Centre for Research on Networked Learning and Knowledge Building Department of Psychology University of Helsinki

Our research community Director Kai Hakkarainen, Ph.D. (psychology/cognitive science) Researchers: Marjut Iivonen, M.Ed.(education; design process) Liisa Ilomäki, M.A. (education, school research) Kaiju Kangas, M.Ed. (craft science) Henna Lahti, M.Ed.(craft science; design) Minna Lakkala, M.A. (psychology; pedagogical practices) Jiri Lallimo, M.Ed. (education/cognitive science; hybrid expertise) Hanni Muukkonen, M.A.(psychology; expertise) Sami Paavola, M.A. (philosophy; innovation, discovery) Seppo Toikka (cognitive science; design, knowledge management)

Disciplinary foundations Craft science Philosophy Psychology Cognitive science Computer science Education

Objectives of the Centre Research on computer-supported collaborative learning and working environments (CSCL, CSCW) and their design principles. Studies on teachers and students, and parents' skills and practices of using information and communication technology (ICT), and related epistemic and pedagogical beliefs. Training and consultation on knowledge sharing and knowledge building in organizations. Forms of networked expertise and shared cognition in enterprises, organizations and educational environments. Empirical and theoretical research on forms of learning and human cognition (individual, socially distributed, and cultural- historical).

Basic areas of research - Focus: Innovative practices and forms of learning and working with new technology School research Collaborative designing Studies in higher education Workplace studies Theoretical & methodological development

Theoretical & methodological development Focus: Foundations and forms of learning and working collaboratively with knowledge

Areas of theoretical development New forms of expertise Foundations of learning and cognitive activity Models of innovative knowledge communities Progressive inquiry learning

Distributed Networked Intelligence Internet Weak links to external communities Activity system Literary culture Personal productivity Collaborative partnership

Cartesian Mind vs. Hybrid Mind Overemphasis on conscious and controlled processes Separating mind from artifacts Isolating an agent from the fellow human beings Reducing intelligence to a property of an individual mind Human mind relies on a symbiosis of mental, cultural and biological Through sustained practice artifacts may become a part of cognitive architecture Human minds coevolve with artifacts and one another

Three metaphors of learning and expertise Three metaphors of learning and expertise (Paavola et al. 2004; Hakkarainen et al. 2004; Sfard 1998) The acquisition metaphor ”Monological” within mind The participation metaphor ”Dialogical” interaction, situated cognition The knowledge- creation metaphor ”Trialogical” developing shared objects and artefacts collaboratively Emphasis on individuals and conceptual knowledge Emphasis on cultural practices, social interaction, and situated cognition Co-evolution of inquirers, communities, and objects of activity

Trialogic approach to learning and human cognition Theories concerning “innovative knowledge communities” How individuals, groups, and organizations are organized for developing shared objects (theories, plans, practices, products) innovatively in long-term processes Important background theories: –Theory of knowledge building, conceptual artifacts (Carl Bereiter) –Mediation by tools and signs (L. S. Vygostky), Socio-cultural activity theory (Y. Engeström’s theory of expansive learning) –Charles S. Peirce’s philosophy - mediation by signs and practices

Progressive Inquiry A pedagogical and epistemological model for representing principal features of (scientific) inquiry. Students’ genuine questions and previous knowledge of the phenomena as a starting point. Attention to main concepts and deep principles of the domain. Deepening process where the aim is understanding and explanation of phenomena. Students and teachers share their expertise and build new knowledge collaboratively.

Setting up Research Questions Creating the Context Constructing Working Theories Critical Evaluation Searching Deepening Knowledge Generating Subordinate Questions Refocusing Inquiry Distributed Expertise Progressive Inquiry Model (Hakkarainen, 1998)

Methodological focus The studies of the Centre relies on multiple research methods starting from conceptual and theoretical analyses up to case studies concerning progressive inquiry learning or knowledge sharing in organizations The studies are done mainly in authentic contexts (schools, universities, work places) and are often build on principles concerning design research, i.e. phenomena are studied by carrying out various kinds of intervention and change processes

Research methods Qualitative content analysis to analyze the epistemic nature of interaction episodes, interviews, and database productions Assessment instruments relying on self-report questionnaires for assessing the usage of ICT and associated pedagogical thinking in schools, assessing students’ study practices and conceptions of learning and knowledge, and assessing practices of collaboration in organizations Social network analysis to analyze and examine patterns of participation, collaboration and knowledge sharing between members of a learning community or workplace community Analysis methods for videotaped interactions of technology- enchanced collaborative process in classrooms and workplaces Case studies that focus on whole school or workplace communities rather than individual participants

School research Focus: The nature of various ICT-based activities in learning and teaching

Research activities in schools and classrooms with teachers and students School as a knowledge-creating organisation –A combination of several research focuses and data, as well as research methods. Classroom research –Students’ inquiry-based learning (e.g., students’ collaboration, individual learners’ motivational aspects, teacher’s scaffolding) –Other kinds of ICT-based activities (e.g., expert-like working practices, the usage of learning objects). Tearchers’ and students’ ICT skills and usage, ICT as tool for inquiry-based learning –Self-report questionnaires.

Pedagogical design of collaborative inquiry learning How to organize collaborative, inquiry-based learning with web-based technology? –Analyzing the effects of teacher/tutor participation and guidance on students’ inquiry process –Operationalizing the idea of distributed scaffolding –Modeling and analyzing ”pedagogical infrastructures” (technical, social, epistemological, cognitive) for collaborative inquiry learning Both in primary, secondary and university level education.

Studies in higher education Focus: Investigating and advancing expert-like knowledge practices in higher education

Challenges of university learning Learning and advancement of understanding in social interaction –social nature of knowledge –zone of proximal development (Vygotsky) Practices of collaborative knowledge building –learning as acquisition – participation – knowledge creation –advancement of communal knowledge –schools as knowledge building communities (Bereiter) Expert-like problem solving –solving authentic problems –contacts to expert cultures –distributed expertise and sharing of ideas Using modern technology as a tool for collaboration

How could technology-mediation facilitate collective inquiry? Expert-like practices –academic literacy –scientific argumentation –deepening inquiry Shared object and activity Individual and collective accountability Metaskills of inquiry –making visible advancement of inquiry –making the shared process open for reflection

Collaborative designing Focus: Collaborative design studios and pedagogy for educating future designers

Principles of collaborative and participatory design Creating a design community with shared goals Relying on socially distributed cognitive resources Communicating and working together on a design task, design constraints, and design elements Organizing collaborative process by developing a shared script of joint activities Participatory design: A change from designing for users to one of designing with users Users/ experts as a part of the design team from the early stages of the design process

Codes – Facilitating Social Creativity through Collaborative Designing Main Aims of the Project Collaborative design studios for educating future designers Toward pedagogy of computer supported collaborative design Objectives to facilitate collaborative designing between students to support participatory design processes with experts and with end-users of the product to develop and implement authentic and meaningful design contexts in VDS to support the formation of design community and social infrastructure Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Henna Lahti, Marjut Iivonen, Kaiju Kangas, University of Joensuu & University of Helsinki

Clothing for premature babies, 1999 Collaborative design: * authentic design context *shared design objects in FLE (Future Learning Environment) Conference bags, 2000 Participatory design: *participation of end users in FLE2 *integrating conceptual designing with sketches Tactile books for visually impaired children, 2003 Expert participation: * expert support for virtual design process *integrating conceptual designing with sketches in Knowledge Forum Three Virtual Design Studio experiments in higher education setting

THE ARTIFACT PROJECT - Hybrid Knowledge Building in a Networked Learning Environment - What functions did an artifact serve? Pursuing Knowledge Building at elementary level education Parallel pursuit of material and conceptual artifacts (hybrids) Three term KB project conducted in Laajasalo Elementary School What was the cultural meaning of an artifact? - How was an artifact manufactured? Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Henna Lahti, Marjut Iivonen, Kaiju Kangas, Kai Hakkarainen; University of Joensuu & University of Helsinki

Parallel pursuit of material and conceptual artifacts How to deal with material and conceptual artifacts? Can you treat them similarly? How to be simultaneously “minds on” and “hands on”? Integrating expert cultures with the learning environment

Workplace studies Focus:Investigating the communities of networked expertise in workplaces; developing the forms of collaborative & hybrid expertise and joint knowledge construction

Workplace studies in general Studies in expert communities that rely on the heterogenous potential (e.g. multiprofessional teams) crossing the organizational boundaries of expertise. Interest in socio-technical, socio-cultural and socio- material aspects of knowledge sharing and knowledge construction. Work as object-oriented and artefact-mediated activity.

Building and Managing Collective Knowledge in Workplace Communities To examine multi-professional expertise in case companies. To analyse hybrid forms of expertise that cross boundaries of traditional domains of competences. To investigate networking practices that allow company’s experts and their communities to share knowledge and competence. To analyse how knowledge flows when supported by artifacts, e.g. virtual environments, communication technology, boundary objects. Funded by Aaltonen foundation.

Focuses of the study Company Community Individual Virtual teamwork Hybrid expertise User-centered design Commu nication across levels Clients

3D-Knowledge Management: Research objectives Analyzing the nature of information in product development. Analyzing the challenges of information flow in product development. Analyzing the meaning of life-cycle from point of view of product development’s information need. To create concepts for leaning on information and communication technologies as well as social practices that support knowledge capturing in design tools. Mapping the near future trends of current knowledge and life- cycle management systems. Funding by National Technology Agency of Finland.

Simplified information flow in design process of engineer-to-order type engineering

A draft of knowledge work locations and some possibilities to capture and support socio-technical aspects of knowledge

Methods used in workplace studies Combining qualitative and quantitative methods: –Interviews –Field observation –Document analysis –Content analysis (virtual / f2f communication) –Social network analysis –Questionnaires –> Research as Design

Social Network Analysis (SNA) Analysing patterns of networking activities within case company Investigating relationships among employees rather than their individual attributes Examining networks of providing advice, generating new ideas, and informal interaction Analysing how information of company’s products and their customers and users gets distributed  Combining SNA with qualitative methods: Interviews, field observation, document analysis, etc.

Structure of Communication Network

Selected publications Selected publications (see Hakkarainen, K. (2003). Emergence of progressive inquiry culture in computer-supported collaborative learning. Learning Environments Research, 6(2), Hakkarainen, K., Palonen, T., Paavola, S., & Lehtinen, E. (2004). Communities of networked expertise: Professional and educational perspectives. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Ilomäki, L., Lakkala, M., & Lehtinen, E. (2004). A case study about ICT adoption within a teacher community at a Finnish lower secondary school. Education, Communication & Information, 4(1), Muukkonen, H., Lakkala, M., & Hakkarainen, K. (2005). Technology- mediation and tutoring: how do they shape progressive inquiry discourse? The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 14(4), 527–565. Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2004). Models of Innovative Knowledge Communities and Three Metaphors of Learning. Review of Educational Research 74(4),