Thesis Abstract and Dissertation Abstracts
Scaffolding of collaborative decision-making on environmental dilemmas
Abstract Category: Education
Course / Degree: Doctor of Education
Institution / University: University of Turku, Finland
Published in: 2005
The thesis investigated the process of teaching environmental decision-making skills by collaborative learning methods in synchronous network-based medium. The main focus was on clarifying the tutor’s role as the mediator of environmental negotiation practices, evaluating the changes in learners’ environmental competencies due to scaffolding, and concretizing the scaffolding metaphor for collaborative learning situations. Theoretically the research was grounded on the theories of socio-cultural learning and communication. Methodology for teaching decision-making skills in synchronous learning environment was composed, tested experimentally in schools, evaluated and developed further on the basis of research findings. The data were analysed by multiple content analysis methods combining the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The results are reported in five research articles, originally published in scientific journals or peer-reviewed conference proceedings. The results indicate that role-plays in chat rooms provide the opportunity to develop students’ social components of environmental competencies: their awareness of the nature of environmental dilemma situations and their ownership of the effective practices of solving the problem issues in the society. The major findings of the thesis show that during the collaborative dilemma-solving discussions the “multi-actor scaffolding situation” emerges. The students scaffold the learning situation with similar types of scaffolding patterns as the tutor and initiate the grounding of tutor’s scaffolding prompts in order to generate the mutually shared understanding of the learning task and the problem situation. Thus, it is recommended that the tutor have not only to support students’ task motivation, interpersonal relations and favourable decision-making acts, but foremost to trigger the peer scaffolding acts.
Thesis Keywords/Search Tags:
scaffolding, decision-making, collaborative learning, synchronous environment
This Thesis Abstract may be cited as follows:
Pata, K. (2005). Scaffolding of collaborative decision-making on environmental dilemmas. PhD thesis. Turun Yliopisto. Annales Universitatis Turkuensis, Humaniora, SER. B, TOM 278
Submission Details: Thesis Abstract submitted by Kai Pata from Finland on 12-Aug-2005 11:45.
Abstract has been viewed 3218 times (since 7 Mar 2010).
Kai Pata Contact Details: Email: kpata@ut.ee
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