Taking on the challenges of learning in the digital age: Grade 5 students’ mindsets and strategies in knowledge building communities

The goal of this study is to advance the understanding on the mindsets and strategies that students employ as they deal with the challenges, obstacles, and setbacks inherent in knowledge building communities. In the first iteration of a three-year design based research study, students in four grade 5 classroom knowledge building communities studied human body systems. We collected data on 93 students from peer-interviews dealing with the challenges and approaches that they employed during their inquiry process. Using an inductive approach that examined students’ reactions, we identified 247 relevant utterances which we organized and coded. Our first key finding indicates the inter-relation between students’ attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and feelings related to their mindsets. Our second key finding shows that students rely on different strategies of an inquiry cycle when they face challenges and setbacks. These results set the stage for further inquiry and design modifications.