Beyond group collaboration: Facilitating an idea-centered view of collaboration through knowledge building in a science class of fifth-graders

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of knowledge building pedagogy and technology (i.e., Knowledge Forum, KF) on students` collaborative competencies and their views on collaboration over 18 weeks. Participants were 52 fifth graders from two science classes (n=26 for both the experimental and control classes). Data mainly came from students` online activities recorded in a KF database and pre-post interview regarding students` views on collaboration. Findings indicated that engaging students in knowledge building enhanced students` collaborative competencies; they became more socially interactive and were able to collaborate more opportunistically beyond pre-determined, fixed groups. Moreover, it was found that engaging in knowledge building also broadened students` view of collaboration, enabling them to see collaboration not just from a task-driven, group-based perspective, but from a more emergent, idea-centered perspective. Implications for science instruction were discussed.