Marlene Scardamalia

Pascual-Leone's M Construct as a link between cognitive-developmental and psychometric concepts of intelligence

This study explored relations between Pascual-Leones developmental construct, M, and psychometrically defined intelligence. Items of Ravens Standard Progressive Matrices test were analyzed for M demand, and rational scoring procedures were derived which, in theory, would yield equivalent scores on the Raven and the Figural Intersection Test (FIT), a group test of M capacity. Data on 70 second-grade and 69 third-grade subjects were analyzed for extent of absolute—not correlation-based—agreement of scores. Findings were (1) that from knowledge of a childs performance on FIT it is possible to deduce rationally his raw score on the Raven, and (2) that a standard intelligence test can be scored rationally to yield absolute estimates of M capacity.

On the Road to Computer Assisted Compositions

Two studies are reported that explore the feasibility of computer assisted composition in helping school-age children handle high-level aspects of the composing process. The first study used a program featuring help in selecting structural elements to include in opinion essays. The twelve grade six students, serving as subjects in the study, reported that the program was helpful, but a qualitative analysis of their products suggests the intervention was too easily assimilated to a low-level “What next?” composing strategy. In an attempt to strengthen the intervention, the second study introduced a response-sensitive questioning procedure. Qualitative measures suggest the thirty-six grade eight students found this on-line intervention to be too intrusive. The two approaches to on-line facilitation are discussed, and lines for the future investigation of computer assisted composition for the novice composer are suggested.

Learning about Writing from Reading

Three studies investigated the knowledge gained by students, ranging from grade 3 to graduate level, from exposure to single examples of literary types. Types were suspense fiction, the journalistic restaurant review, and an invented fictional genre. Students of all ages showed evidence of some pick up of rhetorical knowledge, although of limited complexity. The learning process involved is distinguished from that involved in more gradual learning from exposure to literary models.

Assimilative Processes in Composition Planning

Writing, for both experts and novices, is viewed as a primarily assimilative process, the difficulty of which is largely determined by goals the writer imposes on the activity. Novices assimilate writing tasks to a knowledge‐telling strategy of low processing demand. Experts assimilate writing to a reflective planning strategy that places high demands on processing capabilities but that permits the writer to achieve personal goals at the same time that externally imposed goals are being met. A role for teachers is suggested that extends beyond setting meaningful writing goals and teaches students to construct personal goals that subsume external ones.

The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences: Knowledge Building

There are substantial similarities between deep learning and the processes by which knowledge advances in the disciplines. During the 1960s efforts to exploit these similarities gave rise to learning by discovery, guided discovery, inquiry learning, and Science: A Process Approach (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1967). Since these initial reform efforts, scholars have learned a great deal about how knowledge advances. A mere listing of keywords suggests the significance and diversity of ideas that have come to prominence since the 1960s: approaches have changed in response to some of these developments; there is a greater emphasis on collaborative rather than individual inquiry, the tentative nature of empirical laws is more often noted, and argumentation has become an important part of some approaches. But the new knowledge of knowledge has much larger educational implications: Ours is a knowledge-creating civilization. A growing number of knowledge societies (Stehr, 1994), are joined in a deliberate effort to advance all the frontiers of knowledge. Sustained knowledge advancement is seen as essential for social progress of all kinds and for the solution of societal problems. From this standpoint the fundamental task of education is to enculturate youth into this knowledge-creating civilization and to help them find a place in it. In light of this challenge, both traditional education, with its emphasis on knowledge transmission, and the newer constructivist methods, appear as limited in scope if not entirely missing the point. Knowledge building, as elaborated in this chapter, represents an attempt to refashion education in a fundamental way, so that it becomes a coherent effort to initiate students into a knowledge creating culture. Accordingly, it involves students not only

The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP): Scaling Up Professional Development Using Collaborative Technology

Classroom-based knowledge building requires advanced pedagogies and collaborative technologies. It qualifies as disruptive innovation: progressively more impressive accounts of what students and teachers can accomplish alter beliefs regarding developmental, demographic, and cultural barriers. To establish knowledge-building communities requires effort from within as well as from outside the classroom. The Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP) has been rooted in school-university-government (SUNG) partnerships, along with their locally based networks of innovation. The chapter starts with a conceptualization of professional development in the digital era, and the main constituents of the Remote Networked School (RNS) initiative are presented. Next, a description of the SUNG partnerships follows. Emphasis is on agency, as it was observed in the RNS and in the SUNG dynamics of partnerships for classroom-based knowledge building: knowledge building as a shared vision, symmetric knowledge advancement, and multilevel, research-based innovation. Following is a descriptive analysis of the Knowledge Building International Project (KBIP 2007–2014) using Engestrom’s (1987) third-generation activity theory framework (Engestrom and Sannino 2010). Referring to Engestrom’s expansive learning cycle (1987), further analysis is provided regarding the overcoming of double binds for KBIP expansion as an activity.

Dues maneres de pensar en la construcció del coneixement

catalaEn el treball productiu basat en el coneixement i les idees, hi tenen un paper vital dos tipus de pensament: el pensament critic i el de disseny. El pensament critic ha dominat l’educacio, a partir dels dialegs socratics des de l’antiguitat fins als moderns marcs d’argumentacio, els programaris i les llistes de competencies per al segle XXI, orientacions curriculars i proves d’avaluacio. El pensament de disseny, per contra, ha entrat en el discurs educatiu molt mes tard i des de fora, des de contextos en els quals el treball creatiu amb el coneixement i les idees es dominant. Com que l’educacio per a la innovacio esdeve un imperatiu, el pensament de disseny ha comencat a captar a l’atencio pero encara ha de integrar-se en el corrent principal detreball amb continguts educatius. La construccio del coneixement opera en mode de disseny. En aquesta modalitat, el pensament de disseny te el paper principal en la creacio de coneixement i en la millora de les idees, mentre que el pensament critic hi exerceix importants funcions de suport. Moure’s de manera flexible entre els dos tipus de pensament es essencial. Per donar suport a la construccio del coneixement es necessari que els mestres estableixin una comunitat que els proporcioni suport mutu per al discurs de la construccio del coneixement i mantenir una norma de responsabilitat col·lectiva pel que fa a la nocio de millora. Son necessaris molts anys per desenvolupar un alt nivell tant en el pensament critic com en el pensament de disseny, pero els nens poden comencar a funcionar en la modalitat de disseny des de molt joves i amb aixo guanyar la competencia en ambdos tipus de pensament i aprendre a usar-los junts en l’avanc del coneixement de la comunitat. Aixo, en el sentit mes ampli, es a dir, en la socialitzacio en la vida i en el treball en una societat del coneixement.Paraules clau: Construccio del coneixement, pensament critic, pensament de disseny, innovacio, comunitat de coneixement, millora de les idees. EnglishIn productive work with knowledge and ideas, two kinds of thinking play vital roles: critical thinking and design thinking. Critical thinking has dominated education, from Socratic dialogues of ancient times to modern argumentation frameworks, software, and 21st century skill lists, curriculum guidelines, and achievements tests. Design thinking, in contrast, has entered educational discourse much later and from outside– from contexts where creative work with knowledge and ideas is dominant. As education for innovation becomes an imperative, design thinking has begun to gain attention but has yet to become integrated into the mainstream of work with educational content. Knowledge building operates in design mode. In this mode, design thinking plays the leading role in knowledge creation and idea improvement,while critical thinking plays important supportive roles. Shifting flexibly between the two kinds of thinking is essential. To support knowledge building teachers need to establish a community that provides mutual support for knowledge building discourse and that maintains a norm of collective responsibility for idea improvement. Both critical thinking and design thinking take many years to develop to a high level, but children can begin functioning in design mode from an early age and thereby gain competence in both kinds of thinking and learn to use them together in advancing community knowledge. In the largest sense, this is socialization into life and work in a knowledge society.Keywords: Knowledge building, critical thinking, design thinking, innovation, community knowledge, improving ideas.