ABSTRACT:This study describes an example of design-based research in which we make theoretical improvements in our understanding, in part based on empirical work, and use these to revise our curriculum and, simultaneously, our evolving theory of the relations between contexts and disciplinary formalisms. Prior to this study, we completed a first cycle of design revisions to a game-based ecological sciences curriculum to make more apparent specific domain concepts associated with targeted learning standards. Of particular interest was using gaming principles to embed standards-based science concepts in the curricular experience without undermining the situative embodiment central to our design philosophy. In Study One reported here, the same first-cycle elementary teacher used the refined secondcycle curriculum, again with high-ability fourth graders. We then analyzed qualitative and quantitative data on student participation and performance to further refine our theory and revise the curriculum. In Study Two, another teacher implemented a further refined secondcycle curriculum with lower achieving fourth graders, including several students labeled as having special needs. We use the design trajectory and results to illustrate and warrant the creation of a situationally embodied curriculum that supports the learning of specific disciplinary formalisms.
The purpose of this study was to identify emergent themes regarding higher education instructors' perceptions concerning the provision of collaborative learning activities and opportunities in their online classroom. Through semi-structured interviews, instructors described their teaching experiences and reported specifically about the online collaborative opportunities offered in their online classrooms. A multi-phase coding process was used to analyze the information, including the constant comparative coding method for theme and category development. The three main themes that emerged from this study are: the importance of online communication approaches, challenges and supports for online collaborative learning, and online learner support as the core of online learning. In the online classroom, additional factors must be considered in order to develop successful online collaborative learning. Beyond group work, these considerations include additional time and nurturing, scaffolding, instructional design, and understanding students' comfort level with collaborative online work. The findings of this study are discussed, and recommendations are provided for the development and design of meaningful online collaborative learning.
Soft systems methodology (SSM), an analytic method commonly employed in engineering and business research, produces models focused on human activities and relevant structures used to explain complex, engineered systems. The original version of SSM involves seven stages; five address real-world aspects and observable data, while two stages leverage a systems thinking viewpoint. This approach allows the development of a simplified depiction of complex systems representative of the multi-perspective lenses used to comprehend the systemic complexity of a problem and provide a clearer picture to analysts and decision makers. This bibliometric meta-analysis of 286 relevant publications in engineering, business, and other social sciences fields explores the historic impacts of SSM on academic research and systems thinking in relevant publications that described or employed SSM for research from 1980-2018. This study produced descriptive narrative outcomes and data visualizations including information about top SSM authors, author citation impacts, common dissemination outlets for SSM work, and other relevant metrics commonly used to measure academic impact. The goal of this piece is to depict who, what, why, when, and where SSM had the greatest impact on research, systems thinking, and methodology after nearly 40 years of use, as we look towards its future as a methodological approach used to comprehend complex problem situations.Systems 2019, 7, 10 2 of 15 their research, which may limit the method's effectiveness [3]. Other criticisms of the method include its slow speed, difficulty in using it with stakeholders during analysis or to implement suggested solutions; further, the complexity of the problems under study may limit its acceptance as a valuable research methodology by some academics or managers [4].Checkland [5] noted that there are different ways of thinking about systems. Systems are a group of interacting elements or subsystems with a unified goal and defined by its boundary as well as the nature of the internal structure linking its elements (e.g., physical, logical, functional). "Hard systems thinking assumes that the world is a set of systems (i.e. is systemic) and that these can be systematically engineered to achieve objectives. In the soft tradition, the world as it naturally exists is assumed to be problematic; but, it is also assumed that the process of inquiry into the problematic situations that make up the world can be organized as a system" (p. S49-50). "Hard" systems may be considered as organized systems with features and goals upon which stakeholders agree. "Soft" systems often contain identified elements such as outcomes, processes, strategies, or other features about which there is imperfect stakeholder agreement. Further, the system elements may change dynamically in response to local needs as system participants learn new information about their own or external, related systems. However, it is difficult to retain agreement about the best way to organize complex systems permanently, requi...
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