Developing epistemic understanding and productive inquiry in knowledge building through meta-discourse

Abstract

This dissertation investigated the design, roles, and processes of a computer-supported knowledge-building environment, supported by Knowledge Forum®, and enriched by meta-discourse designs, in developing secondary school students’ engagement in productive inquiry and epistemic understanding of knowledge building. Meta-discourse refers to students’ discourse about their discourse, using knowledge building principles, to examine the state of community knowledge and how it can be advanced. Specifically, the study aimed to examine (1) the role of students’ epistemic understanding of the nature of discourse in their Knowledge Forum engagement, domain knowledge, and collective knowledge building; (2) the effects of the designed meta-discourse environment, that involved an inquiry into discourse and principles, in promoting students’ epistemic understanding, domain knowledge, and collective knowledge building; (3) how students engaged in productive knowledge building on Knowledge Forum and how they engaged in meta-discourse processes using principles for productive inquiry; (4) how students engaged in classroom meta-discourse pursuing epistemic understanding and productive inquiry; and (5) how students’ epistemic understanding and meta-knowledge of knowledge building were manifested and how they changed over time. The dissertation was a design-based research. Three iterative studies were conducted with students studying a course in visual arts. Study One included 18 Grade 11 students and investigated the role of their epistemic understanding of discourse in Knowledge Forum engagement. Study Two involved the design of a meta-discourse environment and an investigation of how such an understanding of and engagement in productive discourse could be developed with examining the effects of the designs. The participants were two 9th grade classes –the knowledge-building meta-discourse class (n=31) and the comparison class (n=32). The effects of the design on knowledge building and epistemic understanding were examined. Study Three included 21 Grade 10 students and employed an adaptive meta-discourse design, involving a collective inquiry on knowledge building principles, for promoting students’ epistemic understanding and productive inquiry. There were five major findings across the three iterative studies: (1) students with a deeper understanding of discourse performed better in Knowledge Forum discussion, taking on greater collective responsibility; (2) the meta-discourse design positively influenced students’ productive inquiry and domain knowledge; (3) students’ Knowledge Forum discourse indicated how they engaged in productive knowledge-building with increasing collective responsibility. They were also engaged in meta-discourse processes linking principles with domain knowledge and using rise-above portfolios to create knowledge progressively; (4) students engaged productively in classroom meta-discourse characterized by three themes, meta-cognition, meta-epistemic, and meta-theory processes; and (5) students developed meta-knowledge of knowledge building involving deeper epistemic understanding and knowledge creation. This dissertation has theoretical and design implications. Theoretically, it contributes to the literature on epistemic understanding of the nature of discourse from a knowledge-building perspective, and on developing meta-knowledge through the epistemological process of meta-discourse. It also contributes to the embedding of epistemic principles in meta-discourse in knowledge building. Pedagogically, the design of the meta-discourse environment, enriched with a collective inquiry of knowledge building principles and integrating online and classroom discourse, provides information for teachers about supporting students’ epistemic understanding and productive inquiry for creative knowledge building.