Kristiina Kumpulainen

The Situated Dynamics of Peer Group Interaction: An Introduction to an Analytic Framework.

Abstract This paper introduces a descriptive system of analysis of peer group interaction. The method takes a dynamic and process-oriented approach to interaction which is seen as socially and situationally developed in students moment-by-moment interactions. By concentrating on individual and group functioning, the method aims at highlighting the situated dynamics of peer group interaction and learning. The method consists of a three-dimensional analysis of peer group interaction by focusing on the functions of verbal interaction, and the nature of cognitive processing and social processing. These are investigated with the help of micro-analytical maps drawn out from the data based on video recordings, transcriptions, observations, interviews, and questionnaires. In the first part of the paper the theoretical and methodological background of the analysis will be discussed. That is followed by an introduction to the analysis method highlighted with empirical examples. The paper ends with a reflective analysis of the method.

Collaborative inquiry and the construction of explanations in the learning of science

Abstract This study investigates the construction of explanations in a social science-learning situation, in which 18 university students participated. The science-learning task which implicitly modelled design principles for science instruction in school contexts was derived from kitchen chemistry where the students investigated in small groups the nature of five solid samples of different cooking ingredients. The instructional goal of the learning situation was to develop the students conceptions of solubility, the activity itself involved collaborative inquiry and experimentation. The study follows a three-step research design: pre-test, intervention and post-test, in order to highlight the students explanations around the concept of solubility and their elaboration in social activity. A specific discourse analysis method was developed for the study, to investigate the mechanisms of explanation-building in small-group discourse. The data for the study were collected by means of videotapes, direct observations, transcriptions and questionnaires clarifying the students explanations for dissolving. The study introduces an analytic tool for untangling the processes of explanation-building in collaborative inquiry which takes a synchronous and diachronic approach to communicative and cognitive processes of student discourse. The analysis highlights the reciprocal relationship between the nature of explanations and the students communicative processes in the evolving discourse. The data analysis shows that the negotiation processes around the concept of solubility consisted of diverse interpretations, varying from informal explanations to formal explanations, and from descriptive reasoning to causal reasoning. The results of the students pre- and post-tests indicate that the social science-learning situation provided the students with opportunities to elaborate their explanations for dissolving, and reflecting practical, theoretical and applied understanding.

THE NATURE OF PEER INTERACTION IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT CREATED BY THE USE OF WORD PROCESSORS

Abstract This paper discusses a study designed to investigate the nature and quality of childrens oral language interactions during the process of collaborative writing with the computer. The data collection was undertaken through two case studies conducted in the U.K. ( N = 8) and Finland ( N = 30) with primary-aged children. The data were collected through tape-recordings, transcripts and a system of analysis which classifies childrens linguistic utterances according to functions. Observations and interviews were used to obtain information of the situational context in which childrens talk occurred. The findings show that childrens verbal interactions were highly task related, characterised by the exchange of information, questioning, judging, organising and composing. Exploratory and argumentational use of language was, however, found to be low and the general nature of peer interaction was rather procedural and context bound. The implications of these findings to theory and practise are discussed.

The Interpersonal Dynamics of Collaborative Reasoning in Peer Interactive Dyads

Abstract The authors investigated the microlevel processes of collaborative reasoning in heterogeneous peer dyads working on an open-design task in elementary geometry. Special attention was paid to the nature of student social interaction, problem-solving strategies, and mathematical language and how they shape collaborative problem-solving processes. Qualitative case-based analyses of 3 focal dyads reveal that collaborative reasoning was supported by equal participation in social interaction, consisting of joint negotiation of problem-solving strategies and active conceptualization and visualization of the situation. Challenges to collaboration were manifested in the existence of divergent strategies and verbal conceptualizations where negotiation did not lead to the construction of a shared understanding. In summary, the study demonstrates the power of microlevel process analyses in revealing the interpersonal dynamics of collaborative reasoning and shows how those dynamics mediate the learning opportunities in peer interactive dyads.

The nature of students' sociocognitive activity in handling and processing multimedia-based science material in a small group learning task

This paper describes a casestudy that investigated studentssociocognitive processes in a multimedia-basedscience learning task. By focusing on studentsdiscursive, cognitive and collaborativeactivity on a micro analytic level, the studydescribes the nature of students strategicactivity and social interaction whilst handlingand processing information from a multimediaCD-ROM science encyclopaedia. The participantsin the study were eighteen 12-year-old studentsfrom one Finnish elementary classroom workingindividually and in dyads on a poster task. Theresearch data consist of video and audiorecordings, on-line observations, interviews,questionnaires, and assessments of studentsposter displays. In addition to cross-analysesof the whole data sample, the results of thestudy are highlighted via three case-basedanalytic descriptions characterising the natureof students navigation processes, socialinteraction and cognitive activity in themultimedia context. The results of the studyreveal different strategies for informationhandling and processing with multimedia. Thenature of the students activity show, however,that the cognitive strategies the students usedin processing and handling multimedia-basedscience material and the nature of socialinteractions in which they engaged were ratherprocedural and product-oriented in nature. Thiswas also reflected in the students posterdisplays indicating rather superficial andincoherent conceptual representations. Thestudy indicates on the whole that moreattention has to be paid to the design ofinstructional situations and pedagogicalsupports for multimedia-based learning.

Situational mechanisms of peer group interaction in collaborative meaning-making: Processes and conditions for learning

This paper discusses a case study that investigated situational mechanisms of peer group interaction in collaborative activity. Its goal was to highlight the processes and conditions for meaning-making and to characterise the complex relations of social and cognitive processes emerging in peer-mediated collaborative learning. The pedagogical framework derives from situated views of cognition which aim to engage the learner in activities which encourage problem posing and solving, negotiation and knowledge construction. Twenty 12 year-olds participated in the study. Each student worked in solo and in dyadic conditions on two tasks from their mathematics and language curriculum. Data were gathered by means of videotapes, direct observations, transcriptions, stimulated recall interviews, questionnaires and evaluations of the students’ task productions. Social interaction was analysed at a micro-analytic level within a three-dintensional analytic framework focusing on the communicative function, the nature of collaboration and cognitive processes. The results highlight the interactional and discursive processes inherent in peer-mediated collaborative learning and reveal situational features of students’ social activity which either support or inhibit successful collaboration. The ways in which the logic of peer interaction is reciprocally established in students’ evolving interactions and is shaped by their social and cognitive activity is highlighted. The results inaicate that the complexity and openness of the task, student initiation in meaning-making, and the opportunity to use different semiotic tools are important for supporting dialogic meaning-making in solo and in collaborative activity.

Collaborative practice of science construction in a computer-based multimedia environment

Abstract This paper discusses a case study of nine pairs working collaboratively in a multimedia CD-ROM science environment. The main goal of the study was to investigate the ways in which the collaborative use of a multimedia-based encyclopaedia can foster science learning. By focusing on pupils discursive, cognitive and collaborative activities, the study highlights pupils information handling and knowledge construction in the multimedia context. Also the pupils developing understanding of the science concepts dealt with in the tasks are considered. The research data consist of video and audio recordings, interviews, questionnaires and field notes collected from one 6th grade primary classroom. The results show that the pupils activities during task-processing were highly procedural and product-oriented. The nature of the activity was also reflected in the pupils poster displays indicating rather surface-level and incoherent understanding of the science concepts. The pupils were also found to have inefficient skills in accessing and retrieving information from the multimedia software. Although the findings are strongly linked with the nature of the collaborative task designed around the multimedia context and with the sociocultural background of the pupils, the study illuminates common problems related to the use of multimedia-based CD-ROMs in learning and points out aspects which need to be considered in order to make collaborative learning more effective in multimedia environments.

Collaborative writing with computers and children's talk: A cross-cultural study☆

Abstract This article focuses on a study designed to investigate the nature of childrens talk during the process of collaborative writing with the computer in the United Kingdom and Finland. By investigating childrens oral language interactions in two countries, the aim was to obtain a broad understanding of ways in which primary-aged children socially construct writing while using computers. Childrens talk in both countries was found to be highly task-related and to concern mostly composing, not ways in which to use the computer. The nature of the childrens talk was, however, identified to be fairly procedural and context bound. Data suggest that the reasons for the findings are not associated with use of computers alone. Instead, ways in which children interact and write while using computers are embedded in wider sociocultural contexts of which children are a part.

On Participating in Communities of Practice

This chapter examines the social practices of three classroom communities where pedagogy in the learning of science draws on the socio-cultural perspective. The pedagogical framework for science education, defined in this study as a participatory approach, views learning as a collective process of meaning-making situated in cultural contexts (e.g. Cole, 1996; Sfard, 1998; Wells; 1999). There are three focuses of interest, namely, the nature of role negotiation between the members of the learning community, the application of cultural tools in collective activity, and the processes of making meaning for a scientific phenomenon. The social practices of the science classroom communities are approached from two analytic dimensions: from the viewpoint of discourse moves and from the viewpoint of cultural focus.