Abstracts - Earli

L731 August 2007 11:00 - 12:20Room: PP7Poster SessionChair:Poster sessionJános Steklács, Teacher-Training College Kecskemét, HungarySupporting learning in text-based asynchronous learning environments: shared conception ofeducational tasks in knowledge-building processesAntoni Badia, Open University of Catalonia, SpainElena Barbera, Open University of Catalonia, SpainAnna Espasa, Open University of Catalonia, SpainTeresa Guasch, Open University of Catalonia, SpainWe now know a great deal about the development of teaching, social and cognitive presence intext-based asynchronous learning environments (Garrison, 2003; Garrison & Anderson, 2003;Kanuka & Garrison, 2004). Nonetheless, our knowledge is still insufficient when it comes to theprocesses of educational interaction related to the shared conception of educational tasks.According to Wertsch (1985) and Baker et al. (1999), an adequate and shared definition of theeducational situation amongst participants provides the basis for students’ appropriate selfregulationand effective knowledge building. An intersubjective definition of the situation can beachieved thanks to a process of interpsychological negotiation of the intrapsychologicalrepresentations of each participant. The aim of the negotiation may be, amongst others, thelearning objectives, role of the content, conditions to carry out the task or evaluation criteria. Theresearch carried out aims to identify the way in which the shared conception of educational tasks isdeveloped and, to do so, four educational situations taking place in a higher education text-basedasynchronous learning environment have been selected: a chat forum, debate forum, cooperativework and individual work; with a total of 1961 emails. The messages and chains of messagesrelated to this process of the shared conception of educational tasks are analysed in each of thefour situations, using five categories of analysis: contribution of task information, globalnegotiation, significant negotiation, occasional negotiation and global confirmation. Findingsrevealed the differences in the appearance of the various types of statements, messages and chainsof messages, depending on the learning activity, and also revealed the use of different discursivestrategies depending on each type of educational task.Between music and education: A case study of a graduate program in music educationLia Laor, Levinsky College of Education, IsraelMordechai Miron, Levinsky College of Education, IsraelSara Shimoni, Levinsky College of Education, IsraelThis case study examines an innovative two-year graduate program for music education atLevinsky College of Education in Israel. The program’s goal is to train music educators as leaderswho can introduce meaningful professional changes in their educational communities. The studydocuments and critically examines how participation in the program transformed students’attitudes and beliefs with respect to their professional identity as music educators as well asregarding their own professional development. It also considers how students’ attitudes towardsresearch have evolved, e.g., the relevance of research to their practice of music education, the– 671 –