ERIC Number: EJ999873
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-May
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-4277
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Questioning and the Quality of Knowledge Constructed in a CSCL Context: A Study on Two Grade-Levels of Students
Lai, Ming; Law, Nancy
Instructional Science: An International Journal of the Learning Sciences, v41 n3 p597-620 May 2013
This paper aims to study the relationship between questioning and the quality of knowledge constructed in a CSCL context. In previous studies, different units of analysis are employed and the patterns of relationships are not consistent for different age groups. The analytic units of a thread, an individual, and a group are employed in this study, and two grades of students (grade 6 and grade 10) are investigated. At the thread level, we aim to examine to what extent questioning can be a mechanism for knowledge advancement, and we find that the tenth-graders are capable to advance knowledge through questioning, while for the sixth-graders, more facilitation seems to be needed. At the individual level, we find that for the sixth-graders, those asking good questions are likely to express high-level explanations, suggesting that individual competence plays an important role in advancing knowledge among these younger students. For the tenth-graders, a "division of labor" is observed that good questions are generated by some students while high-level explanations by others. At the group level, a high and positive correlation is found for both grades. The findings suggest further research is needed to examine other possible mechanisms for knowledge advancement in online collaborative discourse.
Descriptors: Correlation, Grade 6, Grade 10, Age Groups, Discourse Analysis, Students, Questioning Techniques
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 10; Grade 6; High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
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Language: English
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Author Affiliations: N/A