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Sociomaterial Configurations and Resources Supporting Observations in Outdoor Learning: Results from Multiple Iterations of the Tree Investigator Project

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Emergent Practices and Material Conditions in Learning and Teaching with Technologies

Abstract

Guided by a sociocultural framework that considers the intersection of people, tools, and settings, we describe research and development aims of a mobile app and the pedagogy supporting its use in outdoor learning. Our research investigates sociomaterial configurations that can influence youths’ observational practices with tablet-mediated collaborative knowledge-building activities. Our work includes field tests with hundreds of learners and seven design-based research (DBR) iterations with 185 consented subjects. We report findings across these iterations of research, which are related to (1) the material conditions of the technology design and redevelopment and (2) the evolving theoretical framework focused on the concepts of scientific talk and practice. This chapter describes how we conducted our iterations of research leading to our trialogical approach to learning. As such, we describe how the materiality of the outdoor setting influenced our work and how various sociomaterial configuration for learning emerged based on our research findings. Implications for tablet-supported collaborative learning and technologically enhanced informal learning are drawn in the conclusion of this chapter.

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Acknowledgments

Our thanks to our funder the Center for Online Innovations in Learning and our two partners, The Arboretum at Penn State and Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. Appreciation to Fariha Salman (iteration 1: analyst), Lucy McClain (iterations 1–3: analyst and naturalist), Michael R. Mohney (iterations 1–3 and 6: analyst and naturalist), YongJu Jung (iterations 3–5: data wrangler lead and analyst), Jaclyn Dudek (iterations 3–5: recruitment lead, analyst, and lead coder 4–5), Gi Woong Choi (iterations 1–2, 5, and 7: lead iteration 7), Jessica Briskin (iterations 3–5: analyst), Chrystal Maggiore (iterations 3–5 and 7: analyst and naturalist), Soo Hyeon Kim (iterations 3–5: analyst), and Brian J. Seely (iterations 1–7: programmer, analyst, and lead iteration 6). More details on the project are at http://sites.psu.edu/augmentedlearning/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Heather Toomey Zimmerman & Susan M. Land

Authors
  1. Heather Toomey Zimmerman
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  2. Susan M. Land
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Correspondence to Heather Toomey Zimmerman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Kista, Stockholm, Sweden

    Teresa Cerratto Pargman

  2. School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Isa Jahnke

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Toomey Zimmerman, H., Land, S.M. (2019). Sociomaterial Configurations and Resources Supporting Observations in Outdoor Learning: Results from Multiple Iterations of the Tree Investigator Project. In: Cerratto Pargman, T., Jahnke, I. (eds) Emergent Practices and Material Conditions in Learning and Teaching with Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10764-2_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10764-2_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-10763-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-10764-2

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