The Impact Of Keyword On The Improvement Of Opinion In Knowledge Forum

Idea improvement is an important theme in the field of learning sciences, and is one of the core theories in Knowledge Building. Knowledge building theory emphasizes that knowledge building discussion and activities should be devoted to idea improvement, especially community idea improvement. Knowledge Forum is a computer-supported knowledge building environment which provides a public visual space for collaborative knowledge building activities. The present study which based on the knowledge building practices in China try to expand the use of the "Keywords" scaffold to promote the process of idea improvement. More specifically, students can use the "Keywords" scaffold to label their notes in Knowledge Forum so that all keywords in discussion can be noted and which is a possible way to affect the process of their idea improvement.The present study carried out in real leaning environment. The participants in this study were two classes of fourth-graders in an elementary school in Nanjing. Two classes were divided into experimental class and control class at random. Then we examined the impact of the experimental variable. Content analysis was applied to study the idea improvement in the discussions in Knowledge Forum. The results suggest that tagging keywords significantly promotes idea improvement. The experimental class did significantly better than the control class in idea improvement plan, process and achievement. More specifically:Firstly, tagging keywords has a significant positive impact on the specificity of idea improvement plan. Tagging keywords can stimulate students to discuss important issues deeply so that they can write more detailed plan. The "Keywords" scaffold helped students structure the task for idea improvement.Secondly, tagging keywords has a significant positive impact on the process of idea improvement. Tagging keywords can make students significantly more prone to engaging in focused discussions and to understand new information.At last, tagging keywords has a significant positive impact on the achievement of idea improvement. Tagging keywords can help students make improvement on previous ideas in depth and integration significantly.