ICLS 2000 Proceedings

The Diffusion and Appropriation of Ideas: An Investigation of Events Occurring Between Groups of Learners in Science Classrooms

Mark Windschitl
University of Washington
College of Education
115 Miller Hall Box 353600
Seattle WA, 98195
Tel: 206-221-4736 Fax: 206-543-8439
E-mail: mwind@u.washington.edu

Abstract: Researchers have conducted numerous studies on the interactions of individuals within groups, however, there has been little research on phenomena occurring between groups of learners in classrooms. This exploratory study identifies and categorizes different events occurring between members of different learning groups in three ninth-grade physical science classrooms. Distributed cognition is used as a framework for describing how inter-group interactions serve to diffuse ideas throughout the collective, how these interactions influence the processes and products of students' work, and how characteristics of learning tasks themselves afford or constrain different kinds of inter-group interactions.

Keywords: science education, social cognition, high school

Preferred Citation Format:
Windschitl, M. (2000). The Diffusion and Appropriation of Ideas: An Investigation of Events Occurring Between Groups of Learners in Science Classrooms. In B. Fishman & S. O'Connor-Divelbiss (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 358-359). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

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