Abstracts - Earli

O 1601 September 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: 0.83 EötvösSymposiumCommunities in learning contexts: Building knowledge, buildingidentitiesChair: Bianca Maria Varisco, University of Padua, ItalyChair: Stefano Cacciamani, University of Valle d’Aosta, ItalyChair: Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, ItalyOrganiser: Bianca Maria Varisco, University of Padua, ItalyOrganiser: Stefano Cacciamani, University of Valle d’Aosta, ItalyOrganiser: Beatrice Ligorio, University of Bari, ItalyDiscussant: Carl Bereiter, Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology, CanadaDiscussant: Neil Schwartz, chico univerity Usa, USAThe learning environments today are more and more spaces and situations where everybody buildsone’s knowledge and one’s identity in collaboration with other people and communities. Thesespaces and situations are environments and opportunities for meeting, sharing, developing,articulating or reinforcing one’s personal, social, professional self. In the last years we have seenan important development of different models of communities working in different learningcontexts where knowledge and personalities emerge and are articulated. This symposiumexamines: a) the nature of social and dialogical interactions into various learning contexts andthrough different perspectives (face to face, blended and on line contexts); b) the relation betweenthe dialogic interactions and the identities of specific communities’ actors: academic students. Thefirst paper (Scardamalia and Bereiter) describes the characteristics of the Knowledge BuildingCommunities, where the processes occur. The second paper (Cacciamani) examines the relationbetween knowledge building activity and social position in the production and in the appropriationof ideas in academic students during an on-line course in Higher education. The third paper(Grion, Luchi, Varisco and Cecchinato) analyses the differences between the emergentprofessional identity in student teachers and the strengthened professional identity in teacher inserviceduring an on line university laboratory based on work cases. The fourth paper (Spadaroand Ligorio) analyses the perception of self on face to face and on line academic learning contextsfinding two distinctive I-Position profiles of university student. Finally the fifth paper (Hamidoand Céêsar) present an inquiry about reconstruction of a teacher education curricula project. Itanalyses personal/interpersonal dimensions. The research shows a prevalence of an unilateralconception of professional identity construction.Learning communities and knowledge building communities: Is there a difference?Marlene Scardamalia, University of Toronto, CanadaIn this paper we present some crucial aspects to distinguish Learning Communities fromKnowledge Building Communities. This distinction is focused on differences based on classroomobservations and on the descriptions offered by various learning community practitioners andadvocates. We consider, however, that the difference runs deeper than observation of classroomphenomena can reveal. The key points of these differences are expressed in terms of targetedknowledge, students inquiry and research, role of students’ own ideas and "theories",– 811 –