Use hedges, hypotheticals and questions to open space for safe exploration of new ideas¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The editorial describes how learners working on new ideas can use tentative phrasing to invite negotiation rather than assert certitude: "By using hedges, hypotheticals and questions, people can open up a space for safe exploration and provisional statements." Writing ideas online for others treats expressions of learning as dialogical acts conducive to learning through negotiation over time. This strategy arises from the Jordan et al. study of uncertainty in collaborative learning.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• An audience of others who can affirm or modify the proposed expression of learning

Constraints¶

• Best suited to tasks involving new or nuanced ideas about which learners are not already knowledgeable

Target Learners¶

• students in collaborative online learning settings

Target Learning Goals¶

• expressing and negotiating emerging understanding
• collaborative knowledge building

Related Strategies¶

• Design for disagreement: provide a safe space for members to question community practices

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Gerry Stahl, Nancy Law, Ulrike Cress & Sten Ludvigsen. (2014). Analyzing roles of individuals in small-group collaboration processes. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 9, 365–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-014-9204-9