Lesson Design Research – An Innovative Approach to Embedding Technology In Classroom Environments

Author(s):

Phil Wood(presenting / submitting)Denise Posso

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

16. ICT in Education and Training

Format:

Paper

Session Information

16 SES 01, Teachers and Technology

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-10

13:15-14:45

Room:

DSC03 (Smart Class III)

Chair:

Ed Smeets

Contribution

Research over the past 20 years has identified a disparity between financial expenditure on classroom-based technologies and their promise, and the degree to which there has been identifiable large-scale embedding of digital technologies in day-to-day pedagogies. The failure of digital technologies to embed in teacher practice has been attributed to the lack of understanding of technologies and their relationship to pedagogy. Theoretical models have been suggested, such as the development of TPACK (Mishra & Koelher, 2006), an embellishment of Pedagogic Content Knowledge. However, whilst TPACK may describe a relationship, it does little to provide a method for developing and embedding practice at a practical level.

Based on a view of the classroom as a complex adaptive system (Davis and Sumara, 2006), Wood (2011) suggests that the use of complexity thinking may offer a basis for understanding the emergent nature of building technological capacity in the classroom. This includes the notion of scale-jumping, i.e. seeing different levels of activity and analysis as being inherently linked as part of a wider system.

This paper takes the idea of scale-jumping as a starting point for building a hybrid methodological framework to develop a praxis-led process for the embedding of technology into classroom practice.

Design-based Research (DBR) is an iterative process, focused on issues of curriculum and technological design (DBR Collective, 2003), DBR brings together researchers and practitioners to consider classroom-based problems. Design solutions emerge from an engagement with past research as a basis for iterative design and trial.

DBR creates solutions, but the detail of pedagogical practice development is less well developed. By considering the detailed enactment of the technology design through the use of Lesson Study, the pedagogical process is foregrounded and explicitly linked to the realisation of the design principles.

Lesson Study involves a team of teachers collaborative ‘deep-planning’ a research lesson, taking into account a ‘learning challenge’ (Tall, 2008; Dudley, 2008; Ylonen and Norwich, 2012). This challenge forms the basis of the planning and discussion about the intended/observable learning undertaken by students. One member teaches the research lesson whilst the others observe the learning of the children, and assess the degree to which learning has been successful relative to expectations and the plan, noting unexpected behaviours and activities. The team then evaluate learning in the lesson, potentially augmenting evidence with work completed in the lesson and also with interviews with learners.

The collaborative process of Lesson Study gives deeper insights into the success of DBR interventions, and also gives deeper insights into how technologies can be successfully embedded into pedagogical approaches – it is putting the pedagogy at the centre of the design and implementation process.

Therefore the research questions were:

To what extent can a hybrid Lesson Design Research (LDR) approach aid in the integration of technologies and pedagogy in classrooms?
How successful is LDR in aiding the development of:

- Student-centred learning

- Greater understanding of the curriculum by students

To what extent can LDR aid sustainable development and use of technologies in classrooms?

Method

This paper reports on an initial pilot study of Lesson Design Research which focused on the work of a group of A-level (16-19 year old) politics students at a college in England. Initial meetings were held to identify a learning challenge, leading to the development of a curriculum intervention over a period of approximately 12 weeks. This intervention involved the integration of blogs and wikis into the work of students, acting as a medium for further collaborative learning and personal reflection. Four lessons were then identified within the 12 week period which focused on introducing new elements of web 2.0 technology use. In each case the two authors considered how the technology would be integrated into the classroom pedagogy, thereby planning each session. Each lesson was observed and a small number of the students involved in the lessons were later interviewed for their reflections before the authors evaluated the lessons. All meetings and interviews were recorded for later transcription and thematic analysis.

Expected Outcomes

Initial results from the pilot study demonstrate that the teacher involved in the project gained a deeper more informed understanding of the potential of web 2.0 for augmenting learning, whilst also developing a clearer view of how such technology could be successfully embedded within classroom pedagogy. This was most apparent in a developing confidence in both the use of the technologies involved, and effective ways of embedding them in the learning experiences of students. Throughout, there was a clear framework for the use of technology which had been developed through the initial design-based research phase of the project, which was then operationalised through pedagogic discussion and evaluation through the Lesson Study research lessons. Furthermore, there is qualitative evidence of greater motivation and engagement by students through their use of web 2.0 technologies to complete research tasks. In addition there is also evidence that the quality of written work increased through the development of the project, leading to generally deeper understanding of core political ideas by students. Finally, there is some evidence that students began to act more independently in their work, including informal technical support and feedback to peers.

References

Davis, B. and Sumara, D. (2006) Complexity and Education: Inquiries into Learning, Teaching and Research. London, Routledge. Design-Based Research Collective (2003) Design-Based Research: An Emerging Paradigm for Educational Inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5-8. Dudley, P. (2008) Lesson Study development in England from school networks to national policy: the development of Lesson Study in England and its growing use as a professional learning process for the development and transfer of pedagogic practice. World Association of Lesson Studies annual conference, Hong Kong, December 2008. Mishra, P. and Koelher, M.J. (2006) Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054. Tall, D. (2008) Using Japanese Lesson Study in Teaching Mathematics. The Scottish Mathematical Council Journal 38(1), 45-50. Ylonen, A. and Norwich B. (2012) Using Lesson Study to develop teaching approaches for secondary school pupils with moderate learning difficulties: teachers’ concepts, attitudes and pedagogic strategies, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 27(3), 301-317.

Author Information

Phil Wood (presenting / submitting)

University of Leicester, United Kingdom

Denise Posso

Gateway College, Leicester, United Kingdom

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