In-service teachers’ knowledge building during face-to-face collaborative learning

Teaching is inherently a knowledge-building (KB) endeavor. This research engaged groups of in-service teachers in collaborative concept mapping activities to foster their KB and used a multi-method approach to empirically investigate KB. Four teacher groups were identified: two high-performing, collectively oriented groups engaging in argumentation (Group 2) and agreement (Group 3); and two low-performing, individually oriented groups engaging in questioning (Group 4) and disagreement (Group 1). The differences between the groups resulted from three key factors: group argumentation, sense of collective responsibility, and engagement in metacognition. This research proposed instructional strategies and analytical implications for teachers’ KB practices. •This study engages Chinese in-service teachers in knowledge building practices.•Four groups have discrepancies on KB performances, patterns, and perceptions.•Factors are group argumentation, collective responsibility, and metacognition.•This study proposes instructional design and intervention strategies to support KB.•KB practice is a promising yet challenging way to stimulate teacher learning.