Other

Understanding Criticism and Problem-Based Learning: An Introduction

Author/Presenter

Samuel B. Fee

Brian R. Belland

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2012
Short Description

This volume reflects upon how learners engage in the processes of problem solving and critical thinking by exploring the critical theories that undergird these processes; and this chapter introduces practitioners of educational technology to the contents of the book. The discourse of this text relates criticism and PBL to current trends in educational research. In addition to the broader context of the volume, this first chapter quickly summarizes the content of each remaining chapter. This text puts forward criticism as a lens for viewing the work that educators do, in terms of instructional design as well as the assessment of those activities. The result is learning that reflects more successfully the needs of our society: critical-thinking abilities and problem-solving skills.

Conclusion: Building on the Strengths of Interdisciplinarity

Author/Presenter

Brian R. Belland

Samuel B. Fee

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2012
Short Description

This chapter concludes The role of criticism in understanding problem solving. In it, the overall message of the book—that criticism and critical theories can serve to aid critical reading and synthesis of the educational technology research literature—is summarized. One of the strengths of the educational technology field is its interdisciplinarity. As students enter the field from many different academic disciplines, they should be encouraged to apply not just the content of their former disciplines but also the strategies of and frameworks for thinking about problems.

Distributed Cognition as a Lens to Understand the Effects of Scaffolds: The Role of Transfer of Responsibility

Author/Presenter

Brian Belland

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2011
Short Description

Problem solving is an important skill in the knowledge economy. Research indicates that the development of problem solving skills works better in the context of instructional approaches centered on real-world problems. But students need scaffolding to be successful in such instruction. In this paper I present a conceptual framework for understanding the effects of scaffolding. First, I discuss the ultimate goal of scaffolding—the transfer of responsibility—and one way that scholars have conceptualized promoting this outcome (fading). Next, I describe an alternative way to conceptualize transfer of responsibility through the lens of distributed cognition and discuss how this lens informs how to promote transfer of responsibility. Then I propose guidelines for the creation of problem solving scaffolds to support transfer of responsibility and discuss them in light of the literature.

The Role of Criticism in Understanding Problem Solving

  • Establishes criticism as a valuable tool for research in Educational Technology
  • Provides case studies to fully explain the role for criticism in PBL research
  • Proposes a fresh new approach to solve complex research questions within Educational Technology
  • Introduces a new method for data analysis and analysis of research results in PBL
Author/Presenter

Samuel B. Fee

Brian Belland

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2012
Short Description

The concept of criticism as a tool for research, although well established in other educational research traditions, is not well established in the domain of Educational Technology. This book changes all that by substantiating criticism as a way to step back and critically evaluate an educational intervention within educational technology. Doing so provides an valuable approach for researchers in terms of guiding meta analyses and theoretical studies, preventing the proverbial "spinning of the wheels" that often happens in educational research.

Development of the Enzyme-Substrate Interactions Concept Inventory

Author/Presenter

Stacey Lowery Bretz

Kimberly J. Linenberger

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2012
Short Description

Enzyme function is central to student understanding of multiple topics within the biochemistry curriculum. In particular, students must understand how enzymes and substrates interact with one another. This manuscript describes the development of a 15-item Enzyme–Substrate Interactions Concept Inventory(ESICI) that measures student understanding of enzyme–substrate interactions. The validity and reliability of ESICI data were established through multiple methods. Results from the administration of the ESICI to biochemistry students across the United States (N = 707) are discussed in terms of instrument quality. The manuscript concludes with suggestions for how to use the ESICI for both teaching and biochemistry education research.

Resource(s)

Evaluation in DR K-12 Projects: Options

The Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12) Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports research and development (R&D) on innovative resources, models, and tools for use by students, teachers, administrators, and policy makers. Each project has formative and summative evaluation, which are different from the project’s own R&D activities and instead should support and measure the effectiveness of those activities.

Evaluation options for investigators and evaluators to consider could include the following:

Author/Presenter

Brenda Turnbull

Year
2012
Short Description

Each DR K-12 project has formative and summative evaluation, which are different from the project’s own R&D activities and instead should support and measure the effectiveness of those activities. This paper discusses evaluation options for investigators and evaluators to consider. Read the full paper for a description of these options.

From Dissemination to Knowledge Use: Options for DR K-12

The Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12) Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports research and development (R&D) on innovative resources, models, and tools for use by students, teachers, administrators, and policy makers. Although the program embraces the aim of supporting use of the knowledge it produces, project teams may lack the know-how, incentives, or time to engage in the concerted efforts that are likely to lead to knowledge use, especially use outside the research community.

Author/Presenter

Brenda Turnbull

Year
2012
Short Description

To foster knowledge use among policy makers or practitioners requires a substantial effort that invests in sustained interaction and enlists a range of supports for the prospective knowledge users. This paper discusses some options for more effective dissemination efforts that could lead to knowledge use. Read the full paper for a description of these options.

Using Teaching Routines with Classroom Network Technology to Support Improved Classroom Assessment (Penuel, Schank)

Author/Presenter

William Penuel

Patricia Schank

Year
2009
Short Description

This interactive workshop introduces participants to teaching routines for use with a classroom network technology called Group Scribbles, which supports teachers’ invention of classroom assessment activities in Earth science.

Tying Words to Images of Science Teaching (TWIST) (Roth)

Project Goals -Develop and field test a words-to-video images tool for analyzing selected features of science teaching. -Produce a Guide to Video Analysis of Science Teaching that includes a coding manual for the selected lesson features, a training guide for achieving inter-rater agreement, and a CD/DVD containing video segments for use as examples and for practice.

Author/Presenter

Kathy Roth

Year
2009
Short Description

Project Goals -Develop and field test a words-to-video images tool for analyzing selected features of science teaching. -Produce a Guide to Video Analysis of Science Teaching that includes a coding manual for the selected lesson features, a training guide for achieving inter-rater agreement, and a CD/DVD containing video segments for use as examples and for practice.

Towards an Empirically Grounded Theory of Action for Improving the Quality of Mathematics Teaching at Scale

Our purpose in this article is to propose a comprehensive, empirically grounded theory of action for improving the quality of mathematics teaching at scale. In doing so, we summarize current research findings that can inform efforts to improve the quality of mathematics instruction on a large scale, and identify questions that are yet to be addressed. We draw on an ongoing collaboration with mathematics teachers, school leaders, and district leaders in four urban school districts in the US.

Author/Presenter

Cobb, Paul

Jackson, Kara

Year
2011