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Bram De Wever

Ghent University, Educational studies, Faculty Member

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Ghent University

Phillipa Parsons

The University of Newcastle

Augusta University

Anna Šafránková

Jitka Vaculíková

Social Education Journal

Tomas Bata University of Zlín

Soňa Vávrová

Edith Cowan University

University of Oxford

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Papers by Bram De Wever

History teachers’ conceptions of inquiry-based learning, beliefs about the nature of history, and their relation to the classroom context.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Teaching and Teacher Education, 2016

The present study provides a comprehensive picture of history teachers' conceptions of inquiry-ba... more The present study provides a comprehensive picture of history teachers' conceptions of inquiry-based-learning (IBL), based on interviews with 22 secondary school teachers. The results indicate that, although most teachers' beliefs about the nature of history were conducive to teaching historical reasoning, their conceptions of IBL often remained limited to critically evaluating information, instead of using the available information to conduct inquiries into the past. Furthermore, teachers' conceptions of IBL appeared to be strongly connected to the context in which they worked. Based on these findings, several implications for supporting history teachers' adoption of IBL are discussed.

Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review

by Ruth Boelens, Bram De Wever, and Michiel Voet

The design of blended learning environments brings with it four key challenges: (1) incorporating... more The design of blended learning environments brings with it four key challenges: (1) incorporating flexibility, (2) stimulating interaction, (3) facilitating students' learning processes, and (4) fostering an affective learning climate. Seeing that attempts to resolve these challenges are fragmented across the literature, a systematic review was performed. Starting from 640 sources, 20 studies on the design of blended learning environments were selected through a staged procedure based on the guidelines of the PRISMA statement, using predefined selection criteria. For each study, the instructional activities for dealing with these four challenges were analyzed by two coders. The results show that few studies offer learners control over the realization of the blend. Social interaction is generally stimulated through introductory face-to-face meetings, while personalization and monitoring of students' learning progress is commonly organized through online instructional activities. Finally, little attention is paid to instructional activities that foster an affective learning climate.

Towards a differentiated and domain-specific view of educational technology: An exploratory study of history teachers' technology use.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

British Journal of Educational Technology, 2017

Adopting a differentiated and domain-specific view of educational technology, the present study f... more Adopting a differentiated and domain-specific view of educational technology, the present study focusses on the case of school history. It argues that, in this particular context, one of technology’s main assets is its ability to support inquiry-based learning activities, during which students interpret the past through historical reasoning. As little is known about how history teachers use technology in the classroom, an exploratory study was carried out with 22 teachers in fourth grade of secondary education in Flanders (Belgium). Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate beliefs about technology, ways in which technology was implemented, and factors influencing the adoption process. The results suggest that most teachers held positive beliefs about technology, and that use of technology was driven by several rationales. Although a significant group of teachers was thoughtful of how their own use of technology could support students’ learning, student use remained limited to instances where technology served as a resource for the task, rather than a tool for supporting cognitive or social activity. It appears that teachers were not yet aware of technology’s ability to scaffold inquiry activities. Furthermore, limitations in school infrastructure often prevented them from experimenting with more pervasive student uses of technology.

Using feedback requests to actively involve assessees in peer assessment: Effects on the assessor's feedback content and assessee's agreement with feedback.

by Michiel Voet, Bram De Wever, and Ruth Boelens

European Journal of Psychology in Education, 2018

Criticizing the common approach of supporting peer assessment through providing assessors with an... more Criticizing the common approach of supporting peer assessment through providing assessors with an explication of assessment criteria, recent insights on peer assessment call for support focussing on assessees, who often assume a passive role of receivers of feedback. Feedback requests, which require assessees to formulate their specific needs for feedback, have therefore been put forward as an alternative to supporting peer assessment, even though there is little known about their exact impact on feedback. Operationalizing effective feedback as feedback that (1) elaborates on the evaluation, and (2) to which the receiver is agreeable, the present study examines how these two variables are affected by feedback requests, compared to an explanation of assessment criteria in the form of a content checklist. Situated against the backdrop of a writing task for 125 first-year students in an educational studies program at university, the study uses a 2x2 factorial design that resulted in four conditions: a control, feedback request, content checklist, and combination condition. The results underline the importance of taking message length into account when studying the effects of support for peer assessment. Although feedback requests did not have an impact on the raw number of elaborations, the proportion of informative elaborations within feedback messages was significantly higher in conditions that used a feedback request. In other words, it appears that the feedback request stimulated students to write more focused messages. The use of a feedback request did, however, not have a significant effect on agreement with feedback.

Effects on immersion in inquiry-based learning on student teachers' beliefs Effects of immersion in inquiry-based learning on student teachers' educational beliefs

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Instructional Science, 2017

Professional development on inquiry-based learning (IBL) generally draws heavily on the principle... more Professional development on inquiry-based learning (IBL) generally draws heavily on the principle of providing instruction in line with what teachers are expected to do in their classroom. So far, however, relatively little is known about how this impacts teachers' educational beliefs, even though these beliefs ultimately determine their classroom behavior. The present study therefore investigates how immersion in inquiry-based learning affects student teachers' beliefs about knowledge goals, in addition to their self-efficacy for inquiry. In total, 302 student history teachers participated in a four-hour long inquiry activity designed within the WISE learning environment, and completed a pre-and posttest right before and after the intervention. Multilevel analyses suggest that the intervention had a significant positive effect on the value that student teachers attributed to procedural knowledge goals, or learning how historical knowledge is constructed, and on student teachers' self-efficacy for conducting inquiries. Despite these general positive results, however, the results also show that the impact of the intervention differed significantly across students. In particular, it appears that immersion in IBL had little effect on a subgroup of 25 student-teachers, who held largely content-oriented beliefs. Based on these findings, the present study discusses a number of implications for professional development on IBL.

History teachers' knowledge of inquiry methods: An analysis of cognitive processes used during a historical inquiry.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Journal of Teacher Education, 2017

The present study explores secondary school history teachers' knowledge of inquiry methods. In or... more The present study explores secondary school history teachers' knowledge of inquiry methods. In order to do so, a process model, outlining 5 core cognitive processes of inquiry in the history class room, was developed based on a review of the literature. This process model was then used to analyze think-aloud protocols of 20 teachers' reasoning during an inquiry task. It was found that less than half of the teachers used all cognitive processes during the inquiry. Based on the results, a distinction can be made between an integral, fragmentary and cursory approach to inquiry. Further analysis suggest that there exists no clear pattern in the relation between teachers' beliefs about the subject of history and their approach to inquiry. The implications for teacher training are discussed, and outline how the process model could serve as an instructional tool that can contribute to a comprehensive training program for history teachers.

Onderzoekend leren, wat is dat? Naar een concrete invulling voor het schoolvak geschiedenis.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Hermes, 2017

Onderzoekend leren, wat is dat? Naar een concrete invulling voor het schoolvak geschiedenis.

Preparing pre-service history teachers for organizing inquiry-based learning:The effects of an introductory training program

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Teaching and Teacher Education, 2017

The present study investigates a training program aimed at preparing pre-service history teachers... more The present study investigates a training program aimed at preparing pre-service history teachers for organizing inquiry-based learning (IBL) in class. This program consisted of a workshop and an assignment during the teaching internship period. Pre-and posttests indicate that the workshop had a significant effect on self-efficacy and attitude toward IBL, but also that most student teachers' attitudes had again changed after the assignment. Related to this, student teachers' lesson plans revealed three different templates, representing distinct interpretations of 'inquiry'. An analysis of reflection papers and interviews describes how the context of the teaching internship further shaped student teachers' thinking.

Acquiring basic life support skills in a self-learning station

by Martin Valcke, Wim Peersman, and Bram De Wever

European Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2013

Objectives To develop a self-learning station combining a video with computer exercises to learn ... more

VET workers’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments: European approach

by Sebastiano Cincinnato, Raija Hämäläinen, and Bram De Wever

The European workplace is challenging VET adults’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich envir... more The European workplace is challenging VET adults’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments (TREs). So far, no nternational large-scale assessment data has been available for VET. The PIAAC data comprise the most comprehensive source of information on adults’ skills to date. The present study (N=50 369) focuses on gaining insight into the problem-solving skills in TREs of adults with a VET background. When examining the similarities and differences in VET adults’ problem-solving skills in TREs across 11 European countries, two main trends can be observed. First, our results show that only a minority of VET adults perform at a high level. Second, there seems to be substantial variation between countries with respect to the proportion of VET adults that can be identified as “at-risk” or “weak” performers. For the future, our findings indicate the variations that can be used as a starting point to identify beneficial VET approaches.

The impact of role assignment as scripting tool on knowledge construction in asynchronous discussion groups

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Computer support for collaborative learning learning 2005: the next 10 years! - CSCL '05, 2005

The present research studied the effect of learning in asynchronous discussion groups on students... more The present research studied the effect of learning in asynchronous discussion groups on students' levels of knowledge construction. Multilevel analyses were applied to uncover the influence of student, group, and task variables on the one hand and the specific effect of the assignment of roles to group members on the other hand. Results indicate that students'attitudes toward the learning environment and their engagement in the discussion group are significant predictors. As to the effect of role assignment, no significant overall difference in students' mean levels of knowledge construction between the role and no role condition was observed. However additional analyses revealed that (a) the distribution patterns of the levels of knowledge construction differed as students in the role condition more often reached the highest level, and (b) assigning students the role of summarizer resulted in significantly higher levels of knowledge construction.

The effects of two computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) scripts on university students' critical thinking

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

Psicol. Esc. Educ. (Impr.), 2007

The present study focuses on the use of two different types of scripts as possible ways to struct... more

Student Perspectives on Wiki-Tasks and the Introduction of Computer-Supported Peer Feedback

by Bram De Wever and Hilde Van Keer

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

This paper reports on the introduction of a formal wiki assignment in a master course entitled "E... more This paper reports on the introduction of a formal wiki assignment in a master course entitled "Exploration of Teaching Methodologies". All students enrolled (N = 13) were divided in three groups. Each group had to develop a wiki on a chosen topic that could be related to every learning domain taught in elementary or secondary education. In addition, each member of a group was required to follow the wiki of the two other groups and provide five times feedback (rating on a peer assessment rubric as well as written feedback) throughout the semester. The main aim of this study is to investigate how students perceived working in the wiki and the process of giving and receiving feedback via a web form. Questionnaire and interview data was gathered and results show that in general students prefer to work in a wiki and find that the process of giving and receiving feedback adds value to their work. Additionally, the study aims to shed a light on how the peer assessment ratings evolve through the semester. Results show that ratings increase and that there are some indications of variability between the groups with respect to reliability and validity. The paper furthermore discusses some suggestions of students to enhance the wiki-work and feedback mechanisms.

E-Learning 2.0: Social Software for Educational Use

Ninth IEEE International Symposium on Multimedia Workshops (ISMW 2007), 2007

Assessing collaboration in a wiki: The reliability of university students' peer assessment

The Internet and Higher Education, 2011

This study focuses on the reliability of intra-group peer assessment (PA) of the collaboration pr... more This study focuses on the reliability of intra-group peer assessment (PA) of the collaboration processes in a wiki. First-year university students (N = 659) were subdivided in groups of 8 to create wikis. They were to assess their group members on four criteria (contribution, discussion, sources, and social). The main research question focused on the reliability of this intra-group peer assessment. Intraclass correlations were calculated and the results showed reliabilities with an intermediate to large effect size for the overall score. The main conclusion is that peer assessment is reliable and that it is feasible to implement in the context of online collaboration in a wiki environment. This leads to the practical implication that a web-based peer assessment tool can support instructors to manage computer-supported collaborative learning activities in a wikienvironment.

Structuring Asynchronous Discussion Groups by Introducing Roles: Do Students Act in Line With Assigned Roles?

by Bram De Wever and Hilde Van Keer

Small Group Research, 2008

Structuring asynchronous discussion groups: Comparing scripting by assigning roles with regulation by cross-age peer tutors

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

The present study focuses on comparing the impact of role assignment and cross-age peer tutors on... more The present study focuses on comparing the impact of role assignment and cross-age peer tutors on students' level of knowledge construction in 15 asynchronous discussion groups of nine students each in a first-year university course (N ¼ 135). Content analysis was applied to analyse the level of knowledge construction in students' online postings. The results indicated that students in the tutor-supported discussions reached significantly higher levels of knowledge construction as compared to students in the role-supported group. These findings underline the value of regulation by cross-age peer tutors to foster freshmen's knowledge construction processes.

Applying multilevel modelling to content analysis data: Methodological issues in the study of role assignment in asynchronous discussion groups

Learning and Instruction, 2007

This study focuses on the process, output, and interpretation of multilevel analyses on quantitat... more This study focuses on the process, output, and interpretation of multilevel analyses on quantitative content analysis data derived from asynchronous discussion group transcripts. The impact of role assignments on the level of knowledge construction reflected in students' contributions and the relation between message characteristics and these levels of knowledge construction is studied. Results show that summarisers' contributions and contributions focussing on theory, content moderating, or summaries result in significantly higher levels of knowledge construction. Multilevel modelling handles the hierarchical nesting, interdependency, and unit of analysis problem and is presented as a suitable technique for studying content analysis data from CSCL-environments.

Exploring the impact of student tutoring on at-risk fifth and sixth graders' self-regulated learning

Learning and Individual Differences, 2011

This study explores the effects of a student tutoring programme focusing on self-regulated learni... more This study explores the effects of a student tutoring programme focusing on self-regulated learning. Ninetythree Flemish fifthand sixth-grade tutees at-risk due to their socio-economic and/or non-native background participated. A pre-post test design was used and the 'Learning Motivation Test', 'Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory', and 'Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule' (SRLIS) were administered. In line with prior research, the present study demonstrates beneficial effects of student tutoring. More specifically, positive effects on sixth graders' learning motivation and metacognitive awareness are revealed. In contrast, no effects on learning motivation and metacognitive awareness were found for fifth graders. Based on the qualitative analysis of SRLIS, both fifth and sixth graders displayed the use of a larger variety of self-regulated learning strategies after the intervention. Suggestions for further research are discussed in order to corroborate and broaden the findings of the present study.

Structuring asynchronous discussion groups: the impact of role assignment and self-assessment on students' levels of knowledge construction through social negotiation

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2009

History teachers’ conceptions of inquiry-based learning, beliefs about the nature of history, and their relation to the classroom context.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Teaching and Teacher Education, 2016

The present study provides a comprehensive picture of history teachers' conceptions of inquiry-ba... more The present study provides a comprehensive picture of history teachers' conceptions of inquiry-based-learning (IBL), based on interviews with 22 secondary school teachers. The results indicate that, although most teachers' beliefs about the nature of history were conducive to teaching historical reasoning, their conceptions of IBL often remained limited to critically evaluating information, instead of using the available information to conduct inquiries into the past. Furthermore, teachers' conceptions of IBL appeared to be strongly connected to the context in which they worked. Based on these findings, several implications for supporting history teachers' adoption of IBL are discussed.

Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review

by Ruth Boelens, Bram De Wever, and Michiel Voet

The design of blended learning environments brings with it four key challenges: (1) incorporating... more The design of blended learning environments brings with it four key challenges: (1) incorporating flexibility, (2) stimulating interaction, (3) facilitating students' learning processes, and (4) fostering an affective learning climate. Seeing that attempts to resolve these challenges are fragmented across the literature, a systematic review was performed. Starting from 640 sources, 20 studies on the design of blended learning environments were selected through a staged procedure based on the guidelines of the PRISMA statement, using predefined selection criteria. For each study, the instructional activities for dealing with these four challenges were analyzed by two coders. The results show that few studies offer learners control over the realization of the blend. Social interaction is generally stimulated through introductory face-to-face meetings, while personalization and monitoring of students' learning progress is commonly organized through online instructional activities. Finally, little attention is paid to instructional activities that foster an affective learning climate.

Towards a differentiated and domain-specific view of educational technology: An exploratory study of history teachers' technology use.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

British Journal of Educational Technology, 2017

Adopting a differentiated and domain-specific view of educational technology, the present study f... more Adopting a differentiated and domain-specific view of educational technology, the present study focusses on the case of school history. It argues that, in this particular context, one of technology’s main assets is its ability to support inquiry-based learning activities, during which students interpret the past through historical reasoning. As little is known about how history teachers use technology in the classroom, an exploratory study was carried out with 22 teachers in fourth grade of secondary education in Flanders (Belgium). Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate beliefs about technology, ways in which technology was implemented, and factors influencing the adoption process. The results suggest that most teachers held positive beliefs about technology, and that use of technology was driven by several rationales. Although a significant group of teachers was thoughtful of how their own use of technology could support students’ learning, student use remained limited to instances where technology served as a resource for the task, rather than a tool for supporting cognitive or social activity. It appears that teachers were not yet aware of technology’s ability to scaffold inquiry activities. Furthermore, limitations in school infrastructure often prevented them from experimenting with more pervasive student uses of technology.

Using feedback requests to actively involve assessees in peer assessment: Effects on the assessor's feedback content and assessee's agreement with feedback.

by Michiel Voet, Bram De Wever, and Ruth Boelens

European Journal of Psychology in Education, 2018

Criticizing the common approach of supporting peer assessment through providing assessors with an... more Criticizing the common approach of supporting peer assessment through providing assessors with an explication of assessment criteria, recent insights on peer assessment call for support focussing on assessees, who often assume a passive role of receivers of feedback. Feedback requests, which require assessees to formulate their specific needs for feedback, have therefore been put forward as an alternative to supporting peer assessment, even though there is little known about their exact impact on feedback. Operationalizing effective feedback as feedback that (1) elaborates on the evaluation, and (2) to which the receiver is agreeable, the present study examines how these two variables are affected by feedback requests, compared to an explanation of assessment criteria in the form of a content checklist. Situated against the backdrop of a writing task for 125 first-year students in an educational studies program at university, the study uses a 2x2 factorial design that resulted in four conditions: a control, feedback request, content checklist, and combination condition. The results underline the importance of taking message length into account when studying the effects of support for peer assessment. Although feedback requests did not have an impact on the raw number of elaborations, the proportion of informative elaborations within feedback messages was significantly higher in conditions that used a feedback request. In other words, it appears that the feedback request stimulated students to write more focused messages. The use of a feedback request did, however, not have a significant effect on agreement with feedback.

Effects on immersion in inquiry-based learning on student teachers' beliefs Effects of immersion in inquiry-based learning on student teachers' educational beliefs

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Instructional Science, 2017

Professional development on inquiry-based learning (IBL) generally draws heavily on the principle... more Professional development on inquiry-based learning (IBL) generally draws heavily on the principle of providing instruction in line with what teachers are expected to do in their classroom. So far, however, relatively little is known about how this impacts teachers' educational beliefs, even though these beliefs ultimately determine their classroom behavior. The present study therefore investigates how immersion in inquiry-based learning affects student teachers' beliefs about knowledge goals, in addition to their self-efficacy for inquiry. In total, 302 student history teachers participated in a four-hour long inquiry activity designed within the WISE learning environment, and completed a pre-and posttest right before and after the intervention. Multilevel analyses suggest that the intervention had a significant positive effect on the value that student teachers attributed to procedural knowledge goals, or learning how historical knowledge is constructed, and on student teachers' self-efficacy for conducting inquiries. Despite these general positive results, however, the results also show that the impact of the intervention differed significantly across students. In particular, it appears that immersion in IBL had little effect on a subgroup of 25 student-teachers, who held largely content-oriented beliefs. Based on these findings, the present study discusses a number of implications for professional development on IBL.

History teachers' knowledge of inquiry methods: An analysis of cognitive processes used during a historical inquiry.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Journal of Teacher Education, 2017

The present study explores secondary school history teachers' knowledge of inquiry methods. In or... more The present study explores secondary school history teachers' knowledge of inquiry methods. In order to do so, a process model, outlining 5 core cognitive processes of inquiry in the history class room, was developed based on a review of the literature. This process model was then used to analyze think-aloud protocols of 20 teachers' reasoning during an inquiry task. It was found that less than half of the teachers used all cognitive processes during the inquiry. Based on the results, a distinction can be made between an integral, fragmentary and cursory approach to inquiry. Further analysis suggest that there exists no clear pattern in the relation between teachers' beliefs about the subject of history and their approach to inquiry. The implications for teacher training are discussed, and outline how the process model could serve as an instructional tool that can contribute to a comprehensive training program for history teachers.

Onderzoekend leren, wat is dat? Naar een concrete invulling voor het schoolvak geschiedenis.

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Hermes, 2017

Onderzoekend leren, wat is dat? Naar een concrete invulling voor het schoolvak geschiedenis.

Preparing pre-service history teachers for organizing inquiry-based learning:The effects of an introductory training program

by Michiel Voet and Bram De Wever

Teaching and Teacher Education, 2017

The present study investigates a training program aimed at preparing pre-service history teachers... more The present study investigates a training program aimed at preparing pre-service history teachers for organizing inquiry-based learning (IBL) in class. This program consisted of a workshop and an assignment during the teaching internship period. Pre-and posttests indicate that the workshop had a significant effect on self-efficacy and attitude toward IBL, but also that most student teachers' attitudes had again changed after the assignment. Related to this, student teachers' lesson plans revealed three different templates, representing distinct interpretations of 'inquiry'. An analysis of reflection papers and interviews describes how the context of the teaching internship further shaped student teachers' thinking.

Acquiring basic life support skills in a self-learning station

by Martin Valcke, Wim Peersman, and Bram De Wever

European Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2013

Objectives To develop a self-learning station combining a video with computer exercises to learn ... more

VET workers’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments: European approach

by Sebastiano Cincinnato, Raija Hämäläinen, and Bram De Wever

The European workplace is challenging VET adults’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich envir... more The European workplace is challenging VET adults’ problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments (TREs). So far, no nternational large-scale assessment data has been available for VET. The PIAAC data comprise the most comprehensive source of information on adults’ skills to date. The present study (N=50 369) focuses on gaining insight into the problem-solving skills in TREs of adults with a VET background. When examining the similarities and differences in VET adults’ problem-solving skills in TREs across 11 European countries, two main trends can be observed. First, our results show that only a minority of VET adults perform at a high level. Second, there seems to be substantial variation between countries with respect to the proportion of VET adults that can be identified as “at-risk” or “weak” performers. For the future, our findings indicate the variations that can be used as a starting point to identify beneficial VET approaches.

The impact of role assignment as scripting tool on knowledge construction in asynchronous discussion groups

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Computer support for collaborative learning learning 2005: the next 10 years! - CSCL '05, 2005

The present research studied the effect of learning in asynchronous discussion groups on students... more The present research studied the effect of learning in asynchronous discussion groups on students' levels of knowledge construction. Multilevel analyses were applied to uncover the influence of student, group, and task variables on the one hand and the specific effect of the assignment of roles to group members on the other hand. Results indicate that students'attitudes toward the learning environment and their engagement in the discussion group are significant predictors. As to the effect of role assignment, no significant overall difference in students' mean levels of knowledge construction between the role and no role condition was observed. However additional analyses revealed that (a) the distribution patterns of the levels of knowledge construction differed as students in the role condition more often reached the highest level, and (b) assigning students the role of summarizer resulted in significantly higher levels of knowledge construction.

The effects of two computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) scripts on university students' critical thinking

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

Psicol. Esc. Educ. (Impr.), 2007

The present study focuses on the use of two different types of scripts as possible ways to struct... more

Student Perspectives on Wiki-Tasks and the Introduction of Computer-Supported Peer Feedback

by Bram De Wever and Hilde Van Keer

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

This paper reports on the introduction of a formal wiki assignment in a master course entitled "E... more This paper reports on the introduction of a formal wiki assignment in a master course entitled "Exploration of Teaching Methodologies". All students enrolled (N = 13) were divided in three groups. Each group had to develop a wiki on a chosen topic that could be related to every learning domain taught in elementary or secondary education. In addition, each member of a group was required to follow the wiki of the two other groups and provide five times feedback (rating on a peer assessment rubric as well as written feedback) throughout the semester. The main aim of this study is to investigate how students perceived working in the wiki and the process of giving and receiving feedback via a web form. Questionnaire and interview data was gathered and results show that in general students prefer to work in a wiki and find that the process of giving and receiving feedback adds value to their work. Additionally, the study aims to shed a light on how the peer assessment ratings evolve through the semester. Results show that ratings increase and that there are some indications of variability between the groups with respect to reliability and validity. The paper furthermore discusses some suggestions of students to enhance the wiki-work and feedback mechanisms.

E-Learning 2.0: Social Software for Educational Use

Ninth IEEE International Symposium on Multimedia Workshops (ISMW 2007), 2007

Assessing collaboration in a wiki: The reliability of university students' peer assessment

The Internet and Higher Education, 2011

This study focuses on the reliability of intra-group peer assessment (PA) of the collaboration pr... more This study focuses on the reliability of intra-group peer assessment (PA) of the collaboration processes in a wiki. First-year university students (N = 659) were subdivided in groups of 8 to create wikis. They were to assess their group members on four criteria (contribution, discussion, sources, and social). The main research question focused on the reliability of this intra-group peer assessment. Intraclass correlations were calculated and the results showed reliabilities with an intermediate to large effect size for the overall score. The main conclusion is that peer assessment is reliable and that it is feasible to implement in the context of online collaboration in a wiki environment. This leads to the practical implication that a web-based peer assessment tool can support instructors to manage computer-supported collaborative learning activities in a wikienvironment.

Structuring Asynchronous Discussion Groups by Introducing Roles: Do Students Act in Line With Assigned Roles?

by Bram De Wever and Hilde Van Keer

Small Group Research, 2008

Structuring asynchronous discussion groups: Comparing scripting by assigning roles with regulation by cross-age peer tutors

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

The present study focuses on comparing the impact of role assignment and cross-age peer tutors on... more The present study focuses on comparing the impact of role assignment and cross-age peer tutors on students' level of knowledge construction in 15 asynchronous discussion groups of nine students each in a first-year university course (N ¼ 135). Content analysis was applied to analyse the level of knowledge construction in students' online postings. The results indicated that students in the tutor-supported discussions reached significantly higher levels of knowledge construction as compared to students in the role-supported group. These findings underline the value of regulation by cross-age peer tutors to foster freshmen's knowledge construction processes.

Applying multilevel modelling to content analysis data: Methodological issues in the study of role assignment in asynchronous discussion groups

Learning and Instruction, 2007

This study focuses on the process, output, and interpretation of multilevel analyses on quantitat... more This study focuses on the process, output, and interpretation of multilevel analyses on quantitative content analysis data derived from asynchronous discussion group transcripts. The impact of role assignments on the level of knowledge construction reflected in students' contributions and the relation between message characteristics and these levels of knowledge construction is studied. Results show that summarisers' contributions and contributions focussing on theory, content moderating, or summaries result in significantly higher levels of knowledge construction. Multilevel modelling handles the hierarchical nesting, interdependency, and unit of analysis problem and is presented as a suitable technique for studying content analysis data from CSCL-environments.

Exploring the impact of student tutoring on at-risk fifth and sixth graders' self-regulated learning

Learning and Individual Differences, 2011

This study explores the effects of a student tutoring programme focusing on self-regulated learni... more This study explores the effects of a student tutoring programme focusing on self-regulated learning. Ninetythree Flemish fifthand sixth-grade tutees at-risk due to their socio-economic and/or non-native background participated. A pre-post test design was used and the 'Learning Motivation Test', 'Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory', and 'Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule' (SRLIS) were administered. In line with prior research, the present study demonstrates beneficial effects of student tutoring. More specifically, positive effects on sixth graders' learning motivation and metacognitive awareness are revealed. In contrast, no effects on learning motivation and metacognitive awareness were found for fifth graders. Based on the qualitative analysis of SRLIS, both fifth and sixth graders displayed the use of a larger variety of self-regulated learning strategies after the intervention. Suggestions for further research are discussed in order to corroborate and broaden the findings of the present study.

Structuring asynchronous discussion groups: the impact of role assignment and self-assessment on students' levels of knowledge construction through social negotiation

by Hilde Van Keer and Bram De Wever

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2009

Peer Assessment in a Wiki: (structuring) peer feedback in a CSCL-environment with respect to students’ perceptions and attitudes

by Mario Gielen and Bram De Wever