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15 - The Knowledge Integration Perspective on Learning and Instruction
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- By Marcia C. Linn, University of California
- Edited by R. Keith Sawyer, Washington University, St Louis
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- Book:
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences
- Published online:
- 05 June 2012
- Print publication:
- 24 April 2005, pp 243-264
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- Chapter
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Summary
The knowledge integration perspective emerged from studies of the conceptions of scientific phenomena that students bring to science class, from design studies refining science instruction, and from longitudinal studies of students' learning over weeks, months, and years. These studies stress that learners grapple with multiple, conflicting, and often confusing, ideas about scientific phenomena. They characterize learners as developing a repertoire of ideas, adding new ideas from instruction, experience, or social interactions, sorting out these ideas in varied contexts, making connections among ideas at multiple levels of analysis, developing more and more nuanced criteria for evaluating ideas, and formulating an increasingly linked set of views about any phenomenon.
The knowledge integration perspective capitalizes on the varied ideas held by students both individually and collectively to stimulate science learning. The knowledge integration perspective synthesizes recent investigations of science learning and instruction, culminating in a set of design patterns that promote coherent and cohesive understanding, and design principles that guide customization of patterns. This chapter describes the process of knowledge integration and how knowledge integration resonates with current research programs. It offers guidance to researchers and curriculum designers wishing to promote lifelong science learning.
Learning and Knowledge Integration
My colleagues and I conducted over forty case studies of middle school students who were studying thermodynamics (Clark & Linn, 2003; Linn & Hsi, 2000). These studies illustrate the typical process of knowledge integration. We found that students generate a repertoire of ideas about each concept they are learning and about the links between concepts.
8 - WISE Learning Communities: Design Considerations
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- By Alex J. Cuthbert, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley CA 94720-1670 alx@socrates.berkeley.edu, Douglas B. Clark, University of California at Berkeley Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (EMST) 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 clark@socrates.berkeley.edu, Marcia C. Linn, University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Education 4523 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 mclinn@socrates.berkeley.edu
- Edited by K. Ann Renninger, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, Wesley Shumar, Drexel University, Philadelphia
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- Book:
- Building Virtual Communities
- Published online:
- 12 November 2009
- Print publication:
- 08 July 2002, pp 215-246
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- Chapter
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Summary
In this chapter, we identify design considerations and strategies for creating online learning communities. Learning communities encourage integrated understanding and develop a common set of criteria for evaluating ideas. We report on four distinct learning communities focused on teacher professional development, curriculum authoring, scientific inquiry, and peer review of projects. The examples illustrate the design considerations and strategies that we use to facilitate the transformation and sharing of resources to support integrated understanding within learning communities.
Design considerations are general guidelines for creating effective communities. This chapter illustrates four design considerations for creating successful learning communities:
Support the actual practices and daily tasks of the participants,
Collect experiences and represent them in an accessible and equitable manner,
Provide a framework to guide the learning process,
Represent the identities of the community members.
We implement these design considerations in our communities using various design strategies. For example, a strategy for representing the identities of community members involves displaying photographs alongside comments in discussions. These design strategies, based on the underlying design considerations, encourage community members to share their ideas, build on each other's views, and refine their own understanding. Our instructional framework, called “scaffolded knowledge integration” (SKI; Linn & Hsi, 2000), inspired our design considerations and guided the learning process in the communities.
In this chapter, we describe how our design considerations and strategies scaffold four teacher and student communities as they exchange resources, develop coherent ideas, and support individual understanding.