Theme 1: Knowledge building for a Knowledge Society
Knowledge Building: A Trajectory
Understanding
cultural diversity of artifacts through collaborative knowledge building
Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Henna Lahti, Marjut Iivonen, Marianne Bollström-Huttunen, & Kai Hakkarainen
University of Joensuu & University of Helsinki, Finland
Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Henna Lahti, Marjut Iivonen, Marianne Bollström-Huttunen, & Kai Hakkarainen
University of Joensuu & University of Helsinki, Finland
The different inquiry-based models offer the promise of promoting better learning results. Experiential learning, problem-based learning, case-based learning, and studio teaching have been widely adopted in craft and design education. One of the starting points of the present project is the knowledge-building model developed by Professor Carl Bereiter and Professor Marlene Scardamalia in the context of Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). A central aspect of such collaborative knowledge building is to create shared knowledge objects, such as ideas or product designs, to engage in an intensive synchronous and asynchronous interaction among the participants for further developing them, and to re-use the emerging knowledge for solving new problems.
Technology may help individual students in the development of their project by providing spaces and tools for collaborative construction of digital artifacts. Collaborative technology allows thinking to be more explicit and accessible to fellow participants and, in consequence, enables students to share their ideas and reach joint understandings of the problem and its possible solutions. In order to facilitate craft and design education through CSCL, it is not enough to offer the collaborative technologies; an appropriate social infrastructure is also needed, i.e., social structures and practices that support desired interaction between students and teacher. In the context of knowledge-building environment, face-to-face collaboration is often combined with collaboration that takes place in a network-based learning environment.
In this project, we are using a collaborative learning environment called Knowledge Forum (see http://www.learn.motion.com) that provides sophisticated tools especially for visualizing and building knowledge. The knowledge-building project is organized at the primary level (grade 4) and focuses on the cultural diversity of artifacts. Students (N=29) were asked to study useful articles within their cultural context and then to design a new product for future use. Concurrently, we are breaking boundaries of traditional schoolwork by creating connections between students and diverse expert communities, such as museum staff and craftspeople. In addition to real contacts, students are also visiting virtual museums.
The understanding and designing of a successful product is dependent upon incorporating information from a number of knowledge domains; it must perform at a functional level, meet aesthetic criteria, be economically produced, and moreover, it should be safe. The students have to take account of design constraints that define, for example, the intended users and their special needs for the product, the function of the product and the resources available. Working with knowledge, which we call knowledge building involves intentionally treating elements of inquiry --e.g., problems, design ideas, tentative solutions-- as objects of knowledge and using them in the construction of deep, expert-like understanding.
In the project, we are collecting content-rich ethnographical data (e.g., video recordings of face-to-face teaching situations, observations, structured teacher’s diary, and material produced in Knowledge Forum). In this presentation we will present some tentative results of using Knowledge Forum in our project. Moreover, we will address new challenges and possibilities to facilitate collaborative knowledge building in craft and design education and to change the prevailing curriculum toward a more project-oriented one.