The Caspari research group develops tools to study and foster in-the-moment learning. We conceptualize learning as the transformation of meaning through opening and filling of student needs in ways that are continuous with student prior experiences and change student discourse to transform this old meaning into something new. To study this learning, we use qualitative research methods to identify the underlying questions that drive student learning, how these needs are opened and filled in interactions, and how new and old ideas are connected in this process. We also use the identification of typical student needs to develop scaffolds for students when engaged in collaborative problem solving. 

Ultimately, we want to improve student in-the-moment learning and one way of how we work on this improvement is the study and development of instructor facilitation practices. For example, we study how undergraduate learning assistants come back after having taken a class previously and facilitate student learning during small group discussions. We characterize this facilitation based on whose perspective is centered and what impact it has on student in-the-moment learning. This allows us to develop professional development for learning assistants and, in turn, study the impact of this professional development on their facilitation.

Understanding what happens in interactions alone is not sufficient to support students to engage in deeper and more holistic learning, rather, a holistic understanding of the classroom and societal systems these interactions are embedded in is warranted. We thus identify how factors such as problem design, classroom rules and division of labor, and oppressive systems in greater society mediate learning and its facilitation as it occurs in moments embedded within these broader systems. Our understanding of how these factors impact student learning relies on comparing data sets of different classes or different iterations of the same class with intentional changes of factors such as problem design or explicit communication of values allowing for evidence-based revision of learning environments. 

Unique to the Caspari group’s work is that projects do not fall into one of these areas but span across multiple areas. To do so, we intentionally combine complementary theoretical and analytical frameworks. Thus, we can move beyond a description of separate phenomena of learning, facilitation, and class design towards an investigation of how one impacts the other. An example of this is our  Facilitation Practices of Learning Assistants project, where we use a combination of cultural historical activity theory, theory on authoritativeness and dialogicity, and practical epistemology analysis to understand what classroom factors drive LA facilitation and how LA facilitation impacts student learning. This work is generously supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF DUE 2000603).