PERC 2024 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Epistemic and social features of the emergence of insights in collaborative sensemaking |
|---|---|
| Abstract Type: | Symposium Talk |
| Abstract: | Authentic problems in science and engineering differ from end-of-chapter problems: the scientific ideas and strategies required for their solution and the relevant variables are not predefined, often there is additional knowledge that needs be identified as missing and be learned, etc. Moreover, in many cases these problems cannot be solved individually, and require collaboration. We present an analysis of collaborative sensemaking (~80 minutes) of a group of three students (Ph.D. in mathematics, M.Sc. in industrial engineering, and a 4th year undergraduate student in electrical engineering) during a lesson for pre-service physics teachers. The group worked on an authentic problem that none of them could solve alone within the given time frame. By conceptualizing group members and the external resources they used (e.g., AI chatbots) as a distributed knowledge system, we analyze the group discourse in the joint problem space; i.e., the openly shared knowledge structures that support collaboration in problem-solving. We present an illustrative episode to articulate three theoretical claims: (1) The convergence towards a correct solution within the problem's accuracy limitations during collaborative sensemaking is facilitated in two key ways. The first involves the implementation of reliable processes to achieve epistemic ends (e.g., avoidance of false belief), where the reliable processes are grounded in disciplinary knowledge. The second is the epistemic dependence between group members, when one collaborator grounds his/her beliefs in statements of another collaborator, based on the other's relative expertise. (2) The design features of the problem, the framing of the task and the instructors' discursive prompts can activate and facilitate students' use of reliable disciplinary-based epistemic processes; (3) Students' extended familiarity with their group members (knowledge, skills, preferences, etc.) facilitates the extent of their epistemic dependence. |
| Parallel Session: | Learners' engagement in sensemaking |
| Contributed Paper Record: | Contributed Paper Information |
| Contributed Paper Download: | Download Contributed Paper |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Tom Reshef-Israeli Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Shulamit Kapon, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel |
