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Enhancing learning through dialogue and reasoning within collaborative problem solving
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posted on 2007-06-11, 16:11 authored by J.W. HamiltonA co-constructivist view of learning places a
significant emphasis on classroom interaction and
social learning. ‘Students prefer an active to a
passive role; they prefer transaction to transmission;
and they want to learn through a range of activities’
(Morgan and Morris, 1999). Technology and design
has the potential to provide opportunities for
students to be active in their learning: to discuss, to
think, to plan, to make decisions, to reflect and
apply. Consequently, teachers need to provide
classroom learning environments that will promote
learner empowerment through collaboration,
interdependence and problem solving dialogue.
The present study focuses on the use of dialogue as
a tool for thinking and reasoning within collaborative
problem solving. Two groups of students were
involved: a PGCE group of student teachers (Case
Study 1) and a group of eleven-year-old primary
school pupils (Case Study 2). Each group was
operating within the context of a normal classroom
setting. Stories were used to provide a context or
‘natural setting’ for practical problem solving. In both
case studies the role of the tutor was to encourage
learner centred dialogue, experimentation and active
engagement with the problem(s).
PGCE students were asked to complete two
questionnaires, one prior to the activity and one
upon completion. Primary school children completed
only one evaluative questionnaire at the end of their
activity. Video and audio recordings of both groups
were used to provide transcripts that enabled a
more detailed conversation analysis to be
undertaken. This analysis showed the importance of
interaction in learning and the kind of talk and
collaboration that is needed to facilitate such
learning. The extent to which the PGCE student
teachers were able to identify and use the range of
higher order thinking skills embedded within
technology and design, problem solving activity was
also investigated.
Analysis of the data revealed significant changes in
PGCE student perceptions of the contribution of
technology and design to the development of
children’s thinking. The post-task questionnaire
indicated heightened awareness of the qualitative
nature of the task, especially the value of
collaborative learning and dialogue within problem
solving. The primary school pupils identified fully
with the story context, and it was this that fuelled
their high levels of interaction and collaboration.
Through a careful use of language, at critical
incidents in the problem solving process, the teacher
was able to scaffold pupil learning and provide the
kind of assistance that enabled the pupils to achieve
at much higher levels than they would have done
unaided. The importance of learning through active
engagement, using a problem solving dialogue, was
highlighted in both case studies
History
School
- Design
Research Unit
- D&T Association Conference Series
Publisher
© DATAPublication date
2004Notes
This is a conference paperLanguage
- en