Domain Specific Learning
Research Institute of Child Development and Education
The core topics of our research group are:
- The learning of domain specific competencies
- Pedagogic approaches
- Professional development of subject teachers
The learning of domain specific competencies
We conduct process studies to identify components and levels of domain specific competencies (e.g. historical reasoning, social scientific reasoning, and mathematicall modelling). We also examine how the appropriation of domain specific knowledge and skills relate to student characteristics, such as interest, prior knowledge, linguistic or cultural background.
Pedagogic approaches
We conduct design research and intervention studies to develop and test pedagogic approaches. For example, how can the use of digital tools enhance language production? Which collaborative learning task enhance mathematical thinking? How can teachers formatively assess students’ ability to construct historical explanations? How can history teachers address multiple perspectives? What are the effects of language integrated instruction?
Professional development of subject teachers
We investigate the development of subject specific pedagogical competencies of teachers. We examine, for example, the potential of educational materials, domain specific observation instruments and teachers’ professional growth in professional learning communities.
Outreach activities
Researchers collaborate with teachers, teacher educators, schools and museums (e.g. Rijksmuseum, website in Dutch) to co-create innovative education. We work in the Educational Research LAB Amsterdam (WOA, website in Dutch) in which we focus on questions formulated by schools, and we host the National Centre for Social Studies Education (LEMM, website in Dutch)). Most of the PhD candidates in our research team are funded by the NWO or DUDOC ALFA programmes for teachers. Because they combine their research with teaching at a secondary school or university, they have a high impact on educational practice.
International orientation
We collaborate with researchers from renowned foreign universities. Recent visiting scholars that joined our Lab came from Belgium, Chili, Denmark, Iceland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Vietnam and the USA.
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Mathematical modelling and the role of language skills
- Promovendus: Sevinç Göksen- Zayim
- Promotors: Carla van Boxtel, Derk Pik
Mathematical modelling is a part of mathematical thinking. It consists of several phases: the problem has to be conceptualized, mathematized and interpreted. In each of these phases language skills play a fundamental role and often constitute an obstacle for the learner as well.The ability to translate problems back and forth between reality and mathematics strongly depends on the language proficiency of students. Other language skills are important in the conceptualizing and interpreting phases. In each of these phases several levels of abstraction can be discerned.
In this research we investigate the specific language problems occurring in the different phases of mathematical modelling. We will focus on collaborative learning to achieve level-raising. We will develop level-raising group assignments for learners from 11 up to 15 years.
Finally, in a quasi-experimental study, we explore the effect of collaborative learning on increasing language proficiency and its effect on the mathematical modelling performance of learners from 11 up to 15 years.This research is part of an NWO PhD scholarship for teachers.
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Stimulating historical reasoning in inquiry-based learning lessons in primary education
- Promovendus: Yolande Potjer
- Promotors: Carla van Boxtel
This PhD-research project is about historical reasoning in elementary schools. The main question of my research is: How can a professional development programme (PDP) assist elementary school teachers to stimulate historical thinking and reasoning in children between 8 and 12 years old, using inquiry based learning.
The aim of history education is developing historical awareness in children. This development is stimulated by learning how to critically assess and reason with historical sources and to use these to create new coherent histories. Historical reasoning skills encompass sourcing, contextualization and argumentation using concepts like continuity and change, cause and consequence and similarities and dissimilarities. Based on existing research, inquiry based learning appears to be a fitting approach to help children develop historical reasoning skills. However, as elementary school teachers themselves need to be skilled in historical reasoning before they can teach historical reasoning, the research focuses on professional development of teachers in historical reasoning.
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Increasing complexity in communicative speaking tasks in the EFL classroom
- Promovendus: Chris Veldwijk
- Promotors: Carla van Boxtel, Marrit van de Guchte
In Dutch upper-intermediate EFL classrooms, not much attention is paid to purposefully acquiring new and more complex language in speaking pedagogy. Yet, when pupils expand their linguistic complexity (= linguistic repertoire), they will be able to communicate more effectively. With this research, we hope to create an awareness of the effect of complexity in oral communication among Dutch EFL pupils in upper-intermediate (pre-university) education and design a pedagogical approach that encourages them to use new, complex language. We hope to not only increase pupils’ linguistic complexity and proficiency, but also to increase their sense of learning and self-efficacy; lastly, we hope to contribute to research into increasing complexity in second language acquisition and education.
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Stimulating creativity by means of extra-disciplinary intervention to support the incubation mechanisms
- Promovendus: Genja Ferschtman-Ridley
- Promotors: Carla van Boxtel, Matthijs Baas, Gert Rijlaarsdam, Marie-Thérèse van de Kamp
Creative processes benefit from a temporary distraction, the ‘incubation phase’. Distraction may stimulate largely unconscious processes active during incubation, such as dissociation and bisociation, both contributing to originality. Educators could enhance students’ incubation by inserting a well-chosen contrasting sub-task, that distracts from the target task. It therefore stimulates the ongoing unconscious processes generating original ideas. Such a task might be found in contrasting Arts disciplines.
The research aims to define, develop and test such contrasting sub-tasks. After instructional design studies, we will test the effectiveness on creative ideation after incubation, originality of the final product and metacognition, prerequisite for near-transfer.
- Funded by: NWO Promotiebeurs voor Leraren
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Teaching critical thinking about controversial issues: the potential of an integrative approach
- Promovendus: Saskia Arbon
- Promotors: Carla van Boxtel, Geerte Savenije, Tessa van Schijndel, Jaap Schuitema
To strengthen democracy, people need to be able to think critically about controversial issues. Critical thinking about controversial issues tends to be sub-optimally integrated in most school subjects. The focus is usually on subject-specific skills and knowledge. However, developing critical thinking about controversial issues also requires more general critical thinking and moral reasoning skills. In cross-curricular approaches, on the other hand, there is little attention for subject-specific aspects. Little is known about more integrative approaches. With this proposal we therefore aim to develop and test an integrative approach towards the teaching of critical thinking about controversial issues. The basis for this integrative approach is Levinson’s (2006) framework for addressing the epistemological and ethical structure of controversy. This framework serves as a point of departure for developing a pedagogy for teaching students what is at stake in certain controversies, by explicating the roles of evidence and values. This approach will be embedded in an existing innovative controversial-issues pedagogy: ‘Science Journalism’.
Interlinked research project funded by NRO.