A Chinese langugage teacher’s developmental trajectory

Learning outcomes

The graphs below illustrate how the changes in students’ engagement in the discussion correspond to the changes in Tim’s pedagogical design.

Open Exploration
Figure 1. Number of notes created	There was an increase in the number of notes created by many students in the second year, with several individuals creating more than 20 notes (Fig. 1). This shows the contributions made by students were uneven.
Figure 2. Percentage of notes read	In Year 2, the majority of the class read all of the notes (100%) compared to a much lower percentage in the previous year (Fig. 2). It can be seen that the number of notes created and percentage of notes read had increased in the second year, which shows that students’ engagement in the online discourse had improved.
Figure 3. Percentage of notes linked	Additionally, there was a drastic improvement in the number of notes being linked (100%) in the second year (Fig. 3). This shows that all students who participated in the discussion in Year 2 had attempted to connect ideas.
Figure 4. Average number of notes per thread	There was also a substantial rise in the average number of notes per thread in Year 2, suggesting students’ ability to build on seed notes had improved to some extent (Fig. 4). This further shows that students were connecting ideas and willing to contribute in the process of knowledge advancement as a member of the community.
Figure 5. Number of scaffolds used	A few students also utilised more scaffolds in the second year (Fig. 5). However, the median number of scaffolds used remained at a similar level across the two years.
Progressive Inquiry
Figure 6. Number of note revisions	Some of the students made more revisions in Year 2 (Fig. 6). Revisions include adding new information, and clarifying or refining existing ideas. This shows that students were working continuously to improve ideas.
Figure 7. Average depth of discussion thread	On average, the class had more depth to their online discussions in terms of add-on notes in the second year compared to the first (Fig. 7). This shows that students were offering, connecting, and expanding ideas.
Habit of mind
Figure 8. Number/ types of questions between the two years	Teachers can tell whether there is any advancement in the students’ higher order thinking skills by looking at the question types and how they frame their questions. Presence of various inquiry question types was higher in the second year compared to the first (Fig. 8). Verification and reason questions were two most common question types in the second year while that of the first year were verification and attribute.