ERIC Number: EJ1088249
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Feb
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1042-1629
EISSN: N/A
Re-Appropriating a Question/Answer System to Support Dialectical Constructivist Learning Activity
Carroll, John M.; Wu, Yu; Shih, Patrick C.; Zheng, Saijing
Educational Technology Research and Development, v64 n1 p137-156 Feb 2016
Learning can be engaged by dialectic, that is, by identifying pros and cons that inhere in propositions, and more generally, by raising questions about the validity of claims. We report here on a classroom case study of dialectical constructivist pedagogy: Students created dialectical analyses of two lectures and four books as core activities in a freshman seminar "Information, People and Technology". We adapted the functionality of Piazza, a free wiki-style question-answer course management infrastructure, and Toulmin argumentation structures to organize and facilitate these dialectical learning activities. In this paper, we motivate this approach, describe our implementation of it, and present interaction log data and content analysis of Piazza debates, and analysis of student self-reflections on learning activity and consequences, to assess issues in this approach, and directions for further instructional design and research.
Descriptors: Constructivism (Learning), Learning Activities, Case Studies, College Freshmen, First Year Seminars, Integrated Learning Systems, Persuasive Discourse, Content Analysis, Reflection
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A