Constructive Learning from Texts in Biology

In schools, discourse usually plays a part in the constructive process. We have been developing and experimenting with Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE) that combine the educational advantages of collective discourse with the tactical advantages of individual written and graphic work. In this paper we track three successive classes of grade 5–6 students working on the same biological topic (body systems). We find that students take a more goal-directed and constructive approach to using text information: (1) when students create a context for figuring out how things work by advancing their own provisional theories in advance of taking information from texts; and (2) when students identify gaps in their own knowledge.