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Flame Or Fizzle? A Comparative Case Study Of The Sparc Experience, Cynthia Bushey
Flame Or Fizzle? A Comparative Case Study Of The Sparc Experience, Cynthia Bushey
NERA Conference Proceedings 2009
Social Perceiving-Acting Reciprocal Conversations (SPARC) is an emerging approach to large group discussions. SPARC utilizes an iterative approach to group discussions by nesting small fishbowl discussions within a larger whole group discussion. Theoretically, this structure affords reciprocal participant interactions for the negotiation of meaning and increased depth of inquiry. This study takes a detailed look at the experiences of three undergraduates who participated in SPARC during an Educational Psychology course for non-education majors at a large university in the Northeastern United States. Luke, Esmeralda, and Diane participated in SPARC eleven times between January and May.
Kindling Sparc: The Emergence Of Social Perceiving-Acting Reciprocal Conversations, Cynthia Bushey
Kindling Sparc: The Emergence Of Social Perceiving-Acting Reciprocal Conversations, Cynthia Bushey
NERA Conference Proceedings 2009
Based on an ecological theory of knowing (see Barab & Plucker, 2002; Barab & Roth, 2006; Gibson, 1986; Young, 2004), Social Perceiving-Acting Reciprocal Conversations (SPARC) is an emerging discussion approach designed to tune agents’ perceptions to the affordances of discussion interactions and to develop their effectivities to act on these affordances. This paper discusses the creation and subsequent iterations of SPARC that emerged in my undergraduate Educational Psychology class between January and May of 2009. Educational implications and future research directions are discussed.