Stefano Cacciamani

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of Aosta Valley

In this study, inspired by the research of Dweck (1999), we explored the possibility of changing students’ beliefs about both their motivational orientation and their implicit theory of intelligence. For this purpose, 45 students fifth graders of primary school took part in a training based on fairy tales, in which an animal, the donkey, was chosen...

Sense of community (SC) refers to the perception of similarity and strong interdependence with others, and the feeling of being a member of a stable group. In online courses, the SC is decisive for the academic success and the satisfaction of students. According to the McMillan and Chavis model, the SC made up of four dimensions: (1) Membership (de...

Many models have hypothesized that multimedia comprehension requires the concurrent processing of verbal and visuospatial information by limited information processing systems. However, in spite of the emphasis devoted to the concurrent processing of verbal and visuospatial information, little research has so far investigated the specific role play...

Understanding how to foster knowledge building in online and blended learning environments is a key for computer-supported collaborative learning research. Knowledge building is a deeply constructivist pedagogy and kind of inquiry learning focused on theory building. A strong indicator of engagement in knowledge building activity is the socio-cogni...

The rapid and widespread introduction of Distance Education (DE) in higher education during the pandemic was met with mixed levels of acceptance by students. To understand why, factors determining student acceptance of this mode of teaching and learning require further investigation. The aim of this study was therefore to analyze the factors influe...

“Classi in rete” is a research project focused on designing an innovative organizational model to overcome the social and cultural isolation of small schools. This study aims to analyze the strengths, critical points and proposals for improvement related to the first iteration of this model, using a Design-Based Research methodological approach.For...

In this case study, we employed the Design-Based Research (DBR) approach to explore the evolution of a teaching method, the Progressive Design Method (PDM), centered around peer feedback, specifically crafted to enhance student engagement within blended university courses. We examined the three successive iterations of the PDM, involving respective...

Introduction Academic satisfaction (AS) is considered by researchers and educators as a key variable to explain both academic success and the main problems of university students. AS is a complex construct affected by a range of factors, both internal and external to the individual. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of certain indi...

This study aimed to investigate whether students’ Distance Education (DE) acceptance is influenced by the same factors affecting the acceptance of new digital technology. Furthermore, we also study competencies and motivations as factors affecting DE’s acceptance. The study was cross-sectional, and linear regressions tested the hypotheses. 165 Ital...

Background: Academic satisfaction (AS) is a key marker of educational success at university. It is therefore extremely important to investigate any factors that may enhance AS. Drawing on social cognitive theory, Lent’s model of life satisfaction, and self-determination theory, the present study examined the roles of academic self-efficacy (ASE) a...

The Sense of Community, as an important construct that supports students’ participation and deep learning, has two dimensions: Social Community and Learning Community. Peer feedback is an instructional strategy employed in higher education to encourage students to assume an active role in their learning activity. The present study investigates the...

Many cognitive benefits for learning have been highlighted in the literature, due to peer feedback, but the relational aspects of this way of working, when it is implemented with groups of students, have been little investigated. This study aims to analyze some relational aspects of the use of peer feedback in the university context, considering in...

This article analyzes the possibility of using the Knowledge Building model in schools to promote the skills and abilities indicated by the LifeComp framework. After placing the LifeComp framework in the current social and cultural context of the knowledge society, the principles of the Knowledge Building model are examined and the technological in...

The Sense of Community (SC) in the university context relates to academic achievement, social participation , and well-being. One of the most common tools to measure student SC in the university context is the Classroom Community Scale (CCS), consisting of two subscales: Connectedness and Learning. This 2-factor structure has not been confirmed in...

Teachers’ work engagement is associated with positive outcomes regarding work-related well-being. Conversely, burnout menaces teachers’ work and attitudes toward professional development. As indicated in the literature, burnout can influence teachers’ work engagement. Considering the impact of ICT on school activities, interest toward ICT training...

This study explores within the Italian university context the differences emerging in the acceptance of Distance Education (DE). 112 university teachers from various Italian universities participated in a survey, which included an adapted version of the TAMPST (Technology Acceptance Measure for Preservice Teachers). Results highlight differences in...

This study investigates different instructional designs to promote students’ collective cognitive responsibility for Knowledge Building in blended university courses. Using an iterative, design-based research methodology with reference to the conjecture mapping technique, the blended learning design of an undergraduate educational psychology course...

I possibili rischi per il benessere psicologico degli insegnanti causate dalle ICT, con particolare riguardo alle sfide da affrontare nella fase prescolare dell’educazione, così come gli aspetti positivi dell’uso delle ICT, in grado di promuovere la qualità didattica, emergono dalla letteratura scientifica, evidenziando una relazione complessa e po...

I possibili rischi per il benessere psicologico degli insegnanti causate dalle ICT, con particolare riguardo alle sfide da affrontare nella fase prescolare dell’educazione, così come gli aspetti positivi dell’uso delle ICT, in grado di promuovere la qualità didattica, emergono dalla letteratura scientifica, evidenziando una relazione complessa e po...

This paper identifies usage scenarios of a web platform called "Virtual Classrooms" and analyses students' perception of the technology to understand whether and how this perception changes during platform testing. To do this, we draw on the concept of "Instrumental Orchestration", which has only been deployed in mathematics education to date, to u...

Peer feedback is understood in scholarly literature as an interactive and sequential process that can support learning. The aim of the present study was to construct a coding scheme to analyze peer feedback in a blended university course. Participants comprised eleven students (9F and 2M) and the course lecturer at the University of Neuchâtel (CH)....

Scala del Senso di Comunità in Corsi Universitari Online Le regole per lo scoring sono specificate nel file denominato...

Recently, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning researchers have become interested in the notion of scripting and assigning roles to students enrolled in online courses, in order to increase their engagement in collaborative activities. This study aimed to investigate whether assigning a role called social tutor to a student enrolled in an onli...

The aim of this study was to develop a coding scheme rooted in the Knowledge Building model, named Conversational Functions for Knowledge Building (CF4KB), to analyze students’ interactions in an online undergraduate course. In order to develop the coding scheme, we analyzed students discourse and identified the kinds of “Conversational Functions”...

Creating a sense of community in online classes contributes to student retention and to their overall satisfaction with the course itself. This study aimed to develop a scale of sense of community of students attending online university courses. A series of ordinal exploratory factor analyses were conducted on data obtained from 839 students enroll...

To maximize the advantages of the tablet personal computer (TPC) at school, this technology needs to be accepted by students as new tool for learning. With reference to the Technology Acceptance Model and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, the aims of this study were (a) to analyze factors influencing high school students' acce...

Interactions in online courses have been studied by analyzing Conversational Functions used by participants. Cacciamani, Perrucci Khanlari (2016) developed a coding scheme, named CF4KB, consisting of four Global Conversational Functions (GCF), each articulated in two Specific Conversational Functions (SCF). The aims of the present study were to exp...

The tablet PC represents a very popular mobile computing device, and together with other technologies it is changing the world of education. This study aimed to explore the acceptance of tablet PC of Italian high school students in order to outline the typical students' profiles and to compare the acceptance conveyed in two types of use (learning a...

Progressive Design Method (DPM) attempts to connect the Experiential Learning perspective with Knowledge Building model. The aim of the present study was to analyze the implementation of PDM in terms of patterns of online participation and interaction, and the relationship between online participation and interaction with participation in F2F meeti...

Progressive Design Method (DPM) attempts to connect the Experiential Learning perspective with Knowledge Building model. The aim of the present study was to analyze the implementation of PDM in terms of patterns of online participation and interaction, and the relationship between online participation and interaction with participation in F2F meeti...

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the presence of a Training on social skills prior to an activity of Cooperative Learning (Training with CL) can promote more than a condition of Cooperative Learning (CL) only, the students' perception of social and academic support. Ninety-six students of fourth and fifth grade of primary sch...

Role taking is an established approach for promoting social cognition. Playing a specific role within a group could lead students to exercise collective cognitive responsibility for collaborative knowledge building. Two studies explored the relationship of role taking to participation in a blended university course. Students participated in the sam...

Community Scale (CCS; Rovai, 2002) misura il Senso di Comunità in contesti scolastici. Tale scala, tradotta in lingua italiana da Fiorenzani, Cacciamani e Balboni (2008), è stata modificata da Perrucci e Cacciamani per adattarla al contesto universitario. Obiettivo del presente lavoro è verificarne validità convergente e divergente. Per la verifica...

Paper presented at the European Conference of Psychology-Milan, july 8th 2015

Tra le strategie che favoriscono la partecipazione degli studenti in un corso universitario online troviamo la predisposizione di ruoli all’interno di un gruppo. L’obiettivo del presente studio è analizzare come gli studenti di un corso online interpretano il ruolo loro assegnato, in termini di funzioni conversazionali e lessico utilizzato. Hanno p...

Role taking is an established technique for promoting active learning. Taking a specific role within a group creates positive social interdependence in group interactions, which supports knowledge building. Students exercise agency over their own learning to engage in collective cognitive responsibility. The present study explored the effects of ro...

In online courses, Sense of Community (SC) affects the quality of students’ learning and satisfaction. Nevertheless, there are no tools that allow to measure the dimensions of the main SC reference model proposed by McMillan and Chavis (1986) in online courses. For this purpose, the Scale of Sense of Community in online University Courses (SSCC) (P...

The aim of this study is to analyze different implementations of the KBC principle “Embedded and transformative assessment” in online courses at the University of Valle d’Aosta. For this purpose, using a design based research approach, three online courses, different for the planned phases of the strategies and knowledge assessment, were implemente...

In online courses, Sense of Community (SC) affects the quality of student learning. Nevertheless, few valid tools are available to measure it. For this purpose, the Scale of Sense of Community in online Courses (SSCC) has been developed according to McMillan and Chavis model. Internal consistency and convergent/discriminant validity of the scale we...

La sfida più complessa con cui la scuola si trova oggi a confrontarsi, rispetto all’utilizzo didattico delle tecnologie digitali, riguarda gli strumenti del cosiddetto Web 2.0, detti anche Social Media. Tale sfida è caratterizzata dal fatto che i Social Media, per lo loro intrinseche caratteristiche, richiedono compiti che abbiano una struttura di...

Abstract in italiano Il presente articolo si propone di ricostruire la genesi del modello Knowledge Building (KB), descriverne l’assetto attuale e delinearne i possibili ulteriori sviluppi. Vengono presi in considerazione in primo luogo, a partire dallo scenario culturale di riferimento, i temi teorici che, pur configurandosi nel lavoro di Bereiter...

In italiano Al fine di spiegare il processo attraverso il quale un sistema di conoscenza si svi-luppa da stati di equilibrio inferiore a stati di equilibrio superiore, Piaget (1975, 1977) introduce il concetto di equilibrazione maggiorante, unitamente ai concetti di astrazione empirica e riflettente. Dopo aver analizzato alcune nozioni piagetiane s...

Over four academic years a design experiment was conducted involving four online university courses with the goal of shifting from Guided to Self-Organized Inquiry to foster Knowledge Building communities in the classroom. Quantitative analyses focused on notes contributed to collective knowledge spaces, as well as reading and building-on notes of...

È possibile far lavorare una classe scolastica come una comunità di ricerca? È questo l'interrogativo di fondo che guida il discorso del presente testo, dedicato all'operazione mentale «Ipotizzare». La ricerca scientifica, come sostiene Dario Antiseri nella sua Teoria Unificata del Metodo, è costituita da individuazione di problemi, formulazioni di...

The sense of community in online courses may contribute to the success and the satisfaction of all the students and the integration of the students with disabilities. Therefore, a valid scale to assess sense of community must be used. For this purpose, a questionnaire for the evaluation of all the dimensions of the MacMillan and Chavis (1986) sense...

The research was aimed to verifying if a cooperative structure of work can contribute to develop both the students’ competence and motivation in Maths problems solving. The experimental group, composed of 16 children attending the 3rd year at Primary School, faced a training aimed to solving problems in pairs, while the control group, of 13 pupils,...

Il testo si propone come punto di sintesi sullo stato della ricerca e come guida teorico-pratica allo studio del Cooperative Learning. Tale approccio ha promosso un forte cambiamento di prospettiva nella costruzione di ambienti di apprendimento a scuola. Le acquisizioni ormai consolidate a livello di ricerca circa l’efficacia di tale modalità di la...

Il termine “senso di comunità” denota un attaccamento tra gli individui e il loro ambiente sociale. Nell’ambito della formazione a distanza, è considerato uno dei fattori che può contribuire al successo di corsi ed alla soddisfazione dei singoli studenti. Sebbene nell’ultimo decennio ne siano state predisposte varie scale da utilizzare in corsi on...

Abstract in italiano L¹indagine si propone di implementare una comunità di ricerca on line a scuola per analizzare l¹attività di costruzione di conoscenza collaborativa in rete ed esaminare il tipo di valutazione metacognitiva espressa dagli studenti sulle strategie di lavoro a distanza e in presenza sperimentate. 382 studenti di scuole di diverso...

This study considers the effects of two different strategies used by the tutor during discussions that occurred in an on-line course at university, involving two different groups of 9 students each one. The tutor’s participation took two different forms: in the first group (A) a “knowledge construction strategy” was used; in the second group (B) th...

This study investigates the involvement of a group of pre-service teachers in an on line course, with a Knowledge Building Community approach, in terms of production (writing) and appropriation (reading) of ideas and the corresponding social po sition in the group. Results show that people tend t o maintain the same level of activity both in the pr...