Using a Portfolio in the Science Classroom : Psychological and Pedagogical Issues

Abstract

In this study, we investigated a framework that seeks to understand how children's knowledge restructuring occurs in order to build a science learning environment that facilitates this restructuring. The learning theories of Rogoff and Bronfenbrenner that describe how learning occurs in social interactions were of use in solving this problem. We tried to verify these theories of learning environments in the science classroom of sixth graders learning about the human body. As a central feature of this educational model, we employed a portfolio. In collaborating to construct a learning portfolio, the children's restructuring knowledge increased.