Peer Support to Facilitate Knowledge Sharing on Complex Tasks

This thesis explores how to design a peer support system to facilitate self-organized knowledge sharing in non-formal learning environments, in particular when learners work on complex tasks. The peer support system aims to replace two teacher-led didactic arrangements: selecting a tutor at the initial stage, and guidance during the interaction process (Dillenbourg, 1999; Topping, 1996). Such a system has previously been developed by Van Rosmalen (2008) and De Bakker (2010) and has been tentatively used to facilitate knowledge sharing on content-related questions. In this thesis, we would like to find out how to further improve the design of this peer support system, especially to facilitate knowledge sharing on complex tasks. Since little pedagogical theory is available to inform the design of our peer support system, this thesis attempts to apply cognitive load theory (Sweller, Van Merriënboer, & Paas, 1998; Van Merriënboer & Sweller, 2005) that informs instructional designs in classroom settings to the design of our peer support system in Learning Networks.

Students’ Use of Knowledge Resources in Environmental Interaction on an Outdoor Learning Trail

This study examined how students leveraged different types of knowledge resources on an outdoor learning trail. We positioned the learning trail as an integral part of the curriculum with a pre- and post-trail phase to scaffold and to support students’ meaning-making process. The study was conducted with two classes of secondary two students. We coded two groups’ discourse to examine the use of knowledge resource types in the meaning-making process in an outdoor learning setting: contextual resource, new conceptual resource, prior knowledge resource, as well as the relationship among these knowledge resource types. Next, we also examined environmental interaction and integration in the students’ use of these knowledge resource types. Analysis showed that contextual resources are chiefly instrumental in fostering students’ capacity to harness new conceptual resource and to activate prior knowledge resource in interacting with and integrating the outdoor learning environment in the meaning-making process.

Bootcamp EMMA MOOC Assessment for learning in practice

Formative assessment or assessment for learning is a relevant theme for teachers and educationalists. Formative assessment is a valuable tool for supporting the learning process. It is applied during learning and offers you more and better opportunities to guide your students. Formative assessment allows for more individual and/or personalised guidance. In this MOOC Assessment for learning in practice we will provide you with theory and guidelines for knowledge construction on the topic of formative assessment while offering support in designing assessments that can be applied as a tool for learning and training of competences. In this MOOC you can learn what formative assessment is, learn to differentiate between summative and formative assessment, and how formative assessment can contribute to the learning of your pupils or students. Design of rubrics, the role and functions of feedback, the use of technology for formative assessment are the topics of the MOOC.