Cultural Historical Activity Theory

Art, Fact, and Artefact Production, Design Research and Multidisciplinary Collaboration.

by Lily Díaz

Book review: Activity theory in practice: Promoting learning across boundaries and agencies

by Juan Felipe Espinosa

Book review of "Activity theory in practice: Promoting learning across boundaries and agencies" Management Learning April 2012; 43 (2)
(Note the error in the country of the University instead of Philippines, Universidad Santo Tomas is located in Santiago of Chile)

The authors of the volume have common interests in the study of practices about knowledge generation and mobilization... more The authors of the volume have common interests in the study of practices about knowledge generation and mobilization (Daniels et al., 2010: 1). This interest is addressed through the lens of what had been called ‘one of the best kept secrets of the academia’ (Roth and Lee, 2007: 186): activity theory, a theory that inherits the constructivist work of Lev Vygotsky and a whole tradition of scholars that developed what is now known as the second and third generation of the cultural historical activity theory (Engeström, 2001).

Ramírez, J.L.; Juárez, M., Remesal, A. (2012). Activity Theory and e-Course Design: An Experience in Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal -RUSC, 9(1), 1-20, “Mathematical e-learning” [online dossier].

by Ana Remesal

L'étude de la réussite scolaire au Québec: une analyse historicoculturelle de l'activité d'un centre de recherche, le CRIRES.

by Sylvie Barma

Co-author

Le concept de réussite scolaire est examiné à travers les définitions, les axes de recherche et les moyens d’agir... more Le concept de réussite scolaire est examiné à travers les définitions, les axes de recherche et les moyens d’agir qu’ont retenus les chercheurs du Centre de recherche et d’intervention sur la réussite scolaire (CRIRES) depuis sa création en 1992. La
théorie historicoculturelle est appliquée à ce cas et le modèle d’Engeström (1987, 1999) sert de cadre de référence pour l’analyse du système éducatif québécois en tantque système d’activité qui a pour finalité la réussite scolaire des élèves. Cette analyse, de niveau méta, examine l’activité des agents de la réussite scolaire, notamment les outils et instruments d’intervention mis en oeuvre dans différents contextes ainsi que
certains rôles, normes et politiques qui en sont ressortis. L’analyse se veut proactive et met en lumière les modes d’intervention, en milieu scolaire et postsecondaire, des
agents de la réussite scolaire au sein de leur communauté (classe, école, communauté locale ou élargie). Elle fait ressortir les éléments suivants : 1) la définition donnée en 1992 de la réussite scolaire, à savoir l’atteinte d’objectifs d’apprentissage
propres à chaque étape des cheminements scolaires, est un artefact culturel utile malgré certaines réserves que les chercheurs du CRIRES expriment périodiquement
à son sujet; 2) les axes de recherche orientent la médiation de l’innovation en privilégiant une grande variété d’outils et d’instruments ainsi que l’examen de leurs retombées dans des contextes précis; 3) le CRIRES conçoit de façon de plus en plus
explicite son champ de recherche d’un point de vue systémique.

TEACHING, LEARNING, AND KNOWLEDGE BUILDING: THE CASE OF THE REMOTE NETWORKED SCHOOL INITIATIVE

by Sylvie Barma

Thérèse Laferrière, Sylvie Barma, Fernand Gervais, Christine Hamel, Stéphane Allaire, Alain Breuleux
PEC 2012; 40(40):96-113
ICID: 988491
Article type: Original article

The Remote Networked School (RNS)/« École éloignée en réseau » is an initiative that aims at implementing an... more The Remote Networked School (RNS)/« École éloignée en réseau » is an initiative that aims at implementing an innovation with Internet-based technologies in support of teaching and learning as well as knowledge building in small rural schools. The first eight years of the RNS are examined applying Engeström’s activity theory framework, and more specifically the concept of expansive learning wherein we document the 7 stages. Tensions and contradictions are identified to provide an “inside” understanding of what matters when new technologies designed to support co-teaching and co-learning within and between classrooms are introduced. Two activity systems or more shared the same object such that students would engage actively in collaborative online discourse for solving authentic problems. To this end the trajectory of the RNS initiative had to overcome contradictions. As a result an expansive learning cycle was documented.

How one science teacher redefines a science teaching practice around a theme: A case study in the context of educational reform in Québec.

by Sylvie Barma

Barma, Bader (submitted)

In the context of an education reform in Québec, this case study illustrates how a science teacher’s practice was... more In the context of an education reform in Québec, this case study illustrates how a science teacher’s practice was redefined with nine classes over a period of four months on a specific, integrative theme inspired by issues of daily life in an attempt to increase her students’ motivation and to better make sense of some scientific concepts prescribed in the new curriculum. Activity theory was used as a theoretical and methodological framework to analyze the development of the activity and revealed to be a fruitful approach to better understand real-life and complex situations within a school community. Special attention was given to dynamic relations and changes that took place as the activity was unfolding. The contribution of the nine classes in the analyzed activity was possible due to the collaboration of several members of the school community who shared the same goals and aimed at transforming the learning environment.

The kind-ness of genre: An activity theory analysis of high school teachers' perception of genre in portfolio assessment across the curriculum

by David R. Russell

Big picture people rarely become historians”: Genre systems and the contradictions of general education

by David R. Russell

Rethinking genre in school and society

by David R. Russell

Writing selves, writing societies: Research from activity perspectives

by David R. Russell

The best way to conduct intervention research: methodological considerations

by Thomas Eri

Preparing for Technology-Related Organizational Change

by Alexandre Koloskov

A importância do livro Psicologia Pedagógica para a teoria histórico-cultural de Vigotski

by Joao Batista Martins

published in Análise Psicológica 2 (XXVIII): 343-357, 2010.

This work aims to present an analysis on book’s Lev S. Vigotski entitled Educational Psychology published in 1926,... more This work aims to present an analysis on book’s Lev S. Vigotski entitled Educational Psychology published in 1926, with the objective of identifying some elements that it allows us to characterize your scientific project for the psychology. Like this, along the analysis, we established an approach of Vigotski with the Marxism and with the dialetic, indicating the intention of Vigotski in building a psychology taken root in the historical materialism and dialetic and that such proposition was already idealized in the beginning of your career, among 1917-1923. We located the book Educational Psychology while a paradoxical work because to the same in time that throws the bases for a new psychology, it doesn’t stop pointing your transitory character.

The methodological perspective in Vygotsky: the dialetical materialism

by Joao Batista Martins

published in Semina: Cie Soc./Hum., Londrina, v. 15, n. 3, p. 287-295, Sept. 1994.

Some concepts developed by the Soviet Psychology (specially by Vygotsky, Leontiev and Luria) are discussed. Based on... more Some concepts developed by the Soviet Psychology (specially by Vygotsky, Leontiev and Luria) are discussed. Based on the concepts, the historical and dialetic materialism for the children psychological development study are revived

Grounding signs of culture: Primary intersubjectivity in social semiosis

by Stephen J. Cowley

This appeared as:
Cowley, S.J., Moodley, S. & Fiori-Cowley, A. (2004) Grounding signs of culture: primary intersubjectivity in cultural semiosis. Mind, Culture and Activity, 11/2: 109-132.

The article examines how infants are first permeated by culture. Building on Thibault (2000), semiogenesis is traced... more The article examines how infants are first permeated by culture. Building on Thibault (2000), semiogenesis is traced to the joint activity of primary intersubjectivity. Using an African example, analysis shows how – at 14 weeks – an infant already uses culturally specific indicators of “what a caregiver wants.” Human predispositions and the mother’s enactment of cultural processes enable the child to imbue joint activity with a specific “sense”. Developmentally, the child prods the caregiver to shaping his or her actions around social norms that transform the infant’s world. The nascent lopsided relation is probably necessary for learning to talk. Acting with its mother, the baby’s full-bodied activity is already semiotic.

Using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory to design and evaluate an educational game in science education

by Demetris Lazarou

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
Volume 27, Issue 5, pages 424–439, October 2011
Article first published online: 5 APR 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00410.x
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

The aim of this paper is to describe a methodology for using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) at the initial... more The aim of this paper is to describe a methodology for using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) at the initial stages of the design process of an educational game, by exploring how the theory can be used as a framework for producing not only usable but also useful computer tools. The research also aimed to investigate how the theory could be used for designing computer tools for learning science. Although CHAT and specifically the concepts of ‘activity system’ and ‘contradictions’ were used as the basis for the design and development of the educational game, subsidiary design guidelines also contributed significantly to this process. These derived from the research fields of Human Computer Interaction and Science Education and from students' everyday experiences when playing video games at home. The educational game produced was concerned with the teaching and learning of ‘Expansion and Contraction of Air’ in primary science, a subject that existing research suggests is conceptually difficult for students. As far as the main outcomes of the study are concerned, it was revealed through the implementation of the game that contradictions could be adequately resolved, while stakeholders' needs and motives could be appropriately addressed.

Human work in call centres: a challenge for cognitive ergonomics

by Patrizia Marti

Fisherman's Eyes: An analysis on experience design, the fishing experience, and the work of Roderick Haig-Brown

by Joel Flynn

This paper, Fisherman’s Eyes, is the first of two complementary works that look at the emerging field of experience... more This paper, Fisherman’s Eyes, is the first of two complementary works that look at the emerging field of experience design through the perspective of sport fishing. Specifically, the framework for writer Roderick Haig-Brown’s book, Fisherman’s Fall, is used as a potential schema for experience design, with its emphasis on the importance of seasons, locations, and patterns in what can often be a frustrating sport fishing experience. Activity theory and expansive developmental research are applied to the ideas expressed in Fisherman’s Fall, as a way to perhaps apply the book’s insights on experience to other potentially designed experiences. However, important questions are raised on the viability of experience design as a general discipline, one that is separate from individual
examples of designed experiences. The paper sets the tone for its follow-up work, [what would later turn out to be my masters thesis, [i]Travels in Intertextuality: the autopoetic identity of remix culture[/i]], which is a further exploration of the framework developed from Fisherman’s Fall. The second paper also includes special focus on the role of luck and intimacy in an experience, the cultural-historical aspects of the fishing experience and the potential relationship with emerging forms of interactive narrative.

Metaphrames and Interaction: This is "How it Goes"

by Joel Flynn

Presented at the OurMedia 6 Conference in Sydney Australia (April 2007)

Emerging from Travels in Intertextuality: the autopoetic identity of remix culture (2006), this paper explores the use... more Emerging from Travels in Intertextuality: the autopoetic identity of remix culture (2006), this paper explores the use of metaphors as framing devices for interactive environments. Working with the term “metaphrame”, the paper discusses a model for digital culture featuring tertiary (third-level) cultural obects and their relationship to arrangements of lower-order “building block” objects. Following Michael Cole’s work in Cultural Psychology (1996), the paper summarizes key theoretical elements while briefly providing a practical example of the cultural model in action, specifically, the use of metaphrames and building block objects in the creation of an “enhanced podcast”. This recently developed digital media object started out as a “rough mix” that was authored using an iPod media player, then eventually returned to the iPod as a finished work. The podcast is discussed in terms of “levels” of objects and the interactive processes taking place within such cultural dynamics.

Travels in Intertextuality: the autopoetic identity of remix culture

by Joel Flynn

Travels in Intertextuality aims for what John Berger would call “ways of seeing” digital media artifacts and... more Travels in Intertextuality aims for what John Berger would call “ways of seeing” digital media artifacts and interacting cultural texts. Using Lev Manovich’s Language of New Media, these “new media objects” are seen through the metaphorical “coordinated set of lenses” of Michael Cole’s Cultural Psychology. In addressing issues of “writing” and identity in the digital age at the intersection of technology, art, and commerce, this highly exploratory work looks for ways to perceive “value” in remix culture through ecological models of sociocultural systems. The thesis “follows the problem” of remix through “pioneering research”, “reflective practice”, and shifting contexts for expansive learning. Emerging from significant pools of digital media, “remix value” is analysed through cultural-historical perspectives, as well as through the autopoietic perspectives of “self-making” biological and sociolinguistic systems.