Fostering collaborative learning through knowledge building among students with low academic achievement

Abstract

This study investigated whether students with low achievement were capable to collectively advance their online discourse in a knowledge-building environment. 37 students with low achievement from a 9 th-grade Visual Arts courseparticip ated in the study. W e analyzed students' online discourse. Findings indicated that students were able to collectively advance the community's discourse as they built on each others' ideas, generated theories, questions and metacognitive statements in a supportive knowledge-building environment augmented by reflective assessment. The study's findings have important implications for the design of technology-rich environments, and shed light on how teachers can use them to help learners to engage in productive collaborative inquiry.