Overview
The web-based learning and teaching platform STOCHASMOS is the result of a research and development effort which started in 2004. STOCHASMOS was funded by the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprusin the context of the PENEK project “Reflective scaffolding of self-regulated inquiry of web-based scientific data” (acronym: STOCHASMOS), and the European Commission (Marie Curie Actions, project “Reflective Inquiry”)(2004-2007). We are now in the second development phase of development which aims to improve and extend the STOCHASMOS platform so that it incorporates tools for synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. The second development phase is funded by the Research Promotion Foundation of Cyprus, through the program “Collaborative Inquiry Learning Environments (acronym: SYNERGASIA).
Phase A: Reflective scaffolding of self-regulated inquiry of web-based scientific data” (acronym: STOCHASMOS, 2005-2006)
Design goals
The development of a web-based learning environment that: (a) enables students to engage in open-ended investigations of complex and diverse scientific data according to the philosophy of project-based science, and (b) supports students’ reflective inquiry by providing the tools for organizing data to be used as evidence and integrating a space where the data can be interpreted and explained.
- The development of a web-based inquiry environment for science learning, which will present students with authentic scientific data from diverse sources.
- The design of a web-based reflective support system, which will be integrated with the web-based inquiry environment.
- Τhe development of an authoring tool for the easy creation of web-based learning environments with reflective supports by other teachers or instructional designers.
- The development of instructional materials for teachers, describing the learning environment, activities, and objectives.
General research goals
- The investigation of the role of reflective inquiry supports in the development of middle-school students’ scientific reasoning.
These goals are analyzed in more detail below:
- The investigation of the role of web-based software scaffolding in supporting the construction of evidence-based explanations.
- The development of instruments to assess students’ scientific reasoning, in particular students’ evidence-based scientific explanations.
- The identification of the challenges students face during independent inquiries of complex scientific data on the web.
Phase B: “Collaborative Inquiry Learning Environments (acronym: SYNERGASIA)
Design goals
- The improvement of the web-based platform STOCHASMOS
- The enrichment of the platform with synchronous and asynchronous tools for collaboration
- The development of additional learning environments in both Greek and English.
Overall research goals
- The research of the collaborative reflective inquiry processes amongst students ages 11-14, in the context of collaborative learning irrespective of temporal and spatial constraints.