Abstracts - Earli

provided that metacognition is below average. This indicates to believe that thinking of strategiesand goals before engaging in the task, might withhold students from freely exploring, which is aprerequisite for efficiently performing this task. Further implications of these findings arediscussed.J 1130 August 2007 17:00 - 18:20Room: 3.67 BékésyPaper SessionPeer interactionChair:Markku Niemivirta, University of Helsinki, FinlandLearning outcomes in peer learning practicesHanne Riese, University of Bergen, NorwayThis paper presents a meta synthesis of qualitative studies of learning processes that could becharacterised as peer learning practices (Sampson, Boud, Cohen, & Gaynor, 1999). Peer learningas a concept is relatively new (Anderson & Boud, 1996), however the practice might be regardedas widespread also under other conceptualisations. The intention is to explore what kind oflearning outcomes regarding process and product peer learning practices in various educationalsettings lead to. In order to address the question of learning outcomes in peer learning practices, areview and meta synthesis of qualitative studies on learning processes that are in accordance withthe definition of peer learning practices will been conducted. Studies including settings that couldbe characterised by one or more of the following three characteristics are to be included: 1.Students are expected to work together with relatively little involvement of staff over semester or awhole year. 2. Students are expected to learn with or from each other in both formal and informalways. 3. Students are expected to take responsibility for each other’s learning in a setting oftenconstructed by the students. Expected results will be on how conditions such as instruction, groupstructure, assessment, project character and teachers role will influence on learning outcome frompeer learning practises. The results will be discussed with relation to the relevance of the conceptas well as the theoretical base for peer learning practices. The question opens the possibility ofexploring the relationship between the perspectives on the process of learning and the learningoutcomes (Lillejord & Dysthe, forthcoming). Furthermore it will contribute to the understandingof how or in what ways peer learning may contribute in the development of a productive learningenvironment.Stand by me: collaborative project workEdgar Dias, Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade de Lisboa, PortugalMargarida Cesar, Faculdade de Ciencias da Universidade de Lisboa, PortugalBeing a critical and active citizen in a knowledge-based society demands not only being able ofworking collaboratively, but also requires statistical literacy. According to policy documents,namely Portuguese ones, project work is one of the learning experiences that all students shouldhave the opportunity to engage in (Abrantes, Serrazina, & Oliveira, 1999). They are one of themeans that facilitate the connections between mathematics and daily life allowing students to give– 553 –