Supporting students to become autonomous learners: the role of web-based learning
International Journal of Information and Learning Technology
ISSN: 2056-4880
Article publication date: 1 August 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how web-based science curriculum materials designed to develop autonomous learners can succeed in Brunei. In this instruction, designed to prepare students to independently explore new topics, students and teachers take new roles. Students collaborate with a peer to engage in inquiry and teachers monitor progress and guide students rather than leading the class.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors studied two Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) units (photosynthesis and cellular respiration) developed using the knowledge integration framework. The framework promotes autonomous learning by building on the diverse ideas that students bring to science lessons and encouraging them to distinguish among their own ideas and those they encounter when using scientific visualizations. In a study on “How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School”, Bransford et al. (1999) suggest that the students’ preconceptions of how the world works must be engaged, as failing to do so may hinder them from grasping new concepts and information that are taught. Two intact classes of students from two secondary schools in Brunei each studied one of the WISE units. Observations revealed that students could work in pairs to jointly engage in inquiry with encouragement from teachers. Embedded assessments and interviews were analyzed to show how students linked observable events and scientific ideas when explaining the conversion of solar energy to chemical energy in photosynthesis.
Findings
Significant gains in knowledge integration show that Brunei students who collaboratively study WISE inquiry units can autonomously succeed. Specifically, students using WISE were able to construct complex ideas about photosynthesis and cellular respiration by linking observable events and scientific ideas while working autonomously with infrequent teacher monitoring.
Originality/value
The paper provides invaluable insights into ways in which web-based learning supports students to become autonomous learners.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Universiti Brunei for the generous grant to support this work and enable one of the authors (ML) to travel to Brunei and take part in this project. Authors also wish to acknowledge AP Dr Lin Naing@Md Ayub bin Hj.Md Sadiq for his advice on the statistical analysis of this study, the Ministry of Education, Brunei and the principals of the two schools for allowing us the access to the students and the classes used in this study and last but not least the teachers and the students who participated in this study. This material is based, in part, upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grants DRL-0918743, and DRL-0334199. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Citation
Petra, S.F., Jaidin, J.H., Perera, J.Q. and Linn, M. (2016), "Supporting students to become autonomous learners: the role of web-based learning", International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 263-275. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJILT-05-2016-0017
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited