Carol K. K. Chan

Student-Directed Assessment of Knowledge Building Using Electronic Portfolios

Despite emphasis and progress in developing collaborative inquiry in computer-supported collaborative learning research, little attention has been given to examining how collective learning can be assessed in computer-supported collaborative learning classrooms, and how students can have agency in assessing their own collaborative process. We propose that assessments should capture both individual and collective aspects of learning and be designed in ways that foster collaboration. We describe the design of student-directed electronic portfolio assessments to characterize and “scaffold” collaborative inquiry using Knowledge Forum™. Our design involved asking students to identify exemplary notes in the computer discourse depicting knowledge building episodes using four knowledge building principles as criteria. We report three studies that examined the designs and roles of knowledge building portfolios with graduate and Grade 12 students in Hong Kong and Canada. The findings suggest that knowledge building portfolios help to characterize collective knowledge advances and foster domain understanding. We discuss lessons learned regarding how knowledge building may be fostered and provide principles for designing assessments that can be used to evaluate and foster deep inquiry in asynchronous online discussion environments.

Constructive Activity in Learning From Text

This study examined the constructive cognitive activity of children listening to text and assessed the contribution of this activity to learning. Informative statements were read to 109 children (in grades 1 to 6) who were asked to think aloud about each statement. Analysis of the protocols led to a scale identifying five levels of constructive activity, with three subtypes at each level. The five levels were prefactual confabulation, knowledge/detail retelling, assimilation, problem solving, and extrapolation. The three subtypes were declarative, interrogative, and evaluative responses. Measures of prior knowledge and new learning were also obtained. A path analysis suggested that the level of activity identified by the scale exerted a direct effect on learning and mediated the effects of age and prior knowledge on learning.

Peer Collaboration and Discourse Patterns in Learning from Incompatible Information.

This study investigated the effects of peer collaboration anddiscourse patterns on conceptual change in the context of high-schoolstudents learning from incompatible scientific information. The domainof investigation was biological evolution. Participants included 108students from Grades 9 and 12 randomly assigned to four conditions: (1)peer-conflict; (2) individual-conflict; (3) peer-assimilationand (4) individual-assimilation. Students were asked to think aloud ordiscuss with their peers eight statements consisting of scientificinformation ordered in ways that either maximized or minimized conflict.Several measures of prior knowledge and conceptual change were obtained.Peer collaboration resulted in some mixed findings suggesting that peereffects may vary depending on collaborative interactions. In-depthanalyses of collaborative interactions indicated two discourse patterns:‘surface’ moves included rating, ignoring, rejecting, and patching toeliminate differences; ‘problem-centred’ moves involved problemrecognition, formulation of questions, and construction of explanations.Comparisons between successful and unsuccessful learners showedsignificant differences in their proportional use of surface andproblem-centred moves. External conflict did not lead to deeperdiscourse and more conceptual change; students may need toexperience meaningful conflict. These findings suggest why peercollaboration only works sometimes and indicate the importance ofhelping students to engage in productive discourse.

Bridging research and practice: Implementing and sustaining knowledge building in Hong Kong classrooms

Despite major theoretical progress in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), relatively less attention has been paid to the problem of how research advances may impact schools and classrooms. Given the global changes and educational policies for twenty-first century education, issues of how research in CSCL can be integrated with classroom practice for innovation pose important challenges. This paper draws on experiences in Hong Kong and examines research-based CSCL classroom innovations in the context of scaling up and sustaining a knowledge-building model in Hong Kong classrooms. It begins with an examination of the rationale for CSCL research in classrooms and then considers a range of problems and constraints for school implementation. Classroom innovations involve complex and emergent changes occurring at different levels of the educational system. The experience of CSCL knowledge-building classroom innovations in Hong Kong schools is reported, including: the macro-context of educational policies and educational reform, the meso-context of a knowledge-building teacher network, and the micro-context of knowledge-building design in classrooms. Three interacting themes—context and systemic change, capacity and community building, and innovation as inquiry—are proposed for examining collaboration and knowledge creation for classroom innovation.

Emerging E‐Trends and Models in Teacher Education and Professional Development

With the advent of the knowledge era, teacher education needs to prepare teachers to face the changing technological contexts and to model pedagogies and tools for better forms of learning. Despite much enthusiasm about the roles of technology in education, its role in transforming teacher learning, in ways aligned with advances in the learning sciences and contemporary socio‐cultural perspectives, few changes have occurred. While many teacher educators are turning away from technology after early attempts met with mitigated success, some are pushing the boundaries of teacher education and professional activity systems. This paper identifies and analyzes emerging trends and models in e‐learning for teacher education and professional development from the developing research base; both international trends and current developments in the Asia‐Pacific region are described. We focus on progressively more sophisticated approaches including: (1) renewal of delivery of information with online repositories and courses; (2) rise of web‐supported classrooms; (3) participation in learning networks and communities; and (4) knowledge creation in knowledge‐building communities. We propose that technological innovations accompany social and pedagogical changes, and for the betterment of education, teachers need to play key roles as owners and designers of their learning. The potentials and challenges regarding these emerging trends in e‐learning and their implications for teacher learning are examined.

Moving Beyond Paradoxes: Understanding Chinese Learners and Their Teachers

Over the past two decades, researchers have accorded increasing attention to understanding Chinese students. This interest has been spurred by many factors, including the consistently high performance of East Asian students in cross-national studies of achievement (e.g., Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez, & Chrostowski, 2004a, 2004b; Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2007), pioneering research that has sought to explain this superior performance (Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993; Stevenson & Lee, 1990; Stevenson, Lee, & Stigler, 1986), the large numbers of Chinese students studying overseas (Rastall, 2006), and, more recently, the marked expansion and influence of the Chinese economy.

Fostering collective and individual learning through knowledge building

The purpose of this study was to design and examine a computer-supported knowledge-building environment and to investigate both collective knowledge-building dynamics and individual learning in the context of a tertiary education course in mainland China. The participants were 102 students in four intact Year-one tertiary business classes. Two classes experienced a knowledge-building environment (CKB) and the other two were taught using a regular project-based approach (RPBL). Data were obtained from interactions in the forum, writing quality, group-learning portfolios, and surveys. Quantitative analyses indicated that the knowledge-building groups outperformed the comparison groups on academic literacy assessed in terms of conceptual understanding and explanation, and obtained higher scores on beliefs about collaboration. Within-group analyses indicated that the students’ engagement in Knowledge Forum was a significant predictor of their academic literacy. Qualitative contrastive analyses of high- and low-performance groups identified different patterns of conceptual, metacognitive and social processes, and showed that student groups engaging in more collective and meta-discourse discourse moves performed better on individual scores in academic literacy. The implications of examining both collaborative dynamics and individual learning and designing computer-supported knowledge building for tertiary students are discussed.

The Paradoxes Revisited: The Chinese Learner in Changing Educational Contexts

In the introduction to this volume, we highlighted the need to revisit the Chinese learner against the background of socioeconomic and technological changes, shifts in learning paradigms, new educational policies and widespread curriculum reforms. This volume has examined the contemporary Chinese learner of the 21st century considering the changing nature of learning and epistemology, emerging pedagogy and classroom practice, and recent teacher professional development. We also focused on continuity and change in student and teacher learning in the light of traditional cultural beliefs and changing educational contexts.

Pedagogical Transformation and Knowledge-Building for the Chinese Learner

Abstract This study examines the Chinese learner in the current changing education contexts with their emphasis on 21st century learning goals of inquiry, teamwork, and learning how to learn. With socioeconomic and technological changes, internationalisation and educational reforms, pedagogical approaches developed in the Western countries, such as inquiry-oriented and technology-based learning are becoming increasingly common in Confucian-Heritage Culture (CHC) classrooms. This paper reports on a case study of an expert teacher implementing a computer-supported knowledge-building approach in Hong Kong classrooms over a period of three years. The analyses indicated that the Chinese learners used seemingly contradictory approaches to make meaning, given the contextual dynamics. Similarly, the teacher did not merely adopt the Western model; he developed a transformed pedagogy integrating Chinese and Western approaches to scaffold student learning. The Chinese learners and Chinese teachers employed approaches that transcended the polarised categorisation of surface vs. deep, student-centred vs. teacher-centred, and didactic vs. constructivist approaches in the Chinese classroom. Implications for teaching and learning for Chinese learners in the changing educational contexts are discussed.

Phonological awareness and oral language proficiency in learning to read English among Chinese kindergarten children in Hong Kong

BACKGROUND Learning to read is very challenging for Hong Kong children who learn English as a second language (ESL), as they must acquire two very different writing systems, beginning at the age of three. Few studies have examined the role of phonological awareness at the subsyllabic levels, oral language proficiency, and L1 tone awareness in L2 English reading among Hong Kong ESL kindergarteners. AIMS This study aims to investigate L1 and L2 phonological awareness and oral language proficiency as predictors of English reading among children with Chinese as L1. SAMPLE One hundred and sixty-one typically developing children with a mean age of 5.16 (SD=.35) selected from seven preschools in Hong Kong. METHOD Participants were assessed for English reading, English and Chinese phonological awareness at different levels, English oral language skills, and letter naming ability. RESULTS Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both oral language proficiency and phonological awareness measures significantly predicted L2 word reading, when statistically controlled for age and general intelligence. Among various phonological awareness units, L2 phonemic awareness was the best predictor of L2 word reading. Cross-language transfer was shown with L1 phonological awareness at the tone level, uniquely predicting L2 word reading. CONCLUSIONS The present findings show the important role of phonological awareness at the subsyllabic levels (rime and phoneme) and oral language proficiency in the course of L2 reading development in Chinese ESL learners. The significant contribution of L1 tone awareness to L2 reading suggests that phonological sensitivity is a general competence that ESL children need to acquire in early years. The findings have significant implications for understanding L2 reading development and curriculum development.