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1. D. Hernández-Leo et al. (Eds.): EC-TEL 2013, LNCS 8095, pp. 32–42, 2013.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Analysis of Learners’ Fieldtrip Talk
during a Collaborative Inquiry Task
Canan Blake, Eileen Scanlon, Alison Twiner, Trevor Collins,
Ann Jones, and Lucinda Kerawalla
The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, UK
{canan.blake,eileen.scanlon,t.d.collins,ann.jones,
cindy.kerawalla}@open.ac.uk, Alison@twiner.net
Abstract. In this paper we analyse children’s talk with a view to understand
how a technology enhanced inquiry learning toolkit played a part in enriching
collaboration during a fieldtrip and facilitating social interaction. The partici-
pants in the study were 15 year-old students carrying out their geography GCSE
(General Certificate in Secondary Education) work in a secondary school in the
UK. During the fieldtrip, we provided students with nQuire, an inquiry learning
toolkit to orchestrate their learning, on an ultra-mobile Asus Eee PC with a
wireless connection to the coursework web site. Students collected data from
twelve points in two towns with very different layout and land use. The learning
environment created with the nQuire toolkit, ultra mobile PCs, personalised in-
quiry task and the use of scientific sensors to collect data offers possibilities for
collaboration and effective interaction. In this study we analyse to what extent
this environment supported learning collaboratively and to what extent students
interacted with each other and with the technology to construct knowledge dur-
ing the fieldtrip.
Keywords: collaborative learning, CSCL, inquiry learning, nQuire.
1 Introduction
Computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments are based on the
premise that learners will work together as a group to achieve the given task and en-
gage in productive interactions that may lead to learning. For example, Dillenbourg et
al (1) argue that in order for collaboration to produce learning outcomes the groups
should actually engage in productive interactions. They propose three main categories
of interactions that have been found to facilitate learning: explanation, argumenta-
tion/negotiation and mutual regulation. They further argue that “the purpose of a
CSCL environment is not simply to enable collaboration across distance but to create
conditions in which effective group interactions are expected to occur” (p. 6).
Given that the main focus of CSCL research is “on how people learn in the context
of collaborative activity and how technological settings that support this activity can
be designed and evaluated” (2) as well as looking at interactions among learners that
gives rise to collaborative learning (3), we need to pay attention to technological tools

2. Analysis of Learners’ Fieldtrip Talk during a Collaborative Inquiry Task 33
we provide in these environments as they will mediate and shape the nature of the
interaction among learners.
When students engage in discussions regarding the subject they are studying, their
turn-by-turn exchanges can provide us with information about the learning taking
place. These discussions occur when students explain to each other their understand-
ing, ideas and strategies, ask questions, defend their perspective and evaluate each
other’s suggestions. In order to increase the likelihood of productive interactions
among learners, researchers, especially those working in the CSCL field, have been
implementing particular applications of technology to benefit learners and facilitate
teaching. Lipponen (4) emphasizes that collaborative learning supported by technol-
ogy can enhance peer interaction and work in groups. The guiding framework for
implementation of technology in CSCL environments is socially oriented theories of
cognition and learning.
Guided by these approaches, in this paper we will present an analysis of children’s
fieldtrip talk during a geography inquiry task. We used a detailed video analysis ap-
proach based on the work of Ash (5) and our aim is to understand how students made
use of the tools, technologies and inquiry framework during this task.
We will first present the context of the study, including the Personal Inquiry
project and the field trip. Then we will describe how we analyzed the video record-
ings of selected groups to help us understand how students collaborated to achieve the
task and how technology mediated the social interactions during the field trip.
2 Research Context and Data Collection
2.1 Personal Inquiry Project and Urban Heat Islands Field Trip
The aim of the personal inquiry project was “to support children aged 11-15 years in
coming to understand themselves and their world through scripted personal inquiry
learning” (6). Children investigated issues that affect their lives, across different set-
tings - including the classroom, their homes, and nature centres - through a scientific
process of gathering and assessing evidence, conducting experiments and engaging in
informed debate. A computer toolkit, named nQuire, was designed to enable scripted
inquiry learning, where scripts are computer programs, like dynamic lesson plans, that
guide and support the learners through an inquiry learning process by providing them
with a set of structured activities, data probes, visualizations of data, and means of
communication.
In one theme, explored in the school based trials, 135 students investigated Urban
Heat Islands at Milton Keynes and Northampton. In this paper we will report on the
analyses of the fieldtrip video recordings with an aim of understanding the nature and
quality of collaborative actions.
The participants in the study were 15 year-old students carrying out their geogra-
phy GCSE (General Certificate in Secondary Education) work in a secondary school
in the UK. The fieldtrip presented in this paper was part of the course-work towards
this qualification. In the fieldtrip, students collected data across two towns (Milton
Keynes and Northampton) to investigate the urban heat island phenomenon. The
towns are different from each other in terms of their age and layout of the buildings.