Promoting Epistemic Understanding and Collective Knowledge Advancement through a Design Trajectory of Knowledge Building

Abstract

This study presents a two-year design trajectory of knowledge building and examines the process of how students’ epistemic understanding of knowledge building promoted knowledge advancement under the mediation of their engagement on Knowledge Forum, a computer-supported environment. Four iterative studies on the same cohort (n =211) from four large Grade-Four classes in China were conducted based on increasing complex knowledge-building designs over two years. Quantitative results obtained from the semantic network analysis of word networks show collective knowledge advancement over time. Qualitative analyses of interviews and questionnaires reveal the developmental trajectory of students’ epistemic understanding started from idea-sharing to theory building, collective cognitive responsibility, and finally to progressive knowledge building. As indicated by further path analysis, students’ epistemic understanding of knowledge building predicted their Knowledge Forum interaction and depth of Knowledge Forum discourse, which in turn exerted influences on collective knowledge advancement and individual scientific understanding. This study sheds light on the design trajectory of knowledge building to promote epistemic changes and collective knowledge advancement.