Research on computer-supported collaborative learning faces the challenge of extending student collaboration to higher social levels and enabling cross-boundary interaction. This study investigated collaborative knowledge building among four Grade 5 classroom communities that studied human body systems with the support of Idea Thread Mapper (ITM).…

Background and purpose: As clear mechanisms for motivating and engaging teachers in learning and working collaboratively with colleagues are scarce, this study explored supportive conditions of promoting teacher professional development on inquiry-based science teaching in a Professional Learning Community (PLC) and examined how teachers'…

This study explores boundary-crossing interaction between two grade 5/6 science classrooms that operated as knowledge building communities. The two classrooms studied human body systems with the support of the Knowledge Forum over a ten-week period. The knowledge building practice integrated student-driven inquiry and discourse within each…

A learning community works with a collective knowledge space where members contribute and interact with one another's ideas to advance their community's knowledge. This study aims to explore designs of collective knowledge space to support cross-community interaction. A design experiment was conducted in four grade 5 classrooms with the support of…

Cross-community collaboration which expands community members' interaction to a larger social scale plays a crucial role in increasing information exchange and extending inquiry learning. This dissertation uses a design-based research approach which aims at testing a multi-level emergence design in multiple learning communities. This design serves…

Developing students' skills to pose and respond to questions and actively engage in inquiry behaviours enables students to problem solve and critically engage with learning and society. The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of providing teachers with an intervention in inquiry pedagogy alongside inquiry science curriculum in comparison…

During the last decade, "Lesson Study", a Japanese professional development model involving a community of learners, has been spreading to countries around the world. "Lesson Study" is a systematic process of inquiry into classroom practices where teachers collaborate in planning, implementing, observing and revising lessons.…