Knowledge Building Raises Basic Skills Tests

Source: For extended information and graphs on improved test scores and higher level thinking skills, increase in conceptual advancement, and collaborative skills see www.knowldgeforum.com Call 800-560-5670 for dynamic, rigorous cognitive technology resources for students.

Purpose: There is a myth that teachers have to make tough choices of focusing on higher order thinking skills OR on basic skills when designing their lessons. In American schools standardized tests are the most commonly used tool and often high stakes measures for communicating educational results to the community. Test results are often one of the first indicators requested by school boards and administrators when considering approval of new programs and expenditures. Parents expect to see test results and, for the general public, results have become a barometer for the success of local school districts.

However, teachers do not have to choose but can design learning experiences that reach both goals of higher order thinking and raising basic skills. Results from the following research were compared for standardized test performance of students using knowledge building software and non-using Control groups. Students who were regularly engaged in knowledge building scored higher BOTH on basic skills and higher level thinking.

It is not the just the creation of student computer-based products but the environment of sustained inquiry and demonstration / sharing of that learning that increases student performance. The following document is only one source of the success of students as learners when they become creators of knowledge and effective communicators.

Document Findings: A true knowledge-building environment facilitates learning - learning that is centered around ideas and deeper levels of understanding rather than the completion of often unrelated activities. Knowledge Forum is a collaborative database developed for this process of "knowledge building" - defining problems and hypothesizing, researching and collecting information, analyzing and collaborating. The structured environment of Knowledge Forum encourages these processes; it is where ideas are explored, new information is shared, and new knowledge is created. Research shows that this type of sustained inquiry encourages student interaction and inquiry. Research also shows that knowledge building produces a level of student interaction that occurs regardless of ability, a quality of inquiry that is above standard, and improved scores not only in basic skills but in conceptual development as well.

A team of researchers, teachers, administrators, and computer scientists have collaborated over the past decade to create the research basis and subsequent designs for Knowledge Forum. Based on the original knowledge building program named CSILE (Computer Supported Integrated Learning Environment), this "second-generation" CSILE product incorporates advanced features and technology for fostering knowledge building in the classroom. In their research, the team considered learning in both private and public sectors.

Comparisons of the organizations of traditional schools, university level research institutes, and highly successful commercial corporations clearly point to the common link in these successful organizations - the production of knowledge. Researchers have concluded that maximizing this production requires structures that define everyone as contributors. Unfortunately, most classrooms are not organized this way. Knowledge Forum was developed to change this.

The use of this powerful collaborative database helps class become knowledge-building communities, in which all students are producers of knowledge.

In Knowledge Forum, students are expected to pose questions, define their own learning goals, acquire and build a knowledge base, and collaborate with one another. Built-in scaffolds «cue« students to the thinking strategies that characterize «expert learners« while the structure of the database with its communal views necessitates sharing of information. Students contribute public notes, "build-on" to others' ideas, and "reference" the work of peers. The ongoing practice of these advanced operations, combined with teacher support and coaching, helps students acquire the sorts of learning strategies that characterize expert learners.

Extensive research has been done using the original knowledge building environment. Results of CSILE use in the classroom not only verified its effectiveness, but helped shape subsequent revisions. The current version, Knowledge Forum, is the result of this research and of the overriding goal of teaching all students to be knowledge producers. More than xx schools in xx countries have piloted the knowledge building software. Teachers' stories about its use vary, but their descriptions of results do not. The consequences of knowledge building are virtually the same - test scores go up, confidence and competence improves, and the quality of student inquiry rises dramatically.