When West Coast and East Coast Meet Online: A Cooperative Inquiry Involving High School Students From Different Social Worlds
Overview: The purpose of this study was to engage high school students from two different high schools who participated in an optional online forum in a critical reflection of the impact of their experience. The proposed study is viewed through the lens of social construction theory, transformative learning and Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). Engaging in reflective interviews followed by a cooperative group reflection process will heighten students’ awareness and help them identify perspective shifts, and perhaps transformative learning that may not have been apparent before this intervention or prior to the reflection. Another desired outcome is to deepen what we know about how engagement and critical reflection with others whose social worlds differs significantly from one’s own enhance communication and understanding. In the process, we hope to identify key factors for success in the engagement in an online dialogic process that may be applied to other educational environments and that the findings will help in curriculum design, particularly in the context of fostering critical thinking among high school students regarding intellectual, social, class and faith diversity and to support civic engagement.
