As teaching moved on-line we had to rethink and readjust what approaches to use in order to reach the outcomes. Adjustments had to be made to the designed activities especially when groups had to meet in breakout rooms. We will present the various aspects that came under scrutiny, as for example, peripheral participation, the development of mini-communities of practice, cooperation, collaboration and mediation. We analyzed instructor’s journal notes and students’ products. There were 53 students in the classes concerned. The main research question is what was effective in making participants improve learning and how did the implementation increase their understanding of working together virtually. The method used is qualitative (Creswell, & Poth, 2018). The instructor took observational notes of processes and actions during planned activities. These notes were analyzed to uncover insights. In addition, student ‘products’ of group work were analyzed for the triangulation of results. Results show that the effort put into creating more engagement in the module brought about a number of interesting results that increased student understanding. Overall, findings show that participants reiterate expectations and summarize them, the repetition allowed a better grasp and this could also be due to the fact that during the reconversion, participants had to make sure they really understood the contents, i.e. ensuring that the meanings were clear which, in turn led to a better intake of specific features. As regards working together, several issues were identified, yet overall, all students were highly successful, due mostly to a supportive approach as regards feedback or a ‘feed-through’ approach. The theoretical underpinnings came from research on learning and pointed to the requirement of additional insights on the part of instructors especially when teaching has to take into account equity, diversity, inclusion and indigenization (EDII). Instruction had to be more connected to students’ lives. Bransford et al (2000) assert that “to develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application” (p. 16).
Working together or alone, near, or far: Social connections and communities of practice in in-person and remote physics laboratories
