Richard Messina

Understanding the nature of science and scientific progress: A theory-building approach

In 1993 Carey and Smith conjectured that the most promising way to boost students’ understanding of the nature of science is a “theory-building approach to teaching about inquiry.” The research reported here tested this conjecture by comparing results from two Grade 4 classrooms that differed in their emphasis on and technological support for creating and improving theories. One class followed a Knowledge Building approach and used Knowledge Forum®, which together emphasize theory improvement and sustained creative work with ideas. The other class followed an inquiry approach mediated through collaborative project-based activities. Apart from this, the two classes were demographically similar and both fell within the broad category of constructivist, inquiry-based approaches and employed a range of modes and media for investigative research and reports. An augmented version of Carey and Smith’s Nature of Science Interview showed that the Knowledge Building approach resulted in deeper understanding of the nature of theoretical progress, the connections between theories and facts, and the role of ideas in scientific inquiry.

Fostering sustained idea improvement with principle-based knowledge building analytic tools

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of principle-based analytic tools to improve community knowledge building in a class of Grade 5/6 students. A flexible design framework was used to engage students in use of three analytic tools-a Vocabulary Analyzer, a Social Network Tool, and a Semantic Overlap Tool. These tools are built into Knowledge Forum technology so principle-based assessment is integral to knowledge work. The primary source of data was discourse generated by students in Knowledge Forum over a school semester (approximately four months). Findings based on a mixed-methods analysis reveal principle-based knowledge building analytic tools to be effective in increasing the frequency with which key terms are used by individuals, in their own productive vocabulary as well as in the shared community space, thus creating a more discursively connected community. Results additionally show a shift from problem generation and breadth of inquiry to increased self-assessment, reflection, and depth of inquiry; also, students report significant ways in which knowledge building analytic tools can increase knowledge building capacity. The effect of principle-based analytic tools to inform knowledge building was examined.Principle-based design (PBD) favors emergent goals and self-organization sustained by adaptive procedures.PBD supports more collaborative and adaptive use of analytic tools.Adaptive tool use is effective in creating a more discursively connected community.

Wisdom in Elementary School

The Knowledge Age brings with it the need for a new form of educational wisdom—wisdom about knowledge. It is generally believed that it takes a long time to achieve wisdom. If that is true, the best schools can do is start students on a long progression—but a progression toward what? What represents a good or bad start on wisdom? Knowledge-Age wisdom requires deep understanding about knowledge itself, and the means by which it is created and continually improved. To what extent are students in elementary school years able to take charge of knowledge advancement? Can they understand the socio-cultural-cognitive processes by which knowledge is advanced, and take responsibility not just for their own knowledge advancement but also for that of their community as a whole? For wisdom about knowledge to develop, classroom interactions need to better approximate how knowledge is created and how groups at the forefront of knowledge creation in our society organize themselves (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2003). Toward this end, researchers at the Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology (IKIT) and teachers at affiliated elementary schools have for the past two decades been working to ensure such processes are integral to the day-to-day operations of the classroom. Participants in Knowledge Building Communities (KBCs) take collective responsibility for the advancement of community knowledge. KBCs are designed to increase the ability of students to create and work with knowledge in the same manner as those who work with ideas in research teams and knowledge-creating organizations. Although turning agency for knowledge work over to students is difficult (Moreau, 2001); teachers report that the shift is possible and well worth the effort (Messina, 2003; Moreau, 2001; Caswell, 1998; Reeve, 1998). The pedagogical shift