Abstracts - Earli

Multiple contemporaneous graphical formalisms in inquiry learning environments: a blessing indisguise?Erica de Vries, Pierre-Mendes-France University, FranceWhereas numerous studies in learning focus on comparisons between representational systems,such as texts, images, graphics, and equations, few address different ways of representing within aparticular representational system. The latter type of comparison is likely to become important ininquiry learning environments since they rely on different graphical formalisms, which rest on aset of limited graphical elements, to support learning activities such as exploration, modelling andcollaboration. These graphical formalisms are both contemporary and contemporaneous:contemporary in the sense of "modern", i.e. designed recently in comparison to regular domainrepresentations, and contemporaneous in the sense of "coexisting". In fact, there is as yet nouniversal set of correspondence rules that associates the relatively limited set of graphicalelements, such as rectangles, arrows, lines, circles, diamonds, clouds, etc., to the relatively largeset of conceptual elements, such as variables, relations, rate of change, resource, time, etc.Curiously, there seems to be little interest in the question whether learners’ quasi-simultaneous useof multiple graphical formalisms would be a blessing (modelling activities are independent of aparticular graphical formalism), or a tragedy (multiple graphical formalisms are confusing) forlearning. In order to develop a theoretical stand on this issue, we study similar issues fromsemiotics and artificial intelligence. We will give examples from our work on student modelling inthe energy domain.An analysis of students’ spontaneous computer-mediated questioning: A step toward the design ofecological supporting tools for inquiry learning environmentsMinna Puustinen, University of Poitiers & CNRS, FranceDaniele Coquin, University of Poitiers & CNRS, FranceJosie Bernicot, University of Poitiers & CNRS, FranceQuestioning and experimentation are essential parts of all inquiry learning. However, adoptingsuch an autonomous posture towards learning is not easy. Therefore, designers of inquiry-basedlearning environments should pay particular attention to the quality of the tools destined to supportstudents in their learning. In this paper, we argue that the first step toward the design of highquality (i.e., ecological, efficacious, and user-friendly) supporting tools should be the analysis ofstudents’ spontaneous question asking addressed to a human tutor in a computer-mediated learningsituation, allowing us to see what, when, and how do students really ask when they have theopportunity to formulate their requests freely. The aim of our study was thus to analyse lowersecondary school students’ spontaneous mathematics-related question-asking behaviour in order toprovide concrete recommendations for the design of supporting tools. We used natural data, thatis, the archives of a French forum providing students with individualised help in mathematics freeof charge. Students may go to the forum whenever they feel it is necessary (i.e., at school during abreak, at home, in the hospital, etc.) and type their messages online or else send their questions viaemail. Voluntary secondary school mathematics teachers take turns at answering the students’messages seven days per week except for the summer holidays. Our data consisted of the messagessent by approximately 200 French lower secondary school students over a span of 42 months. Wemade a detailed content analysis of the students’ exercises, the context within which theirmessages were sent, their requests for help, and the partial answers provided by some of thestudents. The results permitted us to formulate recommendations for the design of supportingtools.– 153 –