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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore how individual differences are used in the construction of learning artifacts while working within a constructionist learning environment. The research questions focused on the products the learners produced, the process the learners engaged in and the constructionist learning environment's support of the learners. Qualitative methods were employed to select participants, collect and analyze data, as well as illustrate the emergent themes from the data with attention with rigor and trustworthiness. A case study design was used with five participants purposively selected from an eighth grade geography class at a small, private day school in the southeastern United States. Data were collected through interviews, observations and artifacts. Data analysis employed the constant comparative method in a recursive nature in order to generate meaningful, data-driven themes. From across the data collected to answer the research questions, five themes emerged: (1) internal influences, (2) external influences, (3) beliefs about projects, (4) tools for technology-rich environments, and (5) learning outcomes and products. Internal influences included the participants' abilities, motivations, self-management and their perceptions about effort. External influences included teacher expectations and directions, grades, time and practical considerations. The intangible characteristics of projects, such as enjoyment, freedom and autonomy, and the concrete qualities, such as images, color and interactions, contributed to the participants beliefs about projects. Tools for technology-rich environments used in the unit on human rights were comprised of resources, scaffolds and collaborations. Computers as a resource in the learning environment were used primarily as a productivity tool. Finally, learning outcomes and products encompassed the intentional cognitive goals of the unit in addition to affective goals. The emergent themes as related to the research questions indicated that learning products represent a blend of decisions about individual differences. Situating the results of this study within existing literature, a model was proposed to understand the influences on decisions by learners. The ecology of learning products model included six layers: (1) a biology substrate, (2) abilities, (3) a cultural filter, (4) opportunities to develop expertise, (5) a contextual filter and (6) learning products and artifacts.