Targeting disciplinary practices in an online learning environment

Abstract

The Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) outlines eight practices to represent the diverse ways scientists construct and evaluate knowledge. Engaging students in these practices is a key instructional target in the science classroom. This target, however, creates particular challenges for online instruction, which has predominantly focused on delivering content.This study shows the possibility of addressing disciplinary practices online, here in the context of a professional development course for in-service science teachers, which we designed based on previous work in responsive teaching. We examine an episode of the participants' engagement in an online text-based message board and identify evidence of disciplinary practices in their work. We discuss design elements and instructional choices that supported disciplinary engagement: building instruction around learners' ideas, developing online spaces in interaction with learners, and privileging learners' engagement in disciplinary practices as an objective.

COVID-19 and teacher education: a literature review of online teaching and learning practices

“…Although only a few studies focused primarily on the social presence in online teaching and learning (e.g., Hramiak 2010; Komninou 2017; Li 2011; Satar and Akcan 2018; Yeh 2010), the vast majority of the papers examined included issues related to this presence and highlighted its centrality when it comes to teaching and learning effectiveness. The ability of learners and teachers to interact, collaborate and build relationships with other members was a source of satisfaction for students (Biasuttie 2011) and greatly influenced the cohesion of learning communities (Komninou 2017), the co-construction of knowledge among participants (Jaber et al 2018;Jackson and Jones 2019) and the impact of online teaching and learning practices (Bicen, Ozdamli, and Uzunboylu 2014;Yeh, 2009). Only Rakap, Jones, and Emery (2015) found scarce interactions and difficulties in building relationships with classmates to have little impact on teachers' learning and focused on course content to compensate for these social limitations.…”

“…Both structured and unstructured formats of participation provided opportunities to reflect on key matters related to teaching practice; however, in doing so, Jones and Ryan (2014) showed that participants did not engage in critical reflection on their practice but developed learning by sharing experiences relevant to their specific practice-based situations. In the process of sharing personal experiences, the asynchronous features of some of these tools provided participants with additional time to reflect about each other's ideas, integrate different perspectives into their own thinking or address pedagogical challenges (Jaber et al 2018;Rodeslier 2015). Also, those interactions that went beyond mere description of field experiences were more likely to promote in-depth discussion between participants and facilitate quality reflection (Krutka et al 2014;Stagg and Slotta 2009).…”

Instructor formative assessment practices in virtual learning environments : a posthumanist sociomaterial perspective

“…In online courses the instructor's role may not be as effective as it could be. These findings are in line with more recent research about the instructor's impact on student learning in technology-rich learning environments, "There are efforts to develop interactive learning environments … but none that can support responsive teaching as can take place in face-to-face instruction" (Jaber, Dini, Hammer & Danahy, 2018). I have shown that online the material elements can act to obstruct the instructor's formative assessment practices aiding student learning.…”

“…Yet these tools and the insights they offer typically are applied to face-to-face courses and have not been leveraged in online courses with the aim to support learners' scientific practices (Jaber, et al, 2018) or the instructor's formative assessment practices. What is surprising is that materials designed to support learner engagement with the content can actively prevent student/instructor intra-actions, yet with this knowledge I can intentionally build in opportunities for the instructor to support student learning.…”

Digital Learning in Foreign Language Teacher Training in Higher Education: A Case Study

“…The Community of Inquiry model has also been successfully implemented in online teacher training courses. In this respect, studies have highlighted the positive impact that social presence (Cullen et al, 2013;Komnimou, 2017;Jaber et al, 2018;Jackson and Jones, 2019;Theelen et al, 2020), cognitive presence (Jones and Ryan, 2014;Dooly and Sadler, 2020), and teaching presence (Biasutti and EL-Deghaidy, 2014;Evans et al, 2017) have on online learning.…”