This study examined students’ perceptions of learning and online performance in a learning environment. The participants were 93 college students in a teacher-education program in a university. The online learning environment was designed based on knowledge building pedagogy and was utilized to help engage students in collaborative learning and knowledge work. A questionnaire on the perceptions of learning was employed to assess how students’ viewed their online learning. The findings indicated that the students involved in a knowledge-building environment (as compared with non-knowledge-building environment) perceived their online learning as relatively more student-centered. Moreover, they were able to progressively provide one another with more elaborated feedback during discussion. Some implications regarding design of effective learning environments are discussed.
Keywords: Knowledge building Perception of learning Online learning Learning environment Knowledge creationAdams, G. L., & Engelmann, S. (1996). Research on direct instruction: 25 years beyond DISTAR. Seattle, WA: Educational Achievement System.
Amabile, T. M., & Conti, R. (1999). Changes in the work environment for creativity during downsizing. Academy of Management Journal, 42(6), 630–641.
Amabile, T. M., Conti, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J., & Herron, M. (1996). Assessing the work environment for creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 1154–1184.
Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–42.
Chai, C. S., Foo, J., & Vijayan, N. (2012). Measuring Singaporean students’ perception of self-regulated and collaborative learning in the context of technology oriented education. Asian Journal of Educational Research and Synergy, 3(1), 40–50.
Chai, C. S., & Tan, S. C. (2009). Professional development of teachers for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) through knowledge building. Teacher College Records, 111(5), 1296–1327.
Dempsey, J. V., Driscoll, M. P., & Swindell, L. K. (1993). Text-based feedback. In J. V. Dempsey & G. C. Sales (Eds.), Interactive instruction and feedback (pp. 21–54). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Duffy, T. M., & Jonassen, D. H. (Eds.). (1992). Constructivism and the technology of instruction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate Inc.
Eggen, P., & Kauchak, D. (2007). Educational psychology: Windows in classrooms. Upper River Saddle, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ekvall, G. (1996). Organizational climate for creativity and innovation. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(1), 105–122.
Ekvall, G., & Tangeberg-Anderson, Y. (1986). Working climate and creativity: A study of an innovative newspaper. Journal of Creative Behavior, 20(3), 215–225.
Engelmann, S. (1980). Direct instruction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Goodnough, A. (2001). Teaching by the book no asides allowed (pp. A1–B7). New York: New York Times.
Goodnough, A. (2003). Fearing a class system in the classroom: A strict curriculum, but only for failing schools, mostly in poor areas of New York (pp. A25–A27). New York: New York Times.
Hong, H.-Y. (2011). Beyond group collaboration: Facilitating an idea-centered view of collaboration through knowledge building in a science class of fifth-graders. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 20(2), 248–262.
Hong, H.-Y., Chen, F. C., Chai, C. S., & Chan, W. C. (2011). Teacher-education students’ views about knowledge building theory and practice. Instructional Science, 39(4), 467–482.
Hong, H.-Y., & Lin-Siegler, X. (2012). How learning about scientists’ struggles influences students’ interest and learning in Physics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(2), 469–484.
Hong, H. Y., & Scardamalia, M. (2014). Community knowledge assessment in a knowledge building environment. Computers & Education, 71, 279–288.
Hong, H.-Y., & Sullivan, F. R. (2009). Towards an idea-centered, principle-based design approach to support learning as knowledge creation. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(5), 613–627.
Hyman, J. (1999). How knowledge works. The philosophical quarterly, 49(197), 433–451.
Kline, P. (1999). The handbook of psychological testing (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1989). Situated learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2002). Epistemological foundations for CSCL: A comparison of three models of innovative knowledge communities. In G. Stahl (Ed.), Computer-supported collaborative learning: Foundations for a CSCL community (pp. 24–32). Hillsdale, NJ: LEA.
Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2004). Models of innovative knowledge communities and three metaphors of learning. Review of Educational Research, 74(4), 557–576.
Peters, M., & Kortecamp, K. (2010). Rethinking undergraduate mathematics education: The importance of classroom climate and self-efficacy on mathematics achievement. Current Issues in Education, 13(4). Retrieved from http://cie.asu.edu/.
Pierce, C. (2001). Importance of classroom climate for at-risk learners. Journal of Educational Research, 88, 37–42.
Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W. (1993). Predictive validity and reliability of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ). Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 801–813.
Popper, K. R. (1972). Objective knowledge: An evolutionary approach. London: Oxford University Press.
Pratt, D. (2002). Analyzing perspectives: Identifying commitments and belief structures. In D. Pratt (Ed.), Five perspectives on teaching in adult and higher education (pp. 217–255). Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company.
Sawyer, R. K. (2004). Creative teaching: Collaborative discussion as disciplined improvisation. Educational Researcher, 33(2), 12–20.
Scardamalia, M. (2002). Collective cognitive responsibility for the advancement of knowledge. In B. Smith (Ed.), Liberal education in a knowledge society (pp. 67–98). Chicago: Open Court.
Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2006). Knowledge building: Theory, pedagogy, and technology. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 97–119). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4–13.
Shell, D. F., Husman, J., Turner, J. E., Cliffel, D. M., Nath, I., et al. (2005). The impact of computer supported collaborative learning communities on high school students’ knowledge building, strategy building, strategic learning, and perceptions of the classroom. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 33(3), 327–349.
Shute, V. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189.
Stahl, G., Koschmann, T., & Suthers, D. (2006). Computer-supported collaborative learning. In Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 409–425). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Taras, M. (2006). Do unto others or not: Equity in feedback for undergraduates. Assessment & valuation in Higher Education, 31, 365–377.
Tsai, C. C. (2009). Conceptions of learning versus conceptions of web-based learning: the differences revealed by college students. Computers & Education, 53(4), 1092–1103. Upper River Saddle, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
van Aalst, J., & Chan, C. K. K. (2007). Student-directed assessment of knowledge building using electronics portfolios. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 16(2), 175–220.
Watkins, K. E., & Marsick, V. J. (1999). Dimension of the learning organization questionnaire. Warwick, RI: Partners of the learning organization.
Weinstein, C., Zimmermann, S., & Palmer, D. (1988). Assessing learning strategies: The design and development of the LASSI. In C. Weinstein, E. Goetz, & P. Alexander (Eds.), Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment, instruction, and evaluation (pp. 279–306). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Whitehead, A. N. (1970). Science and the modern world. New York: New American Library.
Wiliam, D. (2007). Keeping learning on track: Classroom assessment and the regulation of learning. In F. K. Lester Jr (Ed.), Second handbook of mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 1053–1098). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Zain, M., & Rickards, T. (1996). Assessing and comparing the innovativeness and creative climate of firms. Scandinavian Journal Management, 12(2), 109–121.
Zhang, J., Hong, H.-Y., Scardamalia, M., Teo, C. L., & Morley, E. A. (2011). Sustaining knowledge building as a principle-based innovation at an elementary school. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 20(2), 262–307.
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.