Developing tools to facilitate integrated reflection

Developing Tools to FacilitateIntegrated Reflection

Jon MasonOctober 18th 2011

jon@intercog.net

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Overview

• Introduction – focus– key concepts & definitions– services context– the problem

• Theoretical perspectives– inquiry-based learning– why-questioning

• Opportunities for tool development 2

Focus

Innovation associated with the design and deployment of e-portfolio systems – in particular, support for integrated reflection

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A Broad Definition

An e-portfolio is a collection of digital artefacts and applications that are typically used for profiling an individual, group, or organisation in terms of capability or achievement.

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Emergent characteristics

And yes, there are countless other definitions!

e: signifies evidence as much as electronic

Services Context

• Profiles developed using professional networking services (LinkedIn, UNYK, Plaxo, …) often contain core interoperable data

• Interoperability of social networking data widely interoperable (contacts)

• Professional Associations commonly provide online services for logging & assessing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) 5

… and

“the essential nature of an e-Portfolio for learning is not as a repository

but as a place for reflection” (Batson, 2009)

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Two broad approaches

e-Portfolios can therefore be assembled via:

• Purpose-built e-portfolio systems(Pebblepad, ePortaro, Mahara, etc)

• Customised aggregations of services & artefacts

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A simple model

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A Place for Reflective Practice?

e-portfolio systems -- applications or loosely coupled

services

Learner / Worker

EmployerEducation or Training

Organisation

Employability Skills

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Employability Skills

“skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one’s potential and contribute successfully to enterprise strategic directions” (DEST, 2002, p.3)

CommunicationTeamworkProblem-solvingInitiative and enterprisePlanning and organising

Skills that contributeSelf-management

LearningTechnology

ATC21S

• Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills: “learning to collaborate with others and connect through technology are essential skills in a knowledge-based economy” (ATC21S, 2011)

essential skills also include:• critical thinking• ICT literacy• problem solving

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Inquiry, analysis, reflection, …

But what exactly is reflection?

And what is reflective practice?

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Reflection

• An activity that takes place after a learning activity?

- typical with journal reflections on CPD

• An event in a sequence of activities?- STARL-P(Situation, Task, Action, Result/Reflection, and Learning/Planning)

• The activity of connecting a diversity of artefacts, interactions, and activities is itself a stimulus for reflection (Cambridge, 2009, p.41)

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Reflection

“a thinking process more than simple memorization and comprehension, & involves a variety of cognitive processes, such as summarization, identifying general principles, exploring various situations, reconciling options, monitoring progress, and so on”

(Wang, 2009)

Also involves inquiry, analysis, synthesis,…14

Reflective Practice

“the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning … [and is] … one of the defining characteristics of professional practice” (Schon, 1983: The Reflective Practitioner)

“reflection-in-action”

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Integrated Reflection

“active learning” (Wang, 2009: e-Portfolios for Integrated Reflection)

In ICT contexts, takes place in-session

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Wang’s “ontological model specifies a generic organisational structure of eportfolios in the integrated reflection context”. Reflection features as the dominant ontological category within a structure that includes learning subject, learning objectives, learning objects, assessment instruments, & reflection query

The Problem

• Reflection is recognised as important for learning and regarded as essential for effective use of e-portfolios for learning purposes …

• Yet the ICT tools available to support it appear to be undeveloped & are little more than templates for journal writing

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Related Research - AeP

• Recent snapshot of e-portfolio practice within Australian HE & VET sectors- HE more concerned with reflection- VET more concerned with skills & employability

• Research reveals:- low level of understanding about the actual impact of

ePortfolios on student learning outcomes- little research undertaken but a common belief “that ePortfolios

contributed to increased awareness of eLearning technologies and reflective learning, as well as employability skills …” (Hallam, et al, 2009)

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Related Research – JISC (1)

• Aims to inform H/FE institutions in the UK about emerging best practice implementing e-portfolios

• Guided by notion of “threshold concepts” from earlier research

• Confirms diversity of contexts & uses – more “emergence” than “maturity”

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Related Research – JISC (2)

• 7 core activities in e-portfolio usage:

information captureinformation retrievalplanningreflectionfeedbackcollaborationpresentation

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Related Research – JISC (3)

5 threshold concepts as indicators of maturity:

• Purpose is aligned to context to maximise benefits• Learning activity is designed to suit the purpose• Processes are supported technologically and

pedagogically• Ownership is student centred• Transformation (disruption) is planned for

(Joyes et al.,2010,)21

Not clear where Reflection sits here

Question & Learning

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Questioning & Learning

• “why” questions prominent during early dvpt of children & an important foundation for learning (Dewey, Piaget, Schank)

• “Inquiry-based learning” evolved out of “critical thinking” movement

• Impasses & conundrums important for learning

• “Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions” Paul & Elder, (1999). Critical Thinking Handbook 23

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Inquiry & Learning

The virtuous circle of inquiryUniversity of Illinois Inquiry Project (2001-2010)

“learning begins with questions”

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Inquiry & Learning

Problem:

The Web’s mainstream tools for discovering and retrieving relevant information are overwhelmingly dominated by a search paradigm that is configured to search for information and facts rather than explanations.

Why? One answer is that queries instigated by keywords in most cases will have semantic roots to primitive Q’s: who, what, when, & where

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Inquiry & Learning

We propose reversing the order of things. What if … questions were more important than answers? What if the key to learning were not the application of techniques but their invention? What if students were asking questions about things that really mattered to them?

Thomas & Seely Brown, (2011). A New Culture of Learning

Questions can be generated and answered by automated and semi-automated ICT systems. To what extent might Question Generation and Question-Answering techniques assist in building ICT scaffolding for learners?

• QG – automation of well-formed questions• Q-A – automation of answering systems

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Question Generation & Answering

http://www.questiongeneration.org/

Most teachers, tutors, and student peers do not ask a high density of deep questions … so students have a limited exposure to high-quality inquiry. There are a few role models in school environments through which students can learn good question asking and answering skills vicariously. This situation presents a golden opportunity for turning to technology to help fill this gap.

A. Graesser, et al., (2010). What is a Good Question?

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Question Generation & Answering

A Frontier for New Tools

• Tools that facilitate the construction of questions from a body of content

• Tools that extend the discovery & processing of factual information to facilitate the discovery and production of explanatory content – in short, tools that support why-questioning

• Tools that stimulate the construction of rational argument

• Prompting tools that suggest patterns, dependencies, or other relationships between discrete chunks of content

• Interface design that explicitly supports the navigation of e-portfolio content via a questioning methodology

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Reflecting upon Why

• Asking why• Learning why• Understanding why• Knowing why• Explaining why

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The Primitives of Information Retrieval

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Information & Explanation

• Who• What• When• Where• Why

The Journalist’s Questions

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Information & Explanation

• Who• What• When• Where

• Why

• How • If

descriptive ‘primitives’ of information retrieval e.g., DC-Kernel

procedural or rule-based ‘primitives’

conditional, motivational or explanative ‘primitive’

Information Processing

Knowledge Construction & Understanding

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Questions

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