EduTech Seminar 2012 - Fostering Critical Thinking Skills and In-situ Knowledge Building through Mobile Learning Presentation Slides

1. Fostering Critical Thinking Skills and In-
situ Knowledge Building through
Mobile Learning
Aurelius YEO, Evelyn TEO, James KOH, Kassandra LIM
EduTech Conference 2012 (03 Sept 2012)

2. Presentation Outline
Our context: SST
Our Journey: RQ1 Designing collaborative knowledge building spaces
Our Journey: RQ2 Impact on critical thinking and knowledge building skills
Scaling Up: Humanities and Biology Learning Trail
Hands On Session
Our Journey: RQ3 Challenges and implications
Summary

3. Our Context
• School of Science & Technology (SST) as one of the Future Schools in
Singapore
• Focus: creating pervasive knowledge building spaces
• Design considerations and challenges to promote core 21st century skills
• Critical thinking skill
• Knowledge building skill

4. Our Context
• Design & deploy innovative teaching approaches at a school-wide level
• Putting in place school infrastructure which promotes interactive and
engaging learning spaces
• socio-technical infrastructure
• small classroom size (20-25 students per class)
• Engaging in research to develop evidence-based pedagogies

5. Our Journey: Designing Knowledge Building
Spaces in Integrated Humanities

6. Our Journey: Knowledge Building as a
Pedagogy
• Defining KB
✓ “knowledge-building pedagogy places the main emphasis on contributions to the progress of
knowledge-building discourse.” Scardamalia & Bereiter(1999)
• Core ideas of KB
✓ Trying to make sense of information about a topic of interest almost always ensures that they
are KB type activities
✓ Construing knowledge building as the solving of knowledge problems
• Why KB?
✓ School as learning community.” Scardamalia & Bereiter (1999)

7. Our Journey: Research Questions
• How do we create knowledge building spaces with the mediation
of mobile technologies and applications?
• How has knowledge building activities, coupled with technological
affordances fostered the development of core 21st century skills
such as critical thinking and collaborative learning skills?
• What are the challenges and issues that we have faced in this
transition?

8. Research Qn 1. How do we create
knowledge building spaces with the
mediation of mobile technologies and
applications?

9. designing knowledge building spaces
design consideration
1: intentional learning
Team generates pre-trail inquiries
learning how to formulate inquiry
questions and to improve ideas
intentionally

10. design
consideration 2:
collaborative
learning in-class small group work
•learning how to work together
•fostering collective cognitive
agency
small group collaboration on trail

11. design
consideration 3:
pervasive KB post-trail collaborative group work on reflection
questions
engaging in KB discourse in and
out of school
battlefield trail @ Bukit Chandu
battlefield trail forum discussion

12. design
consideration 4: Sentosa Trail
learning trail
Battlefield
Trail
• knowledge building in-situ (on
location)
• anchoring learning experiences
from abstract to concrete

13. Geography Sentosa
Trail video clip 1:17 sec
24 March 2010

14. video clip 2:00 sec
History Battlesite Trail pics and show video clip
Jul 2010

15. Humanities Fort Siloso Sneak Preview 00:58 sec
Trail

16. Research Qn2. How has knowledge
building activities, coupled with
technological affordances fostered the
development of core 21st century skills
such as critical thinking and collaborative
learning skills?

17. methodology
✓design research
• design-improvement, iterative process
✓multiple data sources
• online survey (Critical Thinking Skills, Collaborative Learning & Mobile
Learning Trail)
• focus group interview
• discourse analysis of three groups’ talk

18. Survey Constructs and Reliability
Cronbach’s Alpha
Survey Constructs (Factors) No. of Items
Pre Post
Learning orientation 6 0.90 0.77
Creative problem solving 7 0.80 0.73
Critical thinking
Mental focus 7 0.83 0.76
Cognitive integrity 5 0.81 0.74
Self-perception 4 0.75
Perception of team members 5 0.93
Collaborative
Team work 9 0.75
learning
Progress 5 0.85
Satisfaction with collaboration 8 0.88

19. Critical Thinking Skill
Total Class A Class B
Factors
(N=41) (N=21) (N=20)
Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post
Learning
3.16 (.59) 3.27 (.41) 3.13 (.59) 3.20 (.42) 3.19 (.60) 3.35 (.40)
orientation
Creative problem
2.91 (.54) 3.02 (.46) 2.82 (.49) 2.94 (.44) 3.01 (.60) 3.11 (.47)
solving
Mental focus 2.79 (.58) 2.79 (.49) 2.69 (.56) 2.68 (.51) 2.89 (.60) 2.91 (.44)
Cognitive integrity
- Means (SD) in a Likert Scale 1-5
2.94 (.65) 3.21 (.50) 2.88 (.71) 3.13 (.55) 3.00 (.59) 3.30 (.45)
* Overall positive improvement between pre-survey and post-survey, except “Mental Focus”
-
* t- test: Statistically significant difference in “Cognitive Integrity” t(40)= -2.97, p < .01

20. Collaborative Learning Skill
Total Class A Class B
Factors
(N=41) (N=19) (N=22)
Self-perception 4.06 (.55) 4.01 (.50) 4.10 (.59)
Team-perception 4.01 (.78) 4.00 (.51) 4.03 (.97)
Team work 3.70 (.57) 3.61 (.34) 3.78 (.60)
Progress 4.05 (.66) 3.98 (.34) 4.11 (.86)
Satisfaction of CL 4.04 (.66) 3.99 (.58) 4.09 (.73)
- Means (SD) in a Likert Scale 1-5
- Overall positive perceptions toward collaborative learning skills
- however, “Team Work” scores are relatively lower than other factors. This may indicate students’
difficulty to work collaboratively in a team setting.
- No statistically significant difference between genders and classes

21. Mobile Learning
Total Class A Class B
Factors
(N=41) (N=19) (N=22)
Learning effectiveness 4.25 (.42) 4.16 (.44) 4.33 (.39)
Satisfaction 4.36 (.57) 4.42 (.53) 4.30 (.62)
- Means (SD) in a Likert Scale 1-5
- Overall, highly positive perceptions toward the learning effectiveness and satisfaction with mobile
learning
- No statistically significant difference between genders and classes

22. perception
open-ended items
“3 Things I liked the most” “3 Things I liked the least”
Category Frequency Category Frequency
Location-based
Learning 60 Heat & Exhaustion 28
Trail Design 16 Duration 24
Mobile Device &
Facilitation 10 16
Wireless

23. focus group interview
• Curriculum Design
• • Trail design
• Pace for history trail was tight; driven by trail activities.
• Pre and post trail were useful as tuning-in and follow-up activities respectively
• • Curriculum and Online Platform
• More scaffolding and facilitation needed for use of new online platforms.

24. focus group interview
• Collaboration
• • Understanding the Benefits of Collaboration
•Students knew the value of group work and would appreciate undertaking different
levels of group work.
• • Collaboration and Technology
•Affordance and control of the devices affected students’ collaboration especially when
the sharing of one device on learning trail is concerned.
•
• Technology
• • Mediation of Technology
•The technology impacted the time and pattern of doing discussion on reflection
questions while on the move.
• • Appropriation of Technology
• The size, the interface and the sustainability of devices are factors needed to be
considered.

25. Our Journey: Impact on critical thinking and
knowledge building skills
• Relatively low barriers for introducing and adopting knowledge building pedagogies
showed more progress in the journey towards KB
• Students’ positive perceptions and attitude toward collaborative learning, mobile
learning, and authentic learning experiences
• No significant differences in terms of gender and academic ability levels

26. Scaling Up: Humanities and Biology Learning
Trail
• Big Idea: System
• Essential Questions:
• What will affect the abiotic factors?
• Are there differences in the abiotic factors between the 3 locations along
Singapore River? If yes, why?
• Are there differences in the abiotic factors between Singapore River and
school pond? If yes, why?

27. Hypothesis
Quality of water at river mouth is better and therefore creates a more conducive
environment for aquatic lives. This also accounts for the beginning of
civilisations at the mouth of rivers.

28. Characteristics of the Task
Scientific skills and techniques
- use of datalogger and sensors
- Interpretation of the data collected
Location-based learning
Inquiry-based learning
- authentic task for students to apply their
science knowledge
Collaborative learning

29. Water samples were collected
at 3 points along Singapore
Learning Activities River (Robertson Quay, Clarke
Quay and ACM) and the school
pond.

30. Learning Activities
4 abiotic factors were measured:
- dissolved oxygen (DO2),
nitrates (NO3), pH
and temperature
Comparisons were made:
- for the 3 locations along
Singapore River
- Singapore River and school
pond

31. Temperature
•Influences overall quality of
water
•Effect on the solubility of gases

32. Dissolved oxygen
•A key component in cellular
respiration
•Important indicator of water
quality

33. Nitrates
•An important source of nitrogen
necessary for amino acids and
proteins synthesis
•High nitrate concentrations
nitrate pollution ecological
problem

35. Use of Vernier
LabQuest2
•Interface 4 probes:
• Temperature probe
• pH sensor
• Dissolved oxygen probe
• Nitrate ion-selective electrode

36. Interface with temperature
Use of Vernier sensor connected
LabQuest2 LabQuest 2 Video

37. Use of Vernier Various Probes
LabQuest2

38. Data Collection
• Data were collected on
sst.squarecrumbs.com
• 4 activities:
• Measure abiotic factors of river water
• Determine the location for ideal water
conditions
• Explain why the location has ideal water
conditions

39. Measure Abiotic Factors Activity 01

40. Location for Ideal Activity 02
Conditions

41. Why Ideal conditions? Activity 03

42. Importance of Water Activity 04
Quality

43. Demo: Looking at the other parts of the
platform
Platform Exploration

44. Knowledge Forum Post Trail Discussion

45. Knowledge Building Pedagogical
Framework
Real Ideas, Authentic Problems
Improvable Ideas
Idea Diversity
Rise Above

46. Rise Above
Idea Improvement
Idea Connection
Idea Generation
Knowledge Building
Conceptual Post Trail Discussion
Framework

47. Progressive
Knowledge Building Post Trail Discussion
Inquiry Cycle

48. How KF Works Post Trail Discussion

49. How Knowledge Forum supports the
Knowledge Building process
• REAL IDEAS, AUTHENTIC PROBLEMS
• Socio-cognitive dynamics: Knowledge problems arise from efforts to
understand the world.
• Technological dynamics: Platform e.g. K.F. creates a culture for creative work
with ideas. Notes and views serve as direct reflections of the core work.
• IMPROVABLE IDEAS
• Socio-cognitive dynamics: All ideas are treated as improvable. Participants
work continuously to improve the quality, coherence, and utility of ideas.
• Technological dynamics: Platform supports recursion—there is always a
higher level, there is always opportunity to revise. Operations reflect change:
continual improvement, revision, refinement.

50. How Knowledge Forum supports the
Knowledge Building process
• IDEAS DIVERSITY
• Socio-cognitive dynamics: Idea diversity is essential to the development of
knowledge advancement
• Technological dynamics: Platform links ideas & bring different combinations
of ideas to promote the interaction that makes productive use of diversity.
• RISE ABOVE
• Socio-cognitive dynamics: Creative knowledge building entails working
toward more inclusive principles and higher-level formulations of problem.
• Technological dynamics: Platform supports rise-above notes & unlimited
embedding of ideas in increasingly advanced structures, and support
emergent rather than fixed goals.

51. Research Qn 3: What are the challenges
and issues that we have faced in this
transition?

52. Our Journey: Challenges and implications
• Aligning technological affordances with KB pedagogy
• Redefining the meaning of teaching & learning in KB context
• Reconceptualizing assessment modes that align with KB activities
• Equipping & empowering learners with the know-how of collaboration in KB
spaces

53. Our Journey: Challenges and implications
• Improvise interim measure in the transitional status: moving from topic-focus
to problem-focus task; from cooperative to collaborative undertaking of task
• Provide appropriate degree and type of scaffolding to inculcate collaborative
knowledge building skills
• Require technological and pedagogical orchestration to “promote fluid social
interaction structures from individuals, to fixed small groups, to interacting,
flexible, opportunistic collaboration”

54. Q&A

55. Summary
• What are the needs of today’s students?
• How do we engage them?
• Is cost or students’ learning the key to our purpose?