ETEC 530

Self-assessment for the Research Cafes

Submitted by: Andrew Yeung

Date: March 8th, 2018

The purposes of the research cafes are to explore personal teaching contexts and the
application of effective constructive strategies. In addition, it is a platform for developing
your research skills further and gaining first-hand experience with e-learning strategies of
personal interest.

The questions below are designed to prompt an analysis and reflection of your ongoing
inquiry into knowledge and constructivist e-learning strategies. It is expected that the
long answer questions contain at least a paragraph (about 4-5 sentence) response. Please
use this form to complete the self-reflection.

1. When did I facilitate a research café?

I facilitated a research café during Week 2 (March 1st– 7th, 2018).

2. What was the topic on constructivism I chose to explore?

The topic on constructivism explored was using wikis for education.

3. What research did I select to study and why?

Butcher, H. K., & Taylor, J. Y. (2008). Using a wiki to enhance knowing participation in
change in the teaching-learning process. Visions: The Journal of Rogerian
Nursing Science, 15(1), 30.

Pittman, K. M. (1999). Student‐generated analogies: Another way of knowing?. Journal

of research in science teaching, 36(1), 1-22.

Oh, P. S., & Yager, R. E. (2004). Development of constructivist science classrooms and
changes in student attitudes toward science learning. Science Education
International, 15(2), 105-113.

Butcher and Taylor (2008) market wikis as revolutionary web-based tools for
mutual participation, characterized by kaleidoscope and symphony. The study was
chosen to review present usage of Wikispaces in teaching, which is rather narrow
conceptualized as mere databases. Wikis have ideal potential for collaborative design and
simultaneous edit, tracking changes directly within browsers across multiple devices.
Learners inhabit the same page, allowing for social knowledge construction to unfold
dynamically. Pittman (1999) explores analogical reasoning as a way of knowing, making
connections A:B as C:D to generate personal interpretations of the world. Sense-making
suitability however varies between contexts, requiring substantial time investment where
asynchronous wikis offer alternative platforms. Oh and Yager (2004) explore inquiry as
the modern principle of science teaching, with empirical research finding personal
relevancy as the most important determinant for positive learner attitudes to instill
lifelong engagement. With online learning characterized by lack in belonging, wikis
create spaces to build knowledge communities.

4. What 5 things did I learn about constructivist strategies from the body of
research I studied, including the Fosnot chapter I read?

Educators are catalysts and gardeners, tending adequate structure for guided
inquiry. Learners alone make connections in meaningful ways, which can involve aid but
is largely unassisted. Knowledge is gradually layered as content is modified and shared,
networking group authoring towards peer creation.

The four wikinomic principles: Open, Peering, Sharing and Global (Butcher and
Taylor, 2008) promote active engagement for learner construction. Additionally, positive
learner attitudes depend on student negotiation and shared control (Oh and Yager, 2004),
validating constructivist strategies like problem-based learning and project-based
science.

Teachers rarely preplan analogies, and worse yet learners often cannot draw
intended connections (Pittman, 1999). Effective pedagogies involve all learners as self-
regulating, interacting through assimilation, accommodation and equilibration, not just
fact processing.

Progressive experiences foster contradictions perturbing successive constructions

(Fosnot, 2013). Educators identify misconceptions, neither minimizing nor avoiding
errors to leverage reflective abstraction to drive learning.

Learning is recursive, interpretive and nonlinear, constructing further knowledge

on already-present beliefs. Teachers should determine what people have learned, not
whether learning has occurred, correcting falsehood towards consistent understandings.

Fosnot, C. T. (2013). Constructivism: Theory, perspectives, and practice, 2nd Ed.

Teachers College Press.

5. What 3 new research skills did I develop or hone with this assignment?

Butcher and Taylor (2008) present an overly positive view of wikis, making
grandiose claims without supporting data. Not all wikis are ideal nor contributors
themselves, carrying over social and intellectual hierarchies. Wikis are often poorly
sourced, casually written, and biased with unsubstantiated information (Davidson, 2008).
Maintaining a critical eye with research is vital.
 Pittman’s (1999) experimental groups were overly simplified to draw any
meaningful conclusions between genders and socio-economics. Generalizing local
contexts from tiny samples is challenging quickly becoming invalid. Any conclusion
drawn is relative, weighed upon data accuracy and precision.

Education is separate from learning, formalized by designed pedagogies. Wikis

contribute greatly towards making information available to everyone. Brendan makes the
analogy of how multiple cooks sharing creation, assemble more food more rapidly from
division of labor. Wikis remove monopolization of knowledge, though since learning is
constructed individually, a single flawless dish might not exist at all.

Davidson, M. (2008). Using focus groups to learn about my wiki. Computers in Libraries,
28 (1), 16-19 & 47-48.

6. What e-learning strategies did I try out with my peers? How did I decide to
try these particular e-learning strategies out (eg. research, other sources, personal
experience, etc)?

Discussions were hosted using Wikispaces as medium to experience asynchronous

construction, for example developing netiquette criteria modelled from articles. A generic
login password was created for easy access, realizing afterwards participants would have
to identify themselves explicitly for comments. Although membership is worked around,
being able to comment anonymously might detract from accountability. Leaving wiki
settings on ‘Classroom Application Type’, the home page was populated with
information followed by question prompts. Through conversations, even instructions
gradually evolved to accommodate with user-created threads for discussion. Most recent
posts were automatically brought to the top for easy navigation. Since wikis often lack
timely oversight, inconsistency and repetition need to be addressed. Moreover aside from
being assigned to participate in this research café, encouraging regular contributions
through buy-in requires creativity.

7. How did my peers help me?

Upon brainstorming initial thoughts on affordances and limitations, we modelled

community building shared ideas from different perspectives without requiring much
technical skill. Wikis facilitate both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration without
the complexity of workflow permissions. On the limitations, peers introduced the term
‘edit wars’ as wasting time debating topics of no practical value (eg. people, places,
names, dates, statistics, spelling, punctuation, wording). We discussed how ‘openness’
assumes digital literacy and technological understanding, which is not applicable in some
contexts where purpose limits searchability. For the point on Wikispaces closing,
reassurances were given that while resources may go stale losing relevancy, developers
often will not cancel support altogether with large active user base. Moreover apps spring
up immediately to take their place, rarely needing to migrate content.
8. What are one- two memorable examples of dialogue from the café? (Share
the transcript portion) Why are they memorable?

Mike: Sharing for me too. That is student-student as well as teacher-student. The

interaction element in science and math instruction is probably the biggest weakness in
my own practice. Not only does it give a chance to elicit prior experiences, it gives room
for discourse and meaning-making over an extended time. I like the iterative nature that
wikis offer--a chance to "level up" once you understand something a bit more.

In discussing wikinomic principles, I identified with Mike’s comment how

interaction is ‘probably the biggest weakness in my own practice’. Not that making
connections with students is unnecessary, but given prescribed curricula and time
constraints, interactions can be rather limited. Here wikis create new opportunities for
peers to construct knowledge together, with more frequent exchange with teachers.

Nick: I think that employing a wiki would increase shared control in research-based
activities. I love the idea of students creating content intended to be consumed by
students. At the same time, I don't think that many of my students would contribute
content that had any meaningful relevancy and could see the wiki becoming an exercise
where my students are essentially beating a dead horse. That being said, I teach middle
school. I recall creating a shared wiki in a third-year university history class. The project
worked well undoubtedly because we all wanted to be there and had a shared interest.
The wiki was a good tool for that class. Developmental external factors are very
important to consider here.

Although having students develop content for peers is desirable, without

sufficient relevancy and reward, getting learners to contribute would be ‘essentially
beating a dead horse’. How teachers promote wanting to be there depends on external
factors to varying success. Others commented how Butcher and Taylor (2008) reads more
like marketing than research, dismissing older technology for being antiquated (eg. sage
on stage, school of regurgitation), asking the fundamental question on how to select best
suited educational technologies while appreciating merits of older generations.

9. What 3-5 aspects of the research and the e-learning strategies will I now
apply to my personal teaching context?

To encourage prototyping over perfectionism, I will create pages for small groups
to dump information to be collectively shaped, depicting how knowledge is layered with
the world your editor. Rather than strive towards a singular truth, we can appreciate
relativity in construction.

In selecting new media, technical support will also be factored on top of costs in
money and time. In continuing to explore workarounds using already-present technology,
I will encourage fact checking as responsible audiences returning control back to
learners.
 Scientific achievement was found to vary between genders and socio-economics,
involving extracurricular familiarity and success expectation. I will explore whether that
rings true for learners, observing how face-to-face interactions are carried over into
online spaces like wikis.

10. What other questions am I curious about? How will I plan to explore these?

- Given many options of ‘free wikis’ (eg. PBWiki, StikiPad, JotSpot), which wiki
should I consider now that Wikispaces is disappearing?

- What external factors make content suitable for wikis, maximizing affordances
and minimizing limitations?

- How can I promote learner buy-in to use wikis for education amidst technology-
saturated climates?

I plan to explore these by finding more recent articles, evaluating data collected
through different research. I will challenge myself to explore the above wiki suggestions,
testing out affordances by trial-and-error. I will continue to build on created wikis during
this transition, incorporating more wiki functionality to course websites.

References

Butcher, H. K., & Taylor, J. Y. (2008). Using a wiki to enhance knowing participation in
change in the teaching-learning process. Visions: The Journal of Rogerian Nursing
Science, 15(1), 30.

Davidson, M. (2008). Using focus groups to learn about my wiki. Computers in Libraries,
28 (1), 16-19 & 47-48.

Fosnot, C. T. (2013). Constructivism: Theory, perspectives, and practice, 2nd Ed.

Teachers College Press.

Pittman, K. M. (1999). Student‐generated analogies: Another way of knowing?. Journal

of research in science teaching, 36(1), 1-22.

Oh, P. S., & Yager, R. E. (2004). Development of constructivist science classrooms and
changes in student attitudes toward science learning. Science Education
International, 15(2), 105-113.