn Assessment Scales (Hautamäki & al, 1999), Science Reasoning Tasks (Volume and Heaviness, Pendulum, NFER, 1979), and Thessaloniki Maths Tests (Demetriou & al., 1996). The results showed statistically significant and substantial, and lasting effect-sizes for CASE and CAME, but differential time-tables for the effects (first CASE and then also CAME). The surprising outcome is that there were positive effects also in the control groups. The self-concepts and motivational orientations seem to have ‘sleeper’ effects: pupils who showed little improvement showed less agency-effort, they used deep processing less often, their self-esteem was lower and their self-handicapping scores were high. There were also other relevant differences, e.g., the schools seemed to support different developmental trajectories. The design, measurements, and results will be presented and discussed and the results of the replication study (2000-2003, Hautamäki, Kuusela & Wikström) are presented. Mathematics for 6 and 7 year-olds: Is what lies beneath the surface more important than procedures? Michael Shayer, King’s College, London, United Kingdom Mundher Adhami, King’s College, London, United Kingdom Anne Robertson, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, United Kingdom Current applied research in Hammersmith & Fulham schools seeks to extend Adey et al.’s CASE@KS1 project (Let’s Think!) for 6 year-olds into their mathematics work, followed by the year when they are 7 when the thinking lessons they receive (about one every ten days) are just in the context of mathematics. The problem for the team is that these children are already provided with a mathematics programme by the Government called the National Numeracy Project. The downside of this is that the daily specified lessons are focussed on objectives — usually one per lesson. The upside is that a three-phase model for the Numeracy lessons is recommended —wholeclass introduction, individual pupil work, and the whole-class plenary. In principle this could allow for much constructive pupil activity, and even some metacognition in the plenary. Yet this rarely is the outcome. One does not find in the literature much applied and applicable research that focuses on the underlying reasoning patterns of mathematics for 6 and 7 year-olds. But there are plenty of publications on children’s understanding of maths. We draw on research by Confrey and Bryant for multiplicative relations, Nunes for correspondence reasoning, Vergnaud both for the structure of additive and multiplicative relations, and Cable for the importance of measure in the development of mathematical understanding. In this presentation instances will be given showing how concepts of measure, spatial relations, and one-many relations can be addressed using Vygotsky for many aspects of class management, and on Piaget for inventing cognitively challenging structures for lesson creation.

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D3

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 D

SIG Invited Symposium BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN CONSTRUCTIVISM AND SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVES? Organisers: Chair: Discussants:

Stella Vosniadou, University of Athens, Greece Ola Halldén, Stockholm University, Sweden Gunilla Petersson, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute, Sweden Erno Lehtinen, University of Turku, Finland Roger Säljö, Göteborg University, Sweden

During the last ten years there has been an intensive discussion about context and about the influence of context on human behaviour. From the part of the sociocultural perspective there has been a severe criticism of the constructivist approach on the ground of not taking contextual conditions into consideration, for example in analysis of interview data. The constructivists, from their point of view, have critizised sociocultural research for, among other things, not being able to account for the transfer of knowledge from one situation to another and for individual differences in performance in the same situation. The symposium aims at bringing these matters to the fore by presenting research carried out within a constructivist approach with the pretensions to take individual conceptual development as well as situational factors into consideration. Revising conceptual knowledge in sociocultural contexts: A case of understanding of the banking business Giyoo Hatano, University of the Air, Chiba, Japan Conceptual change can be described as radical changes in the truth-value (i.e., how strongly it is believed to be true) of a range of connected pieces of knowledge or beliefs. From a cognitive perspective, I propose two contrasting mechanisms for conceptual change, one local and bottomup, the other goal directed and top-down. One type of mechanism is the spreading of truth-value alteration: When new inputs change the truth value of some pieces of knowledge, the changes bring about changes in the truth-value of other connected pieces, which may induce further changes in their neighbours; in the long run, there can be a drastic change in almost all pieces through continued spreading and recurring effects as well as further inputs to facilitate the truthvalue alteration. The other type of mechanism might be called deliberate belief revision. A representative subtype of this is similar to the process of comprehension monitoring or repair, in which existing beliefs are consciously and deliberately rewritten (and new beliefs are introduced) in the process, in order to remove recognized incongruities. Both mechanisms are prepared and induced by sociocultural contexts. Knowledge accumulated through participating in sociocultural activities is a necessary condition for conceptual change. In addition, developing individuals are exposed to or become aware of incongruous pieces of information when engaging in forms of dialogical interaction. I present examples clearly showing the influence of sociocultural contexts from our study of alternative conceptions of the bank and their changes during the interview. On the analysis of qualitative data. Restating the concept of alternative frames of reference by a critique and a reanalysis of results reported by A. diSessa and B.L. Sherin Ola Halldén, Stockholm University, Sweden Helge Strömdahl, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden – 192 –

An importunate question with regard to research on conceptual change is what there is that changes. In 1998 Andrea diSessa and Bruce Sherin published a paper in the International Journal of Science Education in which they dispatch most of the research carried out on conceptual change on the ground that the concept of concept used in this research is unclear and do not take into account the complexity of the concept of concept. In specific, they argue, that concept, as a system for classification, is all too primitive to account for what happens when we are talking about conceptual change. Instead, they propose a theory which makes a “fundamental break from much prior work” in physics education, they say. Here, we will challenge that “fundamental break”. A reinterpretation of the interview data they present is performed from an intentional perspective, i.e. what is the interviewee trying to accomplish during the interview. Acquisition vs. participation or acquisition via participation? Stella Vosniadou, University of Athens, Greece Irini Skopeliti, University of Athens, Greece Popi Eikospentaki, University of Athens, Greece It will be argued that the so-called contradictory metaphors of learning – learning as acquisition vs. learning as participation – are not really contradictory at all. There are many psychological and neurological phenomena that cannot be explained without assuming that knowledge is acquired and resides in the patterns of connections among the neurons in our brains. On the other hand, there is no doubt that knowledge can be acquired through participation, i.e., as individuals participate in the physical and social world that surrounds us. The theoretical arguments for the acquisition via participation metaphor will be supported by the presentation of the results of a series of experiments that demonstrate how tools and external models interact with what children already know to further their understanding of phenomena such as the shape of the earth and of the day/night cycle. Microworlds meet cultural cognition Marianne Wiser, Clark University, USA Tamer Amin, Clark University, USA A number of themes are becoming increasingly prominent in the literature on concept learning in science: the role that pre-instruction knowledge, in the form of image schematic structures, can play in understanding the scientific concepts (e.g., diSessa, 1993; Zietsman & Clement, 1997); how computer environments can be designed to evoke that knowledge and guide scientific knowledge construction (e.g., White & Fredericksen, 2000); and how negotiations between learners can lead to productive convergent understanding as they perform activities in those environments (e.g., Roschelle, 1996). Some areas in cultural cognition echo these themes and provide insights into the cognitive processes through which personal (student knowledge) and cultural knowledge (scientific knowledge) interface. For example, Fauconnier, Turner, and Hutchins explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying the appropriation and use of “cultural anchors” (i.e., cultural artifacts that embody the designer’s scientific and technological knowledge), pointing out that such artifacts constrain novices’ learning trajectories and the sharing of cognitive load during activities in which people interact with the artifacts and with each other. Tomasello, on the other hand, emphasizes the role of joint attention in meaning construction, and sees the learner’s task as recovering the intention behind the teacher’s use of certain symbols (e.g., words). These different strands in the cultural cognition literature can be integrated to provide a theoretical framework in which to start understanding how students learn scientific theories embodied in computer based conceptual models. In this context, however, one must also bridge – 193 –

what Olson and Katz (2001) describe as “the radical discontinuity between the subjective experience and personal knowledge acquired by the child through their own efforts and through their participation in social life, and the institutional forms taken as the known in any advanced society”, that is, because the students’ conceptualization of physical events differs radically from the scientific one, and creates obstacles to their recovering the meanings intended by the models’ designers. This is a case in which Olson and Bruner’s “fourth pedagogy” has to be deployed. The computer models, the curriculum embedding them, and the role of the teacher in meaning negotiations, must be carefully crafted to provide freedom in exploration and collaborative meaning making, an, at the same time, acknowledge the authorative role of teacher and computer models. We will illustrate our approach with an analysis of protocols from a case study involving four eighth-graders learning basic thermodynamics interactively with computer based conceptual models, and a teacher. We will highlight interactions between cognitive processes such as conceptual blends (Fauconnier and Turner), peer collaboration in meaning making, and the authoritative role of the teacher. D4

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 G

SIG Invited Symposium INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND MULTIMEDIA LEARNING Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Helmut Niegemann, University of Erfurt, Germany Helmut Niegemann, University of Erfurt, Germany Joost Lowyck, University of Leuven, Belgium

Instructional Design as a branch of instructional psychology looks after systematic solutions for problems that occur in the course of the planning, developing, implementation and evaluation of learning environments. While teachers in natural classroom settings may sometimes improvise more or less successfully, technology based learning environments must be designed very carefully even (or especially) if the learners are expected to learn self-regulated in the respective environment. Given a bundle of ID theories and models current research comprises theoretical work referring to the relations between different ID theories, the representation of those theories in the minds of instructional designers, as well as empirical studies addressing open questions in the context of specific ID models. The symposium of the SIG 6 Instructional Design aims to present a sample of typical research activities. Attitudes concerning dimensions of basic instructional design decisions: A questionnaire of teachers in higher education Ulrike Rinn, University of Tübingen, Germany This survey aims to analyze attitudes, cognitions and the practical experience of teachers in terms of implicit theories concerning instructional design aspects. These implicit theories are compared with different learning and teaching approaches and recommendations of instructional design models. The basis of the study is a questionnaire that deals nationwide with the projects of the funding scheme “New Media in Education”. The target group is teachers, who develop partially virtual teaching and learning settings mainly for German universities. It can be assumed that most of them do not have systematic didactical knowledge, but comprehensive practical experience. The basis of the survey accumulates a system of categories, that comprise the dimensions of instructional design decisions (Molz & Schnotz) and general categories regarding learning and – 194 –

teaching. The questionnaire concerning the implicit theories, questions at the level of “everyday speech” of teachers. Especially in Germany there is a lack of surveys that examine implicit theories of teachers concerning aspects of the Instructional Design research. With this study we try to identify typical patterns of inconsistencies and lack of implicit theories in terms of instructional approaches. In the next step, the results of the questionnaire will be deepened examined with interviews. Their aim is to collect and analyze the considerations and rationale of teachers during the planning of exemplary learning and teaching scenarios. Later on, the results of both surveys are supposed to be an elementary component for the development of qualification and consulting arrangements for teachers in the field of Instructional Design. Instructional design for university courses: Development, evaluation, and implementation of an online learning environment for plant identification Tobias Bartholomé, University of Muenster, Germany Elmar Stahl, University of Muenster, Germany Courses in plant identification are an essential component of basic university courses in biology. Yet, the natural variability of plants and the required dual-coding of botanical concepts in form of verbal propositions and mental images place severe difficulties on the acquisition of applicable botanical knowledge. Therefore, plant identification is taught as a problem-solving process: traditional learning media, so called keys for identification guide learners through a sequence of dichotomous decision steps until the final taxon is reached. These keys only provide insufficient learner support. In a cooperative project an online learning environment is being developed that aims at overcoming the shortcomings of traditional learning media by introducing a variety of help functions. To meet learners’ demands, the program development is grounded on an extended analysis of the cognitive processes involved in plant identification. Two core components of the learning environment from an instructional design perspective are context-sensitive help materials and a system supporting error analysis. Context-sensitive help is given at any decision step explicating botanical concepts in the context of the taxonomic group at hand: texts are integrated and interactively linked with illustrations in order to foster elaborated mental representations of the botanical concepts. In addition, learners are supported by an error analysis system offering feedback at certain taxonomical levels and enabling a detailed analysis of the course of identification and the errors made. In this paper, the conceptual development and formative evaluation as well as first summative evaluation results from the implementation of the learning environment will be presented. Literature review: Designing ESL hypermedia instruction Song Chiann-Ru, Institute of Secondary School Teachers (ISST), Taiwan ESL Chinese students have difficulties in developing complex learning skills naturally when mastering the usage of verb forms and tenses. To facilitate in helping students acquire complex knowledge successfully, one of the challenges of an instructional designer or system developer is to take into account the development of various kinds of instructional units (cases) to model, coach, and scaffold different learners in order to enable learners to acquire complex knowledge by using contextualized learning skills. It is also essential to provide learners the freedom of making choices. The purpose of this paper is to review recent literature that reveals several important attempts to elucidate the instructional design framework for constructing an ESL hypermedia learning environment. Five grounding themes are addressed and discussed. The suggestions from the literature review provide directions for designing ESL hypermedia instruction and learning environments. – 195 –

Just-in-time information presentation during multimedia learning: Effects on search behavior and learning outcomes Liesbeth Kester, Open University, The Netherlands Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands Jeroen van Merriënboer, Open University, The Netherlands While learning a complex skill using a computer-based simulation (in this study troubleshooting in electrical circuits) just in time information presentation facilitates learning and enhances test performance. Two types of information are distinguished that are necessary to master a complex skill: supportive information and procedural information. The supportive information contains general information of how the learning domain is organized while the procedural information contains task-specific information. A just in time information presentation format is proposed: supportive information is presented before practicing the troubleshooting skill and procedural information is presented during practice. Four information presentation formats were compared in a factorial design with the factors timing of supportive information (before or during task practice) and timing of procedural information (before or during task practice). Eighty-eight third year high school students (37 male, 51 female; M=14 years, SD=0.52) participated in the experiment. Information searching behavior and transfer test performance were studied. Information searching behavior confirms the hypothesis. The students who received the just in time information presentation format showed substantially less searching behavior than the other participants. Findings on the transfer test are less clear due to a bottom effect. A conceptual framework for comparing and integrating instructional design models Markus Molz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany The field of instructional design is characterized by an increasing number of various instructional design models (IDMs) which differ (or seem to differ) from each other under some aspects and which have (or seem to have) similarities under other aspects. This fuzzy set of IDMs is confusing both for practitioners and theorists. Previous comparative analyses were focussing rather on formal criteria, using only a limited set of criteria or drawing on vague concepts or confounded dimensions. Therefore we will present a more comprehensive conceptual framework for analysing, comparing, integrating and generating IDMs. We will show that the complexity of instructional design and technology can be fruitfully understood along a limited set of basic dimensions with defined interrelationships. These dimensions resulting from a meta-analysis of existing IDMs create a tentatively universal “instructional space”. Methods employed in this analysis were facet theoretical phrasing, dimensional thinking derived from systems theory, as well as techniques of domain ontology development. As a result each IDM can finally be represented as a particular profile in the instructional space. This multidimensional framework helps to reveal the degree of coherence or contradiction between instructional prescriptions across different IDMs. Used as a rationale for the selection of an adequate IDM and for principled design decisions it can provide orientation for practitioners and (academic) teachers who are non-experts in instructional design and technology. Going beyond surface differences in terminology, unclear overlaps between IDMs and struggling educational philosophies, the framework could contribute to bridge the widespread theory-practice gap in instructional design.

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D5

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 B

Symposium LEARNING WITH ANIMATION Part 2: Comprehension processes in learning with animations Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Richard Lowe, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany John Kirby, Queens University, Canada

This symposium is part II of a two-part symposium that aims to clarify and integrate the major themes of current research into learning with animation. Animation is widely regarded as a valuable resource for improving learning across a diverse range of subject areas. It has the potential to facilitate various types of knowledge construction (ranging from accepted expert representations to innovative conceptualizations) and thinking (ranging from convergent to divergent). Well-designed animations could encourage deeper forms of learning by helping students to generate more coherent, comprehensive and appropriate knowledge structures. When used to present dynamic content, animations are assumed to facilitate learners’ mental model construction since situational dynamics are explicit rather than having to be inferred. However, explicitness may also have negative consequences such as reducing a learner’s depth of processing or supplying information too quickly for adequate learner processing. So, how can animationbased learning resources be designed so that their potential is realized? Design guidance for the educational use of animation should be built upon a detailed understanding of the specific comprehension process that students engage in when learning with animated resources. These comprehension processes occur at the conjunction of the distinctive properties of animation as a means of representing information and the very particular processing characteristics of human learners. The corresponding cognitive support role can involve direct guidance or provision of an environment in which students can construct their own external animated representations of the content and thus engage in deep cognitive exploration of this subject matter. Reducing cognitive load by delivery features in learning from computer animation Mireille Bétrancourt, University of Geneva, Switzerland Pierre Dillenbourg, University of Lausanne, Switzerland Lionel Clavien, University of Geneva, Switzerland Computers offer animated graphic devices, which seem attractive and efficient to instructional designers. However, the research carried out so far failed to establish clear advantages of using animated graphics over static ones on learning. Among several problems, animations seem to increase the learners' cognitive load, hence reducing the cognitive resources available for learning. Nevertheless, we believe that, beyond these shortcomings, animation can effectively promote the construction of a mental model of dynamic systems, since it provides the transition between steps that otherwise need to be inferred from static graphics. However, animation is transient and thus imposes a heavy memory load to learners who have to keep the previous states in memory. We carried out an experiment to test a device that displays selected frames of the animation on the top of the screen while the animation is running. Two factors were investigated in a factorial design: continuity (continuous presentation vs series of static graphics) and permanence of previous frames (with or without). We expect that permanence of previous frames will be beneficial for – 197 –

learning, both in the discrete and continuous presentation. Second, a continuous presentation will improve performance over a series of static graphics only when the previous steps remain on the screen. Results will be discussed in terms of how learners build runnable mental models of dynamic systems and guidelines will be proposed for the design of effective animation. Spatial and temporal search in learning from animation Richard Lowe, Curtin University of Technology, Australia Recent research casts serious doubts on simplistic notions about the general efficacy of animation for learning dynamic content. Evidence is emerging that the extent to which a given animation promotes learning is highly dependent on the specific design features of that animation and the characteristics of the particular learner who uses it. We currently have little detailed understanding of the design considerations that may be most crucial in producing educationally effective animations. Theoretically, one supposed function of animations is to facilitate the process of mental model construction by making explicit key dynamic components of the referent situation. However, before a given animation can perform this function, viewers must successfully search out the relevant dynamic information it contains. A fine-grained investigation of how learners interacted with a user-controllable animation was conducted to examine information search during the development of a dynamic mental model. Linked recordings were made of subjects’ actions and concurrent explanations while they interrogated the animation in order to help them perform a drawn problem solving task. Analysis showed that initially, subjects’ attention tended to be focused serially upon single features of the display. As they worked with the animation, subjects became increasingly strategic in varying the length, direction, frequency and speed of their interrogation episodes. Subjects tended to use static frames for probing visuospatial characteristics but animated sequences for investigating dynamic change. The findings suggest that when designing educational animations, it is important to facilitate productive spatial and temporal search of the available content. Using simple abstract animations to elicit imagination and reflection in learning Yvonne Rogers, University of Sussex, United Kingdom Animated diagrams are considered to be most effective for supporting the learning of complex phenomena. Animation has been found to be useful for supporting the learning of dynamical processes (e.g. respiratory system), where temporal and spatial aspects of an animation can be designed to show explicitly the relationships and interdependencies between various aspects of a system. In our recent research, we explored how animation can be used to support playful exploratory learning. In particular, we have been developing novel user experiences, where children have to discover and reflect upon aspects of a physical environment or virtual entity, that are re-presented as simple abstract animations. The animations provide explicit representations of invisible processes, that are revealed to the children through their interactions, and which are depicted via a diversity of pervasive technologies. In one project, called the Hunting of the Snark, pairs of children have to find out as much as they can about an imaginary creature (e.g. its appearance, personality, intentions, emotions) by exploring various mixed reality spaces and interacting with it in various ways. The virtual creature never appears in its entirety, but as fragmented animated abstracted forms. The children are required to reflect upon and explain the underlying intentions and behaviours of the Snark, based on their perceptions of what the abstracted animations mean. In another project, called the Ambient Wood, simple abstract animations were used to represent biological processes (e.g. moisture levels in a habitat) which the – 198 –

children, likewise, have to discover and reflect upon. A key research question we are interested in is how and why using animation in this abstract way can facilitate reflection in learning. Animations of thought Daniel L. Schwartz, Stanford University, USA Some animations highlight specific components and transformations of physical events. Other animations portray dynamic representations of physical events, for example, by showing changes to a graph as a physical event unfolds. Rather than portraying events, we have been portraying people’s thoughts about an event. For much learning, the challenge is not replaying the perceptual event so much as knowing how to think about the event. Many people, for example, can imagine a weight falling and accelerating. What they cannot do is imagine how the expert thinks about the event. To help make thinking visible we have created Teachable Agents. Students teach computer “agents” about a domain, and then they can see how the agent thinks when given a problem. For example, with Betty’s Brain, students teach by drawing a concept map. Once taught, Betty can answer questions by animating the flow of inference from one node to another. For example, when taught about a food chain, Betty can answer questions like, “If grass decreases, what happens to lions?”. Using a simple highlighting scheme Betty might show that a decrease in grass causes her to infer a decrease in antelopes, which causes her to infer a decrease in lions. We report several studies on the benefits of thought animations that use Teachable Agents. For example, in a study with college students, we found that the students adopted Betty’s representational structure to organize their own thoughts about cell metabolism. Diagrams that are narratives Barbara Tversky, Stanford University, USA What animations normally do is show change over time; that is, they tell a story, using a sequence of graphics. A survey of textbooks across the sciences, engineering, and the humanities and instructions for assembly or operation shows a small set of narrative scenarios: (a) Large to small (whole to part); (b) structure to function; (c) processes/stages that occur over time; (d) cases from one extreme to another along a dimension. We will characterize these scenarios, including how they are segmented and what graphic devices they use, both pictoric and meta-pictoric, such as lines and arrows. We will compare diagram narratives to other pictorial narratives, such as stained glass windows and comics. Most educational animations, whether concrete or abstract, even visually simple ones, do not improve performance beyond comparable still graphics. Effective graphic narratives may provide guidelines for the creation of effective animations.

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D6

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 F

Symposium LEARNING AND TEACHING THE LITERATURE CURRICULUM. HOW READERS APPROACH LITERARY TEXTS, AND HOW INSTRUCTION MAY ENHANCE LITERARY COMPETENCE Part 2: Factors that influence literary reading and interpretation processes Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Tanja Janssen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Gert Rijlaarsdam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tanja Janssen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Peter Smagorinsky, University of Georgia, USA

In all cultures, reading literary texts is part of the school curriculum. Although the amount of time allocated to reading, interpreting and discussing literary texts varies within and between cultures and nations, introducing students in secondary education into the world of literary fiction is the main focus in all curricula. Literature is an almost ‘sacrosant’, privileged part of the secondary school curriculum: the rationale is not open for debate. Given this position of literature within the curriculum, it is remarkable that the literature curriculum has received so little attention from research in learning and instruction. In this three part symposium, three themes are discussed: a) how students read and interpret literary texts, b) personal and cultural factors that influence literary reading and interpretation, and c) the instructional contexts that may enhance these processes. In Part II of the symposium, the central question is what personal, cultural and text features influence the way students read and interpret literary texts. To what extent are these interpretation processes text dependent? What text features do affect interpreting processes? To what extent do background variables (culture, ethnic background, socio-economical status) play a role in interpreting processes? Six research presentations provide answers from different methodological perspectives. Challenging different worlds – Children’s readings of Astrid Lindgren’s story ”My dearest sister” Eva Maagerø, Agder University College, Norway This paper results from a reception study among 18 children (10 years old) in Norway will be presented. The theoretical framework for the presentation is Umberto Eco’s literary semiotics and Wolfgang Iser’s reception esthetics (Eco, 1979, 1993; Iser, 1972, 1976). These theories are general text theories which give useful background for understanding the dynamic meeting between text and reader. Neither Eco nor Iser has worked explicitly with the child as a reader. In a video interview (later published as book) the child reader has, however, been discussed with Wolfgang Iser (Maagerø & Tønnessen, 2001). This discussion is of great importance for the theoretical framework for analyzing the data in this presentation. The story ”My dearest sister” by Astrid Lindgren was read and discussed individually with the 18 children in the study. Six of the children have a Norwegian background; 12 come from different minority groups in Norway and have Norwegian as their second language. The story is challenging because both a concrete world and a dream world are presented. In the analysis it will be discussed how the children handle the challenge of different worlds in their interpretations of the text. This will be seen in relation to their cultural background and also in relation to a reading profile which is developed for every child. The preliminary results of the analysis show that the reading background of the children is

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of greater importance than their cultural background in their interpretations of the different worlds in the story. Cognitive and emotional responses to short stories Maria Chiara Levorato, University of Padova, Italy The interaction of affective and cognitive components of reading has been evidenced in different researches (Miall, 1989; van Oostendorp & Zwaan, 1994; Gerrig, 1993, 1996; Tan, 1996; Kreutz & MacNealy, 1996; Levorato, 2000). This paper analyzes cognitive and emotional responses elicited by the reading of E.A. Poe’s short story, “The Oblong Box”. The hypothesis was some underlying dimensions capture the nature of the reading of a mystery tale. An Experiment was carried out where readers were invited to judge the short story, using a seven-point scale, with reference to emotional responses such as: Curiosity, excitement, empathy, imagery, interest, memorability, pleasure, pleasure at the ending, surprise, surprise at the ending and suspense. In addition to these emotional responses, readers were also asked to judge some characteristics of the text: Coherence, facility and postdictability. These can be considered Cognitive responses. The participants were seventy-five Italian undergraduates. A factorial analysis using the principal components method was carried out on the 14 responses. The first factor includes curiosity, excitement, interest, memorability, pleasure and suspense, and could be named “Involvement during reading”, since the common feature of the responses is the reader’s tendency to be involved in the story and to solve the mystery. The second factor, “Evaluation of the outcome” includes pleasure, surprise, surprise at the ending and suspense. The third factor, “Cognitive evaluation” includes responses concerning coherence, facility, postdictability and imagery. These responses concern an evaluation of the structural and linguistic characteristics that make the story comprehensible. This factor also includes empathy: When a character’s goals and motivations are comprehensible, and, therefore, when the story is perceived as coherent and postdictable, the reader identifies to some degree with the character. The use of structural equation models to analyze these dimensions evidenced some causal models that explain the relations between the responses, showing the strict relation between emotional and cognitive responses. Cultural diversity as a determinant of literary education Dick Schram, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Marianne Hermans, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands One assumption underlying the efforts to approach literary education from a multicultural perspective, is the interaction of certain text elements with the cultural knowledge of the reader. This raises the question to what extent perceived cultural similarities in narratives (in characters, story setting) enhance understanding and reading pleasure? And, consequently, what instructions can deepen the reading experience? In a study that is still under construction, we chose texts from so-called migrant writers. The texts were presented to 15-16 year old subjects in vocational training. The individual reading of the text was preceded by an instruction to make readers empathise with the main character. The control group received no special instruction. After reading, students answered questions on the appreciation and understanding of the text, sympathizing with the main character, transportation into the narrative, and belief change. Since the study is work in progress, we cannot yet report on our findings in detail. We can only formulate our hypotheses and expectations: As a consequence of perceived similarities between readers' cultural background and the thematic content of the text, responses will vary according to reader ethnicity. It is expected that subjects belonging to the ethnic minority group will sympathize more with the main character, come up with richer response patterns and show more willingness to – 201 –

read this kind of literature than the Dutch group. Furthermore, we expect the empathy instruction, meant to enhance transportation, to raise understanding for the character's actions and to reinforce the effects of reading on beliefs and text appreciation. Reading competence in student assessments: An analysis of Pisa from a cognitive perspective Stephan Dutke, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Reading competence is one of the most important skills to be learned by individuals in the educational systems of modern societies. Recent international evaluation studies like the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have shown striking differences with regard to the reading competence of students both within 32 countries as well as between these countries. Despite of the methodological sophistication of these studies, the nature of reading competence has not been investigated yet from the perspective of recent research on text comprehension with sufficient depth. The contribution will analyse reading competence tasks from the PISA study from the perspective of different theoretical approaches on text comprehension and compare them with different theoretical concepts of reading competence. Special emphasis will be given to the role of prior knowledge and strategies of allocating mental resources, cognitive processes in constructing multiple mental representations, processes of coherence formation, metacognitive processes of checking consistency of mental representations, and processes of updating situation models in the light of new information. Furthermore, individual differences in reading competence will be analysed with regard to working memory capacity, domain specific knowledge, knowledge about super-structures, lexical knowledge and syntactic skills. The analysis should first result into a deeper understanding of the concept of reading competence. Second, it should provide a better basis for the interpretation of results from evaluation studies that focus (among others) on reading competence. Third, the analysis should suggest which kind of cognitive and linguistic skills need to be fostered by which instructional strategies. Teachers reading and interpreting literature: From book clubs to classroom practices Mary Kooy, University of Toronto, Canada While story and narrative are at the heart of what every secondary L1 language teacher studies — and subsequently teaches in school — the idea of story and narrative as it applies to the lives of teachers and their “stories to live by” is neglected. Almost no literature addresses the fundamental bridge between literature, life and learning. This presentation arises from a study examining the reading of literary texts by women language educators (secondary L1, university teacher education). This study, of particular relevance to teachers of literature, assumes that reading and texts play a significant role in their lives both personally and professionally. The two-year study focused on two book club groups — one experienced; one new to teaching. For each book club session (7 annually), the teachers read a mutually selected text, and prepared reading notes. Sessions were videotaped, transcribed and analyzed using narrative as both phenomenon and method of inquiry. Three elements intersect in this study: reading literature, book clubs, and personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin) for teaching. Literary understanding, albeit located in the individual who experiences and constructs it, is sustained through, and implicated in, the social contexts that foster, challenge and reshape it (e.g., Rabinowitz, 1997). The presentation focuses on (a) how teachers negotiate meaning and interpretation of literary texts; (b) the effects of shared textual experiences in the book club (renegotiating meanings, for instance) and, (c) the implications of these book club experiences for classroom textual practices. – 202 –

Why do students choose to study literature? David Miall, University of Alberta, Canada Don Kuiken, University of Alberta, Canada James Gifford, University of Alberta, Canada What incentives do students find in studying literature at university? We have been participating in a cross-cultural examination of this question in collaboration with Achim Barsch (Germany) and Sonia Zyniger and Olívia Fialho (Brazil). For the research in Canada we have employed three questionnaires. Analyses of the data so far show that Canadian students tend to discriminate literary from other texts on grounds of style, their ability to invoke the imagination, and to challenge the reader. When asked if literary texts were distinctive, typical comments were that literature “offers new perspectives”, “gives insight into character”, “provides different viewpoints, including other cultures”, “evokes emotions”, and “encourages deeper interpretation”. A significant proportion of students reported reading literary texts for pleasure, and they did not distinguish this strongly from reading for study as German and Brazilian students appear to do. Overall, in comparison with genres such as popular fiction or fantasy, literary texts were judged to promote intellectual understanding and experiential involvement; in particular, we found that students who choose literary reading believe that it involves more profound emotions, and provides insight into the self or others of a kind not available from other reading (some contrast it with electronic media in this respect). In our report we will outline the analyses that support these conclusions, describe the factors that motivate students to read other genres, and discuss the reasons that students provide for studying literature. We will also compare our findings with those from the other two countries studied. D7

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 G

Expert Panel OPTIMIZING NEW MODES OF ASSESSMENT: IN SEARCH OF QUALITIES AND STANDARDS Organiser: Chair: Discussants: Panelists:

Mien Segers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Mien Segers, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Jim Ridgway, University of Durham, United Kingdom Kari Smith, Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel Eduardo C. Cascallar, American Institutes for Research, Washington, USA Alicia S. Cascallar, Assessment Group International Ltd., London, United Kingdom Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands Yehudit J. Dori, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel Filip Dochy, University of Leuven, Belgium and University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Henry Braun, Center for Statistical Theory and Practice, Princeton, USA

The expert panel discussion will elaborate on critical issues in the qualities of new modes of assessment. The discussion starts with an overview of the findings of research studies reported in “Optimizing New Modes of Assessment: In Search of Qualities and Standards”(Segers, Dochy, & Cascallar, 2003). Empirical evidence is presented of: the qualities of self- and peer assessment (Topping, 2003) and the effect of students interest and the satisfaction of their psychological needs – 203 –

(Boekaerts & Minnaert, 2003), project-based assessment (Dori, 2003), portfolio assessment (Davies & Lemahieu) and case-based assessment (Segers, 2003). The focus is on aspects of quality from an edumetric point of view (Gielen, Dochy, & Dierick, 2003). In this respect, it is evidenced that the mode of assessment in se influences students’ learning as well as the students’ perceptions of assessment. The integration of the assessment in the learning and instruction process seems to play a mediating role in the relation between perceptions of assessment and effects on learning (Struyven, Dochy, Janssens, 2003). One crucial aspect of the quality of new modes of assessment refers to standard setting. Cascallar and Cascallar (2003) discuss the relevance of the Optimized Extended Response standard setting method for modes of assessment that address complex behaviors and performances. Finally, Braun (2003) presents evidence of the impact of technology on the shaping of assessment in it various dimensions. The discussants will elaborate on a set of dilemmas on the basis of the research results presented. These are the input for the discussion between the audience and the panel. D8

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 4 P

Symposium INFLUENCE OF EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS ON ARGUMENTATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR BELIEFS CHANGE AND CONCEPTUAL CHANGE Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Margarita Limón, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Margarita Limón, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Richard C. Anderson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA

Inquiry into the individual’s conceptions of knowledge and knowing has increased significantly in recent years (e.g. Schommer, 1993; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Smith et al., 2000; Mason, 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 2002; Sinatra, 2001). Individuals’ beliefs about knowledge and knowing generally include beliefs about the definition of knowledge, how knowledge is built, how knowledge is evaluated, where knowledge resides and how knowing occurs. Recently, some results (e.g. Hofer, 2000; Buehl, Alexander, & Murphy, 2002) have shown that epistemological beliefs may vary across domains and therefore, despite general beliefs about knowledge and knowing, students may sustain domain specific beliefs that may be related to academic achievement and motivation in a particular subject matter, strategy use (Schommer et al., 1992), obstacle or facilitate conceptual change (e.g. Mason, 2002; Limón, 2001; 2002) or reasoning (Bendixen et al., 1994). Particularly, this symposium will focus on these two last aspects. Its main aim will be to introduce and discuss possible answers to a double question: (1) Which is the influence of epistemological beliefs on argumentation? That is, are those students who maintain a more absolutist view of knowledge and knowing less able to evaluate arguments supporting different views about a controversial issue? Do they develop more biased explanations than those who sustain a more relativistic view about a particular subject matter? What kind of relation, if any, is there between epistemological beliefs and reasoning strategies chosen by students to solve ill-defined problems? (2) And secondly, may the use of argumentation tasks in the classroom be a useful tool to change students’ beliefs and therefore, to facilitate some degree of conceptual change? Some of the papers that will be presented will deal with this issue and will develop some instructional implications for learning and teaching different subject-matters. Personal epistemology appear to influence how individuals face a learning task. It may influence learners’ goals and thus, their motivation and level of engagement in the learning task. Beliefs regarding the origin, acquisition and certainty of knowledge appear to moderate reasoning biases and theory – 204 –

polarization (Klaczynski, 2000). Knowing more about the role of epistemological beliefs in learning can inform our understanding of how individuals construct knowledge, and consequently to develop more efficient instructional strategies to promote students’ learning. Argument and conceptual engagement Gale Sinatra, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA E. Michael Nussbaum, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA Dole and Sinatra (1998) have argued that conceptual change could be facilitated by promoting the level of engagement necessary to “weigh issues and arguments” (p. 121). Thus, the present study sought to test the efficacy of a conceptual change intervention based on argumentation. Forty-one college students were asked to predict the path of a falling object from one of four choices presented in a computer simulation of physics problems. Those who did not predict the correct path were asked to argue in favor of the correct alternative (although they were not told which path was correct). Instead, they were prompted, “some people pick B, can you think of a reason why it might be B?”. Then, after they constructed an argument in favor of the correct path, they were asked to make a final prediction before the program simulated the problem solution. Participants who were asked to “argue the opposite side” were more likely to show improved reasoning across three similar problems compared to control participants who were asked to predict a path and watch the simulated problem solution without constructing an argument. These results suggest that argumentation may be a powerful method of fostering conceptual change. We argue that this intervention is consistent with other pedagogical techniques that promote conceptual change (such as conducting experiments, diSessa and Minstell, 1998, or generating self-explanations, Chi, 2000), in that it fosters high engagement and opportunities to juxtapose ideas. Yet, it has the added advantage of ease of implementation and significant effects with little investment of instructional time. When is a rose a rose? Effects of epistemological beliefs on plant identification Elmar Stahl, University of Muenster, Germany Rainer Bromme, University of Muenster, Germany A basic ability of biology students at university level is to identify plants. Botanists have to differentiate between thousands of differing characteristics of plants and to develop a dual-coded mental representation, representing each of these characteristics as a verbal concept as well as a mental image. Students in biology acquire this ability with the help of an external representation, a – so-called – key for identification, leading them through a complex sequence of dichotomous decisions about differing characteristics of plants. One important factor that might have an influence on these learning processes and outcomes are epistemological beliefs of the students. Beliefs about the nature of knowledge in botanist might determine their problem solving strategies during plant identification. This includes processes like the interpretation of the dichotomous decisions, comprehension monitoring, and help seeking processes. To assess these epistemological beliefs about knowledge in the domain of plant identification and their effects on the learning processes we have developed an instrument that is based on the idea of a semantic differential. The first version of the instrument includes 24 pairs of adjectives that we derived from literature about epistemologies. In a first test run with 634 biology students a factor analyses revealed three factors (structure of knowledge, constancy of knowledge and ontogenesis of knowledge). In our presentation we will describe the instrument and we will discuss the impact of epistemological beliefs on problem solving strategies within the domain of plant identification. – 205 –

Role of epistemological understanding and interest in interpreting a controversy and in topicbelief change Lucia Mason, University of Padova, Italy Pietro Boscolo, University of Padova, Italy When dealing with the debatable issues of everyday life, students have to recognise whether arguments are supported by evidence, and the quality and quantity of the evidence. This study focuses on the influence of high school students’ (10th and 11th grade) epistemological understanding and topic interest in their interpretation of a dual-position expository text on genetically modified food. After reading, students were given different tasks: (1) to write a conclusion for the text, which presented two opposing positions but lacked an overall concluding paragraph, (2) to write personal comments on the text, (3) to answer questions on conceptual understanding and (4) to rate their interest in the text. Participants were also asked to rate their beliefs about transgenic food before and after reading the text. The findings point out the effects of students’ level of epistemological understanding when writing different types of conclusions to the text. Also from comments on (a) the role of science and scientists’ work with respect to nature, (b) the need for further scientific investigation, and (c) the effective value of transgenic food production significant differences related to epistemological understanding emerged. In addition, the findings also show that students’ topic interest affected their answers to the questions on the text arguments and their text-based interest. Finally, a change in students’ beliefs about the topic, as an effect of text reading, in relation to their epistemological understanding, emerges. Educational implications for the promotion of reflective judgement skills are discussed to point out the importance of being able to evaluate or produce reasoned arguments. Influence of epistemological beliefs on argumentation about controversial issues in history and science Margarita Limón, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain This study deals with a part of personal epistemology: Cognitive relativism (CR). I will understand cognitive relativism as the ability individuals have to recognize and evaluate different positions or arguments, independently of their own beliefs and opinions. The study was divided into two parts. In the first one, the degree of CR of a sample of adolescents (N=669, 12-16 years old) showed in three diferent controversial situations about history, science and ethics was evaluated. The main aims of this part of the study were: a) to obtain qualitative and quantitative measures of students’ degree of CR in the three problems, and b) to evaluate domain differences. In the second part of the study, individuals were presented either a problem about a historical or scientific controversial issue. Individuals’ opinion were evaluated before the problem was presented. Then, students were introduced arguments supporting two different views about the controversial issue. After presenting each view arguments students were asked their opinion. Finally, students wrote down their final answer and their degree of CR was evaluated again. The aims of this part of the study were: a) to evaluate if the argumentation task performed influenced students’ degree of CR and /or their answer and if this influence was similar in both problems or not, and b) if completing this argumentation task had the same influence on those students who had shown the highest level of cognitive relativism (HCR) in the first part of the study, and on those who had shown the lowest level (LCR). Results indicate that LCR students improved their level of cognitive relativism more than HCR students. Some theoretical and instructional implications for beliefs change and conceptual change will be developed.

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D9

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 4 S

Symposium MANAGING KNOWLEDGE WITH COMPUTERISED MAPPING TOOLS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Heinz Mandl, University of Munich, Germany

Computerised mapping tools may be used to help students to visualise not only conceptual knowledge, but also content knowledge (annotations, text, multimedia documents) and knowledge about knowledge resources (e.g. websites, online repositories, WBT programs). It is suggested that computerised mapping tools may augment the capacity of the human brain in knowledge acquisition, organisation, representation, and access, and may also augment knowledge use in complex cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, Web-based studying, hypertext writing. The goal of the symposium is threefold: (1) To present the work of an international group of researchers on the use of computerised mapping tools for the management (organisation, representation, localisation and use) of conceptual, content and resource knowledge, (2) to give notice of an innovative field of research at the intersection of research on learning and knowledge management, and (3) to initiate contacts and research cooperations with other researchers. A framework for research on mapping tools as means for managing individual knowledge Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Gabi Reinmann-Rothmeier, University of Augsburg, Germany Wolfgang Gräber, University of Kiel, Germany Modern computerised mapping tools provide functions for facilitating the organisation, representation, localisation and use of conceptual, content and resource knowledge by means of visualising knowledge structures. It is suggested that these tools may augment the capacity of the human brain in helping students to manage individual knowledge, knowledge access and use in complex cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, Web-based studying, hypertext writing. Three basic knowledge mapping approaches allowing for the visualization of knowledge are described: concept/knowledge mapping, mind mapping, spatial hypertexts. A research framework has been developed to provide a coherent basis for researchers with different research interests focussing on the use of mapping tools for processes of managing individual knowledge while coping with complex cognitive processing tasks. The framework covers an innovative field of research which is at the intersection of research on e-learning and knowledge management. The research framework is fragmented into three research topics: (1) Analysis and study of the functions and the potential of computerised mapping tools as cognitive tools for managing knowledge in complex self-regulated cognitive processing tasks, (2) analysis of conditions of effective use of mapping tools to uncover the cognitive processing demands in effectively organising, representing, localising and using conceptual, content and resource knowledge in knowledge rich e-learning scenarios, and (3) development and evaluation of a training program for the effective use of mapping tools. The empirical studies belonging to the second research topic comprise quasiexperimental studies in natural e-learning settings as well as laboratory experiments.

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Knowledge mapping for fostering self-regulated studying in chemistry classes Wolfgang Gräber, University of Kiel, Germany Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany The IPN in cooperation with schools and firms of the chemical industry has developed a learning environment ParCIS (Partnership between Chemical Industry and Schools, URL) aimed at developing competencies for self-regulated learning and media-competencies as central components of scientific literacy. In ParCIS students solve everyday authentic chemical problems by using different strategies in the use of computer-based tools for planning problem solving and gathering, generating, organising, and using knowledge and knowledge resources as well as in the amount of scaffolding in self-regulated problem solving. Content is provided mainly in content repositories of chemical firms, which are made accessible through the Internet. A digital portfolio is used for structuring the process of planning and problem solving. The paper presented is about a study on the acceptance and the effects of mapping problem-relevant knowledge on problem solving with the help of a mapping tool. Two groups of subjects are compared, the groups differing in the strategy of knowledge mapping and the amount of scaffolding during problem solving. Students in group 1 were advised to map conceptual knowledge together with links for interactive access of content and resource knowledge into a coherent map, students in group 2 were advised to map ideas only and store problem-relevant contents and resources separately. Half of the groups received additional scaffolding on learning strategies, the other half received neutral scaffolding information. Results of the study concerning acceptance of the mapping tool and the effects on knowledge organisation, localisation and use in problem solving are reported. The effects of domain expertise and task requirements on the organisation, representation and localisation of mapped knowledge Sigmar-Olaf Tergan, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Computerised mapping tools can help students in coping effectively with the complexity and rapid change of knowledge and information resources in many domains. They may be used to visualise structures of conceptual knowledge, content knowledge (annotations, text and multimedia documents) and knowledge about resources (e.g. WWW documents, e-mails). Empirical research on mapping tools up to now is dominated by approaches on concept mapping. It is suggested that modern computerised mapping tools may augment the potential of the human brain to manage knowledge in complex cognitive processing tasks, e.g. complex problem solving, Web-based studying, hypertext writing. The design and results of an empirical study on the effects of different task requirements and domain expertise on knowledge organisation, representation and localisation of knowledge are presented. In a laboratory experiment 60 university students had been assigned to four experimental groups according to a MANOVA design, the factors being: (1) Type of cognitive task (subject-matter comprehension; hypertext writing) and (2) expertise in domain knowledge (high, low). The general task is to get access and map with the help of a mapping tool conceptual, content and resource knowledge on the topic “The Internet”. Students were instructed to map conceptual knowledge (ideas) together with links for interactive access of content and resource knowledge into a coherent map. The acceptance of the mapping tool as an aid in managing complex knowledge is evaluated. The effectiveness of the mapping tool for managing knowledge is analysed with respect to three main dependent variables: structure of knowledge representation, subject-matter understanding, and ease in visual localisation of knowledge elements.

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Computational support for self-organised learning: Combining personal Webpublishing systems and mapping tools Priya Sharma, Penn State University, USA Sebastian Fiedler, University of Augsburg, Germany Personal Webpublishing systems provide interesting new perspectives for the design and development of computational support for self-organised learning projects. The unstructured and somewhat unpredictable nature of self-organised learning endeavors requires learners to accomplish a number of tasks that in formal instructional settings are normally managed by educational professionals. Among other things, self-organised learners have to locate and select resources, gather and organise information, formulate questions, arrange feedback, and monitor and evaluate their own progress. Keeping a chronological “log” of activities and reflections over the course of a self-organised learning project builds a repository of personal items of experience that are linked to a particular knowledge domain. Such a documented history of a learning project offers interesting perspectives for reflective learning and intentional knowledge construction efforts. The Web-based publication of this type of material offers the necessary flexibility to support gradual knowledge construction and organisation. In a step by step manner, learners elaborate, integrate, abstract, and relate newly formed constructs with prior knowledge. Visual mapping tools can support these activities by offering a combination of free concept mapping with links to resources that are either stored locally or somewhere on the Web. Thus, individual learners create visual layers of abstraction that not only organise the experiential accounts of their learning activities, but also integrate this personal material with conceptual knowledge and additional resources. Supporting self-organised learning with such a combination of personal Webpublishing systems and mapping tools is currently piloted at Penn State. Preliminary results of a qualitative evaluation study are presented. D 10

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 E

Symposium DIMENSIONS IN MAKING SENSE OF GRAPHICS. FACTORS OF IMPORTANCE Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Torgny Ottosson, Kristianstad University, Sweden Lisbeth Åberg-Bengtsson, Göteborg University, Sweden Torgny Ottosson, Kristianstad University, Sweden Alex Kozulin, International Centre for the Enhancement of Learning Potential, Jerusalem, Israel and Hebrew University, Israel

Although they are cultural artefacts of relative late date, graphic representations of quantitative data such as graphs, charts, and cartograms are increasing in popularity in modern society. They occur in abundance in students’ textbooks, mass media, and web sites in more or less elaborate and gaudy guises, both as illustrations to written text and as sources of information per se. With respect to their frequent occurrence in both everyday and academic contexts, the handling of such graphics must be considered important. Some previous research shows that not only primary school pupils but also much older students sometimes have great difficulties with some essential aspects of statistical graphics. However, presumably due to the fact that many aspects of graphs, charts, and maps are self-evident to many people and that a picture may be “worth a thousand words”, students’ problems in the handling of this type of information are relatively seldom noticed outside maths class. Thus studying students’ grappling with graphs, charts, cartograms and similar ways of – 209 –

presenting numeric information is often breaking new ground. The symposium aims at presenting and discussing ongoing research on dimensions of performance and other factors that may be involved in students’ making sense of graphic representations from a rather broad point of departure. Issues of discussion will also be related to what it takes to handle information presented graphically, taking into consideration what aspects of the illustrations are used as resources, ignored, or overlooked. Reinforcing students’ correlation comprehension Ken W. Li, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, China Merrilyn Goos, University of Queensland, Australia Nan Bahr, University of Queensland, Australia Graphical presentation of data provides a fast way of extracting information from data as well as a front line of illustrating complicated data structure and facilitates the process of data examination. The graphical representation of data provides valuable clues to what and how further statistical work ought to be carried out because technically correct statistical graphics disclose significant elements of the information they represent and also serve as an alternative means of effective communication. Although students know how to draw statistical graphs and charts, they often fail to present data in appropriate graphical format and are unable to convey their thoughts about their findings from their graphical displays of data to their audience because they have difficulty in seeing hidden relationships in the data. This hinders the development of students’ graphical understanding of scatterplots, a vital tool in the initial stage of regression modelling. In this paper we present a critical review of current research in this area from three different perspectives: pedagogy, statistics and cognitive psychology. Specifically, Curcio (1987) outlined a classification model of reading graphical data from a mathematics educator’s perspective; Cook and Weisburg (1997) advocated a model of statistical graphing based on the statistician’s viewpoint; while Carpenter and Shah (1998) developed their model of graphical comprehension and interpretation from a cognitive science position. Arising from our synthesis of this research we propose a cognitive model of correlation comprehension which serves to structure students’ thought so as to reinforce their graphing capabilities when approaching comprehension problems. Relating students’ academic achievement to a test of graphically represented quantitative information Lisbeth Åberg-Bengtsson, Göteborg University, Sweden Torgny Ottosson, Kristianstad University, Sweden Some of our previous research with qualitative data on students’ ways of making sense of graphs, charts and cartograms indicated that relatively young pupils may talk about some of the most salient features of such graphics in quite an elaborate manner. However, some important aspects of the displays seemed to be difficult even for upper secondary students. Based on those earlier studies we designed an instrument for investigating how larger numbers of subjects handle graphics. In the present study a booklet comprising 18 pages each with its own graphic display(s) and a set of tasks was distributed to 363 students 15-16 years of age from five different schools. The format of the questions varied, as did the format of the graphics. As students’ performance was expected to be multidimensional, confirmatory factor analysis carried out with a structural equation modeling technique was applied to the results. In addition to the identification of a general “graphic test” factor and an end of test effect, a narrative dimension was indicated. The model was then related to another model of students’ academic achievement measured by the leaving certificate from compulsory education. The strongest correlation obtained was between the – 210 –

general “graphic test” dimension in the initial model and the mathematic/science factor in the grades model. In addition, the general achievement and the language factors in the grades model were related to performance on the graphic test. Do graphs improve causal learning? Ralf Decker, University of Tübingen, Germany Uwe Oestermeier, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Friedrich W. Hesse, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Rolf Ploetzner, University of Education, Freiburg, Germany Within the field of causal cognition, the influence of syntactic and pragmatic factors has been largely ignored. In three experiments we investigated to what extent the factors representational form, type of information and type of presentation can improve causal learning. In all three experiments subjects had to judge on a scale from 0 to 100 the effectiveness of cloud seeding on rainfall. Half of the participating subjects were studying in math-oriented fields, the other half in non math-oriented fields. Main dependent variable was the mean number of ratings in accordance with normative quantitative rules. In experiment 1, causal information was presented in 5 different summary formats: pile charts with frequencies; pile charts with probabilities; tables with frequencies; tables with probabilities and serial lists. Whereas charts and tables did not significantly differ from each other, both were superior to the serial lists. In experiment 2, we examined in a 2 x 2 design the effects of type of presentation (summary vs. trial-by-trial presentation) and amount of visual structure of the representing medium (high: pile chart/cross table vs. low: flow text). For the subjects receiving summary information, it was significantly easier to “calculate” ratings in correspondence to existing normative rules. This was especially true for the group working with pile charts. Further analyses revealed that only students in math-oriented fields could benefit from a pile chart. In experiment 3 we found evidence that the difference concerning manner of presentation is only partly due to a reduced cognitive load while processing summary information. Visual-pictorial ability and the mastery of statistical concepts in reading graphics I. M. Cazorla, University of Santa Cruz, Brasil Marcia R. F. Brito, Campinas State University, Brasil In a technological society, the statistical information plays a fundamental role and this kind of information uses, more and more, information presented in graphics. Using the theoretical framework of Krutetskii’s mathematical ability theory and Pinker’s graphic comprehension theory, the objective of this work was to analyse the main factors that determine success or failure when reading statistical graphs. Subjects were 814 undergraduate students from a public university that were attending courses in Statistics. Data was collected from a questionnaire, a scale of attitudes toward Statistics, a scale of attitudes toward Mathematics, and Mathematical, Statistical and Verbal aptitude tests. Data analysis showed that success reading statistical graphics lies on the understanding of statistical concepts, level of knowledge about graphics and visual-pictorial ability. There were found significant differences related to gender: male students had more positive attitudes, and higher scores on cognitive tests, with the exception of the verbal aptitude test. Instruction also had a significant role on the mastery of statistical concepts and on the development of graphic ability. As a general finding it should be noted that students found great difficulties with some essential aspects of statistical graphics, particularly when they were supposed to relate graphics with statistical concepts.

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Young students’ grappling with construals of graphic displays on a computer Lisbeth Åberg-Bengtsson, Göteborg University, Sweden Monica H. Sträng, Göteborg University, Sweden This presentation is based upon empirical data from an ongoing research project studying Swedish students 7-12 years of age construing and interpreting bar charts, pie charts, and line graphs. The aim is to investigate students’ use of structuring resources in their making sense of numerical data graphically displayed. The children worked in dyads in a series of working sessions. Most of the graphic displays construed by the children were drawn with the help of a computer equipped with graphic application software and under the guidance of one of the researchers. The construing of the graphics can best be described as instances of guided participation or as activity within the zone of proximal development. All working sessions were videotaped with two cameras, one of which caught the computer screen and the other the interplay between the children. In a previous study of primary pupils grappling with graphic displays of a similar kind, Engeström’s model of the activity system was used for structuring the analysis. In the present investigation, the tool-node is brought to the fore and focused upon. Instances when pupils seem to make use of new resources to construe and structure the information given by the graphical display are pointed out and aspects that were used as resources by the children in interaction with the computer program but not while drawing graphics on paper will also be discussed. D 11

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 I

Symposium CONSTRUCTING A SHARED LANGUAGE AND METHODOLOGY FOR STUDIES OF CLASSROOMS AS CULTURES Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, University of Leiden, The Netherlands Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland Ed Elbers, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

Contemporary classroom-based research has increasingly directed its lenses towards studies of classrooms as cultures. A number of educational researchers working from a sociocultural framework approach classrooms as communities of practice or as learning communities with a special interest in the ways in which situated social practices and cultural artefacts mediate learning opportunities in the institutional context of the classroom. At the same time, sociolinguistic and ethnographic research of classroom life has provided a set of concepts and methodologies for investigating classrooms as cultures. Despite overlapping research interests and similarity in conceptual vocabulary, it appears that there are intriguing differences between the approaches, and their explication is likely to enrich both strands of research. This concerns both the need for conceptual clarification as well as for methodological elaboration. The present symposium introduces different perspectives and approaches to studying classrooms as cultures. The paper of Kumpulainen and Kovalainen discusses a study that investigates the learning practices of an elementary classroom community of which culture reflects learning as dialogic inquiry. This paper draws on sociocultural research and interactional studies of classroom learning. The paper of Van der Aalsvoort and Van Tol is situated within the context of special needs education research. It is guided by an interest to investigate the situated practice of play in early years classrooms as a catalyst of potential learning difficulties. The paper of Putney takes an – 212 –

interactional ethnographic perspective to examine classrooms as cultures. It relates to the ways in which the discursive practices of an inclusive classroom community become cultural resources for its members to formulate identities as individuals and group members. In the final paper, Green and Dixon draw on their ethnographic studies of classroom life. They introduce methods of analysis for studying the construction processes of classroom communities of practice and how these developing practices become central resources of the community. The practice of teaching and learning as dialogic inquiry Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland Minna Kovalainen, University of Oulu, Finland This study investigates the learning practices of an elementary classroom community where the learning culture is based upon the view of learning as dialogic inquiry, emphasizing social interaction and collaboration, socially shared cognition, and collective meaning negotiation. Specifically, the study investigates the nature of participation structures and processes as reflected in classroom interactions during collective meaning-making. The empirical data for this study emerge from a third grade class consisting of seventeen students. Close micro-level analysis was carried out on transcribed video-recordings of classroom interactions derived from three learning situations, namely from the contexts of Collective problem-solving in mathematics, Group investigation in science and Open-ended dialogue in philosophy. The participation structures and processes of the case study classroom were examined within and across the learning situations according to three dimensions. At an utterance level, the analyses included the investigation of discourse moves and communicative functions as well as their sequential consequences on the interactional and thematic development of the dialogue. At a sequence level, the focus was directed to who initiates and participates in the interaction sequence, and what thematic implications this has on the nature of the joint dialogue. The results show that learning and instruction based upon dialogic inquiry is likely to create novel participation structures and processes in the classroom. In this context the students appear to take authority in cognitive work, whereas the teacher’s responsibility is more directed to the orchestration of interactional practices. The study also shows that the pedagogical intentions of collective meaning-making may not always result in multilateral interactions that would invite all classroom members to active participation. Moreover, the integration and application of participants’ personal histories and experiences as resources for joint meaning-making appear to be challenging. Yet, as the results of this study show, multilateral interaction, particularly between student participants, seems to create productive conditions for experience sharing. Play with young at-risk students: A situated performance? Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, University of Leiden, The Netherlands A. M. van Tol, University of Leiden, The Netherlands Can situated play act as a diagnostic means to investigate whether young at-risk students lack conditions to learn or children with emerging learning difficulties? This question was raised within the theoretical framework of dynamic system theory on development (Van Geert, 1994; Steenbeek & Van Geert, 2002). Developmental processes are composed of both quantitative (amount or intensity of specific behavior), and qualitative processes (type of behavior and the way it is developed, and the quality of performance). Play behavior depends on developmental progress and is related to learning as well with respect to emergent reading and arithmetic (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). Therefore play seems a means to study learning with students in the early years after starting school. For young at-risk students (aged 4-7 years) school may be either regular or special – 213 –

education (Van der Aalsvoort & Van Tol, 2002). Their play and learning are not cognitive activities in themselves but they come forward through situational factors both in activity, time and actors through co-construction. This point of view includes a change in investigating play by including situational factors as well to cover both situational factors as well as participating subjects. Play as activity with a peer can act as such. The results of a study with 4 groups of three students each, two from a school for regular and two from a school for special education will be presented. These four groups were follwed when playing together 8 times within three weeks for a period of 30 minutes per session. The groups were matched with respect to age and language development. They were presented small toy animals and wooden blocks to build a zoo. Before each new session the zoo was built exactly like it was in the session before so that the group could continue their play. The 32 sessions were videotaped and transcribed. It was expected that cooperation (Verba, 1994), variety of play (Westby, 1991), complexity of play, such as meta-play (Trawick-Smith, 1998), and use of sophisticated language would emerge as developmental processes independently of school condition. The results are currently being analyzed. Discursive practices as cultural resources: Formulating identities for individual and collective in an inclusive classroom setting LeAnn Putney, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA This study examines the discursive practices of an elementary classroom community where the learning culture is based upon the view of a responsibility based learning environment. The particular focus is on how discursive practices of classroom participants became cultural resources for members to formulate identities as individuals and group members participating in an inclusive classroom setting. In addition, the study focuses on how members accessed academic content, and how their use of these developing resources became consequential for both the collective and individuals. This study presumed a Vygotskian perspective (Putney, Green, Dixon, Durán, & Yeager, 2000; Souza Lima, 1995; Vygotsky, 1986; Vygotsky, 1997) in which two forms of development and learning are constructed in a community, that of the collective as well as individuals within the collective. This study took place in a public professional development elementary school in partnership with an urban university in the Southwestern United States over two years. The researcher collected daily video taped data during the first three weeks of school, then periodically afterwards throughout both academic years. Data also consisted of informal interviews with the classroom teacher and students, and student artifacts collected across the years. Data were analyzed from an interactional ethnographic perspective to make visible how students negotiated meaning through both their academic and community-related discourse. Through forward and backward mapping, I examined the discursive practices as cultural resource, both in the local moment and over time. Focusing on a specific activity, the Network for Learning Conference, I examine how the discursive classroom practices constructed over time for the fifthgraders became cultural resources for the fourth-graders attending the conference. Through backward mapping, I show how the common understandings of academic roles, rights, and responsibilities as community members had been negotiated at the beginning of the school year. Through discursive practices over time, these roles developed further as students reformulated classroom norms as part of the student governance structure in their mini-society. In addition, by analyzing data from the second year of the study, I make visible how the students who participated in the Network for Learning Conference activity the prior year were able to apply what they had experienced to their current context for learning as members of a new community. The results show that in this inclusive environment, an inquiry-based curriculum, and responsibility-based classroom governance system were factors that led to a responsible, respectful, and constructive classroom culture – 214 –

Constructing princples of practice: A cross case analysis of inquiry and identity in bilingual classrooms Judith Green, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Carol Dixon, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Recently, Neo-Vygotskian and sociocultural researchers have written about communities of practice that teachers and students construct in their classrooms (e.g., John-Steiner, Panofsky & Smith, 1994; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Mercer, 1997; Wells & Chang Wells, 1992; Rogoff, 1995; Werstch, 1995). Converging with this work is research drawing on ethnographic and sociolinguistic perspectives focusing on classrooms as cultures (e.g., Cochran, 1997; Collins & Green, 1990; 1992; Floriani, 1993; Lin, 1993; Putney, 1996; Santa Barbara Classroom Discourse Group, 1992a; b). While these perspectives have different disciplinary and theoretical roots, they share an overlapping set of goals: to identify ways in which students and others learn with, and through, interactions among members in particular communities; and to understand how community practices shape and are shaped by what members learn in and across time. One way of understanding this body of work is to see these researchers as concerned with social and academic consequences for members of living in a particular collective or community of practice (e.g. a reading group, whole class, a school, a family, etc.). The purpose of this paper is three-fold. First, we present an argument for ways of studying how communities of practice are constructed, and how practices within these developing communities become cultural resources of the community. These resources become principles of practice that members use to guide their participation, to interpret the actions of others, and to create particular identities for the collective and the group. Central to this work is the conceptualization of classrooms as cultures, a perspective that contrasts with those who talk about the culture of the classroom. Second, we present an approach to crosscase analysis based on comparing and contrasting principles of practice identified in one class with those in a second class. To illustrate this approach, we explore the principles of practice in third, fifth and sixth grade bilingual classes. These cases will be drawn from our 10-year ethnographic studies that follow students and teachers within a bilingual classroom across the year. By contrasting the same teacher across years and grade levels and two teachers across levels, we identify general patterns of practice that can be used to identify general principles of practice guiding teachers working on complex academic content in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms, and through this, new models of instruction grounded in the everyday practices constituting classroom life. D 12

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 A

Symposium ADVANCES IN ACHIEVEMENT GOAL RESEARCH: THE ROLE OF MODERATORS AND MEDIATORS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Markku Niemivirta, University of Helsinki, Finland Paul Pintrich, University of Michigan, USA Andrew Elliot, University of Rochester, USA

Achievement goal theory is one of the most prominent contemporary perspectives on achievement motivation. Numerous studies in the past years have shown how the goals students adopt influence various aspects of their achievement-related behavior and learning. The work presented in this symposium will extend prior work in many respects. Most importantly, the presentations will – 215 –

focus on factors that either moderate or mediate the influence of achievement goals on learning and achievement behavior. Answers are sought to questions such as: what is the role of value and interest in predicting the goals students adopt; how do situational and personal characteristics interact and what is their joint contribution to learning and task performance; how do cultural differences and other contextual factors influence the definition and effects of goals? Person and situation: Individual interest, achievement goals and interest in the task Mary Ainley, University of Melbourne, Australia Suzanne Hidi, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada An important contemporary challenge for educators is to find ways to engage the well-developed orientations that students bring to their learning and the energy that can be triggered by features of the situation in the service of maximizing learning. This is true whether student motivation is examined from the perspective of interest or achievement goals. Students who have welldeveloped interests that are consistent with curriculum content present teachers with a different educational challenge to disaffected students whose strongest intention is to avoid doing anything. In addition, specific curriculum presentation and design features will elicit interest in some students but will be ignored by others. The relationship between person and situation in learning has challenged many researchers and building on their work we present findings from a number of studies that have monitored reactivity to specific curriculum tasks and investigated how levels of reactivity might relate to both personal and situational characteristics. Focusing specifically on the micro level of actions and reactions to specific learning tasks we have used regression and SEM procedures to consider different ways that person and situation combine, interact, and make separate contributions to student learning. For example, scores on a dispositional measure of curiosity styles, ratings of individual interest in specific domains and responses to popular science and popular culture texts were monitored for a sample of seventh and eighth grade students. Examples of different patterns of relationships between disposition, individual interest, topic interest and the processes that follow will be described. Task value in the college classroom: Predicting goals, interest, and performance Judith M. Harackiewicz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Amanda M. Durik, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA To integrate theory on task value and achievement goals, we conducted two semester-long studies in introductory Psychology and Statistics courses. In both classes, we replicated previous work indicating that mastery goals predicted interest, and performance goals predicted course grades, supporting the multiple goals perspective. In the Psychology class, we sought to identify the antecedents of course-specific achievement goals. At the beginning of the semester, we coded the reasons that students took the course in terms of the value derived from the course (intrinsic value, utility value). Next, we determined whether these reasons predicted students’ adopted goals. Preliminary analyses suggest that taking the course because of intrinsic value predicted the adoption of mastery goals, whereas taking the course because it was a requirement predicted the adoption of performance goals. Moreover, many students reported taking the course for both reasons (it was expected to be interesting as well as fulfill a requirement), and this finding may help explain why some students adopt multiple goals in classroom settings, thereby promoting both performance and interest. In the Statistics course, we assessed the extent to which students came to find the course valuable throughout the semester, because there was no variability in reasons for taking the course (students seem to enroll solely because it is required). We examined whether values predicted subsequent interest and performance. Preliminary analyses suggest that – 216 –

values explain additional variance above and beyond achievement goals, and that utility value was a predictor of both performance and interest in this class. The role of situational appraisals in mediating the influence of achievement goals on task performance Markku Niemivirta, University of Helsinki, Finland Despite the impressive amount of research carried out on achievement goals, relatively few studies have examined how the adoption of certain goals influences task-specific experiences and related behavior. The aim of this study was to examine how students with diverse achievement goal profiles differ from each other in terms of their situational appraisals and task performance. The participants were 1379 folk high school students (15-18-years old), whose achievement goals and other motivational tendencies were assessed before they took part in the target task. The actual test situation consisted of a deductive reasoning task and a short pre-task questionnaire tapping students anticipated interest, self-efficacy, and claimed self-handicapping. The students completed the pre-task questionnaire after receiving the task instructions and working through some example items. To examine the assumption that students with different goal preferences would experience the task situation differently, the students were first grouped based on their responses to the achievement goal questionnaire. The resulting groups were then compared with respect to their situational appraisals and task performance. The results showed, among others, that students emphasizing mastery goals not only displayed higher levels of interest and self-efficacy, but also performed best on the task. Highest self-handicappers were found among students endorsing both performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Despite the mean-level differences, however, claimed self-handicapping and self-efficacy were found to be significant predictors of task performance in each group. Cultural variations in the definition and effects of performance goals Tim Urdan, Santa Clara University, USA In this presentation I will present and discuss the results of two studies examining differences between cultural groups in the associations between performance goals and several motivational and achievement variables. Goal theory posits that students may employ different definitions for success and, as a result, pursue different goals in achievement situations. For example, some students seek to develop their skills and improve their competence (a mastery goal) whereas others are more concerned with demonstrating their superior ability (performance-approach goals) or avoiding appearing less able than others (performance-avoidance goals). Goal theory has included the assumption that performance goals are directed by egoistic motives, such as wanting to augment self-esteem or protect self-esteem. But how are performance goals defined, and how to they influence motivation and behavior, when students do not define themselves in individualistic ways? Cross-cultural research has demonstrated that some people, particularly those from Asian cultures, have more collectivist identities whereas American and Western Europeans tend to have more individualistic self-perceptions. Because most goal theory research has been conducted with Western European and Caucasian American samples, we know little about cultural variations in the definition and operation of performance goals. Using a combination of survey and interview data collected from approximately 1,000 high school students of various cultures I found that performance-approach and performance avoidance goals were related to motivational and achievement outcomes differently depending on whether students held more individualistic or collectivist identities. These results suggest that there are cultural differences in the definition and effects of performance goals and these differences have important implications for goal theory. – 217 –

D 13

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 D

Symposium DESIGNING POWERFUL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR STUDENT TEACHERS Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Tina Hascher, University of Berne, Switzerland Yves Cocard, University of Berne, Switzerland Hans Gruber, University of Regensburg, Germany Hans Gruber, University of Regensburg, Germany

The idea that learning processes depend strongly on the learning environments has already been implemented in schools: Learning can best take place in a many-sided, stimulating and learnerorientated context. While we increasingly know what pupils need e.g. to learn a language, little is known how an effective learning context for student teachers (pre-service training in schools) should be designed. There are some important findings which illustrate how difficult it is to answer this question: Learning during internship is social and individual as well, subjective and based on specific. It also should support the development of basic competences. Due to the school reality learning during internship is very complex and an important step in teachers’ life-long learning. Furthermore, student teaching is imbedded in everyday school life and student teachers have to integrate themselves into this community. Learning during internship is much more than copying a successful model: It is a process of professional development which depends on experience and reflection. All presenters in this symposium agree to the notion that schools are a very important learning fields for teacher education. But they also agree that schools are not automatically a powerful learning environments: To make sure that student teaching is more than an opportunity to make experiences the learning contexts in schools need to be designed. The concepts of this design, however, differ across nations and across cultures of teacher education. The presentations of this symposium will give some insight into various models of student teaching and will discuss their crucial points by referring to new empirical results. Student teachers’ education in an intensive group-based learning community Jaana Lahti, University of Helsinki, Finland Anneli Eteläpelto, University of Helsinki, Finland Sanni Siitari, University of Helsinki, Finland Sini Wirtanen, University of Helsinki, Finland Student teachers' professional learning is a lengthy process of constructing and redefining one’s subjective identity as a future teacher whose central competencies include manifold aspects of personal and social skills. In the framework of social theory of learning, we suggest that such skills can be best promoted in an intensive group-based learning community where subjects’ are given the possibility to redefine their identities. Since identity consists, not only of an authentic conception of the self, but also of subject’s conception of where does she or he belong to, we hypothesise that participation in an intensive long-term learning community can offer a powerful environment for identity work and professional growth. Empirical evidence is presented from a long-term small-group-based learning community consisting of eigth female and two male student teachers who are studying in a university-level pre-service teacher education program. Subjects’ evaluations on their learning outcomes after their first year of studies, web-based discussions and videotaped group discussions are used as empirical materials. As results we will describe what kind of social and emotional processes are involved in the construction and the participation in a – 218 –

small-group-based learning community. We will ask how these processes are becoming as the source of subjects’ learning and identity work. Furthermore, we will discuss how the nature of roles adopted in relation to different kinds of group activities interact with the learning outcomes. Development of expertise in collaborative open technologically enriched educational contexts Gérard Gretsch, Institute for Teacher Training and Educational Research, Walferdange, Luxembourg Charles Max, Institute for Teacher Training and Educational Research, Walferdange, Luxembourg Brigitte Stammet, Institute for Teacher Training and Educational Research, Walferdange, Luxembourg The DECOTEC-project aims to develop and assess an alternative model in teacher training based on technologically enriched learning contexts. It promotes the building of a learning community by (a) setting up an interdisciplinary approach in higher education focussing on topics originating from students' teaching practice; (b) sensitising all stakeholders involved in the training process, i.e. teacher trainers, mentors, student teachers, pupils...; (c) creating via ICT a shared space for visualising and discussing topics and questions that arise in students' teaching practicum and academic work. The DECOTEC-project developed an ICT-tool designed to promote collaborative learning and to constitute a bridge between the activity systems of academic training and school practices. The presentation focuses on how the participants construe and use the ICT-tool as the central mediating artefact in different but related contexts. We use cultural-historical activity theory as a theoretical framework for understanding the multi-layered processes in the domain of teacher education as well as in the complex domain of primary education. CHAT serves also as analytical tool to analyse and interpret the collected data. Data sources are video-taping, interviews, questionnaires, and written work of the participants on the ICT-tool, as well as data on the use and interactions that take place in the computer based environment (N=60; student teachers, mentors and teacher trainers). Elements of the data collected are brought back to the communities we study to encourage them to think critically about their practice and their identities as teachers, including the contradictions within their activity systems. Professional learning in new teacher education contexts Jeroen Imants, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Anita Engelen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Sanneke Bolhuis, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands In the Netherlands the preparation of prospective teachers is moving from universities towards schools. In the region of Nijmegen the university and five secondary schools collaborate in a partnership. The aim is to develop new learning routes for prospective teachers and to explore a blueprint of professional development schools. In this research project the professional learning of prospective teachers, mentors (schools), and teachers trainers (university) are explored. Two questions are central in this study: how do the university and the school contribute to the professional learning of prospective teachers, and how is the professional learning of mentors and teacher trainers affected by their participation in the project. A model is developed which is based on the learning process of the prospective teachers and the blueprint for professional development schools. Specific questions regarding the learning process of student teachers, the steering of this learning process by the university, the schools, and the student teachers themselves are selected. These questions are answered by means of longitudinal and detailed data collection in the school year 2002-2003. Instruments for data collection are questionnaires, interviews, check lists, student assessment results, and students’ portfolios. The professional learning of mentors and teacher – 219 –

trainers will be explored by means of interviews, in which systematic reflection on results regarding the first question will be central. In August 2003 the results of the data analysis will be available. Essential feedback dimensions of student teachers' learning contexts Tina Hascher, University of Berne, Switzerland Yves Cocard, University of Berne, Switzerland Although everybody agrees that student teaching is an important pre-service learning context, there is uncertainty about the evidence of learning processes, especially concerning the quality and long-term learning-outcomes that take place during a practicum. Based on a study with 117 student teachers, their mentors and classes, we will discuss the impact of two different feedback sources (mentors and pupils) on the learning attitudes of student teachers. Our theses are as follows: (1) For a life-long professional development, mentors' have to change their roles from models to coaches. Student teachers indicate the support by mentors as their most important learning assistance. They expect their mentors to show them good teaching – and those are in many cases eager for demonstrating. This approach, which is mainly based on social learning, might support student teachers during their practicum, but one can doubt about the increase of basic professional skills like reflective learning. (2) Pupils' opinion is an important feedback source, because they support student teachers' progress from the learners' perspective. Student teachers consider the feedback of pupils as helpful. It is somehow surprising that pupils' opinion is only sporadically be considered in the evaluation of student teaching. It could be profitable for a better founded evaluation of teaching skills. The theses are discussed in order to improve the mentoring of individual learning processes of novice teachers during their pre-service training in schools. D 14

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 3 H

Symposium THRESHOLD CONCEPTS AND TROUBLESOME KNOWLEDGE Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Jan H. F. Meyer, University of Durham, United Kingdom Ray Land, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom Tim Dunne, University of Cape Town, South Africa Liz Beaty, Higher Education Funding Council for England, United Kingdom

This symposium takes as its focus an emerging theoretical framework for teaching and learning drawing on notions of ‘threshold concepts’ within disciplinary contexts (Meyer and Land, 2003) and the relatedness of such thresholds to what Perkins (1999) has termed ‘troublesome knowledge’. The symposium invites: 1) Exploration and critique of the conceptual and epistemological issues arising from the theoretical framework and 2) consideration of the explanatory and analytic potential of the framework in evaluating curricular design and the effectiveness of student learning environments within specific disciplinary contexts. The symposium comprises five papers. These present further developments of the existing framework, illustrative cases of threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge drawn from different disciplinary contexts in UK and Australian higher education, and conceptual and operational analyses of the framework.

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Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a theoretical framework for teaching and learning Jan H. F. Meyer, University of Durham, United Kingdom Ray Land, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom The present study builds on earlier work by Meyer and Land (2003) which introduces the generative notion of a ‘threshold concept’ within disciplines and in the sense of transforming, for example, the internal view of subject matter. In this earlier work such concepts are further linked to forms of knowledge that are ‘troublesome’ (Perkins, 1999). It is argued that these twinned sets of ideas may define critical moments of, for example, irreversible conceptual transformation in the educational experiences of teachers, and/or their students. The present study aims (a) to examine the extent to which such phenomena can be located within personal understandings of disciplinespecific epistemological discourses, and (b) to propose a theoretical framework within which teachers may advance their own reflective practice. This conceptual analysis draws for illustrative purposes on data partly obtained through the UK ESRC-funded ETL Project. The significance of the proposed framework lies in its explanatory potential to locate troublesome aspects of disciplinary knowledge within transitions across conceptual thresholds and hence to assist teachers in identifying appropriate ways of modifying or redesigning curricula to enable their students to negotiate such transitions more successfully. Threshold concepts: How can we recognise them? Peter Davies, Staffordshire University, United Kingdom A threshold concept is defined by Meyer and Land (2003) as possessing the following qualities: transformative, integrative, bounded, and probably irreversible. It redefines the familiar idea of a ‘powerful concept’ in a social constructivist context, providing a penetrating tool for the analysis of the development of discipline specific learning. This paper examines some difficulties to be faced in the operationalisation of the idea of ‘threshold concepts’ and, in so doing, begins to identify ways in which these problems might be overcome. This paper is theoretical, referring to data only for exemplification and it concentrates on learning and teaching Economics. One problem in the way of identification of a ‘threshold’ concept is how to distinguish it from a ‘core concept’ or a ‘conceptual structure’. Piagetian and Phenomenographic analyses of the development of thinking in Economics provide helpful points of reference in clarifying this distinction. There are also problems to be overcome in the collection of data on threshold concepts. For example, teachers and, to a lesser degree, students of a subject develop conceptualisations of the structure of a subject which may be distinct from the way in which they use their understanding of a subject in practice. Potentially, threshold concepts could guide curriculum design, formative assessment and the focus of teachers’ interventions. The identification and avoidance of problems in operationalising threshold concepts has a wide educational as well as theoretical significance. Variation in students’ understanding of a threshold concept in economics Martin Shanahan, University of South Australia, Australia Jan H. F. Meyer, University of Durham, United Kingdom The notion of a ‘threshold concept’, has recently emerged as a fertile paradigm within which to identify discipline specific ways of thinking that can alter the learner’s view of the world (Meyer and Land, 2003). A example of a threshold concept in the discipline of Economics is ‘opportunity cost’; the value placed on rejected alternatives when an individual makes choices. This paper – 221 –

presents analysis of the variation in students’ understanding of ‘opportunity cost’ over the course of one semester. Based on the written responses of first-year business students studying Economics, the articulation of their understanding of ‘opportunity cost’ is analysed at two stages within a semester. The first analysis is based on students’ responses (N=106) obtained at week four in the course after the concept is first introduced. Students were asked to express their understanding of the concept again in week ten (N=50). Analyses of these data are in progress and will be reported at the Conference. This pilot study represents an important first step in identifying and examining variation in students’ understanding of a threshold concept over time and in a manner that can inform university teaching. Issues of measurement, articulation and learner development are also identified. Threshold concepts in economics - A case study Nicola Reimann, University of Durham, United Kingdom Ian Jackson, Staffordshire University, United Kingdom ‘Enhancing Teaching-learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses’ (ETL) is a UK-wide research project which engages with partner departments in five subject-areas by exploring the teaching-learning environments of individual course units. The present study reports on a first-year unit in microeconomics, whose lecturer identified two threshold concepts which students need to understand in order to progress in the module, as well as in the study of Economics in general. Teachers of Economics repeatedly stress the existence and troublesome nature of threshold concepts for their discipline, particularly during the initial stages of an Economics degree programme. The study discusses ways in which threshold concepts can provide a novel and useful perspective for investigating and improving teaching-learning environments in Economics. It will evaluate the use of diagnostic questions which were developed to access students’ understanding of threshold concepts. Written questions were used to elicit qualitative differences in students’ understanding, before and after being taught about the concepts. In interviews the lecturer and the students were given the opportunity to comment on the answers as well as the teaching-learning environment of the module. As background, inventory data focused on students’ approaches to studying and the teaching-learning environment. Based on research findings on student learning, ETL aims to develop subject-specific conceptual frameworks to guide the development of high quality, effective teaching-learning environments in higher education. The notion of threshold concepts is one of several developing project concepts. Troublesome knowledge: The teaching and learning of cultural studies Glynis Cousin, University of Warwick, United Kingdom This paper reports on some of the emergent findings from a UK research project, Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses (http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl/project.html), which explores subject-based pedagogy in higher education. Discussion centres on the teaching and learning of a number of important concepts for Cultural Studies, particularly in relation to their ‘turn to otherness’ (Canaan and Epstein, 1997) and the impact of this on both teachers and learners. In so far as teachers and learners have an internal relation to concepts such as identity formation, representation, gender and ethnicity, their intellectual and affective understandings become very enmeshed. While the affective and the cognitive are always interconnected, this appears to be particularly so for Cultural Studies and closely related fields of inquiry in the social sciences and humanities. Our emergent evidence suggests that this interconnection creates particular pedagogic and ethical dilemmas (Aldred and Ryle (1999) for these fields. Drawing on focus group research, observations and interviews with academics and students in four UK – 222 –

universities as well as on Perkins’ (1999) concept of ‘troublesome knowledge’, these dilemmas will be exposed and discussed. D 15

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G B

EARLI Invited Symposium LIFE-LONG LEARNING AS GOAL: COMPETENCES AND PROMOTION Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Christiane Spiel, University of Vienna, Austria Christiane Spiel, University of Vienna, Austria Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois, Chiacago, USA

The Commission of the European Communities (2000, p.3) postulated “Lifelong learning is no longer just one aspect of education and training; it must become the guiding principle for the provision and participation across the full continuum of learning contexts”. Although nobody would express any doubt about this claim, many questions about its realisation are still open. What are the necessary competences that have to be learned and how can we teach them? Obviously, it is a challenging task to find the right answers to these questions in particular when taking different life-phases and learning contexts into account. There are indications that decisive progress in this area is being inhibited by deficits in the integration of research (Middleton & Spanias, 1999). Therefore, it is the goal of this symposium to bring together some central perspectives. The symposium will deal with aspects of lifelong learning in working contexts, in school and university, combined with a view on basic competences e.g., learning styles. The facets which will be integratively discussed are research on scholastic motivation and resulting demands for teaching (Barbara Schober, Christiane Spiel and Petra Wagner, University of Vienna), consequences for a research program stemming from studies on lifelong learning in working contexts (Frank Achtenhagen, University of Goettingen), a critical review on present literature about learning styles (Frank Coffield, Newcastle University), and findings from the first evaluation of an elearning program for big courses at university (Christiane Spiel and colleagues, University of Vienna). Motivation for lifelong learning: Demands on school and educational systems Barbara Schober, University of Vienna, Austria Christiane Spiel, University of Vienna, Austria Petra Wagner, University of Vienna, Austria Motivation and competence for lifelong learning (LLL) are pivotal requirements of the “knowledge society”. As a consequence, well known questions as how students can be motivated to commit themselves to the persistent and determined pursuit of a scholastic goal, move to the center of public interest. There is no doubt, that school is the place where learning competences and motivation (e.g. Prenzel, 1994) are originally founded. However, as research still shows the average interest in learning decreases with increasing class level (Todt & Schreiber, 1998). To cope with this discrepancy and to find feasible solutions, wide ranging demands for promotional activities at different levels of the educational system are discussed. Based on current motivational theories (e.g. Covington, 1992; Dweck, 1999; Pintrich & Schunk, 1996) and empirical results (e.g. Hasselhorn, 2000), the presented study tried to specify a systematic framework of motivational indicators for successful LLL at school. However, before carrying out an intervention (at system-, school- or classroom-level) base-line data have to be systematically collected. To get insight from – 223 –

two different perspectives we investigated motivational indicators in a sample of 490 students and 108 teachers from different school types. In addition, the study explored the teachers’ views on their possibilities to improve learning motivation. Results allow a general description of the status quo and a differentiated view on age and school effects. Based on these results and on previous research guidelines for changes in classrooms and in central parameters of education are discussed. "Necessary conditions of effective lifelong learning" – An outline for a research program Frank Achtenhagen, University of Göttingen, Germany The actual literature shows a lot of discussions about modes of lifelong learning; one central topic is the role of non-formal or informal learning compared to formal learning. A major problem in this context is that the debates are more concentrating on definitions than on gathering empirical data. In this contribution "effective" lifelong learning will be discussed with regard to lifelong learning in working contexts: (a) How should firms prepare for lifelong learning? – (b) How should knowledge be brought and kept up to date for necessary production and business processes? – (c) How to cope with the twofold role of ICT? Following this approach it is necessary to redefine the learners’ goals and content units, especially with regard to the structure of competencies and different levels of knowledge. To reach those goals it is also necessary to develop new complex teaching-learning environments which also support self-organized learning. These new goal and content structures and the effective and efficient use of complex teachinglearning environments also urge new competencies of the trainers: They have to learn how to cope with complex and dynamic systems and how to run the environments – providing enough independency for the learners. It shall be demonstrated under which conditions informal/nonformal learning at a given job-context can be effective or ineffective – given comparable working tasks to be fulfilled in the specific department or working team. The data are won for business processes of a large bank. An evaluation of learning styles and their implications for pedagogy Frank Coffield, Newcastle University, United Kingdom Over the last 30 years a minor industry has grown up which has expored the intriguing idea that people learn in different ways, that they have different learning styles and that teachers/tutors should respond appropriately to these styles. During this period a growing number of competing schools of thought have studied the concept so that by 2002 no less than 54 different inventories are now in use. This paper will present the findings from a systematic and critical review of the vast literature on learning styles and its implications for pedagogy, particularly for the postcompulsory sector. The aim of the research has been to focus on the most significant, empirical studies and to evaluate them rigorously. The claims made by the authors of the leading instruments which measure learning styles are being tested by comparing them with the findings from independent researchers into, for example, the reliability and validity of their tests. The review will present a new classification of learning styles on a continuum from physiological approaches to situational factors. The significance of the main theorists - Dunn and Dunn, Entwistle, Gregorc, Kolb, Sternberg, Vermunt etc - will be assessed and the implications of their theories for pedagogy is explained. The empirical evidence for the impact of their ideas on pedagogy is also evaluated. Finally, an overview of the Learning Styles movement as a whole will be offered by exploring its strengths and weaknesses. The review has only just begun but it has to be completed before the summer of 2003.

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Vienna E-Lecturing (VEL) program: An approach to promote self-regulated learning at the university Christiane Spiel, Dagmar Strohmeier, Alice Aichinger, Petra Gradinger and Birgit Zens, University of Vienna, Austria E-learning becomes a booming industry not only in the modern economy but also in the traditional educational system. However, there is a lack of experience in the application of e-learning techniques in university lectures with a great many students. In addition, e-learning courses are rarely systematically evaluated. The paper presents the Vienna E-Lecturing (VEL) a blended learning program designed for big courses. It is the intention of VEL not only to impart the contents of the lecture but also to train and promote students’ use of self-regulatory skills. In the first phase of VEL, tutorials are given to train students in knowledge and information management, in virtually team working, and in the handling of the learning environment. The second phase of VEL consists of a set of virtual learning modules. They are constructed as follows: (1) information input (postings of book chapters, links, etc. on the server), (2) self test (to check the declarative knowledge), (3) group work (to establish procedural knowledge). The very few face-to-face units are intended to give the students a frame. Moreover, some special or very difficult topics of the lecture are discussed there. The pilot application of VEL and results of the formative and summative evaluation are presented and discussed. D 16

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G E

Symposium EXPLORATIONS OF STUDENT LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, Finland Jan Vermunt, Leiden University, The Netherlands Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, Finland Alexander Minnaert, Leiden University, The Netherlands

The aim of this symposium is to explore different aspects of student learning in higher education. The first two presentations explore the measurement of approaches to learning in two different contexts, more precisely, when preparing for examinations and in distance education. The third presentation analyses the coherence of students’ conceptions of learning and the effect of consonant and dissonant conceptions on study success. The fourth presentation analyses students’ personal experiences of studying and their effects on study success and progress of studies. The fifth presentation examines the role of new learning technologies in the enhancement of student learning and the development of expertise. The symposium deepens the theoretical knowledge of student learning in higher education and in different kinds of learning environments and provides valuable tools for university teachers when developing teaching and learning at university. Moreover, the symposium brings new light to the measurement of study approaches by questionnaires. Students’ approaches to learning in context of preparing for examinations Kirsti Lonka, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden Juha Nieminen, University of Helsinki, Finland Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, Finland Progressive Inquiry Research Group – 225 –

We already know that students’ approaches to learning and studying have consequences in terms of study practices and success. However, scales measuring study approaches at a general level sometimes have quite low reliabilities. This problem may be due to the general nature of the questions. We hypothesized that questions presented in a relevant context, in this case, thinking about preparing for examinations, would help students to answer the questions in a more systematic way. The participants were 815 university students in agriculture, law, and humanities. The data were collected by using Conceptions of Learning and Knowledge Questionnaire developed by the Progressive Inquiry Research Group, University of Helsinki, Finland (Hakkarainen et al., 2000). Of this questionnaire 24 Likert-type questions were chosen for analyses, which dealt with students’ approaches to learning. All these questions were asked first generally and then in the form “Do you apply this when you prepare for examinations?”. As background variables, two shortened scales of ILS (Vermunt & van Rijswijk, 1988) were used: self-regulation (5 items) and lack of regulation (4 items). The results showed higher reliabilities for the scales based on questions that were anchored in the context of preparing for examinations than for the general scales. The best new scale “Meaning-oriented study behavior” (alpha=.84) correlated positively with self-reported study success and the ILS scale “Self-regulation”. Different ways of anchoring the inventory questions in a realistic study situation are discussed in the paper. Perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying in distance education John T. E. Richardson, Open University, United Kingdom This study aimed to investigate the relationship between distance-learning students’ perceptions of the academic quality of their courses and the approaches to studying that they adopt on those courses. The Course Experience Questionnaire (Ramsden, 1991) and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (Entwistle, Tait, & McCune, 2000) were both adapted for use in distance education and were administered in a postal survey to students taking seven courses by distance learning with the Open University in the United Kingdom. Usable responses were obtained from over 2,100 students. Both instruments proved to be remarkably robust in this highly distinctive context, and the students’ scores on the two instruments shared 61% of their variance. Older students were more likely to adopt desirable approaches to learning than were younger students taking the same courses. Women were more likely to adopt a surface approach to studying than were men. However, neither the age nor the gender of the students was related to their scores on the CEQ. It is concluded that students’ demographic characteristics, on the one hand, and their perceptions of the academic quality of their courses, on the other hand, are mutually independent determinants of their approaches to studying in distance education. Consonance and dissonance in learning conceptions and in study orchestrations Francisco Cano, University of Granada, Spain The aims of this investigation were to examine in 1,012 secondary students, both consonant and dissonant response patterns in approaches to learning (evaluated using the LPQ questionnaire; Biggs, 1987) as well as in learning conceptions and learning strategies (examined using an open task). The results of the analyses of students’ learning experience clearly support three new findings. First, the research encountered two kinds of consonance (basic and complex) and two kinds of dissonance (negative and positive) in students’ ways of linking how learning appears to them, and what strategies they use to learn. Second, it was shown that these patterns of response were significantly related to performance, better academic results being obtained by the Positive – 226 –

Dissonance and Complex Consonance groups. Third, these patterns and learning approach combinations (study orchestrations) were found to be associated with one another; in dissonant study orchestrations the patterns of relationship among conceptions of learning and strategies became incoherent. This investigation is of theoretical importance, for it demonstrates interrelationships present among dissonances, which up the present time have been analysed separately. Also, it is of significance from an educational point of view; if teachers wish to improve the academic performance of their students, they would need to take into account both the consonant and dissonant response patterns of their learners. Personal experience of studying and study success: A three-years follow-up study of university students Jarkko Mäkinen, University of Turku, Finland Erkki Olkinuora, University of Turku, Finland In this study, students’ personal experience of studying is explored through their general study orientation. General study orientation is defined as a personal meaning that a university student gives to his/her own studying. The aim of the study is to describe the effects that different developmental patterns regarding general study orientations can have on students’ study success and progress of studies. The empirical data of the study consists of both inventory-based followups of 477 students and individual interviews of selected students. The statistical follow-ups consist of three points of measurement (by the Inventory of General Study Orientations, IGSO) during the first three years of studying. The qualitative analyses are based on thorough interviews conducted on selected students from the mentioned sample. In addition to the inventories and interviews, also statistical information (GPAs and study credits) from the student register was utilised in the study. The results indicate interesting connections between the changes of study orientations, students’ personal experience of studying, and their study progress and success. Video-based technology for self-regulatory and integrated acquisition of expertise by students in higher education Raf Canters, University of Leuven, Belgium Peter Op ’t Eynde, University of Leuven, Belgium Lieven Verschaffel, University of Leuven, Belgium This contribution addresses the potential of contemporary video and computer technologies for the improvement of learning and teaching. The video-based computer environment MILE was used as a tool for the integrated and constructive development of expertise of university students in different (sub)disciplines of educational sciences. Courses were organized in such a way that small groups of students were stimulated and coached to actively engage in authentic tasks, making use of real-life materials and information sources within and related to the MILE-environment. To assess the effects of the environment, students’ cognitive outcomes were measured by means of a content analysis of intermediate and final reports of the different groups. Furthermore, students’ cognitive, motivational and emotional processes while working with MILE were measured by means of an individual task-specific questionnaire. The analysis of the students’ products indicated that they gained (more than) sufficient competence in the intended cognitive curricular goals. Furthermore, the questionnaire data revealed high motivation scores. However, there were a significant number of negative motivational and emotional reactions at the beginning of the course, because most students had little or no previous experience with such an open and complex learning environment and felt, therefore, ‘unprepared’ for the requirements of such environments. Overall, our results confirmed that self-regulatory learning has to be regarded as a long-time – 227 –

process and competence, where student autonomy and learner control are not so much goals in itself but slowly unfolding capacities over the entire period of a school career, resulting in more self-regulated learning. D 17

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 H

Symposium THE STRATEGIC CONTROL OF LEARNING: MEASUREMENT AND APPLICATIONS Organiser: Chair: Discussants:

Robert Cantwell, University of Newcastle, Australia Robert Cantwell, University of Newcastle, Australia Simone Volet, Murdoch University, Western Australia Marcel V. J. Veenman, Leiden University and University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This symposium builds on Cantwell and Moore’s (1996) conception of strategic control as a form of metacognitive knowledge driving individuals cognitive responses to complex processing tasks and demands. Two of the papers (Czerniawska, and Wongsri , Cantwell & Archer) report studies involving the translation and replication of the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (SFQ) in nonEnglish speaking settings (Poland and Thailand respectively). In both studies, the underlying structure of the SFQ was confirmed. Three studies are then reported applying the principle of strategic control across different settings. Cholowski and Cantwell utilize the principle of strategic control over complex decision making to characterize medication compliance behaviours of elderly cardiac patients. Bialek reports a study tracking the influence of strategic control orientations on the self-regulatory behaviours of adolescents with schizophrenia. Finally Irvine, Cantwell & Jeanneret report on a study of strategic control among musicians undertaking a composition task. The studies reported confirm the importance of strategic control as an attribute of effective learning, independently of cultural milieu or domain of cognitive task. The strategic flexibility questionnaire – A survey in Polish adolescents Eva Czerniawska, University of Warsaw, Poland The paper reports on a study conducted in junior and senior high schools aimed at replicating Cantwell’s Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (SFQ) in adolescents. 325 students were the subjects: 172 from the third grade of a junior high school («gimnazjum») and 153 from the third grade of a senior high school (“liceum”). Subjects completed the Polish version of the SFQ (Czerniawska & Cantwell, under review), and the Witkin’s Embedded Figures Test, as well as providing achievement data from the previous year’s schooling. Analyses replicated the original structure found in Australian research with adult students, with a three factor solution being the best fit with the actual data. Inter-scale correlations were weaker than might have been expected. The relationships with GPA were weak to moderate, although significant and in the predicted directions: positive relations with adaptive control, and negative with irresolute control. Fieldindependence had positive relations with GPA, but no relations were found with any type of the strategic control of learning. Differences linked with school level were found, and seemed surprising, as younger subjects had higher results in the Adaptive and Inflexible scales. Gender affected GPA, with girls doing better at school, but not the strategic control of learning. The results are discussed in relation to school demands that may foster the development of specific types of strategic control. – 228 –

The strategic flexibility questionnaire – A survey in Thai tertiary students Nongkran Wongsri, University of Newcastle, Australia Robert Cantwell, University of Newcastle, Australia Jennifer Archer, University of Newcastle, Australia This paper reports on a study investigating self-directed learning among Thai tertiary students. Self-directedness was seen as being indicated by measures of student self-efficacy (Greenglass, Schwarzer & Taubert., 1999), motivation (Chan, 1994; Midgley et al, 1998), and reported selfregulatory and volitional behaviour (Cantwell & Moore, 1996; McCann & Garcia, 1999) from a cultural perspective (Thailand and Australia). As the research is based on instrumentation developed in western cultures, the first stage of the project, and the purpose of this report, was the validation of the instruments for use among Thai tertiary students. Methodology employed for validation was based upon the cross-cultural translation technique developed by Vallrand (1989), later confirmed by Banville, Desrosiersad (2000). Content validity was assessed using a bilingual group of Thai students who responded to both English and Thai versions. Consistency of item responses was assessed using paired t-tests and correlations. Among the 134 items comprising the five instruments, seven items were found to be marginally less reliable in translation. Construct validity was then assessed using a group of 150 Thai university students who responded to Thai version only. These responses were analysed using single factor principal component analysis. Data indicated only five items with low factor loadings on their prescribed scale. Overall, the validation process indicated an acceptable level of fit between the English and Thai versions of the questionnaires. Interscale correlations indicated theoretically appropriate relationships between each of the component scales. Second order-factor analysis based on the 14 translated scales from the five instruments was then conducted revealing two underlying dimensions: one indicating positive self-directedness and one indicating negative self-directedness. Strategic control of learning in young schizophrenics J. Bialek, University of Warsaw, Poland The paper reports an ongoing research project aimed at the investigation of the strategic control of learning in young adults with schizophrenia, who are students at a high school in Warsaw and are treated in daycare psychiatric services. It was hypothesized that young schizophrenics are characterized by a higher level of inflexibility and/or irresolution in their self-regulatory behaviours, as compared with normal subjects. The whole sample will comprise up to 40 schizophrenics and a control group of up to 160 normal subjects, selected to represent the same school and year of studies. Data gathering from subjects with schizophrenia was conducted on an individual basis. All participants completed the Polish version of the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (Czerniawska & Cantwell, under review), and as well as providing information regarding academic achievements, and personal information relating to age, gender, school and faculty, and psychiatric history. Strategic control in music composition Ian Irvine, University of Newcastle, Australia Robert Cantwell, University of Newcastle, Australia Neril Jeanneret, University of Newcastle, Australia The paper reports on a study of attentional focus in music composition. Participants in the study were 28 final year secondary school students completing their major composition for external examination. Participants were interviewed twice over a six month period. The interview included – 229 –

completing a composition over twenty minutes. During the process of composing, participants verbalised their thoughts. These were audio-recorded and later transcribed for analysis. Participants also completed a modified form of the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (SFQ) (Cantwell & Moore, 1996). Verbal protocols were analysed for evidence of attentional focus over six categories: global planning, deliberative planning, trialling, transcribing, monitoring and evaluating. Attentional focus was mapped over real time and graphically represented to provide evidence of patterns in strategic behaviour during composition. Responses to the SFQ were linked to the clustering of these graphs in order to determine whether orientations to strategic control could discriminate between different qualities of attentional focus and different qualities of attentional outcome. Strategic control over medication compliance amongst elderly cardiac patients Krystyna Cholowski, University of Newcastle, Australia Robert Cantwell, University of Newcastle, Australia This report focuses on one aspect of a broader study examining the relationships between sociocognitive and patho-physiological measures in explaining the medication compliance behaviours of elderly patients with Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF). Specifically, the paper links issues of medication compliance to a hypothesized relationship between self-efficacy judgements and strategic control over health enhancing behaviours. Following Bandura (1991, 1997) we suggest that self-efficacy mechanisms may act to provide a positive sense of agency allowing for a higher quality of engagement with the salient health issue. In the case of elderly patients with CCF, the potential complexity of medication regimes, combined with potential age related functional and cognitive decline, suggests that positive agency will provide a significant predictor of the capacity to orchestrate the complex socio-medical demands of CCF recovery, and through this the likelihood of medication compliance. D 18

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 E

Symposium AWARENESS AND SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF DISTRIBUTED COLLABORATION: ANALYSIS AND FACILITATION Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland Frank Fischer, University of Tübingen, Germany Päivi Häkkinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Ton De Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Collaborative learning and the use of networked technology has played an increasingly important role in research and design of learning environments during the past years. More recent virtual environments provide a shared place where not only content, but people as well, can be brought together to meet, exchange ideas and access a variety of online resources. Several studies from different fields show that a certain degree of commonly shared knowledge is essential for both problem solving and learning in groups. However, empirical research in learning and instruction has shown that networked collaboration rarely leads to higher level of understanding, and that only a small proportion of individuals of a community reciprocally participate in discourse and knowledge building. In this symposium we will discuss central concepts related to awareness and sharing understanding among distributed learning partners together with their possible relationship – 230 –

to individual understanding and learning. Moreover, we present ideas how technological tools together with advanced pedagogical models can be used to create innovative spaces for learning, which support and mediate social interaction and facilitate a sense of togetherness among distributed learning teams. Collaboration scripts to facilitate knowledge convergence in computer-supported collaborative learning environments Armin Weinberger, University of Munich, Germany Frank Fischer, University of Tübingen, Germany Heinz Mandl, University of Munich, Germany One important problem of collaborative learning environments is the divergence of participants of one learning group with respect to the cognitive learning outcomes. Several studies from different fields show that a certain degree of shared knowledge or knowledge convergence is essential for both problem solving and learning in groups. However, recent research on collaborative learning has shown that the construction of shared knowledge is rather the exception than the rule. Computer-supported collaboration scripts that pre-structure the interaction are analyzed as possible instructional means to overcome these problems. Two different types of collaboration scripts have been investigated in an experimental study: A content-oriented script that prescribes different activities and their sequence with respect to the content of the task and an interaction-oriented script that prescribes different roles, their sequence and some interactive steps which further define the different roles. Both types of scripts were varied independently in a 2x2-factorial design. 96 university students of Pedagogy collaborated in the web-based learning environment. Results show that the content-oriented script, on the one hand, was highly effective in supporting collaborative problem-solving. However, it was least beneficial concerning important learning processes and outcomes. The interaction-oriented script, on the other hand, substantially supported learners with respect to learning processes, individual learning outcome as well as knowledge convergence. Aspects of sharedness and knowledge sharing in computer-supported learning groups. Some insights from information pooling Jürgen Buder, University of Tübingen, Germany This paper describes an experiment based on the social psychological paradigm of information pooling. In information pooling studies pieces of information will be distributed across group members in a way that some pieces are unique (i.e. available to only one group member), whereas other pieces of information are shared among group members. Typically, groups have the task to exchange information, prior to making a group decision. The experiment of this study addresses information pooling within the field of knowledge acquisition, i.e. group exchange information in order to prepare for an individual knowledge test. Moreover, they exchange information via asynchronous computer conferencing. The distribution of knowledge across group members is systematically varied, with a third of the groups having a homogeneous knowledge distribution, another third with a heterogeneous distribution (i.e., group members will be experts in parts of the domain), and a third of the groups with a heterogeneous distribution plus knowledge about who is expert in which partial domain. The process of information exchange was studied using detailed content analyses, the outcome of the interaction was analyzed both in terms of knowledge gains and knowledge equalization, i.e. degree of overlapping knowledge within the group. Effects of the specific communication medium on knowledge exchange and knowledge acquisition will be discussed and integrated into a broader model on the notion of sharedness and distribution within computer-mediated learning groups. – 231 –

Enhancing awareness of networked collaboration in workplace context Piritta Leinonen, University of Oulu, Finland Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland Päivi Häkkinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland In this presentation we discuss how an awareness of virtual interaction can be enhanced among the team members in knowledge intensive workplace context. In these days, many organizations are building virtual distributed teams. One of the crucial questions in these workplace contexts is how aware the participants are of their virtual community, and how they are able to reciprocally interact with each other. We will discuss about the issue of how technology can better enable participants to find each other and form collaborative groups around mutual interests, skills, and needs in distributed teams. Also an idea of “awareness tools in virtual spaces” meant for supporting productive joint engagement, shared understanding and sense of co-presence will be introduced. We present a pedagogical model and technological tools which we used in an empirical study of a distributed working team in a global industrial company. The aim of the model was to support the awareness of a geographically distributed virtual team which was expected the work collaboratively. The results of the quality of collaboration will be presented. Assessing what is shared in computer-supported collaborative learning Dietmar Janetzko, University of Freiburg, Germany Traditionally, knowledge has been attributed almost exclusively to books and individuals. As evidenced by recent work in fields like computer supported collaboration and collaborative such traditions are changing. In fact, on browsing the literature, one is struck by the broad spectrum of investigations of knowledge on a group-level and the divers labels used to designate and study it, e.g., group mind (Wegner, 1987), shared cognition (Clark & Brennan, 1991), shared mental models (Cannon-Bowers, Salas & Converse, 1993), team knowledge (Cooke, Salas, CannonBowers, & Stout, 2000), or collaborative rules (Goodnow, 1996). However, with the exception of the work of Cooke and her colleagues there are only a few methodological approaches that provide an empirically validated method to assess shared knowledge. This contribution presents and discusses knowledge tracking (KT), viz., an approach to analyse collaborative learning and the effects of sharing knowledge on the basis of empirical data that take the form of symbolic sequential data (e.g., collected in card sorting or thinking aloud tasks). I will give an outline of the theoretical and methodological aspects of KT and delineate the Web-based computer program (knowledge tracking engine, KTE) set up to run KT-analyses. An empirical study in computersupported collaborative learning is taken to exemplify usage of KT. Negotiating shared understanding in collaborative problem solving Pieter Jelle Beers, Open University, The Netherlands Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University, The Netherlands Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands Complex problem solving generally takes the form of a multidisciplinary collaborative effort. Collaborative problem solving demands that the problem solvers negotiate a shared understanding of the problem space and the problem solution. The process of reaching such a shared understanding involves negotiation of meaning and negotiation of position. Negotiation of meaning involves coming to an agreement about what the problem content actually is or means. Negotiation of position involves discussion about one’s opinion or position with regard to problem – 232 –

content. In this contribution we present a framework for negotiation of meaning and negotiation of position. We focus on how knowledge from the individual can be brought into the group, and how knowledge, through these negotiation processes, can become part of a shared understanding. From this framework we developed a tool for enhancing negotiation of shared understanding in teams, with the ultimate goal of facilitating collaborative problem solving. We report on the results of a study of a collaborative complex problem solving process. In this study, multidisciplinary teams were had to solve a complex economic problem. We compared teams that used the tool to teams who did not to test effects of the framework and the tool on negotiation of meaning, negotiation of position, and shared understanding. We report on the quality of the negotiation process, and on the extent to which teams reached shared understanding. D 19

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 C

Symposium READING LITERACY: PERFORMANCE AND ENGAGEMENT ACROSS COUNTRIES. INTERPRETING RESULTS FROM PISA 2000 Organiser: Chair: Discussants:

Dominique Lafontaine, University of Liege, Belgium John De Jong, Language Testing Services, The Netherlands Judith Kadar-Fulop, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France Maureen McLaughlin, East Stroudsburg University, USA

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessed 15 year-olds’ reading literacy in 32 countries. Reading literacy was defined as "understanding, using and reflecting on written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and potential and to participate in society”. Test development was based on a conceptual framework elaborated by reading experts from several countries and backgrounds. The main criteria for sampling the reading tasks were situation (reading for private use, for public use, for work and for education), type of text (continuous vs. non-continuous) and aspect of reading literacy (retrieving information, interpreting the text, and reflecting on the text). The first international report (OECD, Knowledge and skills for life: First results of PISA 2000) drew initial conclusions from the survey. Going beyond this publication, a group of reading experts who have been involved in designing and developing the instruments wrote an in-depth report (Reading for change: Performance and engagement across countries). The authors will present the results of their analyses and extend their thoughts on the construct of reading literacy that was used for the PISA study. Two well known reading experts will react as official discussants and link these new findings to the state of the art in reading literacy. Patterns of performance on the reading literacy subscales Juliette Mendelovits, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia The PISA reading literacy framework proposes that high-level reading proficiency involves the ability both to engage with a wide variety of texts, and to approach texts from a number of perspectives. This paper discusses the international results of the PISA 2000 Reading Literacy survey, with a focus on differential results both within and between countries on the two text format scales, continuous and non-continuous texts; and on the three aspect scales: retrieving information, interpreting and reflecting. While in general the performance across subscales within – 233 –

each country tended to be highly correlated, some differential patterns of performance between the subscales do emerge across countries. For example, stronger performance on the continuous subscale was typically accompanied by stronger performance on the reflecting subscale. Conversely, countries that did better with retrieving information also typically performed relatively well with tasks based on non-continuous texts. The paper will explore the hypothesis that these two types of cross-national pattern are associated with national differences in pedagogical styles and curriculum. It will be suggested that the PISA results, by providing information about subscale performance, can help to define the directions that improvements in reading instruction might take. Some strategies to accomplish such improvements will be proposed. Profiles of engagement in reading and their relationships with students’ characteristics Dominique Lafontaine, University of Liege, Belgium PISA 2000 assessed the cognitive dimension of reading literacy, but also the socio-affective dimension: students’ reading habits and attitudes. Several authors (Kamil & al., 2000, Guthrie and Wiegfield, 2000, McKenna & al., 1995) have stressed the crucial role of reading attitudes and reading motivation for literacy development. Three questions in the PISA questionnaires that addressed socio-effective aspects provided reliable indicators. They allowed developing a general index of engagement and building reading profiles, using cluster analysis. This contribution will present: (1) descriptive analyses by country: the profiles that came out of the cluster analysis and how these profiles vary across countries; (2) the level of engagement across countries; (3) bivariate analyses: how the reading profiles and the level of engagement are related with gender, socioeconomic status and reading performance; we will also explore how much engagement in reading can “compensate” for a low privileged background. Modelling the relationship between engagement in reading and reading performance Christian Monseur, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia This contribution will build on the results of the same variables as the previous one and will explore further the relationships between 16 background variables - at individual and school levels – and reading achievement, using a multilevel regression analyse. The analysis shows that the most predictive variables are the socio-economic background aggregated at the school level (the social intake of schools) and engagement in reading both at the school and at the individual level. Interesting differences appear between countries in the effects of individual and school factors on reading performance, which can be related to structural features of the various educational systems involved in PISA. The contribution will draw several profiles of countries depending on the relative importance of academic and social segregation between or within schools. Exploring the construct of reading literacy John De Jong, Language Testing Services, The Netherlands Irwin Kirsch, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, USA The PISA 2000 reading literacy study defined the object of measurement as: “Reading literacy is understanding, using and reflecting on written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and potential and to participate in society.” This definition is indebted to current views in reading but also smacks of the policy-driven context of international surveys in that it refers to an intended construct as well as to the cultural and socio-economic impact of variance in scores purported to reflect degrees of mastery of this construct. It implies, therefore that assessing – 234 –

the validity of the PISA reading literacy reporting scale will have to address both construct and predictive validity.In this contribution we address how the PISA definition builds on and extends current views on reading literacy. We discuss whether the reporting scale represents the intended construct and to what extent the operationalisation impacted on PISA's results by comparing them to findings from other surveys (IALS, NALS, and NAEP). We assess to what extent indeed attained PISA levels can predict students' cultural and socio-economic future. Finally, we review what steps might be taken to validate the reporting scale and which changes for future PISA cycles might be suggested. D 20

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 M

Symposium THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING BY PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN: DIALOGICAL APPROACHES TO LITERACY AS SOCIAL PRACTICE Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Manuel Fernandez, Open University, United Kingdom Judith Kleine Staarman, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Sten R. Ludvigsen, Stockholm, Sweden Sten R. Ludvigsen, Stockholm, Sweden

With the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in schools, new types of practices have emerged in relation to literacy. In this symposium, four papers will be presented in which literacy is regarded as a social practice, where issues such as subject area learning, collaboration, design, creativity, language learning and the use of ICT tools are merged, and where participants use different kinds of discourse to construct meaning. The papers comprising the symposium all take a dialogical approach towards the literacy practices investigated in each of them. We understand this dialogical approach as a set of relationships established between subjects and texts, subjects and tools, or between different discourses used by participants to construct and negotiate meanings, activities, and identities. From this perspective, each of the four papers integrating the symposium will propose a methodological approach to analyse literacy as social practice, focusing on the activities, semiotics or connections that take place in the literacy practice (Gee, 1999). To provide a detailed account of these literacy practices, we combine the analysis of children’s talk as well as the output produced by them. The construction of situated identities in the collaborative construction of texts: How primary school children in the UK construct Web pages together Manuel Fernandez, Open University, United Kingdom In many literacy practices participants negotiate the meanings that will be communicated to a specific audience, and the ways of expressing these meanings in a given text. From a sociocultural perspective, collaborative tasks can be studied through the analysis of discourse, as a way to look at the social construction of knowledge through the use of language in such activities. Within this perspective, some authors have proposed that the success of this meaning construction depends on the types of talk used, and the ground rules governing them (Mercer, 1995; Wegerif, Mercer, and Dawes, 1999). More recently, these types of talk have also been conceptualised as a more general “dialogical orientation” towards the activity (Wegerif, 2002). However, the studies mentioned above have not acknowledged the role that identities can play in the negotiation of a concept, or in the construction of a text. In this paper, it is discussed how the perceptions of the participants’ own – 235 –

role within the collaborative task can determine the outcome of the activity. This perception constitutes one of the main features of a “situated identity” (Gee, 1999), where meanings are constructed on the basis of the position of the participants in relation to the task and to other participants. Thus, specific discourses are privileged according to this position and the perceived audience for the text being constructed. A discourse analysis method, based on interviews with primary school children constructing together web pages about History in the UK, is used to illustrate the concept of “situated identities” as defined previously. Activity building and connecting discourses: How primary school children co-write a horror story with the use of ICT Judith Kleine Staarman, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Nowadays, the construction of meaning is more and more perceived as a dialogue with the social context. From a socio-cultural perspective, the learner is seen as an integral part of the social environment and from this perspective knowledge construction cannot be seen as a process that exists solely in the mind of the learner (Van Boxtel, 2000) but as both an interpersonal and intrapersonal process, mediated by cultural tools (such as language) and artefacts (Kumpulainen & Mutanen, 1999). From this perspective, the term literacy not only refers to reading but to a wide range of (social) activities, such as the use of language to construct meaning and computer literacy. Interaction and discourse are often analysed in terms of the ways language can be used to improve collaborative learning processes. However, taking a socio-cultural perspective implies taking into account the collaborative process of the participants over time and the privileging processes to the discourse, afforded by the tasks and tools used. In the literacy practice described and analysed in this paper, sixth grade primary school children use face-to-face peer interaction as well as an ICT discussion tool (Knowledge Forum) to co-construct the meaning of the concept ‘horror story’ and to write an horror story themselves. Using discourse analysis of the face-to-face interaction and the computer-mediated contributions to the discussion, this paper illustrates how discourse connections are created across the task, and how the affordances of the tools and tasks are made explicit in the discourse of the participants. The discourse of creative writing - Learning to compose and evaluate creative texts through peer interaction Eva Vass, Open University, United Kingdom The acquisition of literacy has recently been described as the “socialisation or acculturation into the particular conventions of creating and interacting with texts that characterise a particular discourse community” (Kern, 2000, 35). Building on this approach, the study presented here focuses on the social aspect of literacy practices. In particular, it looks at how children learn the discourse of ‘creative writing’ through peer interaction: how they jointly master skills of composing and talking about creative texts in the classroom. The study also aims to investigate the role of the relationship between collaborative partners in shaping these processes. The study builds on naturalistic observations of paired creative writing episodes of Year 4 (8-year-old) friends and acquaintances in English middle schools. The analysis uses a functional model, developed specifically for the context of paired creative writing (Vass, 2002). Via the analysis of paired talk, the paper explores the links and overlaps between friendship discourse (the discourse of ‘spending time together in and outside school’), and creative writing discourse, and thus highlights the potential benefits of friendship pairing in this particular context. The paper concludes that ‘informal’ discourse practices can help facilitate the mastering of discourses associated with academic membership. – 236 –

How can the use of cut and paste be a joint productive literacy practice? Ingvill Rasmussen, University of Oslo, Norway Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to influence the way students participate, and hence result in new types of practices. The use of cut and paste is one example of a new literacy practice that has emerged and escalated with the introduction of ICT. The purpose of this paper is to study how students’ use cut and paste when working in a technology-rich learning environment. The empirical grounding in this paper comes from the analysis of a learning environment where the students used multimedia to create a presentation about their understanding of “Norway as a multi-cultural society” with focus on food, culture, and religion (Ludvigsen et al. 2002). By analyzing how the students’ used cut and paste I will show how productive interactions are created, and how these are dependent on how the students interact with the tools, and the student-teacher interaction. Productive interactions are defined as a collective effort in the creation of new knowledge (Mercer 1995). I take activity to be a starting point for human learning (Vygotsky 1986). The activities are viewed through the lens of how participatory structures become visible in detailed analysis of interaction between students and their environment (Greeno 1998). Detailed analyses, such as I present here, contributes to knowledge about how new practices is created in relation to new tools, and under what conditions these can be characterized as productive. Analysing ICT in music education as a social practice Teresa Dillon, Open University, United Kingdom Over the last ten years the use of ICT has become common practice within UK music education. Despite this it is not fully understood how music technology as a social activity and practice contributes to music education or how teachers and pupils experience and engage constructively with music technology. To investigate this Dillon, Joiner, and Miell (2001) conducted a survey on music teachers’ application of ICT in British secondary schools. It was found that eJay (sampling and sequencing software) was one of the most commonly used programmes, while teachers’ written comments provided insight into their perspectives on the musical and creative aspects of ICT usage. The findings from the survey provided a platform for further investigation into how groups collaborated on eJay, what processes they engaged in and whether the processes found complemented or contrasted with the teachers views on ICT. 7 groups (total of 18 participants, mean age 13.6 years) were videotaped while using eJay during music lessons. Their verbal dialogues were then transcribed and analysed using a coding scheme, Dillon (2002), which focuses on the content and affective dialogues within these collaborations. This scheme assisted in addressing the following research questions: (1) How can we understand music technology as a social practice that articulates both teachers and pupils’ experiences? (2) What practices and interactions are reflected in the young peoples dialogues when using eJay sampling software? (3) How do these practices and interactions compare and contrast with the teachers’ perspectives on the application of ICT in music and how does this relate to the overall aims of music education?

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D 21

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G D

Symposium COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION IN COMPUTER-MEDIATED SETTINGS: DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPORT Organisers: Chairs: Discussant:

Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands Nikol Rummel, University of Freiburg, Germany Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands Nikol Rummel, University of Freiburg, Germany Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Open University, The Netherlands

Innovative computer-mediated settings help override many traditional barriers to knowledge communication and collaboration opening a wide array of opportunities for collaboration and communication across distance, domain and expertise. Examples of promising scenarios include the solution of complex problems by distributed groups of experts or the availability of econsulting services with expert-layperson interactions over the Internet. Unfortunately, current computer-mediated settings cannot ‘just’ be implemented. Instantiating and sustaining common ground, pooling (yet) unshared knowledge, and coordinating collaboration are but a few of the profound difficulties in computer-mediated environments which, in most cases, have restricted possibilities for exchanging nonverbal information. The major problems encountered are coordinating communication (turn taking, feedback, mutual understanding) and coordinating the joint solution of the task (managing time, dividing labour, integrating individual contributions). In this symposium we discuss both the problems encountered as well as different approaches to provide support to solve these problems. Simons et al. explore the value of social- and task-interaction as regulative processes in achieving constructive interactions. Taking an instructional vantage point, Rummel and Spada investigate the potential of cooperation scripts to promote competences for computer-mediated collaboration with long-term effects. Van Bruggen and Kirschner discuss the role of external representations for negotiating shared understanding and common ground in the solution of complex, ill-structured problems. Runde et al. focus on potential problems that external representations might cause in interactions between experts and laypersons. Finally, Wittwer et al. introduce an assessment tool to support communication between computer experts and laypersons. How people in virtual groups and communities (fail to) interact Robert-Jan Simons, Wilfried Admiraal, Sanne Akkerman, Jurjen van de Groep, Maarten de Laat and Jakko van der Pol, Utrecht University, The Netherlands In four different research projects students, teachers, researchers and policemen communicate in face to face meetings and through shared electronic work spaces. Students interact about their studies in pedagogy, teachers about their teaching, researchers about their collaborative research project, and policemen about new policy issues in the organisation. These research projects have similar theoretical starting points (social constructivism, knowledge building and shared understanding), as well as differences. One project focuses on community building, another on reaching common understanding through grounding, a third on work place learning and a fourth on intercultural understanding and the role of language. After an overview of the projects, we present ways to reach shared understanding as well as the inhibitors of interaction and communication in these various environments. The differences and similarities between the contexts will be discussed. We focus on the value of social- and task-interaction as regulative processes in – 238 –

achieving constructive interactions, that is, interactions that mediate learning in some way. The underlying pedagogical idea is to scaffold setting the stage for learning interaction without scripting the collaborators’ own pedagogical initiatives. The major questions addressed are: (1) Do first impressions determine the process or do episodes scored simply add up (cumulative contributions), or do their effects for instance fade out after a while, and is then reinforcement of the collaborative relation needed? And (2) How social and task aspects interrelate, are they interchangeable or are these aspects interdependent in promoting an effective climate for learning interaction? Can people learn computer-mediated collaboration by following a script? Nikol Rummel, University of Freiburg, Germany Hans Spada, University of Freiburg, Germany There is ample empirical evidence that cooperation scripts are effective measures for supporting both face-to-face and computer-mediated collaboration (CMC). Following the motivation theory of Deci and Ryan (1985), which identifies self-determination as a major constituent of motivation, cooperation scripts may, however, cause motivational problems, since they regulate the interaction in a strict way. Similar considerations have been made by researchers who have successfully applied scripts to enhance CMC. So, if collaboration can not be scripted over many sessions the question then is, whether the effects of a cooperation script outlast the experimental session in which it was provided by promoting collaborative competences. Our hypothesis is that scripted CMC can also trigger learning. Partners who jointly work on a problem-solving task following a cooperation script are expected to acquire collaborative skills, which improve the collaboration also in subsequent tasks. In an experimental study, a cooperation script was provided in a first CMC during the learning phase to build up collaborative competences, which were then expected to become evident in process and outcome of a second, unscripted CMC during the application phase. Compared to three other conditions (an observational learning condition, a condition with unscripted collaboration during the learning phase and a condition without a learning phase), the script showed positive effects on process and outcome during the application phase. This leads to the conclusion that given an appropriate didactic design, cooperation scripts seem to constitute a promising means to provide support in computer-mediated collaboration with long-term effects by promoting collaborative competences. External representations for negotiating shared understanding Jan van Bruggen, Open University, The Netherlands Paul A. Kirschner, Open University, The Netherlands This contribution presents the results of research on the use of a representational notation to support collaborative problem solving. To do this we analysed dialogues of students (beginning experts in different areas) engaged in collaborative problem solving using a coding scheme based on the notation. The groups followed different problem solving approaches each leading to sub optimal solutions. In our current analysis we found that the coding scheme can account for an important part of the content of the dialogues and thus seems a usable starting point for the further development of a system using external representations to offer guidance to learners in solving these types of problems. The results show resemblance to the analysis of social science problemsolving by James Voss and his colleagues were experts identified more abstract problems as the factors producing the problem, and they stated more general abstract solutions to which lower level problems were subordinate. Novices decomposed the problem in low-level sub-problems to which solutions where proposed. Novices failed to evaluate solutions in terms of constraints and – 239 –

they did not specify sub-problems that could be encountered when proposed solutions were implemented. We have concentrated on the major content of the representational notation, but we have to go beyond that in order to use the notation to facilitate collaborative problem solving. We are currently researching its use in settings where learners construct and share the external representations during problem solving. That implies going beyond an analysis of the content of the discourse and address processes of knowledge sharing, negotiation and coordination in the collaborative solving of wicked problems. Experts’ audience design in Net-based written medical advice for la persons: Experimental studies on the impact of external representations Anne Runde, University of Muenster, Germany Rainer Bromme, University of Muenster, Germany Regina Jucks, University of Muenster, Germany The Internet has become an important medium for the acquisition of health-related knowledge by laypersons, but in many cases the information presented by medical experts is not easy for laypersons to understand. Experts may have inappropriate assumptions of what is understandable to laypersons and therefore may not adequately adapt their contribution to the laypersons’ knowledge. We have set up a series of studies to analyse experts’ audience design to laypersons in net-based consulting scenarios. We focus on the experts’ heuristic assumptions about what can be taken for granted as so called common ground (sensu Herbert Clark, 1996) and what has to be made explicit. Medical experts were asked to give written explanations to a fictitious layperson. We experimentally varied the type of external representation (graphical representations or a list of key words) available. Three questions will be addressed in our presentation: (a) How do the medical experts use the representations? (b) Does the information about the availability of external representations for the layperson influence experts` audience design? (c) Is the experts audience design influenced by the possibility of getting feedback from a layperson (chat-scenario)? We use text-analysis to measure the degree of the experts’ audience design. The results indicate a great impact of external representations on experts’ audience design and a significant role of the indicated communication scenario. The assessment tool: A measure to support asynchronous communication between computer experts and laypersons Jörg Wittwer, University of Freiburg, Germany Matthias Nückles, University of Freiburg, Germany Alexander Renkl, University of Freiburg, Germany The more the Internet becomes an indispensable tool for information search and communication, the more consulting services in diverse domains operate via the Internet. Asynchronous computer hotlines, such as help-desks for hard and software, are a prominent example of this development. If computer experts’ counselling of laypersons is to be effective, the experts should adjust their way of communicating to the background knowledge of the layperson. However, in asynchronous communication, the evaluation of an interlocutor’s background knowledge is particularly difficult. Compared to face-to-face communication, fewer channels of communication are available and feedback is restricted. In this contribution, an assessment tool is presented which supports computer experts in evaluating an inquirer’s background knowledge who initiate a support inquiry via a computer hotline. The assessment tool consists of a small Internet-based questionnaire which asks the inquirer to provide several self-assessments of their computer expertise in addition to their question or problem. Two Internet-based dialogue experiments are presented that tested whether – 240 –

the assessment tool would make computer experts’ asynchronous communication with laypersons more effective. The results show that experts who were provided information about the client’s knowledge level displayed a higher degree of adaptation to the client and were asked half as many comprehension questions compared to experts who had no assessment tool available. We will discuss whether the approach of making the knowledge prerequisites explicit by means of an assessment tool might also be appropriate to support other asynchronous settings, such as etutoring or Internet-based cooperative learning. D 22

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 2 C

Symposium STUDENT-GENERATED QUESTIONING IN INSTRUCTIONAL ENVIRONMENTS Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Heinz Neber, University of Munich, Germany Heinz Neber, University of Munich, Germany Hans van der Meij, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Generally, the contributions to this symposium should help in promoting intensities and levels of learners’ cognitive activities in diverse instructional environments. More specifically, the importance of student-generated questions for learning, and implementable approaches to promote such questions as means to self-construct knowledge by the students will be empirically demonstrated. Investigations in classrooms repeatedly found that student questioning is a non-frequent activity which takes place on rather low cognitive levels. Contrary to these results, experimental (training), and descriptive studies (comparing good vs. poor learners) revealed that particularly student questions on higher cognitive levels are strong determinants of the acquisition of knowledge, at least if the focus is on transferable knowledge. Additionally, positive motivational effects (e.g. on self-efficacy) may be achieved by enabling or training of questioning. Thus, promoting self-generated questions seems to be an important approach in increasing the quality and the efficiency of learning and instruction. Basically, two different approaches in promoting learners’ self-generated questions might be possible: Either reshaping the instructional environment and some of its components, or by directly training self-questions by guided and structured interventions focusing on activities of the individual learner. The contributions of MantziouZiogas and van der Meij as well as of Kaartinen and Kumpulainen cover the first approach in dealing with question promoting environmental aspects. The presentations of Levin and Arnold and Neber and Heumann-Rupprecht provide examples of direct training of self-questions. The papers cover a broad spectrum of situations, considering pre-school settings, elementary-, highschool, and higher education environments. An examination of preschooler’s questioning behavior Tioga Mantziou-Ziogas, Technical Educational Institute, Ioannina, Athens, Greece Hans van der Meij, University of Twente, The Netherlands This study examines the impact of context and lesson materials on children’s questioning in a preschool setting (e.g., Dillon, 1998). The study asks whether preschoolers’ questioning during classroom play (control condition) differs from their questioning during teacher-led discussion circles (experimental condition). The influence of factors such as the quality of the day-care center and teacher-child interaction on questioning were also examined. From each classroom of 18 different day-care centers four children were randomly selected as participants in the study. The – 241 –

questions these children asked during a regular play period were compared to their questions asked in a discussion circle led by the teacher. These discussion circles focused on lesson materials that varied on complexity, surprise, and incongruity (e.g. Berlyne, 1963; Cantor, 1976). Questioning was strongly affected by classroom condition and type of lesson material. From being predominantly routine during play, questioning also became much more subject-matter oriented during discussion. The covariates too had a profound impact on questioning. As early as in preschool special attention is needed to the conditions for promoting question asking and the development of children’s question asking skill. Student questioning in academic classes Anne Levin, Technical University Berlin, Germany Karl-Heinz Arnold, Technical University Berlin, Germany Rosenshine, Meister, and Chapman (1996) infer from their review of research that questioning might be a successful learning-strategy in higher education. However little research is done on student questioning within settings of expository teaching and receptive learning. In general, most of the available studies refer to individual prose learning (e.g. Häfele, 1995). The applied research project “Questioning in Lectures” shall explore on what terms students should be activated to generate questions on different cognitive levels in lectures and seminars as the most common formats of teaching in higher education. In order to get generalizable results, investigations and interventions are conducted in classes of different faculties and subject areas. To facilitate the generation and verbalization of questions students receive a short instruction and a form that asks them to paraphrase questions on different cognitive levels. The generated questions are transcribed and returned to the students and teachers as a collection of written questions. Succeedingly, two question-generating conditions were compared: Prestructured versus unstructured requests to generate questions. As dependent variables, the frequencies of questions generated on different cognitive levels were measured under both conditions. To assess the efficiency of questioning on learning the cognitive levels of the questions are put in relation to test-performance on relevant subject matter. Students’ ability to recollect those questions which have been asked by themselves is taken as a further measure of knowledge acquisition. The results provide information on how and when to promote students’ question generation in higher education classes. The epistemological character of questioning in three science classroom communities Sinikka Kaartinen, University of Oulu, Finland Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland This study examines the communicative practice of science learning in three classroom communities. Specifically, the study focuses on the nature of questioning in collaborative activity. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study draws on sociocultural psychology which views learning as a collective process of meaning making situated in cultural contexts (e.g. Cole, 1996; Sfard, 1998; Wells, 1999). The empirical data of this study are derived from three case studies of classroom communities whose practices of learning science were shaped by the ideas of Community of learners (Brown & Campione, 1994; Rogoff, Turkanis, & Bartlett, 2001). The first case study comprises eight second-grade pupils aged from seven to eight years from a Finnish elementary school, and their science teacher. The second case study describes a seventh-grade classroom learning community in a Finnish secondary school. The class consists of twelve students, six female and six male, aged between twelve and thirteen years. The third case study describes second-year student-teachers attending a compulsory course in chemistry teaching. The data of the study have been collected by means of video-recordings subjected to transcription and – 242 –

micro-level analysis. In the analysis of questioning, specific attention has been paid to the authorship of the questions and epistemological character of questioning. The results show that the epistemic nature of questioning was rich and unique in each classroom community grounded on activity, identity, material and semiotic modes of interaction. Unlike in conventional classrooms, in this study the authorship of questioning was not biased but rather distributed over the members of the learning communities. In summary, the study provides educators and researchers with lenses to examine the social construction of questioning in science teaching and learning in classroom contexts working as communities of inquiry. Promoting epistemic self-questions in science learning by discovery Heinz Neber, University of Munich, Germany Doris Heumann-Rupprecht, University of Munich, Germany Learning by experimentation in science laboratories challenges learners by requiring selfregulatory as well as knowledge-generating activities. Self-questions could be used to support both of these activities (Graesser & McMahen, 1993; King, 1994). In this study, self-questions serve to specify knowledge related intentions in the planning phase of experiments and contribute in setting epistemic goals for the succeeding experimental activities (Ram, & Hunter, 1995). Diverse deficits in such activities have been observed with high-school students experimenting in science labs (Neber & Schommer-Aikins, 2002). Thus, students should be guided in generating epistemic questions while experimenting (Klahr, 2000). An intervention study with ninth grade high-school students was conducted that aimed at promoting epistemic self-questioning in planning phases of experiments in chemistry. The intervention had three goals: Increasing the frequency of selfquestions, orienting questioning activities towards epistemic goals, and promoting the utilization of prior knowledge in formulating the self-questions. Expected effects were tested on the acquisition of different forms of chemical knowledge, solving chemical transfer problems, skills in formulating chemical research questions, and preferences for experimentation in open environments. The experimental group (self-question intervention) was compared to a similar control group. For eight weeks, both groups followed the same curriculum in chemistry with weekly lab sessions. Promoting epistemic self-questions resulted in significant positive effects on knowledge, transfer, and general inquiry skills. Thus, the intervention method seems to be useful in guiding discovery processes of students in school-based inquiries. D 23

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G C

Symposium PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION Part 2: Technologies for collaborative learning scenarios Organisers: Chairs: Discussants:

Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Friedrich Hesse, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Peter Gerjets, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Friedrich Hesse, Knowledge Media Research Center, Tübingen, Germany Shaaron Ainsworth, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer, Open University, The Netherlands

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Recent developments in information and communication technologies have resulted in a variety of tools that are supposed to possess an enormous educational potential for individual as well as for collaborative learning. However, although advances in technology-based instruction allow to deliver to students information in ways that teachers cannot, in many cases there is neither convincing theoretical nor empirical evidence from a psychological perspective to support the claim that the use of advanced technology is more effective than more traditional educational approaches. In particular, it is not clear (1) which psychological processes relevant to learning may be facilitated by different advanced technologies, (2) which instructional goals may be more easily achieved by them, and (3) for which learners as well as (4) under which circumstances they may be beneficial. In response to this state of the field this symposium brings together conceptual as well as experimental contributions that provide insights into the prospects and drawbacks of up-todate instructional devices. In particular, there is a focus on those features that are unique for particular technologies and that may be responsible for learning outcomes not easily obtained with already well-established types of multimedia instruction. The second part of the symposium predominantly will deal with collaborative learning scenarios that involve the use of virtual environments, of embodied interface agents, of simulation environments for scientific discovery, and of dynamic computer modeling. Nonverbal signs and communication processes in collaborative virtual environments Katrin Müller, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, Stuttgart, Germany Nonverbal signs are usually not available in computer-supported communication based on audio and textual messages. Therefore computer-based collaborative learning and working is subjected to restrictions concerning the process of communication. In this presentation effects of nonverbal signs and their relevance in collaborative virtual environments are reported. Two experimental studies were conducted to investigate the effects of the availability of nonverbal signs on the communication process, performance measures, and subjective ratings regarding the collaborative virtual environment, social presence, and communication. In the first experiment groups of three people and in the second experiment groups of six members collaborated while solving various tasks. In sum, 249 people took part in the experiments. In both conditions (with vs. without nonverbal signs) audio and text chat were available and the group members were represented by avatars. The independent variable was a nonverbal repertoire with seven signs: only the group members of one condition were for example able to raise the hand of their avatar, shake his head or nod by activating buttons on an icon bar. Differences concerning performance measures as well as objective communication variables, such as number of interruptions, did not reach the level of statistical significance. Providing nonverbal signs in collaborative virtual environments, however, increased motivation as well as social presence, and yielded a smoother communication process. The results will be discussed with regard to the task-media-fit theory, the cognitive load theory, and the social presence theory. Conclusions for computer based collaborative learning are drawn considering the relevance of nonverbal signs e.g. for regulating the turn-taking in groups. Embodied interface agents in e-learning scenarios: Advantages and drawbacks Gary Bente, University of Cologne, Germany Nicole Krämer, University of Cologne, Germany In search for new effective techniques to optimize e-learning scenarios, the usage of embodied interface agents is suggested. Due to the fact that human-like communication and quasi-social interaction is made possible, these agents are supposed to increase learning motivation and intensify attention. First implementations of animated pedagogical agents (Lester, Towns, – 244 –

Callaway, Voerman & FirzGerald, 2000) have already been shown to improve learning effects and task performance. On the other hand, anthropomorphic computer-characters have been shown to evoke strong socio-emotional reactions that even can hinder learning processes or task performance (see Rickenberg & Reeves, 2000). It is still uncertain under which conditions embodied agents can improve learning processes and foster information processing. Also it is unclear how the different phenomena are mediated: e.g. are positive effects simply caused by prolonged duration of learning sessions - mediated by novelty and curiosity of the medium - or do they represent robust, long-term effects that emerge from ‘parasocial’ interaction. Against the background of previous studies we will present the results of our own recent studies on the influence of embodied interface agents on learning and information processing. Based on the empirical findings, potential advantages and drawbacks of animated pedagogical agents are discussed. Finally, a systematic research program is suggested that should help in filling the remaining knowledge gaps in this area. The influence of prior knowledge on students' conversation during a kinematics scientific discovery learning task Hannie Gijlers, University of Twente, The Netherlands Ton De Jong, University of Twente, The Netherlands Studies on scientific discovery learning primarily focus on the learning of individuals and as yet little is known about the processes that occur when students work together on a scientific discovery learning task. The present study focuses on the interplay of prior knowledge and collaborative discovery learning processes. The prior knowledge individual students bring into a collaborative learning session might influence their own behavior within the learning environment, but also the behavior of their partner and the interaction between both students. Fifteen dyads of students (pre-university education) worked on a discovery learning task in the physics field of kinematics. Students’ definitional knowledge, generic skills, and views on domain specific hypotheses were assessed before they entered the simulation-based learning environment. The communication between students was recorded and the interaction with the environment was logged. The results showed that prior knowledge influenced the collaborative discovery learning process. First, level of prior knowledge (as a combination of definitional knowledge and generic skills) was positively related to the proportion of on-task communication. Second, students in heterogeneous dyads with respect to generic prior knowledge devoted more utterances to hypotheses stating and testing than more homogenous pairs. A more qualitative analysis showed that the knowledge configurations of the two students in a dyad partly determined the course of the learning process and the communication. Heterogeneity of dyads seems to have a positive effect on the knowledge development of students. Characterizing secondary students' dynamic modeling processes Patrick H. M. Sins, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Elwin R. Savelsbergh, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands Wouter R. van Joolingen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Computer modeling is a constructionist learning activity that rapidly gains more interest in science education. Constructing computer models of dynamic phenomena has not only the intention of helping students to learn more about complex system behaviors, it also enables learners to reflect upon the science content they are supposed to learn. In order for these aims to be attained, both the task and the computer-based modeling tool must be designed to provide an optimal support for students’ thinking processes. However, little research has attempted to portray students’ reasoning – 245 –

processes involved in modeling. Therefore, aim of the present study was to characterize secondary students’ computer-based dynamic modeling processes. Twenty-six secondary students, working in dyads, were asked to improve a given model. Computer activities and conversations were recorded and transcribed. A coding scheme was developed in order to capture: a) the type of reasoning process, b) the topic students are reasoning about, and c) the argumentation they employ for their reasoning. Most students were found to have a strong focus on quantifying variables. Still, students also differed in their approach. Some were primarily engaged in trying to fit the model to the dataset without much argumentation, whereas others reasoned more deeply about how they could revise their model. Some of these differences can be related to differences in prior topic knowledge or epistemic understandings of dynamic modeling. Based on the outcomes of the study, suggestions for scaffolds in order to support students’ reasoning are discussed. D 24

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO 1 F

Symposium THE APPLICATION OF THE SOCIOCULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY FRAMEWORK TO THE ANALYSIS OF CLASSROOM DISCOURSE: MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES AND APPROACHES Organiser: Chair: Discussant:

Ilias Karasavvidis, University of Crete, Greece Ilias Karasavvidis, University of Crete, Greece Rupert Wegerif, Open University, United Kingdom

This symposium focuses on the analysis of classroom discourse from a sociocultural perspective and includes four papers. They pay specific attention to the semiotic-mediational potential of language and its fundamental role for meaning making and learning. Drawing on constructs from sociocultural psychology, the authors present methodological tools for analyzing empirical data ranging from teacher-led classroom discussions to peer interaction in groups and electronic fora. The symposium aims to further advance the dialogue among researchers on the insights which can be gained from the application of the sociocultural framework to classroom discourse. The symposium will also address issues of interest to educators as it will illustrate tools for reflecting upon and improving teaching practice. Participation structures and processes in a classroom community of inquiry Minna Kovalainen, University of Oulu, Finland Kristiina Kumpulainen, University of Oulu, Finland This paper introduces a method of analysis of classroom discourse developed for examining the nature of participation structures and processes in an elementary classroom community whose working culture is based upon the notion of learning-as-participation in communal inquiry. While arguing that there is a need for detailed micro-level analysis of student and teacher participation structures and processes during communal inquiry, the analysis tool is aimed at broadening understanding of the processes and conditions for learning in participatory classrooms. The grounding of the analysis method is strongly influenced by earlier studies of classroom discourse, particularly within a sociocultural framework (e.g. Mehan, 1998; Kumpulainen & Wray, 2002; Rojas-Drummond, 2000; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; Wells, 1999). In the analysis method, a specific focus is directed at the interactional and thematic nature of classroom discourse and to their dynamics in the unfolding interactions. At an utterance level, the analysis concentrates on the – 246 –

investigation of discourse moves and communicative functions, whereas at the sequence level, attention is drawn into the interactional structuring of the classroom dialogue. Of particular interest are who initiates and participates in the interaction sequence and which implications this has on the interactional and thematic elements of joint dialogue. In sum, the analysis method and empirical examples of its application to classroom discourse provide insights into the situated practices of learning-as-participation. The analysis sheds light onto the participant roles of the teacher and students, as well as explicates the challenges of communal inquiry in the context of whole class interaction. Collaborative reasoning as a key for analyzing classroom discourse Carla van Boxtel, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands Jannet van Drie, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands Maaike Prangsma, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands The increasing interest in collaborative learning has heightened the need for adequate instruments to describe discourse in different educational settings. We present an analytic framework that is based on constructivist and sociocultural perspectives. With this framework we try to ‘grasp’ the quality of classroom discourse and the way it is constituted through the participation of the collaborating persons, the collaborative learning task, the features of the available tools and the wider context. We use collaborative reasoning as a key concept, because it emphasizes the importance of (domain-specific) reasoning and the co-construction of knowledge. With examples from three empirical studies that relate to learning history in secondary schools, we illustrate how we use this concept to analyse discourse in small groups and in teacher-guided whole class discussions. These studies are: 1) a study comparing the discourse in four dyads to four teacherguided class discussions 2) a study analyzing the discourse of thirty dyads writing an essay in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment 3) a study comparing discourse of student dyads to expert discourse within the same domain.The results of our studies demonstrate that small group discussions, teacher-guided whole class discussions and computer-supported collaborative writing all provide good opportunities for developing ways of historical reasoning, but that each setting also has its advantages and disadvantages. We will also address the importance of analyzing discourse in different educational settings, because it can broaden our understanding of important constructs, such as participation, quality of discourse, the co-construction of knowledge and mediational tools. E-mail and the WWW in primary schools: Voices to think with Bregje De Vries, University of Twente, The Netherlands Hans van der Meij, University of Twente, The Netherlands In sociocultural theory, reflective thinking is viewed a core process of learning (Kravtsova, 1999; Lin, Hmelo, Kinzer & Secules, 1999). By processes of articulation and listening, learners' thinking is reflected in the thinking of others. This occurs with people as well as with people's writings (cf. Bakhtin, 1986). From this viewpoint, e-mail and the WWW can add to reflective thinking, because they bring in new voices to think with. In this research, roles of e-mail and the WWW in reflective thinking are examined. Two questions are addressed: (1) How can reflective thinking with e-mail and the WWW be promoted? (2) What are the characteristics of reflective thinking with e-mail and the WWW? E-mail and the WWW were embedded in biology lessons at primary schools. Scaffolds were developed to enable groups to use e-mail and the WWW independently and to invite them to think reflectively with them. Scaffolds aimed at expression of individual and group opinions in the process of writing an e-mail or visiting a website so that different voices became – 247 –

available to discuss. Analyses showed that two core mechanisms are present in reflective thinking: Adoption and Adaptation. Through these mechanisms initial Multivoicedness can develop to temporary Singlevoicedness varying from “accepted disagreement” to a “shared conclusion”. In this paper, we describe the scaffolds that were developed, define the MAAS-model for analysis, and illustrate processes from the data. We conclude that “adopt&adapt” could be taught to children as a fruitful strategy for reflective thinking. Acidity matters: Exploring classroom science discourse with the 3C model Ilias Karasavvidis, University of Crete, Greece George Malandrakis, University of Crete, Greece The present paper aims to provide an account of classroom discourse using constructs from sociocultural psychology. Firstly, a model for analyzing classroom discourse which synthesizes ideas advanced by Vygotsky, Bakhtin, and Leont’ev is presented. The model is comprised of three main components-dimensions (hence 3C): activity, genre, and principle. Given a certain cognitive task, the activity refers to the actions required to solve it, the genre refers to the specific language involved, while the principle reflects the overall rationale according to which the actions for solving the task are performed. Secondly, the model is illustrated using a fifth grade science discourse on acidity. In an instructional intervention which spans over 15 class periods a teacher works with a group of fifteen students in an attempt to make them understand the difference between bases and acids. The whole instructional activity revolves around the construction of a pH indicator using red cabbage juice and the students conduct several experiments under teacher guidance. Finally, the appropriateness of the model for analyzing science discourse is discussed and the pros and cons are highlighted. Particular emphasis is paid to the insights which can be gained by the application of the model compared to more traditional cognitive analyses. Assuming that grasping the genre, activity, and principle can have some variation (i.e. be either poor or good), then student learning can be described and understood in six different ways. It is concluded that the 3C model is a potentially interesting descriptive tool for analyzing classroom discourse. D 25

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room BIO G A

Symposium THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS Organisers: Chair: Discussant:

Theo Bergen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Fritz Oser, University of Fribourg, Germany Christopher M. Clark, University of Delaware, USA Frances O’C Rust, New York University, USA

This symposium focuses on teachers’ professional development. Professional develop-ment refers to the ways in which teachers learn and develop the knowledge and the set of skills, values and beliefs entailed by their professional practice (Hoyle & John, 1995). Results of research show that the whole professional repertory is involved when fundamental changes in the teaching role take place, and that such a change requires a reconstruction of basic views on learning and teaching. Actually, new teaching roles encompass a range of innovations entailing new goals, structures and behaviors, which will necessitate teachers’ professional development. Substantial individual differences can be observed in teachers’ learning. It is insufficiently clear which determinants might explain these differences between teachers. In this symposium the focus of the first paper is – 248 –

on the practical knowledge of teachers. Student teachers and beginning teachers usually have many problems in bridging the gap between theory and practice (Korthagen & Kessels, 1999). In the field of professional development educational research is involved in studying how teachers learning can be stimulated on the workplace. The second paper focus is on the promoting of selfregulated learning of students in the second phase of secondary education. Teachers’ perception about the dynamic relation between learning and instruction are important for implementing new learning of the students. The paper deals with the question how we get more insight in the conceptions of teacher about self-regulated learning. The third paper focus is on collegial coaching. The central question is the relationship between the quality of the coaching dialogue in relation to a powerful learning environment for teachers. The question arises to what degree peer coaches create a powerful learning environment for their colleagues if the coaches do not fully realize the criteria for successful coaching. The fourth paper focus is on a case study of a preservice teacher course in Singapore. It provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how preservice teachers’ self-regulated learning is supported in the course that explicitly teaches strategies necessary to enhance it. Professional development: The dilemma between teachers’ ‘practical knowledge’ and external demands. A critical social-constructivist approach Sanneke Bolhuis, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Professional development could be made more productive by taking a critical and social-cultural constructivist perspective on teachers’ learning and working in (school) organizations. Studies of work-based learning have made clear that learning as a result of working is often implicit, stems from social interaction and direct experience, involves the (thoughtless, implicit) reproduction of habits as well as the building of expertise, does not depend on any educational intervention to go on, and is strongly connected to behavior in work situations. Depending on the organizational culture, work-based learning may primarily serve the sharing of dominant discourse (socialization), without critical reflection of individuals or groups on the shared premises, values, behaviour, and (hierarchic) relations. A critical social-cultural constructivist view recognises learning as socialization, but also emphasizes learning as critical reflection on premises and joint action to change practice. In short, learning is participating in the social (re)construction of reality (Berger & Luckmann, 1967; Bolhuis, 2002; Cranton, 1996; Engeström, 1999; Eraut, 1994). Obviously, tensions are to be expected between the individual and the group level, implicit and explicit knowledge, conservation and innovation, within and between individuals and groups. The paper will explore the consequences of this view for professional development, related to educational research. E.g., research has recently recognized teachers’ practical knowledge as important, which is expressed by calling it ‘wisdom’, but without critical sharing, this may be a quite conservative view. Also, (student) teachers’ conceptions have been studied extensively, but often because of their assumed importance as a target of change (agents). Coaching acknowledges the social dimension of learning, but who is to decide about the legitimacy of the goals? How to solve the tension between claims from outside (politically inspired and/ or research-based), the autonomy of professional teachers and/or the school organization? Critical, reflective and social learning involves moving from implicit to explicit and from individual autonomy to shared responsibility (Zeichner & Liston, 1996), while focusing on action (Clegg, Tan, & Saeidi, 2002) and including the socio-political and ethical dimensions (Veugelers, 2000) of education.

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Teachers’ conceptions about self-regulated learning: A key to professional development Helma Oolbekkink-Marchand, Leiden University, The Netherlands Jan van Driel, Leiden University, The Netherlands Nico Verloop, Leiden University, The Netherlands In the Netherlands educational innovations aim at promoting self-regulated learning (SRL), both in (upper) secondary and higher education. The assumption in this study is that teachers’ conceptions are an important factor influencing the success of these innovations (Fullan, 1992). Although teachers' conceptions have been studied before, little is known about teachers’ conceptions on SRL (o.a. Pratt, 1992). The central question in this part of the study is: “What conceptions do teachers in upper secondary and higher education have about self-regulated learning?”. Teachers’ conceptions are an important starting point for innovators to guide the professional development of teachers into the desired direction. Teachers’ conceptions about SRL were explored by conducting semi-structured interviews with teachers in upper secondary and higher education (N=40). During the interview teachers were asked to give a reaction to (written) metaphors about teaching and learning. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Principles from phenomenography were used to analyze the interview data (Richardson, 1999). Important codes appeared to be conception of the ‘learner’ and the ‘learning process’. If teachers for instance see learners as active participants of the learning process then it appeared that they saw the learning process not just as passively acquiring knowledge. All codes will be combined and a qualitative software package (Atlas-ti) will be used to search for patterns in the data. The results of the final analysis will be presented. The quality of coaching in relation to the professional development of teachers Theo Bergen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Anita Engelen, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Peer coaching seems to be a simple and obvious idea. All one needs to do is to form teams of teachers and to support them in working on the content of their lessons and their classroom behavior (Philips, & Glickman, 1991). This paper focuses on the quality of the coaching dialogues between the peer coach and the coached teacher and the relation of the coaching dialogue to professional development of teachers (Showers & Joyce, 1996). Peer coaches and coached teachers are volunteers who want to implement teaching for active learning in their daily educational practice. The teachers teach social studies, languages and sciences in secondary education in the eastern part of the Netherlands. 45 coaching dialogues were audio taped and transcriptions were made. Three research questions were central to the investigation. (1) Do the peer coaches apply the recommended steps, which have been learned during the coaching training? This question refers to a procedural-perspective related to the recommended phases during the coaching conference. (2) Do the peer coaches carry out the five specific functions for successful coaching? This question refers to a coaching-specific perspective related to the five specific functions of successful coaching. (3) Is the content of the coaching conference related to teaching for active learning? This question refers to an instructional-content perspective related to teaching for active learning, which is discussed or proposed by the peer coach and the coached teacher. These three different perspectives are indicators for the quality of the coaching dialogues (Showers, 1985). For analyzing the coaching dialogues the grounded theory approach was used, as proposed by Straus and Corbin (1990) in order for the researchers to identify specific categories. With the help of Kwalitan (Peters, 2000), a computer support program for qualitative analysis, the frequencies of the text fragments were counted in the specific categories that were identified. The analyses of the coaching dialogues were based in the three perspectives (procedural, coaching-specific, and – 250 –

instructional-content) in order to assess the quality of the coaching dialogues. We found ambiguous results. During the coaching dialogues, peer coaches don’t fully apply the recommended phases, the major specific functions of successful coaching, or the content of teaching for active learning. The question arises, to what degree do peer coaches create a powerful learning environment for their colleague teachers if they don’t succeed in realizing the basic skills and principles for successful coaching (Sprinthall, Reiman, & Thies-Sprinthall, 1996). Self-regulated learning in teacher education: A case study Stefanie Chye, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Woon Chia Liu, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Cher Ping Lim, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Seok Hoon Seng, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Based on a case study of a pre-service teacher course at a teacher education institution in Singapore, this paper provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how pre-service teachers’ SRL is supported in the course that explicitly teaches strategies necessary for SRL. Drawing upon activity theory as a framework, the process of promoting SRL is perceived as a consequence of diverse and changing intrapersonal, interpersonal and contextual conditions. The case study research explores the contextual material about the setting of the “case” through multiple sources of data collection: classroom observations, interviews and pre-service teachers’ reflective journal. The study suggests that while the mini-lectures on theories of SRL strategies as well as dialogue sessions are important, the hands-on tasks were perceived by both tutor and pre-service teachers as the most effective in enhancing the metacognitive aspects of pre-service teachers’ SRL. D 26

27th Aug

14:30 - 16:30

Room PSY 4 R

Symposium THE “DARK SIDE OF THE MOON”: A CRITICAL LOOK AT COLLABORATIVE TEACHER ACTION RESEARCH (Part 1) Organisers: Chairs: Discussant:

Lily Orland-Barak, Haifa University, Israel Harm Tillema, Leiden University, The Netherlands Lily Orland-Barak, Haifa University, Israel Shoshana Keiny, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel

Over the last two decades or so, action research has gained a prominent place in the research literature of teacher education as well as in the design of pre-service and in-service programs. A vast majority of research programs have focused on first person accounts of the challenges, affordances and assets of doing action research, as well as on the barriers, impediments and confusions that action researchers face “on the way”. But of central concern is what conditions in the collaborative process might impede action research from constituting a constructive a professional learning experience? What are the unsuccessful experiences that participants attribute to the collaborative process of doing action research? Adopting a multicultural and critical perspective to inquiry into collaborative action research, both at in-service and pre-service levels, this symposium attends to these questions by drawing on five action research studies, conducted in Holland, in Israel, in Britain, in South Africa and in Chile. – 251 –

Knowledge productivity in study teams of teachers Harm Tillema, Leiden University, The Netherlands The notion of study teams is put forward to incorporate an active, collaborative and inquiry oriented activity of teachers, linked to a culture of learning at the workplace of teachers. A study team organizes its own learning independently (self-regulation) by studying an issue from different professional perspectives (cognitive flexibility) and by sharing existing knowledge and beliefs while working towards new knowledge and understanding (conceptual change). This study groups approach was adopted by teachers working together as a team to become more knowledge productive learners in their work environment. The outcomes of the process was evaluated on three criteria being set by the teachers: a) Raising knowledge and understanding; b) shifting individual perspectives c) utility of practical outcomes. Evaluations of their learning processes have revealed insights in ways of teachers’ acceptance of study team (i.e., collaborative) outcomes, especially their initial (un)easiness and (un)certainties about using this approach as well as the conditions to be met in practising it as a learning tool compared with other learning tools for professionals. Developing inter-cultural knowledge and understanding through collaboration Bridget Somekh, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom The Management for Organisational and Human Development Research Network was funded by the European Union in the mid-1990s and involved partners in Austria, England, Scotland, Spain and Italy. Researchers from Australia, Canada and the USA made significant contributions to its work during periods of study leave. Adopting an action research approach, the six research groups had to find a means of collaborating effectively with a greatly reduced budget. In addition to its substantive focus the project had a remit to develop research capacity by training young researchers. Over a two year period, research activities included a dozen or so projects with teachers in all phases of education carried out locally, addressing local needs within the overarching research question of the project. 'In what ways can individuals, regardless of their formal position in the hierarchy, learn to understand their own power and make a conscious contribution to organisational development?' There was considerable learning about the processes of collaboration, socio-culturally constructed in and through action research communities from different countries. Of interest were: conflicting assumptions about the boundaries between work and social activity; differing school and university cultures; differing definitions of action research; micro-political processes that affected relationship between established researchers and those on short-term contracts; macro-political pressures for the research to meet the expectations of sponsors (of various kinds) in all the countries. The paper will provide a reflexive, retrospective account of what was learned from the MOHD network about overcoming difficulties in international collaborative teacher action research. Action research and knowledge development Gert van der Westhuizen, Vista University, South Africa Educators in South Africa are encouraged to play a scholarly role as researchers as part of their “life-long learning” and professional development. This policy ideal is now in a process being implemented through pre and in-service teacher education programmes. In these programmes, action research models/methods and processes are used in various ways to encourage collaborative work and build educator capacity as researchers. This study investigates the value of action research models in teacher development, with specific reference to pedagogical knowledge – 252 –

produced in collaborative settings. It draws on data from different inset programmes to document teacher experiences and knowledge development processes in primary and high schools. Analyses of data are guided by concepts of purpose, collaboration/ participation and authenticity. Findings are discussed in terms of the dynamics of collaborative action research, the limitations of traditional procedural notions of AR, and the need to document new and authentic ways of knowing. Contextual issues of knowledge politics and forms of indigenous knowledge are also problematised.

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E1

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO G B

Paper Presentation ASPECTS OF TEACHER EDUCATION Chair:

Franziska Vogt, College of Education, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Self-regulated learning in teacher education: A case study Stefanie Chye, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Lim Cher Ping, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Seng Seok Hoon, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Based on a case study of a pre-service teacher course at a teacher education institution in Singapore, this paper provides a descriptive and interpretive account of how pre-service teachers’ SRL is supported in the course that explicitly teaches strategies necessary for SRL. Drawing upon activity theory as a framework, the process of promoting SRL is perceived as a consequence of diverse and changing intrapersonal, interpersonal and contextual conditions. The case study research explores the contextual material about the setting of the “case” through multiple sources of data collection: classroom observations, interviews and pre-service teachers’ reflective journal. The study suggests that while the mini-lectures on theories of SRL strategies as well as dialogue sessions are important, the hands-on tasks were perceived by both tutor and pre-service teachers as the most effective in enhancing the metacognitive aspects of pre-service teachers’ SRL. The transformation of meaning perspective in the construction of educational expertise in early childhood education Päivi Kupila, University of Jyväskylä, Finland The aim of the research was to explore how the students of early childhood education constructed their meaning perspectives concerning their educational expertise. The theoretical background was based on transformative and communicative learning; on the framework of reflective expertise and on the sociocultural theory of learning, particularly emphasizing the interdependence of social and individual processes. The target group consisted of two different student groups. Data was collected from interviews and a document analysis of the students´literary productions. The data was analyzed qualitatively by using comparative analysis method and concept maps and graphic devices. Preliminary results show that the specific beliefs and assumptions of the nature of expertise changed and the students had a more integrated and inclusive comprehension of their earlier expertise. Critical events in teacher educators’ professional learning Ilana Margolin, Levinsky College of Education, Israel Michal Zellermayer, Levinsky College of Education, Israel Michla Shahar, Levinsky College of Education, Israel The study focuses on a three-year project aiming to help faculty members of our college to deal with the transition from a traditional, college-based curriculum to a school-based curriculum developed collaboratively with cooperating teachers and student teachers. The purpose of the study is to identify and describe critical events, which brought about transformation towards a new culture of learning and teaching in the college. Most of the critical events occurred following – 254 –

presentations made by the members of the group, as they reflected upon their stance toward knowledge and theory; reconsidered their professional roles; and positioned the self vis-a-vis the organization. The study contributes to the understanding of “critical event”, and its implications to the identity of the professional community as a whole and of the teacher educators as adult learners. The teacher as an equal partner during the learning process Anneli Sarja, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland Sirpa Janhonen, University of Oulu, Finland The purpose of this paper is to describe how student teachers learned to construct knowledge as members of a collaborative team. The data were collected by videotaping three sessions where student teachers evaluate each other’s growth as a teacher during their master’s degree programme in nurse education. The sessions were simultaneously group assessment periods of the last course in the programme. The data were analysed qualitatively. The central element of this process is problem delimitation. The student teachers choose problems that their students are able to share in the teaching context. The thrust of these discussions is that turning points of this kind help the students to create and share either real or imaginary narratives. The aim is to find a new way to realise oneself as a teacher also in future action environments. E2

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO G E

Paper Presentation MOTIVATIONAL BELIEFS IN ADOLESCENCE

Chair:

Thea Peetsma, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The changes in academic motivation during secondary school years Roch Chouinard, University of Montreal, Canada Normand Roy, University of Montreal, Canada The authors examined the changes in motivation during secondary school years. Self-report attitudes scales were administered in mathematics or in language arts at the beginning and at the end of three school years to French-speaking students from 18 high-schools of the Montreal area (math: 320 grade 7, 344 grade 9; language arts: 334 grade 7 and 363 grade 9). Measures included perception of support from social agents, expectancy of success, value of academic subjects, use of metacognitive strategies. Results indicate a gradual decline of the perception of the support from social agents, expectancy of success in math, value of math and language arts. Also noted is an increase of avoidance goals and a reduction of the use of metacognitive strategies. In addition, results highlight a quadratic relation between the time of measurement and several dependant variables. Finally, many differences were observed between both sexes, mostly at the advantage of girls.

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Academic stress in adolescence: Characteristics of appraisal’s variables Sophie Govaerts, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium Jacques Grégoire, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium Over the last ten years, a growing body of studies focused on stress and coping in adolescence (for a review, see Compas, 2001). Several studies emphasized the key role of the cognitive appraisal processes on the way stress is experienced by adolescents (Burgess & Haaga, 1998; Chan, 1998). Surprisingly few studies applied this concept to the academic stress. In this area, research focused on coping strategies used by adolescents, without great interest in appraisals processes. This research studied adolescents’ cognitive appraisal processes and their impact on academic stress. A sample of adolescents (N=100) reported 145 academic stressful situations. Sex and age differences were analyzed. Five appraisal patterns were identified using cluster analysis. Subsequent analysis showed that the five groups differ in their perceived degree of stress, with two groups, labeled atrisk groups, demonstrating a high level of perceived stress. Implications for future research and applications in school psychology are suggested. Self-esteem and academic achievement: Developmental differences during adolescence Francisco Peixoto, ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal Previous researches on the self-esteem/academic achievement relationship show that school achievement don’t differentiate students on global self-representations despite de differences on academic self-evaluation. In this study we analyze the strategies that underachievers used to maintain self-esteem at acceptable levels and the influence of developmental factors on the selfesteem – academic achievement relationship. Participants were 955 adolescents in the 7th, 9th and 11th grades, from four secondary schools in Lisbon. Of these students 352 had failed at least once in previous school years and 603 never failed. To collect the data we used a self-concept scale and a scale to evaluate attitude toward school. Results show that the maintenance of selfesteem is achieved trough the existence of positive self-representations in non-academic facets of self-concept and/or with the devaluation of competences related to school. Results also show that younger students are less likely to maintain self-esteem through the devaluation of school. Motivation in senior secondary vocational education; A cross-cultural comparison Paul Vedder, Leiden University, The Netherlands Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands Els De Koning, Leiden University, The Netherlands The research program Motivational Self-Regulation in senior secondary vocational education was set up to study causes of students’ disenchantment or lack of adaptation in this particular type of education with youth ranging in age from 16 to 25. This study explores the relationships between students’ goal preferences, their evaluation of the school climate, and the perceived availability of social support. It examines the cross-cultural validity of a goal preference list based on the work of Ford an Nichols. Data was collected from students in Curaçao (245) and in the Netherlands (303), who followed courses in the professional tracks ICT applications or accounting and office work. The structure of students’ goal hierarchy was largely similar between countries. Differences were noted in students’ desire for individuality, superiority, and mastery. In neither country the reported finding could be confirmed that girls prefer a combination of mastery and social goals.

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E3

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO 1 L

Paper Presentation SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIALIZATION Chair:

Felice Carugati, University of Bologna, Italy

Learning how to handle knowledge. The socialization of children in self-regulated schoolwork Kerstin Bergqvist, Linköping University, Sweden This paper introduces issues that have to do with how teaching and learning is construed when students work on an individual basis with what is called ”planning”. The specific purpose is to illustrate and discuss how teachers talk about what children do and learn. Four teachers are interviewed. The teachers construe their role as a supervisor with the basic task of organizing work and of making children adapt to a specific work mode. Knowing how to find and sort out information, plan and structure activities, are competences that are emphasized The students are construed as ”successful” or ”immature” in relation to activities and classroom context. This illustrates how pedagogic practices work in ascribing different identities to children. The teachers talk about skills and attitudes in a way which mirrors what is generally referred to as competences needed in modern working life, that is being flexible, taking responsibility, being self-monitoring, having social competence, etc. School or family? School and family as determinants of reading socialization Wassilis Kassis, University of Basel, Switzerland Hansjakob Schneider, University of Basel, Switzerland In the process of reading socialization there is relatively little known about the overall interplay of social and educational family variables and variables of personality, gender and school. The study at hand contributes to filling this research gap. A questionnaire study was conducted with adolescents in their 9 schoolyear (420 adolescents of secondary school type). The study used strucural equations models to investigate how school factors and factors of other domains contribute – by way of the self concept – to reading socialization. Our results indicate quite clearly that combined (within- and extra-school) models should be used in explaining the effects on reading competence. Another finding is that models for males and females have to be treated separately. These results suggest also – for the domain of reading-competence – “partial” interventions (within-school or extra-school) are not very promising and the use of combined measures seem necessary. Fostering children’s learning: An investigation of the role of teacher-parent briefings Loizos Symeou, Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Cyprus This paper describes the findings of a research which aimed at identifying the types of information schools and families currently exchange during teacher-parent briefings in a number of school settings in Cyprus, and to explore how this exchange of information is interpreted and utilised. Seven teachers, their pupils and the respective parents participated in the study. Parent-teacher briefing meetings were observed and audio recorded, and parents, pupils and teachers were individually interviewed or participated in focus-groups after the parents’ contact with the teacher. The data was analysed with the use of the ATLAS.ti software program and involved both – 257 –

qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The analysis indicated that both parents and teachers concentrated on specific aspects of the children’s school-life during their meetings. Moreover, it was revealed that particular groups of parents could not interpret and effectively utilise the information they received during their contact with their child’s teacher. Social skills development at age 10-13 Anikó Zsolnai, University of Szeged, Hungary Krisztián Józsa, University of Szeged, Hungary The aim of our cross-sectional research was to describe the developmental level of social skills necessary for succeeding in school context. Our objectives were (1) to devise a Hungarian measurement instrument with good psychometric indices and (2) to gather information about the development of social skills in the early years of adolescence. The sample of our empirical study consisted of nearly 1500 students, aged 10 to 13. Relying on Stephens’ list of social skills we devised a 54-item questionnaire with a Likert-scale format. The questionnaire was completed by the children, by one of their parents and by their class teacher. The reliability of the test proved to be remarkably good for both age groups and for all three evaluators. There was moderate correlation between the three evaluators’ judgement concerning the developmental level of children’s social skills. None of the evaluators could observe any development of social skills between the ages 10 and 13. All three evaluators indicated that girls’ social skills were slightly more developed than those of boys. E4

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO 1 D

Paper Presentation NEW WAYS OF STUDYING MATH ACHIEVEMENT OR OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES? Chair:

Daniela Lucangeli, University of Padova, Italy

Cognitive self-regulation strategies in mathematical problem solving at the age 10 Jerome Focant, University of Louvain, Belgium Jacques Grégoire, University of Louvain, Belgium Most researches on self-regulation strategies were conducted with students at the high school education level, and with self-report methods. In this research, forty-two grade 5 children (M=10 years) were assessed using a different method in a context of mathematical problem solving. Each cognitive self-regulation strategy was measured independently. They were measured when the child applied the strategy, rather than being reported later. Three cognitive self-regulation strategies were controlled: goal setting, planning and control. Moreover the child’s performance in mathematic problem solving was tested. The hypothesis of a positive relationship between each cognitive self-regulation strategy and problem solving performance was confirmed. Differences were observed on the cognitive self-regulation strategies according to the complexity of the problem. These results emphasized the importance of the control procedures in mathematical problem solving.

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Causal ordering of academic self-concept and reading and mathematics achievement Ian Hay, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia Adrian Ashman, University of Queensland, Australia Although the causal relationship between academic self-concept and achievement is considered to be of research importance within education, much of the previous research has been identified as having a range of methodological difficulties. To try to resolve these difficulties Marsh, Byrne, and Yeung (1999) established criteria which became the foundation of this research that used a multi-wave multivariate longitudinal design with 515, Year 5 students. In all, four models were tested. The full recursive models for mathematics and reading demonstrated support for the notion that academic achievement influenced the formation of academic self-concept. The significant pathways were only from past achievement to self-concept. The parsimonious models for mathematics and reading demonstrated some support for the reciprocal interaction between selfconcept and achievement. The finding are discussed in terms of the implications for educational practice. Self-regulated learning of basic mathematics skills: A longitudinal study Inger S. Throndsen, University of Oslo, Norway Ivar Bråten, University of Oslo, Norway We examined relations between 27 young elementary school children's basic mathematics skills and their mathematics strategy use, their metacognitive competence, and their motivational beliefs. The children were assessed individually at three different points of time, in the autumn of Grade 2, the spring of Grade 2, and the autumn of Grade 3. Children in three performance groups regarding addition and subtraction skills were compared in addition and subtraction strategies, metacognitive competence related to addition and subtraction, and motivational beliefs concerning addition and subtraction tasks. The three performance groups were found to differ in all these aspects of selfregulated learning. Correlation analyses including all participants indicated that good performance in addition and subtraction was related not only to children's use of advanced mathematics strategies, but also to domain-specific metacognitive competence, ability attributions for success, effort attributions for failure, and high perceived self-efficacy. Explaining the gender imbalance in maths participation in Australia: Predicting senior high maths enrolments and maths-related career plans using longitudinal data Helen M.G. Watt, University of Western Sydney, Australia Key questions investigated in this study are first, to what extent do boys plan to participate in maths to a greater extent than girls, both in their planned careers as well as their senior high course enrolments? Second, what are the predictive influences of gender, self-perceptions, values and task demands on choices for maths participation? The predictive utility of these social-cognitive constructs, emphasised within the Expectancy-Value framework of Eccles, Wigfield and colleagues (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), was compared in terms of maths participation choices through Australian grades 9 to 11. Participants were 459 students surveyed at the commencement of grades 9, 10 and then 11 (42.9% girls), of whom 273 were present for all occasions. Participants were drawn from three upper-middle class coeducational secondary schools in northern metropolitan Sydney, matched for socioeconomic status. These data were drawn from a larger study containing sequential cohorts together spanning grades 7 to 11 (Ns= 428, 436, 459), which investigated a broader range of attitudes related to both maths and English. – 259 –

E5

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO G A

Paper Presentation AFFECTIVE AND COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF APPLYING ICT Chair:

Richard Joiner, University of Bath, United Kingdom

Inclusiveness and ICT in education Anouk Brink, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Monique Volman, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Geert Ten Dam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands This paper presents the results of a review on gender, ethnic and SES differences and ICT in primary and secondary education, which was conducted with the aim to develop an index for describing the inclusiveness of educational ICT-applications. The research questions were: ‘what is known about ways in which ICT may enhance or restrict the attractiveness and accessibility of learning, and educational outcomes, for different groups of students?’ and ‘which are the characteristics of gender, SES, and ethnic/culturally inclusive educational ICT tools?’ “Why, where and how do you search information on the Web?”: An exploratory study about adolescent’s perceptions Jérôme Dinet, University of Poitiers, France Pascal Marquet, University of Strasbourg I, France Elke Nissen, University of Strasbourg I, France The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the influence of two individual characteristics (Web experience and academic focus) of adolescents on the Web perception, using off-line questionnaires (a Lickert response scale) constituted on the basis of a series of interviews. Questions concerned (1) perceptions about the nature of information found in the Web, (2) “strategies” of access to the interesting Internet sites and (3) the reliability of different information resources (libraries, television, Web, etc.). Results allow to assume that adolescents with high Web experience became more critical, less confident and less enthusiastic than adolescents with low Web experience and that, in some dimensions, perceptions of literature students are different than science students. Even if some interesting results were obtained, further research is needed to explore users’ perceptions related to individuals characteristics and to determine the generalizability of the influences identified in this exploratory study. The influence of modality-preferences in learning from multimedia Georg Hauck, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Teaching and learning with multimedia implies that textual information can be processed through visual perception by reading or through auditory perception by listening. According to their cognitive habits learners may prefer one or the other kind of processing. In three studies the correspondence between modality-preferences and presentation mode and its effect on learning outcomes was analysed. Learners’ modality-preferences were measured by self-reports and by behaviour-analysis. Learners with auditory as well as learners with visual preferences received learning material in the auditory and the visual mode. Contrary to the Visualizer-Verbalizer– 260 –

distinction, where questionnaire and behaviour frequently do not correspond to each other, selfreports of modality-preferences seemed to be a good predictor for actual learning behaviour. Correspondence between modality-preference and type of presentation was associated with positive effects on learning outcome with explanatory texts, whereas no such effects could be found with narrative texts. Affective factors and information technology: Mapping the domain Kim Issroff, University College London, United Kingdom Ann Jones, Open University, United Kingdom This paper focuses on the role of social and affective factors in ICT. This area has been neglected but there is evidence of the importance of affective issues in computer based learning. We review a range of studies in this area including an investigation of the impact of the use of a computer on students’ motivation in a classroom setting; investigating affective factors in a virtual summer: studies of a computer based role-playing environment, Bubble Dialogue, with children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, designing an intelligent system which incorporates motivational features and investigating the role of empathy in on-line support communities. In describing these studies we will emphasise the role that affective factors have played and the ways in which these can help us to understand the nature of affective aspects and their role in students' experiences of computers. E6

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO G C

Paper Presentation TEACHING IS COMPLEX: WHAT A CHALLENGE Chair:

Paolo Sorzio, University of Trieste, Italy

"Webeing” – What does it mean in regard to teacher education program Judith Barak, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel Shlomo Back, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel Ariela Gidron, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel Ruth Mansur, Kaye College of Education, Beer-Sheva, Israel The teacher education thought of the last decade reflects a shift from deliberative ‘doing’ as leading the professional behavior, towards the emphasis that teaching is based upon forms of being in different situations. The difference between the ‘doing’ and ‘being’views of teaching reflect a shift from epistemological focus (what should the teacher know) towards an ontological focus (what should the teacher be). The following work reveals the meaning and implication of being when it is taken as a source for teacher education program. Through case studies of students and teacher educators it draws a frame for understanding the emergence of professional identities through networking of a new web. The conflicts, the questions and the interactions are described and an emergent model of “Webeing” (web-being) as a frame for teacher education is suggested.

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Effects of stress and support variables on work-family conflict among teachers Rachel Gali Cinamon, Tel Aviv University, Israel Yisrael Rich, Bar Ilan University, Israel We investigated two types of work-family conflict among 300 teachers. The goals of the study were to examine whether female family-oriented teachers perceive their profession as convenient, enabling significant investment in family roles. We especially focused on stress and support variables and their effects on work-family conflict among teachers. Results demonstrated that as in non-traditional professions, teachers have higher WÆF than FÆW conflict. New teachers with minimal seniority are especially under the pressure of work-family conflict. Implications of the results for teacher education and understanding the role of work-family conflict in the lives of teachers are discussed. Developing teacher sensitivity to learning- differences Melodie Rosenfeld, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands Sherman Rosenfeld, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel It is widely agreed that teachers need to understand and address individual learning-differences. How can we help teachers develop a sensitivity to learning-differences and how will we know when teachers have gained such sensitivity? Are there guiding principles which can inform staff development in this area? The present study documented the nature of the development of sensitivity to learning-differences among 14 pre- and in-service teachers in a year-long college course on individual differences. Data were collected via questionnaires, individual interviews, five learning/cognitive style inventories, and 62 written, personal incidents. A model for developing teacher sensitivity to individual learning-differences emerged. When teachers understood and legitimized their own learning needs, they began to understand and legitimize other learners, including pupils, colleagues, and family members. Teacher educators’ professional development: A critical inquiry through collaborative action research Naomi Waldman, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel Sima Yogev, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel The need to cultivate critical reflection among student teachers has been a widely discussed issue in teacher training. We maintain that it is equally important to develop critical reflection among teacher educators so that they can serve as models and agents of reflective practice. In this article we examine the development of our own reflective practice through a two-year collaborative action research. The research is based on the content analysis of recorded dialogues related to a teaching unit that we planned and taught together. We employ five criteria in order to assess our practice and the professional changes that we underwent. The comparison between the data of the two years shows a shift in our ability for self-evaluation, wholeheartedness and reflection. A significant aspect of this shift is our emerging realization that student teachers and teacher educators alike have to develop ethical and moral awareness that would consequently lead to the formation of a value-based educational stance.

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E7

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO G D

Paper Presentation SOCIAL INTERACTION IN REAL AND VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS Chair:

Maria Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, Italy

What is reciprocal understanding in virtual interaction? Arja Byman, University of Oulu, Finland Sanna Järvelä, University of Oulu, Finland Päivi Häkkinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland The aim of this study is to investigate and define reciprocal understanding in web-based interaction. It is assumed that reciprocity is an essential component not only for social interaction, but also for successful virtual interaction and thus learning. The subjects (N=116) of the study were pre-service teachers of the international conferencing course. Data analysed, included computer-generated statistics and transcript data of students’ postings. The first of the three phases of analysis was categorizing the students’ postings. Secondly, dynamics of discussions were collected into graphs. Finally, Selman’s (1980) perspective taking theory was adapted to develop a coding method for explore the quality of asynchronous electronic discussion (Järvelä & Häkkinen, 2001b). The results widely show that during this particular web-based course there was reciprocal discussion between the participants. Bunnyworld: Experience within a collaborative programming project in a college computer science class Emma M. Mercier, Stanford University School of Education, USA Brigid Barron, Stanford University School of Education, USA This research investigated the relationship between student satisfaction with a collaborative computer science project and perceptions of five dimensions of group interaction. The Bunny World Project is a collaborative project assigned to a computer science class at Stanford University. In this study, students from the Winter 2002 class completed an on-line questionnaire. Three levels of project satisfaction were defined and used to contrast perceptions of interactions. Students who reported the highest level of satisfaction had groups that were well organized and focused and show high scores on the ‘intellectual life of the group’ items in relation to their Bunny World group, supporting the hypothesis that successful collaboration is due to the creation of a joint problem space. The very satisfied group has very different understandings about what is important in ideal collaboration placing more emphasis on the intellectual and interpersonal elements than the least satisfied group, who viewed group organization as highly important to successful collaboration. TIMSS-R: Mathematics outcomes Elena Papanastasiou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Constantinos Papanastasiou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus This TIMSS study was undertaken under the auspices of IEA. This study examined the factors that influence mathematics achievement and the strength of their effects. The first question guiding this analysis is whether the exogenous factors school climate and educational background of the family – 263 –

are statistical significant predictors of achievement in mathematics. The second question is whether both exogenous predictors can influence the teaching of Mathematics and the attitudes of students toward mathematics. A third question asked is whether the endogenous factors of teaching and attitudes are predictors of mathematics outcomes. The actual model seems to indicate that the strongest direct influence on mathematics achievement is teaching. Another strong effect was exerted by educational background of the family. The weakest effect was exerted by school climate. The stronger direct effect on attitudes toward mathematics was educational background. Appropriating the discourse of innovation: Case studies from science and mathematics education Shirley Simon, University of London, United Kingdom This paper reports on an evaluation of the changes in discourse patterns of teachers’ classroom talk on the adoption of new approaches, and how these patterns are influenced by pedagogic values. Using Leont’ev’s concept of ‘appropriation’, as it relates to language, successful change is determined by the extent to which the discourse of an innovation is appropriated. The paper draws on research from two projects; one focusing on the implementation of the UK’s National Numeracy Strategy, the other on the enhancement of students’ scientific argumentation. Case studies of three teachers from each project are included. Discourse maps show changes in each teacher’s pattern of classroom talk over a two year period. Teachers’ views of what is important in the learning of numeracy, or argumentation in science, are related to their appropriation of the discourse of the innovation. Even teachers committed to change are limited by their strongly held pedagogic values. E8

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO 1 E

Paper Presentation TEACHERS' VIEWS Chair:

Steven Janssens, University of Leuven, Belgium

Teachers’ vs students’ points of view of the role of assessment in teacher education Pnina Frenkel, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel Iris Shenkman, Mofet Institute, Kfar Sava, Israel This paper strives to identify the processes involved in the special roles assessment has in teacher education. Assessment role research emphasizes the importance of modeling good examples of assessment for future teachers (Stiggins & Conklin, 1992, Brown and Glasner, 1999, Gibbs, 1999, Shepard, 2000). Two different methods were used in this research: A) A qualitative process analyzing the conceptual and logical understanding of six teacher educators about the main domains of the roles of assessment in teacher education via mapping sentences; B) A quantitative empirical method based on questionnaires on three attitude scales, which were given to l40 student teachers at different stages during their teacher training. A comparison between the two parts of the study emphasizes the gap between the ideal vs. real points of view, and calls for further research about professional processes of changes in attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and instructional performance about assessment roles in teacher education.

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Teachers as storytellers: Teachers` stories as a representation of their knowledge and their personal ideologies Miriam Harel, Oranim Academic College, Israel Asher Shkedi, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Teachers’ narratives are an important source for the understanding of teachers’ thought processes, their practical knowledge and for a deeper understanding of the act of teaching (Connelly & Clandinin, 1991; Elbaz-Luwisch, 2001). The current presentation describes a study that used qualitative methodology and revealed the pedagogical content knowledge and the ideologies of teachers teaching History in high school. Two kinds of teachers’ stories were revealed: stories that described the act of teaching and stories that were narrated in their lessons as didactic tools. An analysis of the data clearly indicates that the stories told during lessons express the inner worlds of the teachers, their knowledge, their ideologies, the values in which they believe and which guide their actions, and the ways they perceive their role as teachers. The findings of this study might strengthen our understanding of teaching processes and contribute to the teacher training process and the curricula used on this level of the world of teaching. Pre-service teachers’ ideas about measurement Chana Ma-Naim, Kibbutzim College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel Barbara Zinn, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel Varda Bar, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel Measuring is central to the experimental sciences. In this study we explored pre service science teachers’ and general teachers’ ideas and difficulties when they encounter measuring tools and measuring. Their conceptual knowledge of measurement relibility, “true” value, precision, accuracy, dispersion,error and uncertainty was examined. This conceptual knowledge needed the backing of statistical tools such as the use of mean value, standard deviation, normal distribution and confidence interval. We emphasized the notions of uniformity, validity, reliability and the suitability of various measuring tools. we tried to strengthen the theoretical background of these future teachers and to also provide them with some strategies for use in the classroom. How do teachers think pupils learn Alia Sheety, Technion Institute, Israel This study describes mental models teachers develop about students’ learning processes. It assumes that if teachers know more about how children learn, they will select the most appropriate learning techniques, and thus improve the learning process. Researchers’ two major positions are: 1. Mental models have priority over the way teachers think their students learn. 2. Subject matter influences not only actual instructional practices, but also how teachers think about curriculum, learning and teaching.In Maricopa County, Arizona, 251 teachers completed a survey developed to identify how teachers think about these various learning factors. The results indicate that teachers do bring their own set of beliefs and mental models regarding how their students learn to the classrooms, which affect teaching methods and techniques teachers use to foster learning. The results suggest further research on which mental models should be studied more thoroughly. New ways of thinking about the structure of pre-service teacher-preparation programs are also suggested.

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E9

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 2 C

Paper Presentation CULTURE AFFECTING EDUCATION AND EDUCATION AFFECTING CULTURE Chair:

Brigitte Rollett, University of Vienna, Austria

Making culture count Jill Bevan-Brown, Massey University, New Zealand Similar to many ethnic minority groups world-wide, Maori children in New Zealand are overrepresented in Special Education. National research has been critical of the nature and effectiveness of education for these children. This presentation describes a six-year research project focused on improving provisions for Maori learners with special needs. It describes the development and trialing of a Cultural Self-Review process and products designed to help teachers improve their school or early childhood centre’s provisions for Maori children both with and without special needs. The Review is based on the premise that the inclusion of cultural content, practices and values and the involvement of parents in their children’s education are important factors in facilitating learning. Although the Cultural Self-Review reflects Maori cultural principles and practices, the process involved has general applicability. Suggestions will be made about how it can be adapted to suit learners from other ethnic minority groups. Educating immigrant parents Solveig Gaarsmand, School and Society, Denmark Franco Favilli, University of Pisa, Italy In the present multicultural society the education of cultural minorities and immigrant citizens should be a crucial concern. As for the school system aims of teaching are shifting from being assimilation to integration to benefit from the intercultural background of the pupils. Very poor attention is being paid to immigrant adults. A first focus should be on parents, who could benefit from the educational activities addressed to their children. These activities should involve the parents too, in a triangular educational process (school – pupils – parents). This process could help diminish the increasing cultural gap between parents and children and help immigrant adults to become acquainted and educated citizens in their new cultural context. Our research project aims to prepare and pilote an educational module to be implemented in the schools, directly involving immigrant parents in the educational process. Parental attitudes regarding factors influencing school achievement in the Bedouin community of the Negev Sliman Khawalde, Achva College, Israel We were to describe how parental (273 parents, 75% males, 25% females) attitudes influence the achievement of their children, their expectations regarding these achievements and involvement in the learning.. Research method was quantitative and qualitative. For the quantitative methodology we distributed an attitude questionnaire. The answers were processed statistically; interviews were held with content analysis. Parents reported high awareness of student achievement yet involvement in the school is low. Half the parents are illiterate, unaware of school activities. As parent education increases, they help their children study; are more involved in school. Parental – 266 –

expectations of children’s achievement is high, yet the achievements are low. Factors influencing are the Regional Council, governmental neglect of Bedouin education, however they agree that level of parental education relates to achievement. We learned it is important to encourage parent education and involvement in school through meetings and instruction. How interculturalism is developed in the classrooms? Three points of view: Teachers, students and immigrant students Maria José Lera, University of Seville, Spain Virginia Sánchez, University of Seville, Spain Francisca Olías, Teacher Training Center, Alcala de Guadaira, Spain 1278 secondary students, 82 secondary immigrant students and 22 teachers from Seville area were interviewed about their perception of the cultural activities developed in their classrooms. Students, immigrant students and teachers refer how cultural activities are not very used in the classrooms and, in addition, the knowledge of the students about the country and the way of life of their immigrant mates is deficient. All of them refer that spontaneous cultural comparison during the lessons are the most used activities by teachers. In contrast, organized cultural activities are not very common. Relevant outcomes came from students and immigrant students. In spite of demonstrate a lack of interest about these activities, students show a high motivation, referring different kinds of activities they would like to do in their classrooms, as debates, cooperative activities, and seeing TV programs. E 10

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO 1 G

Paper Presentation LEARNING WITH TECHNOLOGY Chair:

Hanna Salovaara, University of Oulu, Finland

The patterns of experts and novices students discourse during multimedia presentations design Ilana Barkai, Kaye College of Education, Beer Sheva, Israel Gadi Alexander, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel Ely Kozminsky, Ben Gurion University , Beer Sheva, Israel In this study we looked at the differences in content and patterns of interaction of novices and experts engaging in designing multimedia presentations. Six pairs of students collaborated in developing multimedia presentations throughout one semester of the school year. Using a modified version of Kampulainen’s (1996) functional discourse analysis instrument, we analyzed the students’ talk to reveal typical patterns of participation in the discourse accompanying the design process. The research questions main focus was the difference of the content and technical knowledge shared during three production phases, the ways knowledge is distributed and the differences between novices and experts discourse types and functions. The analysis focused also on the creation of a new “identity kit” that each dyad managed to develop while talking about technical and scientific matters. The analysis of the protocols revealed a special role for the computer, which acted as a virtual third party in the conversation.

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Learning with technology: Promoting awareness of implicit characteristics of complex environments Billie Eilam, University of Haifa, Israel Yael Poyas, University of Haifa, Israel The presentation examines the relation between classrooms as complex social systems and the difficulties inherent to the training of teachers towards successful functioning in them. The discussion is based upon an study which focused on preservice teachers’ ability to identify and interpret cognitive aspects in teaching-learning video recorded episodes as a consequence of an internet-site- based intervention that aimed to increase trainees' awareness to the implicit and abstract components of the complex classroom processes. Using six criteria, a content analysis of participants’ pre and post-intervention responses to a video-case task was performed and Pre and post task comparisons of these criteria were conducted using paired-samples t-tests. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. The trainees exhibited a shift toward a cognitive rather than behavioral perspective. Significant differences were found concerning the trainees' ability to identify components and interrelations, to describe them using the professional register, and to interpret the observed phenomena by applying theories; these findings reflect a higher awareness of complexity. The intel laptop project: Educating teachers for novel learning environments - Does it make a difference? Nili Mor, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel Research suggests that teachers tend to teach the way they were taught (Weber & Mitchel, 1996) as a result of perseverance in beliefs about teaching and learning (Strauss et al, in print). These conceptions can be changed by re-designing them through experience and reflection (Nisbett & Ross, 1980), just as the Intel Laptop Project was conducted. This project focused on teaching and learning in a constructivist CSCL setting (Salomon 2000). The study accompanying the project tested the hypothesis that having student-teachers experience, design, and reflect upon novel, technology-intensive learning environments would result in the “unfreezing” of their strongly held views (Kruglanski, 1989; Schon, 1987). The study, based on qualitative and quantitative methods, entailed a quasi-experimental design and included an experimental and a control group (N=300). No significant difference was found concerning participants’ concept of learning. Teachers in the experimental group did not show clear changes of their teaching conceptions. Still, some changes in the expected direction were revealed: Another meaningful result was that technology overshadowed pedagogy due to a “sleeper effect”, during which pedagogy incubates slowly, while technology emerges as soon as mastery is gained. The tendency to shift to the newly experienced mode even after a short-term experience gives rise to the thought that using this model in a more intensive way, might lead to a conceptual change. Development of a digital expertise centre for teacher training in a professional learning and working community Cees Terlouw, University of Twente, The Netherlands Iris van de Kamp, Van de Kamp E-Learning, The Netherlands The teacher training institute of the University of Twente aims at a teacher training arrangement in which a Professional Learning and Working Community (PLWC) is central. A digital expertise centre should be developed in order to assist the process of knowledge development and – management involved. The research questions concern the instructional design rules and the – 268 –

practical usability of the prototype. A social constructivist approach to instructional design connected with a. developmental research design with activities such as front-end analysis and prototype development is applied. Using collaborative instructional design with the participants the following components of the digital expertise centre appear to be specified: target groups, relationships with other relevant web sites, access policy, menu lay out, source types, and themes to be covered. We will further report about the results of the formative evaluation and the instructional design rules. E 11

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 2 B

Paper Presentation PROBLEM SOLVING AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE Chair:

Erik De Corte, University of Leuven, Belgium

Children’s practical intelligence: Comparison between mainstream Israeli families and Ethiopian immigrant families Miriam Mevorach, Levinsky College of Education, Israel Sarit Fridman, Tel Aviv University, Israel The goal of this research is to describe practical intelligence as one of the important components that the child needs in order to succeed in the classroom. Our basic assumption is that children with similar cognitive abilities and different learning results lack a supplementary component. We argue that this component is practical intelligence and is culturally related. We examined children’s cognitive-cultural components in the school environment that 1) can help the child who is raised in a different home culture understand and adjust her cultural participation, and 2) make the staff and children aware of cultural differences, such as, different rituals. The subjects included 108 children from the first grade from low socioeconomic backgrounds and different cultural background. The findings show that both the mainstream children and the Ethiopian children started from a similar cognitive point at the beginning of the first class. The mainstream children had higher scored on practical intelligence inventory. 9–17 year-old students’ complex problem solving competencies Gyöngyvér Molnár, University of Szeged, Hungary This paper presents the results of a study aiming at assessing the development of students’ complex problem solving competencies and comparing the achievements in general real-life and school-context specific problems. Two types of tests were devised in parallel: one containing explicit mathematical and science word problems, and another complex one that contained structurally the same tasks in real-life context. Significantly better achievements were found in the explicit problems in each age groups. No significant gender differences were found. In the older age groups, correlations between students’ achievement in real-life problem solving and school grades as well as real-life problem solving and reading tend to be smaller. The findings provide a basis for the improvement of the assessment and monitoring of the effectiveness of education in developing students’ complex problem solving skills.

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Pragmatic factors and inhibition in 7 and 9 year-olds school problem solving Annalisa Setti, University of Bologna, Italy Nicoletta Caramelli, University of Bologna, Italy This study was aimed to highlight the cumulative effect of a-pragmatic factors in the wording of class-inclusion tasks of the kind: ‘In a circus there are 5 little girl monkeys, and 3 little boy monkeys, and 2 little monkeys wear a nice skirt. How many monkeys are there?’. Seven and 9 year old children were presented with four class-inclusion problems in two conditions. In the first condition the final question was: ‘How many x are there in y?’ while in the second a misleading apragmatic element was added in the final question: ‘How many x are there in total in y?’ The results show that the rate of correct solutions was higher in the simple than in the a-pragmatic question condition and that older children performed better than younger ones. Thus, a-pragmatic information can be held responsible for the inhibition of the correct solution scheme in children’s problem solving performance. Facilitating transfer trough process-oriented phenomenon-based curriculum Tiina Soini, University of Helsinki, Finland Maijaliisa Rauste-von Wright, University of Helsinki, Finland Recent conceptualizations of transfer suggest that the research should focus on understanding the actively managed processes of transfer. Methodologically it requires a ”research as design” approach. Attempt to design and study an educational process facilitating transfer is presented here. Program is a process-oriented and phenomenon-based teacher education program. The curriculum of the program consists of five core processes (understanding and guiding group processes, understanding and guiding learning processes and curriculum design, understanding the dynamics of school reality, becoming a researcher of one’s work, understanding and guiding world view construction). In the research the main focus is on the “transition points” of the curriculum where the students have to reflect on what they have learned and what are their main questions. These questions constitute the learning tasks for the next cycle. This reflective phase could be seen as “a check point of transfer”. The transfer is examined by assessing what do the students bring to the process of their own curriculum design and how they manage the design process. Results suggest that the program in question leads students to adopt very active strategies of participation in their learning environment and strong sense of responsibility. However, it seems that they have some difficulties in dealing with the complexity of the learning environment and this sometimes prevents active transfer management. E 12

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 3 L

Paper Presentation TEACHING AND LEARNING IN DIFFERENT DOMAINS Chair:

Reinders Duit, University of Kiel, Germany

Bonding chemical knowledge and education Sibel Erduran, King’s College, University of London, United Kingdom The paper provides an example theoretical framework for applying perspectives from the newly emerging field of philosophy of chemistry in chemistry education. The significance and relevance – 270 –

of this application is that the domain-specific characteristics of scientific knowledge are rarely addressed in science education. As a consequence, disciplinary emphases that play an important role in inquiry and knowledge growth within a particular field of science are underrepresented in schooling. The paper is organized in the following fashion. First, philosophy of chemistry is introduced with reference to the literature on the applications of history and philosophy of science in science education. Second, the autonomous status of chemical knowledge is investigated in the context of reduction, explanations, supervenience and laws. Finally, the implications for theories of learning, curriculum design and teacher education are reviewed. Overall, the paper calls for reconceptualization of chemistry education to be more inclusive of philosophical perspectives on chemical knowledge. Narratives of recursion Dalit Levy, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel The presentation follows a naturalistic study, in which high school students were observed while engaged in several learning activities that address general aspects of recursion. One of these learning activities focused on the creation of recursive descriptions using natural language. The class discourse was recorded and the students' narratives were collected and analyzed, in order to locate patterns of students’ expressions and ways of thinking. One interesting finding was the students’ tendency to individually construct their unique narratives of recursion. It is concluded that learners' and educators' awareness of the several possibilities for constructing a narrative of a specific manner, might help in the process of understanding recursion in general and in further construction of recursive functions in particular. At the same time, the paper raises the need for incorporating narrative and other interdisciplinary aspects of learning and instruction into computer science education. Teacher students’ use of models Andreas Redfors, Kristianstad University, Sweden Empirical data on teacher students' ontological views on the world of models in physics are investigated. A special focus is how students view the link between model/theory and reality. The project has a combination of cross section and longitudinal design. Written questionnaires are used, in combination with follow up interviews. The subject matter focus is within matter and transformation of matter. Data are analysed with respect to a theoretical model of cognitive development assuming the use of cognitive layers, both during the learning process and at its end. We believe that the data can be explained by assuming that the description of the learner at any time is an association of co-existing models, i.e. that there are different layers of the cognitive system. The dappled worlds of students and physics: A bridge too far? Aletta Zietsman-Thomas, Western Michigan University, USA James Thomas, Focus on Learning, Kalamazoo, USA Empirical data on teacher students' ontological views on the world of models in physics are investigated. A special focus is how students view the link between model/theory and reality. The project has a combination of cross section and longitudinal design. Written questionnaires are used, in combination with follow up interviews. The subject matter focus is within matter and transformation of matter. Data are analysed with respect to a theoretical model of cognitive development assuming the use of cognitive layers, both during the learning process and at its end. – 271 –

We believe that the data can be explained by assuming that the description of the learner at any time is an association of co-existing models, i.e. that there are different layers of the cognitive system. E 13

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 3 H

Paper Presentation LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT PROMOTE CONCEPTUAL CHANGE Chair:

Ola Halldén, University of Stockholm, Sweden

Crafting the learning experience to encourage conceptual change Sylvia L. Edwards, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Christine S. Bruce, Queensland University of Technology, Australia This paper reports research results from a phenomenographic study of students’ experiences of web-based information searching, and describes how the structure of awareness discovered might influence the design of classroom teaching and web based resources for academics and students. The research project aimed to uncover variation in students’ experience of web-based information searching. A phenomenographic approach was taken. Data gathering involved investigations of student diaries and interviews conducted over several semesters. Students were also videotaped whilst engaged in a search task. Analysis revealed four categories, including both referential and structural components constituted in terms of critical dimensions including focal elements, approaches to learning and reflective practice. The research project seeks to further explore how investigation of student learning can influence both the design of learning experiences and academic development resources, particularly in relation to teaching and learning graduate capabilities. Coherence and completeness of phenomena explanations in textbooks Yaron Lehavi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Igal Galili, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Explanations of phenomena common in physics curricula were examined in a large sample of university-level textbooks. The completeness of the provided explanations, as found in the sample, with regard to the meaningful physical account for the phenomena, was defined and examined. Another investigated aspect of explanations was their coherence with respect to the concept definitions. The content analysis revealed frequent incoherency and incompleteness of explanations provided to such phenomena as weightlessness, tidal effects, electrical circuit and others. Complete and coherent explanation of the examined phenomena can be rarely found in a single textbook and requires a compilation of several resources. Basing on the findings of the textbooks examination, a conceptual questionnaire was comprised and applied to a sample of teachers and university students. The results show a correspondence between the knowledge deficiencies of the learners and teachers, on the one hand, and the shortcomings of textbook explanations, on the other.

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Domain-specific features in empirical studies on conceptual change: A meta-analytical study Kaarina Merenluoto, University of Turku, Finland Päivi Tynjälä, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Mari Murtonen, University of Turku, Finland The discussion on conceptual change has been evolved from two main stream traditions: science teaching and cognitive psychology. For our meta-analytical study we have identified three preliminary categories: 1) studies conducted from new nativistic perspectives, 2) studies targeted to the change between everyday thinking and the different context domains taught in school, 3) studies on more complex and/or ill-defined changes on higher level of education. The studies in the two first categories seem to be closer to the cognitive-psychological roots of the discussion whereas the studies in the third category seem to be on the levels of education, where there are better possibilities for the optimal preconditions for the chance (Duit, 1999). The aim of this paper is to work through a meta-analytic study and present how the domain-specific features of conceptual change are presented in the empirical research on conceptual change and clarify if and how the above mentioned duality or dichotomy is evident in them. Learning and non-learning in the science classroom Jan Schoultz, Linköping University, Sweden Glenn Hultman, Linköping University, Sweden With this paper we would like to enlighten how pupils and teachers are socialised into science education. An exploratory study is being carried in science classrooms. The study contains classroom observations, pupil interviews and teacher interviews. We have found some interesting results. The teacher is very important in a sense of setting a framework for the work, giving structure, providing parameters and summarising, encouraging pupils who are stuck, being a discussion-partner with the pupils-group. The teacher’s work in the classroom also seems to influence his or her professional understanding about science and science education. The science lesson exists in a context of its own and classroom interaction reveals parallel discourses. The pupils have great difficulties to move from an everyday discourse into a science discourse and to acquire the special language of science. E 14

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 2 D

Paper Presentation METACOGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS Chair:

Alessandro Antonietti, Catholic University of Milan, Italy

Metalinguistic abilities in young Spanish children Patricia De la Osa, University of Granada, Spain José Márquez, University of Granada, Spain Sylvia Defior, University of Granada, Spain Expiración Aguilar, University of Granada, Spain The present study examined the phonological awareness development and the relationship among phonological awareness and letter knowledge in 4-years-old children. 164 preliterate children were tested on several phonological awareness tasks (rhyme, syllable and phoneme sensitivity) two – 273 –

times: in the fall (time 1), and, in spring (time 2). Children's knowledge of letters was also examined. Results showed that children´s phonological awareness and letter knowledge significantly improved as they increased in age. The study supports previous work indicating that letter knowledge is significantly related to performance on phonological measures. Phonological awareness of different of linguistic units (e.g., rhymes, syllables and phonemes) was interrelated both at time 1 and 2. Results also showed that syllable awareness was more accessible to Ss than rhyme was, and rhyme awareness more than phoneme awareness. Evidence suggests that there is a developmental hierarchy of children’s phonological awareness at different levels of linguistic units in Spanish-language. Self-monitoring as predictor of reading comprehension of bilingual children Svjetlana Kolic-Vehovec, University of Rijeka, Croatia Igor Bajsanski, University of Rijeka, Croatia Good second-language readers can compensate for a lack of language proficiency by increasing knowledge of reading strategies. The aim of this study was to explore effects of comprehension monitoring skill and actual usage of reading strategies as predictors of reading comprehension of bilingual children with different level of proficiency in second language (Italian). Participants were primary-school children from fifth- to eighth-grades in four Italian schools in Rijeka, Croatia. A Questionnaire of metacomprehension (Pazzaglia, De Beni, & Caccio, 1999) and close-task, as measures of comprehensione monitoring skill, was applied in addition to a Questionnaire of strategic reading (Kolic-Vehovec & Bajsanski, 2001) as measure of actual strategic reading. Test of proficiency in Italian language was applied in addition to measure of reading comprehension. Older students manifested better self-monitoring skills than younger ones. Multiple regression showed that self-monitoring during reading and actual strategic reading were significant predictors of reading comprehension at all grade levels. Measuring metacognitive knowledge, skill and attitude by selfreport Joost Meijer, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Marianne Elshout-Mohr, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Maartje van Daalen-Kapteijns, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Willy Meeus, Karel de Grote College of Higher Education and Free University of Brussels, Belgium Educational innovations, which aim at a transition from instructivistic to constructivistic learning are often assumed to affect students' metacognitive qualities in a positive way. Existing instruments to test this claim are scarce and most are not fully appropriate for the purpose. The aim of the research is to construct a selfreport instrument for the large scale measurement of metacognitive qualities of students in higher education. The construct of interest includes metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive skills and metacognitive attitudes. This construct and construction principles of the RAS (Report of Autonomous Studying) will be discussed, as well as the methods used to establish the psychometric qualities of the instrument. The RAS has been administered to 1055 students of two educational faculties in Belgium and The Netherlands. Stability and changeability of motivation and information processing: The influence of selfregulated learning based teacher characteristics Jeroen Rozendaal, Leiden University, The Netherlands Alexander Minnaert, Leiden University, The Netherlands Monique Boekaerts, Leiden University, The Netherlands – 274 –

In this study, the influence of self-regulated learning based teacher characteristics on the stability and changeability of motivation and information processing over time was investigated. This was done in the context of the Interactive Learning group System (ILS®). A total of 185 students in secondary vocational education were grouped post facto over contrasting groups that differed on the frequency in which teachers were promoting important self-regulated learning characteristics in the classroom. The differences over time in stability and changeability of motivation and information processing between these contrasting groups were studied. Although no significant mean differences over time were found, the contrasting groups showed remarkable differences in relations between variables over time. Results indicate that frequent use of salient features of ILS yield a reciprocal effect between motivation and deep level processing. This means that working according to ILS creates an environment that promotes deep level processing in motivated students over time. E 15

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 3 I

Paper Presentation TEACHERS AS LEARNERS: REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES Chair:

Neville Bennett, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

How reflective teachers and their “half-baked” conceptions affect their students’ religious worlds Zehavit Gross, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel This study examining forty female graduates of State Religious Schools in Israel, is aiming to inquire whether instrumental or reflective type of teachers are more relevant and adequate to religious education. The research will attempt to identify the implications of the respective paradigms regarding the teacher’s function in the religious school systems. Respondents’ comments indicate that reflective teachers are preferable to instrumental ones insofar as construction of one’s religious identity is concerned. They preferred critical reflection (Van Manen, 1977) to the technical or practical variety and maintained that reflection on action is preferable and more beneficial to their religious development than reflection in action (Schon, 1988). In conclusion, teachers who present themselves as coping with a “half-baked” world view are perceived as more moral and conducive to the shaping of a stable and coherent spiritual world for students than are those who declare themselves to be “perfect” and adhere to a more rigid outlook on life. Empowerment of teachers as learners: Active learning in the college mathematics classroom Ada Katsap, Kaye College of Education, Israel This presentation will discuss ways of improving mathematics teachers’ learning using the “Active Learning Strategy,” with the aim of advancing the process directed at the empowerment of teachers as learners. Many think that this strategy can promote the empowerment of the mathematics teacher and engender a mathematics experience – both of which are expressed through the teacher’s coping with his learning and his work (Faust & Paulson, 2000; Silberman, 1996). The action research selected to examine the educational process in “The History of Mathematics” course uses tools such as interviews, descriptions of observations, an open feedback questionnaire, and lesson plans compiled in the spirit of what the teachers learn in the course. The – 275 –

answers given by the course participants indicate that their learning process was characterized by their creation of particular knowledge for teaching mathematics. Learning as creativity was the key to the empowerment of each teacher as an individual in the collective enterprise. Does participating in site-supported courses changes one’s view of learning and teaching? Sara Shimoni, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel Rachel Sagee, Levinsky College of Education, Tel Aviv, Israel The LDLC opened a wide variety of site-supported courses (SSC) at Levinsky College, aimed at enriching and updating students’ learning environments by expanding them virtually. Teaching with ICT entails changing professional beliefs and practices, from “passing knowledge” to mediating ways of knowing (Mioduser et al., 2000, Mcvay Lynch, 2000). Findings of this research, as former studies of ICT integration in teacher education, show some effects of technology overshadowing pedagogy (Mor, 2001, Gilat & Margalit, 2002). A Likert-scale based questionnaire was used to study the “before and after” SSC students’ and teachers’ perceptions of learning and teaching. Participants in five of these SSC were further interviewed in-depth and part of their on-line and face-to-face discourse was analyzed. The main findings indicate that student teachers don’t change their conception of learning and teaching after a short term episodic experience, while teacher educators tend to adopt new pedagogies and change their practices as a result of long term experience in constructive technology rich learning environments. The more ICT adept teachers were searching for new ways of virtually mediating students’ autonomous learning while the less experienced ones worried about losing their live rapport with their students and their charisma. Teachers as mentors of environmental inquiry projects - Characteristics and difficulties Revital T. Tal, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel Sarit Argaman, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel The environmental sciences curriculum for the high school in Israel includes an inquiry project. The students are required to investigate a local environmental problem. The teachers, who advise their students in the interdisciplinary inquiry projects, face difficulties related to the interdisciplinary contents, and the requirement of conducting an independent inquiry project. Our objectives were to characterize the required skills for mentoring students in inquiry projects, and to describe the characteristics of mentoring interdisciplinary inquiry projects as perceived by teachers with different mentoring experience. The research approach was qualitative-interpretative. The participants were 15 teachers who joined a yearly professional development course. Data collection included open questionnaires, interviews and observations. Our findings indicate that there is a perception difference between experienced and inexperienced teachers in mentoring with regards to a) the skills required; b) the mentoring approach the teachers use; and c) the mentoring characteristics that were identified.

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E 16

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO Aula Magna

Paper Presentation STUDENTS’ INTERACTIONS IN VIRTUAL AND REAL-LIFE ENVIRONMENTS Chair:

Stefano Cacciamani, University of Valle D’Aosta, Italy

Building common ground in the virtual space: Co-reference and negotiation in the "augmented classroom" Giuseppe Mantovani, University of Padova, Italy Paolo Cottone, University of Padova, Italy Information Technology (IT) in educational settings is often used to build "virtual classrooms" in which face-to-face interaction between teachers and students is replaced by computer-mediated interaction. In these systems emphasis is given to the transfer of huge masses of information rather than to communication among participants. This approach can prove of limited use in situations in which co-operation is required among students for the accomplishment of cognitively complex tasks. In these situations the approach of “augmented classrooms”, in which technology supports co-reference and negotiation among learners, can be suitable. We built and tested an augmented classroom interface allowing groups of four university students in developmental psychology to do exercises for their courses in which both individual diagnostic of information provided in different formats and production of a common report were requested. The role of co-reference and negotiation proved critical for the success of the groups working in augmented classrooms. DIVER: Digital interactive video exploration and reflection Roy Pea, Stanford University, USA Michael Mills, Stanford University, USA Joe Rosen, Stanford University, USA Ken Dauber, Stanford University, USA Multimedia records are an increasingly important type of data for researchers in a variety of fields, because they make it possible to capture the complexity of “mind in context.” The DIVER project provides new software tools for easily taking digital video source materials and authoring annotations coupled to point-of-view pathways within the video so as to focus on specific aspects of events; these DIVES can then be shared with others in an Internet-based interface called WebDIVER. These functionalities are powerful in supporting “guided noticing” as an instructional method (e.g., in teacher education), and in collaborative researcher analyses of videorecords. We also have integrated 360-degree panoramic video capture which makes possible “virtual videography” and parallel study of multiple learning groups within a classroom. We will report cumulative knowledge building by distributed learning researchers and teacher educators using these tools, as well as uses of this facility for graduate education in the learning and cognitive sciences. The quality of secondary school students’ argumentative dialogue – Comparing face-to-face and chat debates Timo Salminen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Miika Marttunen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland Leena Laurinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland – 277 –

Although critical thinking and argumentation skills are considered both as an important goal of learning (learning to argue) and as an effective prerequisite for learning as well (arguing to learn), it is difficult to teach these skills and to get students to argue effectively. The new electronic communication tools like chat has been taken in use for helping students to debate in an active way. The effectiveness of these tools is, however, an empirical question. In this study the amount and quality of 24 Finnish secondary school students’ argumentative dialogue is investigated. The students engaged in dyadic argumentative debates (role play) in face-to-face and synchronous computer chat environments. The discussion themes were nuclear power and genetically modified organisms. The amount and quality of the students’ argumentative dialogue will be compared between the learning environments and the discussion themes. Student elaborations in face-to-face versus computer-mediated-communication learning situations Henny van der Meijden, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands Simon Veenman, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands The present study addresses the question if differences in interactions exist between pairs of students working collaboratively in a face-face (FTF) situation versus pairs of students working collaboratively in a computer-mediated communication (CMC) situation. Subjects were sixth grade students from nine primary schools in The Netherlands. In the FTF situation, the students worked in dyads face-to-face to solve a mathematics task. In the CMC situation, the students worked in dyads on the same task but their collaboration was mediated by computer use. The outcomes of the study showed that the FTF dyads exchanged significantly more high-level and medium-level elaborations than the CMC dyads. Dyads which consisted of a high-ability student and a low-ability student provided more high-level elaborations in the FTF situation than in the CMC situation. In addition, students in the FTF situation scored significantly higher on the mathematics achievement test than the dyads in the CMC situation. E 17

27thAug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 3 G

Paper Presentation LEARNING FROM GRAPHICS AND TEXTS Chair:

Richard Lowe, Curtin University, Australia

Enhancing pre-schoolers’ comprehension of pictorial texts Roberta Cardarello, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy This investigation is aimed at defining and checking educational strategies to foster children comprehension of pictures, i.e. at developing, implementing and evaluating a research-based training for enhancing the pre-schoolers’ abilities to read and comprehend pictures (like these we find in illustrated books), and especially to recognise the actions the characters are performing, and the activities in which they are engaged. The training project was based on 3 main resources: a) the use of pictures which present children with specific comprehension tasks; b) the instructional use of asking the children for verbalising their own visual exploration (Kunen & Duncan, 1983); c) and the use of a special feedback which consists of accurately reformulating all children’s speech acts (Lumbelli, 1996). The results (from 30 children 5 year olds) show that it is possible – 278 –

to foster children’s pictures comprehension ability. The investigation also contributed to distinguish different levels of depicted actions’ comprehension. A comparison of questions asked on a text or a film describing the same phenomenon Jose Otero, University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain Koto Ishiwa, University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain Ascension Macías, University of San Juan, Argentina Carla Maturano, University of San Juan, Argentina Helena Caldeira, University of Coimbra, Portugal This study focuses on questions asked by students who read a text or watch a film describing a portion of the world. Two basic types of external representations of the world were considered in this study: linguistic (texts) or image-based (films). One group of first year college students was provided with a short text that described sea waves moving towards the seashore. Other group of students of the same level watched a short film where this phenomenon was presented. All of the the students were instructed to ask any question that they might have. Questions on the text were analyzed using Otero and Graesser's (2001) model of question asking. Interesting areas of incomprehension corresponded to questions addressed to the transition between textbase and situation model representation, and questions asked on situation model elements. The questions asked on text information were compared to those generated by students who watched the film. Graphic organization, spatial cognition and navigational orientation in Web-based learning: An integrated theory Neil H. Schwartz, California State University, Chico, USA Mick P. Verdi, California State University, San Bernadino, USA This paper outlines a theory of the role of graphic organization in the development of conceptual and spatial understanding of information learned within web-based instructional systems. Derived from research in environmental cognition, map-based learning, and mechanisms of working memory, the theory explains how learners make meaning of information when learning in webbased environments and the role of graphics in the process. The theory proposes that the development of an effective cognitive map, and the comprehension resulting from it, is afforded by the sensible spatial organization of a web-based environment in the presence of a graphic organizer that represents it. The theory predicts that learners who develop a cognitive map, internally-consistent with the semantic structure of the subject matter to be learned, remember more from the system because the visuospatial parameters permit a semantic model to be configured in memory. Empirical investigations are interpreted from the theory's predictions, and neuro-imaging studies are used to explain the results. Metagraph: The value of metaphorical graphics in delayed retention Michael Stroud, California State University, Chico, USA Neil H. Schwartz, California State University, Chico, USA Cindy Phelps, California State University, Chico, USA This investigation was designed to demonstrate that metaphorical graphics can be used to increase learners’ comprehension of difficult science concepts in the absence of text. Two factors, Presentation Type, and Time were manipulated. The resulting design was a 3 Presentation Type (metaphorical drawing versus orbital diagram versus verbal description) x 2 Time (immediate versus delay) fixed ANOVA, with time manipulated as a within subjects variable. 133 participants – 279 –

were randomly sampled from a mid-sized western university in the United States. 62 participants returned for the delay 7 days later. The findings suggest that the metaphorical graphics are a powerful device for use in science education to link information students already know with new information they do not understand. Learners in the metaphorical group made more accurate predictions than both the orbital group and the descriptions group. E 18

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 3 F

Paper Presentation IMPROVING HIGHER EDUCATION Chair:

Sari Lindblom-Ylänne, University of Helsinki, Finland

Improving university teaching by Web-based course support Marten Clausen, University of Mannheim, Germany Stefan Fries, University of Mannheim, Germany Jonas Lang, University of Mannheim, Germany This study evaluates the effects of the introduction of a web-support software tool, which provides university teachers with an easy way to generate and maintain high-quality course-support webpages by means of dynamic content management. It is assumed that, mediated by the psychological effects of web-documentation and web-publication, extensive web-support can have a positive effect on the quality of teaching. The tool was used by university teachers in 21 courses (approx. 200 students). The participating students were asked to evaluate the course and its web-support in a web-questionnaire. In addition, they were administered scales for self-concepts, self-efficacy, and aspects of social facilitation as potential moderator variables. The data show that an extensive web-documentation is perceived to have a positive effect on course quality and the commitment of teachers and students. Moderating influences can be found for aspects of students’ self concept. Results are discussed in the framework of social facilitation theory. The UK learning and teaching support network (LTSN): Understanding academics’ responses to a national initiative for the improvement of learning and teaching in higher education Peter Goodyear, Sadie Williams, Christopher Jones, Murray Saunders, Oliver Fulton and Paul Trowler, Lancaster University, United Kingdom Peter Knight, Open University, United Kingdom This paper concerns the responses of teachers in UK higher education to a major national programme for the improvement of learning and teaching (the Learning and Teaching Support Network). We focus on the views of key actors in the process of improvement: heads of departments, course team leaders, educational development personnel and senior managers. Our data were drawn from a representative sample of 18 UK universities. Within these institutions, we surveyed heads of departments and course team leaders and interviewed the heads of educational development units and the pro-vice chancellors responsible for learning and teaching policy. Our data gathering strategy allowed investigation of academics’ responses (a) within universities and (b) across universities within subject disciplines. We describe the patterning of support for this approach to improving education, drawing particular attention to (i) assumptions about the relative importance of research and teaching within the institutions and (ii) assumptions about the nature of academic communities of practice. – 280 –

Cultivation or coddling? University teachers’ task in freshmen integration Susanna Lähteenoja, University of Helsinki, Finland Anna-Maija Pirttilä-Backman, University of Helsinki, Finland Massification, late entry of students into the university, and protracted study times are growing concerns in Finnish higher education. These concerns together with the changes in funding have resulted in a pressure to integrate new students. However, is integration the answer? If it is, will there be differences in how integrating is looked at and carried out at different departments? At the heart of this study is the seldom heard voice of university teachers discussing the question of integrating new students. University teachers at twelve departments participated in focus groups about integration. The results show that not all departments consider integration necessary. Some expressed a dislike for any kind of pampering. To others, integrating was the natural thing to do, to some even beneficial. The disparities in these views arise from a number of differences between the departments, many of them beyond their control. E 19

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 2 E

Paper Presentation INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Chair:

Alexander Renkl, University of Freiburg, Germany

Learning to plan science lessons - The importance of the discourse Carolina Carvalho, University of Lisbon, Portugal The literature show us that the classroom discourse in research education is one of the prominent area of interest but also the lack of analytical tools to understand the explanation building process in students’ discourse at science classes (Kelly & Chen, 1999). One exception is the model of Kaartinen & Kumpulainen (2002). In the current study we analyse the construction of the explanations in a collaborative situation in which 12 groups (N=33) of pre-service science teachers participated. The task consisted in planning a curricular unit of science. The data shows that explaining plays a crucial role when pre-service teachers are planning a lesson. The novelty of the situation – planning a lesson – makes the negotiation process around the concepts to be chosen and the methodology to be adopted, in order to facilitate its appropriation by the pupils, an evident moment of the importance of the collaborative work. Graphs as emerging tools for mathematics education Michiel Doorman, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Koeno Gravemeijer, Utrecht University, The Netherlands In this presentation we exemplify how theories on symbolizing function in mathematics education. We focus on the role of graphs in the learning of calculus and kinematics. Theories on symbolizing gave rise to heuristics for designing a learning route and analysing students’ work. In this route, the interpretation and use of graphs are interwoven with learners’ activities in a series of sciencepractices in four tenth grade classes. Qualitative analyses of the collected data show that during these practices students re-invent and develop graphical symbolizations, as well as the scientific concepts aimed at. The symbolizations and scientific knowledge of motion co-evolve in the – 281 –

learning process. On the basis of our findings we will discuss implications for the use of theories on symbolizing in mathematics education design and research. Reasoning and proof in geometry: Classroom effects at the lower secondary level Kristina Reiss, University of Augsburg, Germany Aiso Heinze, University of Augsburg, Germany Joachim Thomas, Catholic University of Eichstätt, Germany Reasoning and proof are important aspects of mathematical problem solving which particularly require the knowledge of mathematical concepts and methods. These individual factors interact with variables determined by a specific classroom. Our research aims at identifying aspects of the mathematics classroom that support reasoning and proof. In this paper we report on a study with 507 lower secondary students. They took part in a pre-test on their mathematical knowledge, followed by regular instruction on argumentation and proof. Afterwards a post-test on mathematical knowledge was administered to them. Our data suggest that the specific mathematics classroom is significantly influencing mathematics achievement. High-achieving students in lowachieving classrooms differ in their performance from their counterparts in high-achieving classrooms. Moreover, we are able to distinguish these students by their argumentation styles. Students in high-achieving classrooms tend to give more and better argumentations. Students in low-achieving classrooms do hardly use argumentation in their problem solving. Structuring mathematical experiences to support learning for kindergarten children at-risk Ruth Shane, Kaye College of Education, Israel Young children’s mathematics is a transition from the child’s intuitive understandings to abstract symbols and concepts of school arithmetic. Early school success lends considerable significance to the number knowledge which children bring from kindergarten (age 5-6). Research shows significant differences in this knowledge which children from different socio-economic backgrounds bring to school. This report is based on a program initiated in 1999 in Beersheva, Israel for 100 children in 16 kindergartens. The approach involves working with small groups on game-based activities. Each child is interviewed at the beginning of the year and his growing repertoire is recorded weekly, providing the input for planning activities.This dynamic interchange between the general learning trajectory for the year (outlined in the the interview), and the growing knowledge of each child provides structure for the program. The growth of children’s understanding is significant and consistent. Kindergarten teachers report considerable increase in children’s self-respect and confidence. E 20

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 4 S

Paper Presentation SUPPORTING LEARNING AT THE WORKPLACE Chair:

Anneli Eteläpelto, University of Helsinki, Finland

Designing effective learning at the workplace Franck Blokhuis, University of Twente, The Netherlands Wim J. Nijhof, University of Twente, The Netherlands – 282 –

Reviews and empirical studies on learning at the workplace have revealed the importance of several groups of factors influencing the effectiveness of learning at the workplace. It seems that characteristics of learners and characteristics of the work environment have stronger correlations with effectiveness than characteristics of the training program. At the same time it is assumed that learning at the workplace is not as effective as it could be. Based on a review of more than 30 studies a design model is developed to improve the effectiveness of learning at the workplace. This model is based on two design principles: interactive learning and variation of experience. Interaction should focus on what everyone involves, knows, can, wants, values, allows, and has to do. Continuous reflection and two-sided feedback stimulates that process. Variation can be enhanced in several ways: different locations, different activities, different problems to handle, different people involved, different tools to use, different learning mechanisms. Interaction should precede variation to make sure that the new situation contributes to learning. The design model will be tested in a pilot that will take place in the first half of 2003. Learning in the first professional job: A study of accountants, engineers and nurses Michael Eraut, University of Sussex, United Kingdom This paper reports findings from the first phase of a three year longtitudinal study of trainee accountants, graduate trainee engineers, and newly qualified nurses in England. The main research questions are: What is being learned in the workplace? How is it being learned? What factors affect the level and direction of this learning? The research approach is based on four 2 day visits to each learner’s workplace for observing activities and documents, an interview with the learner and shorter discussions with managers and mentors. Competence-supporting working conditions Christian Harteis, University of Regensburg, Germany Learning during professional life is influenced by inner-firm strategies of personnel and organizational development. Both researchers and practitioners address the problem of the application or the transfer of the teaching-contents. This perspective implies the notion that the acquisition of appropriate competencies is the crucial prerequisite for the application of individual competencies. This paper introduces an alternative crucial aspect for the application of individual competencies: Competence-supporting working conditions. The paper discusses the interests of employees regarding their own or their firm's development and change. The basic assumption of this approach is that the success or the failing of corporate education and organizational development efforts depend on an individual, subjective cost-benefit-considerations. The role of experience in development engineers’ work and learning Collin Kaija, University of Jyväskylä, Finland The purpose of this paper presentation is to explore development engineers’ and product designers’ learning through former experiences at the workplace. Learning is seen here as taking place within everyday practices of the job in the contextualized communities of. The empirical data consists of observations and interviews with 18 employees with various backgrounds and work experience in two high tech companies in Finland. The analysis, based on interviews only, followed principles governing narrative analysis of qualitative data. Four main themes running through the interviews could be found as a result of the analysis: 1) The role of experiences in learning to work with other people, 2) understanding of the holistic work processes, 3) benefitting of other peoples’ experiences and 4) creating one’s own view to work and learn through – 283 –

experiences. To sum up, experiences are described here as accumulated into competencies and more holistic understanding of life or wisdom. E 21

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 4 P

Paper Presentation APPLYING ICT TO SOLVE PEDAGOGICAL PROBLEMS Chair:

Bianca Maria Varisco, University of Padova, Italy

Technology influences on self-regulated teaching and learning Maria Cardelle-Elawar, Arizona State University West, USA Maria Luisa Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga, University of Navarra, Spain This research was the result of a PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology) implementation grant to help teachers in their struggles to integrate technology in classroom instruction. The Unit of Practice (UOP) designed by Apple’s ACOT project was used as a selfregulated teaching model for organizing content. The study assessed the extent to which (1) the UOP built teachers’ confidence as problem solvers and decision makers using technology; (2) the potential changes of teachers’ perspectives of their success in improving students’ outcomes. Subjects included 208 teachers from elementary and middle school enrolled in graduate classes of educational psychology. The instructor modeled the seven steps of the on the UOP (standards, invitation, tasks, situations, interactions, tools, and assessment). All teachers developed tailored to their classroom level and carried out the UOP in their classes. Experts following a rubric evaluated the results. Analyses of classroom observations, teachers’ journals, interviews, and debriefings indicated that teachers not only successfully integrated technology in their classes but also students’ self-control resulted in significant outcomes. Instructional guidance and learner characteristics in knowledge acquisition from hypermedia Antje Eckhardt, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Andrea Heiß, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany Wolfgang Schnotz, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany In learning from hypermedia the presentation of learning aids as a special form of instructional guidance can vary in several ways: Usage can be optional or obligatory, the setting can be situated or non-situated. Which kind of presentation is most appropriate is affected by the learners prior knowledge and cognitive ability. Two studies were conducted analyzing the effects of (i) varying presentation formats and (ii) contextual embedding of learning aids. The results indicate that prior knowledge appears to be the most important moderating factor in assessing the effectiveness of learning aids while the learners' decision to use the aids is the biggest obstacle that has to be overcome if the aids are to have any effect at all. In those who use the aids there seem to be two different types of usage, either more fact-receptive or constructive. The contextual embedding is slightly effective for subjects with high prior knowledge. Custom-made pedagogical models supporting network oriented learning Olli Hatakka, University of Joensuu, Finland Teemu Valtonen, University of Joensuu, Finland Esko Kuittinen, University of Helsinki, Finland – 284 –

The aim of this study was to promote acceptance and ease of use of the network oriented teaching and learning in polytechnic level. For this purpose we developed a collection of custom-made concrete pedagogical models, that were based on the teachers’ own teaching conceptions. The subjects were nine polytechnic teachers and their students. The teachers were pre and post interviewed and eighteen of the students were interviewed after the experiment. All materials created on the courses were collected and analysed qualitatively by using the content analysing method. Our preliminary findings seem to indicate that the teachers do accept the models and find suitable for their own purposes. Our attempt was to create a source of practices to provide shared experiences and concrete examples of network oriented teaching and learning models based on teachers normal teaching practices. In this presentation we will discuss, demonstrate and evaluate our experiences and results in detail. Pedagogical innovations and use of ICT Nancy Law, University of Hong Kong, China Allan Yuen, University of Hong Kong, China Angela Chow, University of Hong Kong, China This paper examines the various kinds of ICT tools used in a number of the cases studies collected through the SITES M2 (Second International Information Technology in Education Study) which is an international comparative case study of “Innovative Pedagogical Practices Using Technology” and explores whether and how the different ICT tools are used for different types of innovations as categorized according to their intended curriculum goals. The study found that most of the ICT tools used in these innovative practices were general-purpose tools that were not specifically designed for education or for specific domains. The only exceptions are those related to the goal of “effective learning of subject-related knowledge or concepts”. The paper argues that curriculum innovation and reform for achieving the other curriculum goals, especially those related to the development of collaborative and organizational skills for solving complex authentic problems can be further enhanced if more efforts be put into the development and popularization of learning support tools and platforms that are designed specifically for such pedagogical goals. E 22

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room PSY 2 A

Paper Presentation METHODOLOGY OF ASSESSMENT Chair:

Leone Burton, Visiting Professor, King’s College, United Kingdom

Informal learning and evaluation Anna Maria Ajello, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy Cristina Belardi, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy The widening of the concept of learning origins from several psychological studies: 1) The reflection on “everyday cognition”; 2) The relations between disciplines, knowledge and literacy; 3) Studies on working contexts. During recent years the number of studies on evaluation increased for many reasons: (a) The Studies on testing that underline its characteristics and limits; (b) the researches on the construct of apprenticeship; (c) the reflections deriving from experts who realise evaluation in working contexts. These developments are useful to focus on the problems – 285 –

concerning the evaluation of learning in different contexts. We will present tow grids that was elaborated by some researchers and experts who work in projects founded by the European Commission, that could be useful to look at learning and evaluation from different points of view. In the end we’ll present summaries of conversations with drops-out that will demonstrate the different ways to consider learning and evaluation. On the possibilities of a coherent, comprehensive, and continuous assessment system Maria Ruiz-Primo, Stanford University, USA In a seamless system of education, it is expected that students be tested on their competence using a variety of assessment measures, be informed of their progress, and receive support to reach appropriate competence levels (National Commission of the High School Senior Year, 2001). A seamless system of education, then, requires an assessment system with three properties: coherent, comprehensive, and continuous (see Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001). In this paper, I propose the multilevel-multidistal approach as an alternative for implementing such a system. In the approach, student achievement data can be organized along two dimensions, assessment proximity, that is, proximity of assessment to the enacted curriculum, and grade level, that is, the sets of standards for each school grade level. Although the paper will not present data on the implementation of the approach, it will discuss different venues that can be explored for achieving such a system. Cognitive educational software evaluation Juhani Tuovinen, Charles Sturt University, Australia Past educational software evaluation methods were either based on teacher evaluations of software, or on student responses to the software. These methods had significant shortcomings in assessing the learning benefits of software and associated teaching methods. Cognitive load theory–based methods of assessing student learning with educational computing resources have been found to provide very robust results as they combine two types of information. The software evaluation described in this paper combines the subjective learning effort and objective learning measures. The combined results provide comparative measures of educational effectiveness of alternative learning conditions, which pinpoint the benefits and limitations of educational software with a greater degree of accuracy and lead to improved insights about the value of computer programs in specific educational contexts than previous educational software evaluation methods. The relationship of this methodology to previous software models is explored and further development aspects are suggested. A methodology for the evaluation of teaching and research quality: First experimentation Carmen Vizcarro, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Antonio Pulido, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Daniel Ondé, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain Antonio García, University Carlos III, Madrid, Spain This paper presents the results of a research project in which we proposed an alternative methodology for the evaluation of quality of teaching and research, as basic activities of university staff. This methodology allows specific weights to be given to different activities being measured simultaneously as well as to different components of these activities. We collected information for teachers from five universities plus an association of teachers in the economics domain. After asking an expert panel the weights that should be given to both activities as well as to different – 286 –

components of these activities we compared the information gathered for our sample of teachers on the raw data, on the one hand, and applying the weights suggested by our experts on the other. This analysis will be discussed along with some interesting conclusions and suggestions derived from it. E 23

27th Aug

17:00 - 18:20

Room BIO 1 C

Paper Presentation EXPERIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING Chair:

Jonas Emanuelsson, Göteborg University, Sweden

Change of relationships between word, meanings and conceptions in student’s learning about a problem Elsie Anderberg, Göteborg University, Sweden In research on learning processes the relationship between word, meaning and understanding has not explicitly been taken into consideration, nor has it been regarded as essential as to how understanding of object of knowledge is developed. The dynamic and intentional-expressive relationship between language meaning and understanding remains complex and not that well understood. The aim with this longitudinal empirical investigation is to analyse, describe and compare qualities with regard to dynamic and intentional aspects of relationships with regard to students participating on courses. This qualitative micro-process analysis is developed in close proximity with phenomenographic research on students learning, using the methodology of contextual analysis. The results described and discussed concern the character of relationships experienced and the development of relationships between words used and conceptions of the problem. Students experiences and perceptions of good teaching: In-depth teaching and understanding Kyriaki Doumas, University of Lund, Sweden How do students experience teaching in literature and physics in the first, second and third grade of high school? What do they perceive as important in their learning relationship including teachers, classmates and subject matter? What does contribute to the experience of joy and happiness in a teaching period? What is the role of the school subject (humanities or natural sciences), the age of the students and the level of education to this? By these questions of explorative character I aimed to capture the meanings that students themselves gave to their experience of a good pedagogical relation. Three central and interconnected aspects were distinguished through the analysis of students’ interviews: In-depth elaboration and understanding of the subject matter. Dialogical interrelatedness and reflection. Teacher's rhetoric: logos, pathos and ethos. This paper will focus on various expressions of the investigating pedagogical quality described by the students' as in-depth elaboration and understanding of the subject matter.

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Beyond lesson studies and design experiments – Using theoretical tools in practice and finding out how they work Ming Fai Pang, University of Hong Kong, China The methodological approach bridging teachers’ in-service training, developmental work and research argued for in this paper combines the lesson study approach (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999) and the design experiment (Brown, 1992; Collins, 1992). It is called the learning study and it is conducted by a group of teachers and a researcher who set out to achieve a particular learning objective in an attempt based on a theoretical conjecture. Each one of the teachers carries out the lesson and the learning outcomes in this group of classes can be compared to the learning outcomes in other groups of classes where the same learning objective has been adopted on one level. On another level the learning outcomes can be compared between classes within groups and related to the ways in which the same learning objective was actually attempted in the different classes. This methodological idea will be illustrated by a study in which 5 different teachers within each one of the above condition tried to develop the students understanding of some difficult economic concepts. Aesthetic experience in science education Per-Olof Wickman, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden Britt Jakobson, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden We studied the role of aesthetic experiences in learning science in undergraduate courses at the university. Our results show that aesthetic and cognitive aspects of learning science are intimately related. Aesthetics is not only an expression of joy, but it is also something that necessarily needs to be changed and that necessarily changes as we learn new things, even in a mainly cognitive area such as science. Aesthetic language is used by teachers and students to describe nature and in establishing scientific norms of action. The results here are thus not only of interest to science educators but to all interested in the relationship between cognitive and aesthetic dimensions of learning.

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