Exploring epistemic agency in students’ problem-solving activities

Mahir Akgun; Priya Sharma

doi:10.29333/ijese/12970

Full Text (PDF)

Mahir Akgun ¹ ^* , Priya Sharma ²

More Detail

¹ College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA² College of Education, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This case study presents an exploration of epistemic agency in a middle school context. The main focus of this study was to identify and characterize the actions indicative of epistemic agency that emerged in student interactions. The study was conducted with sixth graders. Data were collected from multiple sources including records of student participation in the classroom and in the virtual space, student-created artifacts, and non-participant observations. A qualitative data analysis was conducted to identify actions indicative of epistemic agency. The findings showed that eleven actions emerged in students’ activities: generating new ideas, revising ideas, negotiating new ideas, sharing ideas, sharing data/information, drawing on other group’s ideas, drawing on other groups’ data/findings, collecting additional information, engaging in shared construction of data collection instruments, examining research data–seeking support for ideas, and creating a joint plan of actions. Future research identified by this study suggests further investigations of the interactional processes that may reveal key actions that trigger subsequent actions.

Keywords

epistemic agency
epistemic actions
science education

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED, Volume 19, Issue 1, 2023, Article No: e2303

https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/12970

Publication date: 18 Feb 2023

Article Views: 1164

Article Downloads: 1047

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Alzen, J. L., Edwards, K., Penuel, W. R., Reiser, B. J., Passmore, C., Griesemer, C., Zivic, A., & Murzynski, C. (2020). Exploring the connections between epistemic agency and a commitment to the collective enterprise of sensemaking in the science classroom. In M. Gresalfi, & I. S. Horn (Eds.), The interdisciplinarity of the learning sciences (pp. 1879-1886). International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Arvaja, M. (2010). Building understanding of the philosophy of science through immediate and mediated resources. In L. Dirckinck-Holmfeld, V. Hodgson, C. Jones, M. de Laat, D. McConnell, & T. Ryberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7^th International Conference on Networked Learning 2010 (pp. 27-34). University of Lancaster.
Baines, E., Blatchford, P., & Chowne, A. (2007). Improving the effectiveness of collaborative group work in primary schools: Effects on science attainment. British Educational Research Journal, 33(5), 663-680. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701582231
Belland, B. R., Gu, J., Kim, N. J., Jaden Turner, D., & Mark Weiss, D. (2019). Exploring epistemological approaches and beliefs of middle school students in problem-based learning. The Journal of Educational Research, 112(6), 643-655. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2019.1650701
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1992). Two models of classroom learning using a communal database. In S. Dijkstra, H. P. M. Krammer, & J. J. G. van Merrienboer (Eds.), Instructional models in computer-based learning environments (pp. 229-241). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02840-7_14
Berland, L. K., Schwarz, C. V., Krist, C., Kenyon, L., Lo, A. S., & Reiser, B. J. (2016). Epistemologies in practice: Making scientific practices meaningful for students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53(7), 1082-1112. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21257
Bielaczyc, K., Kapur, M., & Collins, A. (2013). Cultivating a community of learners in K-12 classrooms. In C. E. Hmelo-‐Silver, A. M. O’Donnell, C. Chan, & C. A. Chinn (Eds.), International handbook of collaborative learning (pp. 233-249). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203837290.ch13
Carlone, H. B., Mercier, A. K., & Metzger, S. R. (2021). The production of epistemic culture and agency during a first-grade engineering design unit in an urban emergent school. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 11(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1295
Chan, C., & van Aalst, J. (2015) Knowledge-building communities. In R. Gunstone (Ed.), Encyclopedia of science education (pp. 553-557). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2150-0_54
Chen, B., Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2015). Advancing knowledge‐building discourse through judgments of promising ideas. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 10(4), 345-366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-015-9225-z
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE.
Damşa, C. I. (2014). The multi-layered nature of small-group learning: Productive interactions in object-oriented collaboration. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 9(3), 247-281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-014-9193-8
Damşa, C. I., Kirschner, P. A., Andriessen, J. E., Erkens, G., & Sins, P. H. (2010). Shared epistemic agency: An empirical study of an emergent construct. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19(2), 143-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508401003708381
Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expending: An activity–theoretical approach to developmental research. Orienta-Konsultit.
Glaser, B. (1978). Theoretical sensitivity. Sociology Press.
Gonzalez‐Howard, M., & McNeill, K. L. (2020). Acting with epistemic agency: Characterizing student critique during argumentation discussions. Science Education, 104(6), 953-982. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21592
Hewitt, J., & Scardamalia, M. (1998). Design principles for the support of distributed processes. Educational Psychology Review, 10(1), 75-95. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022810231840
Ko, M. L. M., & Krist, C. (2019). Opening up curricula to redistribute epistemic agency: A framework for supporting science teaching. Science Education, 103(4), 979-1010. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21511
Lai, K. W., & Campbell, M. (2018). Developing secondary students’ epistemic agency in a knowledge-building community. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 27(1), 69-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939x.2017.1369150
Linn, M. C., & Eylon, B.-S. (2011). Science learning and instruction: Taking advantage of technology to promote knowledge integration. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203806524
Linn, M. C., Davis, E. A., & Eylon, B. (2004). The scaffolded knowledge integration framework for instruction. In M. C. Linn, E. A. Davis, & P. Bell (Eds.), Internet environments for science education (pp. 47-72). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410610393-10
Maxwell, J. A. (2013). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. SAGE.
Miller, E., Manz, E., Russ, R., Stroupe, D., & Berland, L. (2018). Addressing the epistemic elephant in the room: Epistemic agency and the next generation science standards. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(7), 1053-1075. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21459
Mortimer, E. F., & Scott, P. H. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Open University Press.
Scardamalia, M. (2000). Social and technological innovations for a knowledge society. Proceedings of the ICCE/ICCAI, 1, 22-27.
Scardamalia, M. (2002). Collective cognitive responsibility for the advancement of knowledge. In B. Smith (Ed.), Liberal education in a knowledge society (pp. 67-98). Open Court.
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1991). Higher levels of agency for children in knowledge building: A challenge for the design of new knowledge media. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 1(1), 37-68. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls0101_3
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2003). Knowledge building. In Encyclopedia of education (pp. 1370-1373). Macmillan Reference.
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2006). Knowledge building: Theory, pedagogy, and technology. In K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 97-118). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511816833.008
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2010). A brief history of knowledge building. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 37(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.21432/t2859m
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2016). Creating, criss-crossing, and rising above idea landscapes. In R. H. Huang, Kinshuk, & J. K. Price (Eds.), ICT in education in global context: Comparative reports of K-12 schools innovation (pp. 3-17). Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47956-8_1
Scardamalia, M., Bereiter, C., Mclean, R. S., Swallow, J., & Woodruff, E. (1989). Computer-supported intentional learning environments. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 5(1), 51-68. https://doi.org/10.2190/cyxd-6xg4-ufn5-yfb0
Stahl, G. (2015). Conceptualizing the intersubjective group. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 10(3), 209-217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-015-9220-4
Stroupe, D. (2014). Examining classroom science practice communities: How teachers and students negotiate epistemic agency and learn science‐as‐practice. Science Education, 98(3), 487-516. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21112
Stroupe, D., Caballero, M. D., & White, P. (2018). Fostering students’ epistemic agency through the co‐configuration of moth research. Science Education, 102(6), 1176-1200. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21469
Tan, S. C., Wang, X., & Li, L. (2022). The development trajectory of shared epistemic agency in online collaborative learning: A study combing network analysis and sequential analysis. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 59(8), 1655-1681. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331211001562
van Lier, L. (2008). Agency in the classroom. In J. P. Lantolf, & M. E. Poehner (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages (pp. 163-186). Equinox.
Varelas, M., Tucker-Raymond, E., & Richards, K. (2015). A structure-agency perspective on young children’s engagement in school science: Carlos’s performance and narrative. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(4), 516-529. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21211
Yeo, J., & Tan, S. C. (2010). Constructive use of authoritative sources in science meaning‐making. International Journal of Science Education, 32(13), 1739-1754. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690903199564
Zhang, J., Scardamalia, M., Lamon, M., Messina, R., & Reeve, R. (2007). Socio-cognitive dynamics of knowledge building in the work of 9- and 10-year-olds. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 55(2), 117-145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-006-9019-0
Zhang, J., Scardamalia, M., Reeve, R., & Messina, R. (2009). Designs for collective cognitive responsibility in knowledge-building communities. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 18(1), 7-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508400802581676
Zhao, K., & Chan, C. K. (2014). Fostering collective and individual learning through knowledge building. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 9(1), 63-95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-013-9188-x
Zivic, A., Smith, J. F., Reiser, B., Edwards, K., Novak, M., & McGill, T. (2018). Negotiating epistemic agency and target learning goals: Supporting coherence from the students’ perspective. In ICLS Proceedings (pp. 25-32).

How to cite this article

APA

Akgun, M., & Sharma, P. (2023). Exploring epistemic agency in students’ problem-solving activities. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 19(1), e2303. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/12970

Vancouver

Akgun M, Sharma P. Exploring epistemic agency in students’ problem-solving activities. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2023;19(1):e2303. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/12970

AMA

Akgun M, Sharma P. Exploring epistemic agency in students’ problem-solving activities. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2023;19(1), e2303. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/12970

Chicago

Akgun, Mahir, and Priya Sharma. "Exploring epistemic agency in students’ problem-solving activities". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education 2023 19 no. 1 (2023): e2303. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/12970

Harvard

Akgun, M., and Sharma, P. (2023). Exploring epistemic agency in students’ problem-solving activities. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 19(1), e2303. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/12970

MLA

Akgun, Mahir et al. "Exploring epistemic agency in students’ problem-solving activities". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, vol. 19, no. 1, 2023, e2303. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/12970