Miky Ronen

Simulation as a Home Learning Environment--Students' Views.

This paper describes a pilot study aimed at exploring the possibility of introducing simulation-based homework into science learning, in the present junior-high school setting. Two 9th grade classes have performed simulation-based homework assignments as part of the study of electrical circuits, during two months. Students’ views about this activity were analyzed in relation to their prior computer experience and their achievement. The findings reveal that most students favour using the simulation as a home learning environment and find it more interesting and effective than the other homework activities. Students realise the potential of a simulation as a source of constructive feedback that enables them to take more responsibility on their learning.

Design principles for online peer-evaluation: fostering objectivity

Peer-evaluation is a powerful method for fostering learning in a variety of contexts. Yet challenges of application in contexts involving personal values received little attention. This study used a design-based research approach to explore such challenges in an undergraduate educational-philosophy course. The study was organized in three design-and-implementation iterations of a peer evaluation activity. Discrepancies between student and instructor scores were explained by bias due to non-objective student personal stands. Refinements to the design, based on emerging design principles a) assisted students to better differentiate between objective criteria and personal opinions, b) increased learning gains, and c) decreased tensions between different cultural groups.

A Metacognitive Teaching Strategy for Preservice Teachers: Collaborative Diagnosis of Conceptual Understanding in Science

Instructional courses for preservice teachers are usually categorized as disciplinary content courses or pedagogical courses, and learners are expected to develop the pedagogical content knowledge on their own. Metacognitive strategies are often used in the pedagogical courses, but not in the content courses. This study presents an alternative design of a disciplinary course for preservice teachers, which uses metacognitive teaching strategies to promote the attainment of both disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. The goal of the study was to test whether in the context of the disciplinary course preservice teachers would develop their conceptual understanding as well as their pedagogical content knowledge about using a similar instructional strategy. Another goal was to determine what scaffolding is needed to help preservice teachers integrate the content and pedagogical aspects of learning. The results indicate that the collaborative diagnosis of conception (CDC) strategy helped preservice teachers develop a high level of conceptual understanding that goes beyond the achievements in traditional courses. This study presents a model for incorporating metacognitive strategies in a preservice content course and how the use of these strategies contributes to the learning of content and pedagogy. Metacognition is applied in this chapter for two different purposes: First, the CDC strategy uses metacognition to improve physics content knowledge, and second, metacognition is used to scaffold preservice teachers’ awareness of the instructional strategies that were used, thereby helping them construct their PCK. It refers to metacognitive knowledge about people, strategies, tasks, and the knowledge integration strategy, and to metacognitive regulation.

Double blending: online theory with on‐campus practice in photography instruction

This paper presents a blended learning model in which the online component is not used to replace some of the traditional on‐campus activities of a course but to introduce new teaching objectives that would not have been possible to achieve, because of class time limitations and the nature of the course. The instructional model was aimed at integrating a theoretical layer of visual literacy in a traditional practical photography course, using various online individual and collaborative activities. The paper presents the model, details the instructional design of the web‐based elements and their integration with the practical on‐campus activity, and summarises an evaluation study performed with three classes. We suggest that this double blending approach combining online theory with on‐campus practice could be used to cope with similar instructional challenges in other subject matter domains.

Integrating SMS Components into CSCL Scripts

This paper presents an effort to enrich and expand the potential of CSCL scripts by combining different technologies. We introduce and describe a dedicated SMS-personal response system designed to support class activities and its integration with CeLS, an environment used to design and enact online collaboration scripts.

Open Online Assignment Submission: First Year Students' Behavior and Views

The Open Assignment Submission (OAS) is an innovative regime whereby students submit homework assignments of an appropriate nature into a designated open forum provided by the Learning Management System (LMS). Our previous research, carried out with a cohort of Education graduates, indicated possible benefits and cha llenges of OAS as a means of supporting assignment submission through learning from peer examples. The current paper presents a recent explorative case study into the behaviour patterns and views of 55 first year students regarding OAS, during the very early stages of the Academic L iteracy course. Drawing on two main data sources (a self-report que stionnaire and data of student access and submission retrieved from the course LMS records) we have found characteristic patterns of peerexample viewing, assignment submission schedules and related grades. T he OAS regime appears to provide an appreciated learning support and has a potential to promote intentional learning. Ke ywords: Open Assignment submission, LMS, peer examples, learning support, viewing patterns, assignment submission patterns

Systems integration challenges for supporting cross context collaborative pedagogical scenarios

This paper discusses the potential and challenges of integrating collaborative and mobile technologies in order to support a wide variety of learning activities across contexts. We present and illustrate two examples of such integrations aiming to expand the functionalities of an existing CSCL environment by introducing mobile technologies. Our goal is to enable the design and enactment of pedagogical scenarios that include asynchronous learning, outdoor collaborative activities and tasks performed in class using personal response systems. These examples are used to identify and analyze different challenges related to software systems integration issues. The outcome of these efforts is a proposed cross context systems integration model that can serve as the basis for future work that leads towards the integration of additional mobile applications designed and implemented to support novel collaborative learning scenarios.

Languages and platforms for CSCL scripts

Learners in unstructured CSCL scenarios often have difficulties to engage in specific collaborative learning activities, such as question asking, elaboration, or constructing sound arguments. An increasing amount of CSCL research therefore deals with the question how scripts can help learners to fully benefit from CSCL environments. The objective of the workshop is to study the questions related to the implementation of CSCL scripts, from their modeling to their effective deployment on a given platform.

Designing and using an open graphic interface for instruction in geometrical optics

Abstract Graphic representations are the main and sometimes the only effective way of communication in the domain of Geometrical Optics. Many of the conceptual difficulties students have in this domain are related to the interpretation of these representations. RAY is an open graphic interface that was designed to address these problems, serving as a teaching aid in class and as a learning environment for students. The program enables the user to create and to control various optical components such as mirrors, lenses and prisms, to produce simulated ray diagrams and to analyze them with a set of graphic tools. Since any optical setup can be easily created and explored, extensive qualitative analysis can be performed during the study, dealing with many examples of ray diagrams. Program design enables the implementation of various approaches to learning and teaching, including the ability to combine the theory and its formal representations with real demonstrations and experiments.

Fragmented yet Seamless: System Integration for Supporting Cross-Context CSCL Scripts

Complex multistage pedagogical activities may address different planes (temporal, social, physical) by different pedagogical strategies. Since there is no comprehensive technological support for all possible pedagogical practices, activity phases may be supported by different technologies, adapted to the specific needs of the stage. As a result, the implementation of such activities would be technologically “fragmented” since data collected with one system will not be available for immediate use in another environment. The technological fragmentation may not only obstruct the enactment of such activities but even discourage teachers and prevent them from designing rich pedagogical experiences supported by different technologies. Therefore, in order to provide a seamless learning experience, there is a need to ensure continuous data flow between the activity phases enacted with different technologies. This chapter presents our ongoing efforts to cope with the challenge of integrating various TEL environments in order to support the design and implementation of cross-context, multistage collaborative activities.