Poster #2 - Designing Interdisciplinary Knowledge-Building in a Grade 5 Community

• In Event: 21.063 - MTCC Poster Session Three
  In Poster Session: 21.063-1 - Research in Science Teaching and Learning Poster Session 2

Abstract

This study analyzes a purposefully designed classroom case of knowledge-building for interdisciplinary understanding in a grade-five community. In a four-month inquiry, fifth-graders investigated the conservation of energy and resources in science as related to the role of government and responsible citizenship. The inquiry was supported with a networked collaborative knowledge-building environment, Knowledge Forum (Scardamalia&Bereiter,2006), which interoperates with Idea Thread Mapper for reflective inquiry mapping (Zhang et al.,2018). We examined students’ inquiry in light of the four-dimensions of interdisciplinary understanding (Boix-Mansilla, 2005). Qualitative analysis was conducted over multiple data sources including audio/video recordings of classroom activities, homework/assignments, online discourse, and reflective syntheses of the journeys of thinking. The results shed light on the design of interdisciplinary inquiry in a knowledge-building classroom.

Authors

• Derya Kici, University of Toronto

• Tanya Demjanenko, University of Toronto

• Jianwei Zhang, University at Albany - SUNY