Margarida Morais Marques

The dynamics of an online community of practice involving teachers and researchers

In the literature, communities of practice (CoPs) are recognised as having potential to promote teachers’ professional development. However, the study of the dynamics of CoPs with teachers and researchers, and their impact on teachers’ professional development, is still scarce. Contributing to fill this gap, this paper presents a single case study of the dynamics of a Portuguese online CoP, created during the research project IPEC. The messages posted by the group’s members in online fora (the most used communication tool) and descriptive statistics of the use of the project’s platform are presented and discussed. The analysis shows different levels of participation among the members over two school years. The group’s dynamic fits an adaptation of Wenger et al.’s model of CoP development stages. Finally, this analysis allowed the presentation of suggestions concerning teachers’ involvement in CoPs and their professional development.

Planning innovative teaching practices in a community of practice: a case study in the context of the project IPEC

This paper presents an analysis of the contribution of the collaborative work developed by a Portuguese community, involving teachers and researchers, and created in the context of the project |Investigacao e praticas lectivas em Educacao em Ciencia: Dinii¾¢micas de interaccao| (IPEC), to the development of innovative practices in formal education. The community members developed, implemented, and evaluated curricular modules about sustainability, through continued interactions in an online platform and some face-to-face meetings. The case study revealed that the community created challenging innovative practices, since we uncover: a) evidence of 13 of the 14 descriptors of innovative teaching practices taken into account for the analysis; b) disruptive practices when compared to traditional practices, presenting high risk-taking, large scope and complexity. In the final session, we present suggestions concerning design issues for web-based communities, such as the need to combine online interaction with face-to-face meetings.

Augmented Reality and Mobile Learning in a Smart Urban Park: Pupils’ Perceptions of the EduPARK Game

The EduPARK game is developed under a game-based learning methodology. It is designed for outdoor learning settings by employing geocaching principles and mobile Augmented Reality technologies. The game aims to develop users’ authentic and autonomous learning about diverse interdisciplinary themes in a smart urban park. It integrates learning guides for different target groups of basic education. The purpose of this paper is to present the game prototype development, which followed a design-based research approach. The evaluation of the game involved 74 pupils from two school levels (aged 9–10 and 13–14). They explored the game and their reactions were registered. Focus groups were conducted at the end of the experience. The evaluation allowed identifying positive characteristics of the game, such as immediate feedback and collaborative dynamics. Some questions included in the learning guides were perceived as difficult to understand and also some features came out to be considered for future improvements.