Abstracts - Earli

institutional levels and with very different needs for assessment tools, the TAO framework has theambition to provide a modular and versatile framework for collaborative distributed testdevelopment and delivery with the potential to be extended and adapted to virtually everyevaluation purpose that could be handled by the means of computer-based assessment. In order toillustrate the power and the flexibility implied by the TAO framework, several use cases of thearchitecture will be presented. Future developments and use cases of the TAO framework will bediscussed.Developing motivation through participation in collaborative activityJudith MacCallum, Murdoch University, AustraliaVeronica Morcom, Murdoch University, AustraliaMotivation research has traditionally focused on the individual and is often couched in terms ofgoal theory. A sociocultural view of learning is at the heart of the developing conceptualisations ofmotivation. Learning is conceptualised as primarily a social activity and motivation emerges fromthe social context that is manifested through both collaborative and individual action. The mainaim of the research is to examine children’s motivational development in the primary school years.The paper draws on data from three research projects conducted in primary school classroomsusing collaborative instructional practices. One broad research question guided the three studies:How is student’s motivation created, sustained and transformed within a classroom communitybased on collaborative instructional practices and cultural values? The methodological approachinvolved in each classroom project was in-depth study of the classroom over a school year using amodified ethnographic approach, using a range of qualitative and quantitative data collection tools.Rogoff’s (1995) personal, interpersonal and cultural/community psychological planes was used asa starting point for examining the processes of motivational development. The Community Planeshows the importance of the teacher’s role in creating a collaborative classroom community. Themotivational aspect of this plane may be described as developing ways for participation. Theprocesses of modelling and scaffolding values and ways of participation are prominent on theInterpersonal Plane, with the interactions creating possibilities for motivation as ‘negotiatedparticipation’. Personal transformation of understandings was evident on the Personal Plane, withthe motivational aspect presenting as students ‘becoming’ prepared to participate in subsequentsimilar activities. These findings are discussed in terms of their adequacy for describingmotivational development and contributing to the debate on the relation between personal andculture. In practical terms, the focus of each project assisted the primary schools to further developeffective instructional practices.Statistics in the physics laboratoryHaim Eshach, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, IsraelIda Kuklianskey, Rupin Academic Center, IsraelThe aim of the present study was to examine how students analyze raw data obtained fromexperiments in the physics laboratory. Specifically the following questions were addressed, dostudents understand: 1) why repeating measurements are conducted, 2) what kind of statisticaltools are efficient and why, 3) the nature and origin of errors, 4) how to interpret graphs, and 5)how to reach conclusions based on the analysis. Based on literature review, observations inlaboratory classes, and interview with students, a "raw data analysis" questionnaire was developedin order to evaluate the understanding of the raw data analysis process. The questionnaire, thatreferred to real data obtained in experiment on Newton’s second law, contained questions relatingto the following categories: A-Central tendency parameters, B-Experimental errors, C-Choosing– 436 –