Implementing collaborative learning activities in the classroom supported by one-to-one mobile computing: A design-based process

Mobile devices such as PDAs, smartphones and tablet computers are becoming increasingly popular, setting out opportunities for new ways of communicating and collaborating. Research initiatives have ascertained the potential of mobile devices in education, and particularly, the benefits of incorporating them in the classroom for eliciting collaborative learning and active student participation. However, the development of technology-supported learning environments poses challenges to education researchers, practitioners, and software technologists in creating educational tools that respond to real needs of instructors and learners, meet clearly defined didactic purposes, and are practical for the intended audience. This article reports on a technology for facilitating the implementation of collaborative learning environments in the classroom supported by one-to-one mobile computing. The approach encompasses a framework supporting the design and implementation of the mobile software, and a design-based process that guides interdisciplinary efforts utilizing the framework, towards creating effective pedagogical models based on collaborative learning. The proposed design-based process allowed us to develop pedagogical models that respond to real needs of learners and instructors, where development is grounded on rigorous scientific research, allowing to reuse both knowledge and software, and showing an improvement of the mobile software built based on continuous experimentation and evaluation. A case study illustrating the application of the technology is presented and plans for future research are discussed.     

The evolution of a collaborative authoring system for non-linear hypertext: A design-based research study

Learning in complex and ill-structured knowledge domains requires accommodation of multiple perspectives embedded in authentic activities and the reconciliation of those perspectives with personal beliefs resulting in conceptual change. Cognitive flexibility hypertext systems support that process by enabling learners to explore authentic cases from multiple thematic perspective. Study 1 showed that knowledge exploration alone is insufficient to engage those conceptual change processes. So we reasoned that providing learners with environments that engage more constructive, personal knowledge representation activities would better support conceptual change. However, these environments rarely support learners in structuring, integrating, and representing their personal beliefs with other perspectives. That became the goal of our iterative research process.     

From handheld collaborative tool to effective classroom module: Embedding CSCL in a broader design framework

The field of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) includes designers who emphasize effectiveness, measured via experiments, as well as designers who emphasize context and conduct qualitative research on teaching and learning practices. We conjectured that these two different emphases could be fruitful combined in a research and development process aimed at producing effective CSCL practices. We explored this possibility in a project that adapted a CSCL tool from Chile to serve as the basis of an effective 3-week classroom module for primary school mathematics in the United States. To go from tool to module, we addressed curricular fit, training materials, pedagogical guidance, formative and summative assessments, and logistical support. In conducting the project, we found that effectiveness and contextual research could be conducted simultaneously and yielded complementary insight to this design process, which enabled our project to rapidly move from the base tool towards complete classroom modules. An experiment we conducted after our design iterations showed that students who used the modules learned more about the target content, fractions. A retrospective analysis of our design process suggests that the Integrative Learning Design framework is useful for organizing the complementary components of effectiveness and contextual research in our design process.     

Examining different types of collaborative learning in a complex computer-based environment: A cognitive load approach

This study compared the effects of two collaborative learning strategies (Open-ended and Task-based) with an individualized learning strategy on individual learning in a computer-based environment. The experiment sought ecological validity by conducting it under real teaching and homework conditions. Ninety-four students from grade 9 participated in a webpage design task. Cognitive load theory was used to predict that the collaborative approaches would outperform the individualized approach due to reduced cognitive load. This hypothesis was confirmed by performance scores and cognitive load only in the case of the Open-ended collaborative learning condition. Evidence was also found that the Open-ended collaborative learning condition outperformed the Task-based collaborative one. It was concluded that in collaborative learning a more Open-ended task design together with moderate independent sub-task requirements leads to more effective learning.     

Improving the scaffolds of a mobile-assisted Chinese character forming game via a design-based research cycle

This paper reports on one cycle of a design-based research (DBR) study in which mCSCL was explored through an iterative process of (re)designing and testing the collaboration and learning approach with students. A unique characteristic of our mCSCL approach is the student-led emergent formation of groups. The mCSCL application assigns each student a component of a Chinese character and requires them to form groups that can assemble a Chinese character using the components held by the group members. The enactment of the learning design in two modes (with and without the digital technology) was observed, and the actual process of students being scaffolded technologically or socially to accomplish their task was analyzed. Students were found to favor the card mode over the phone mode due to the emergent game strategy (social scaffold) of “trial and error” that they found it comfortable in applying. That triggered us to examine the scaffolding strategies by conducting another round of literature review. We explored domain-oriented theories (i.e. in Chinese character learning) to inform and guide them in deciding how they should further accommodate or rectify the students’ use of the strategy. This cycle of DBR in Chinese-PP project has effectively reshaped the overall learning model design. This paper brings to the fore the value of the interplay and iterations of theories, implementations and reflections, in no fixed order, as advocated by DBR.     

The design and application of technology-based courses in the mathematics classroom

It is difficult to examine the effectiveness of technology-based courses (TBC) without understanding the design and application in classrooms. There is evidence of disconnects among the theory for designing, the theory used to apply TBCs in classrooms, and the theory used to research and evaluate TBCs [Hickey, D. T. (1997). Motivation and contemporary socio-constructivist instructional perspectives. Educational Psychologist, 32(3), 175–193]. Comments provided by administrators, teachers and students may lead researchers to determine whether or not the original TBC course goals have been attained. In this paper, we first discuss examples of theoretical disconnects found in other technology-based research [Aleven, V. E., Stahl, E., Schworm, S., Fischer, F., & Wallace, R. (2003). Help seeking and help design in interactive learning environments. Review of Educational Research, 73(3), 277–320; Hickey, D. T., & McCaslin, M. (2001). A comparative, sociocultural analysis of context and motivation. In S. Volet, & S. Järvelä (Eds.), Motivation in learning contexts: Theoretical advances and methodological implications (pp. 33–55). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press]. Then, we describe the course design of the mathematics TBC used in this study, the reasons the principal and the teacher’s believe the software will benefit their mathematics students, and the perceptions of mathematics students regarding the effectiveness of the technology in their classroom. In conclusion, we will discuss how this preliminary qualitative data shaped our future research questions.     

Individual and group-based learning from complex cognitive tasks: Effects on retention and transfer efficiency

The effects of individual versus group learning (in triads) on efficiency of retention and transfer test performance in the domain of biology (heredity) among 70 high-school students were investigated. Applying cognitive load theory, the limitations of the working memory capacity at the individual level were considered an important reason to assign complex learning tasks to groups rather than to individuals. It was hypothesized that groups will have more processing capacity available for relating the information elements to each other and by doing so for constructing higher quality cognitive schemata than individuals if the high cognitive load imposed by complex learning tasks could be shared among group members. In contrast, it was expected that individuals who learn from carrying out the same complex tasks would need all available processing capacity for remembering the interrelated information elements, and, consequently, would not be able to allocate resources to working with them. This interaction hypothesis was confirmed by the data on efficiency of retention and transfer test performance; there was a favorable relationship between mental effort and retention test performance for the individual learners as opposed to a favorable relationship between transfer test performance and mental effort for the students who learned in groups.     

Wiki as a corporate learning tool: case study for software development company

In our study, we attempted to further investigate how Web 2.0 technologies influence workplace learning. Our particular interest was on using Wiki as a tool for corporate exchange of knowledge with the focus on informal learning. In this study, we collaborated with a multinational software development company that uses Wiki as a corporate tool since 2001. For our research, we used three different sources for acquisition of data. Primarily, we did an interview with top management. Next we acquired the data on usage statistics from the company Wiki. And finally we distributed a questionnaire in order to acquire users' feedback. Analysis provided many interesting results. One of the main conclusions is that Wiki is successfully used in this company, and large majority of employees finds it useful. Additionally, Wiki did aid informal learning, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.     

Collaborative environments for the learning of design: a model and a case study in Domotics

Design plays a central role in a range of subjects at different educational levels. Students have to acquire the knowledge necessary for the execution of tasks that enable them to construct an artefact or model that can be tested by simulation and that satisfies some requirements and verifies some constraints. They achieve this by means of a design process. In some design domains there is a lack of teaching tools from a learner-centred perspective. Moreover, when these domains are complex, the design problems that the students have to solve during their learning process require the design activity to be carried out in group. In response to this situation, we have developed a design model and a collaborative learning method. Using this conceptual framework, we have built a collaborative environment for the learning of domotical¹ design by means of complex problem solving, with an emphasis on synchronous collaboration for work distribution, discussion, design in shared surfaces and simulation. This environment has already been evaluated and used in real teaching experiences.     

A cognitive tool for teaching the addition/subtraction of common fractions: a model of affordances

The aim of this research is to devise a cognitive tool for meeting the diverse needs of learners for comprehending new procedural knowledge. A model of affordances on teaching fraction equivalence for developing procedural knowledge for adding/subtracting fractions with unlike denominators was derived from the results of a case study of an initial prototype of a graphical partitioning model. Offering affordances in our model makes available profitable spaces for learners to interact in ways that meet their needs. This model of affordances was evaluated by a pre-test–post-test control group design to study the performance of the experimental group in learning with the model. Results of the study indicated that the model afforded learners, with various abilities for learning, knowledge of fraction equivalence. The key for mediating the generation of procedural knowledge for adding/subtracting fractions with unlike denominators in working with our cognitive tool was the concept of fraction equivalence and the capability of computing this.     

Effects of different ratios of worked solution steps and problem solving opportunities on cognitive load and learning outcomes

A crucial challenge for instructional designers is to determine the amount of support that is most beneficial for learning. This experiment investigated effects of different ratios of worked solution steps (high assistance) and to-be-solved problem steps (low assistance) on cognitive skill acquisition in geometry. High-school students (N = 125) worked on a geometry lesson in a Cognitive Tutor under five different ratios (from zero worked steps and five to-be-solved steps to four worked steps and one to-be-solved step). Effects on cognitive load and learning outcomes were assessed. We expected the effectiveness of different ratios to vary with the type of learning outcomes (i.e., procedural vs. conceptual knowledge) and the difficulty of the to-be-learned principles. Results showed that for procedural knowledge (but not for conceptual knowledge) problem solving alone was most beneficial for the acquisition of procedural knowledge related to an easy principle. For a difficult principle, no ratio of worked steps and problem solving showed an advantage over another. Problem solving induced more extraneous load than studying worked examples. Thus, in determining optimal amounts of guidance type of knowledge and difficulty of the single to-be learned knowledge chunks should be considered.     

An evaluation study of the use of a cognitive tool in a one-to-one classroom for promoting classroom-based dialogic interaction

An evaluation study was conducted to investigate the effect of the use of a computer-supported cognitive tool (CT) in the one-to-one classroom setting on student engagement, attainment and perceptions in learning common fractions. Two Primary 4 classes with 68 students participated in this study based on 11 teaching sessions lasting 455 min in total. The students in the experimental group learned the target topic with the use of CT in a one-to-one classroom, while the students in the control group learned the target topic under the traditional teaching approach. The results of a time allocation analysis showed that the use of CT in a one-to-one classroom enhanced student engagement in terms of time-on-task for learning exploration during class time. The results of the post-attainment test indicated that students in the experimental group performed better than those in the control group. Moreover, the questionnaire survey results indicated that students liked to learn the target topic with the use of CT in a one-to-one classroom. This study reveals the potential of the use of CT in a one-to-one classroom to promote classroom-based dialogic interaction in mathematics lessons. It also implies a need for a longitudinal study to investigate suitable pedagogical designs for the use of CT for promoting knowledge transfer in learning challenging mathematics topics.     

Superiority of collaborative learning with complex tasks: A research note on an alternative affective explanation

Kirschner, Paas, and Kirschner (2009c) used the theoretical framework of cognitive load to explain why the learning of a group of collaborating individuals was more efficient than that of individuals learning alone with high-complexity tasks but not with low-complexity tasks. The authors argued that collaboration circumvented the limitations of an individual’s working memory by creating an expanded cognitive capacity and by allowing for the distribution of cognitive load among group members. Inspired by research on efficacy, this study explored an alternative affective explanation of the results. By measuring the amount of mental effort learners expected to invest in working on a learning task before actually carrying out the task, this study showed that learners who had to collaboratively solve a high-complexity problem expected to invest less mental effort than learners who had to solve the problem alone. When confronted with low-complexity tasks, the expected amount of mental effort did not differ.     

The learning kit project: Software tools for supporting and researching regulation of collaborative learning

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a dynamic and varied area of research. Ideally, tools for CSCL support and encourage solo and group learning processes and products. However, most CSCL research does not focus on supporting and sustaining the co-construction of knowledge. We identify four reasons for this situation and identify three critical resources every collaborator brings to collaborations that are underutilized in CSCL research: (a) prior knowledge, (b) information not yet transformed into knowledge that is judged relevant to the task(s) addressed in collaboration, and (c) cognitive processes used to construct these informational resources. Finally, we introduce gStudy, a software tool designed to advance research in the learning sciences. gStudy helps learners manage cognitive load so they can re-assign cognitive resources to self-, co-, and shared regulation; and it automatically and unobtrusively traces each user′s engagement with content and the means chosen for cognitively processing content, thus generating real-time performance data about processes of collaborative learning.     

SCHOM. A tool for communication and collaborative e-learning

Emerging technologies cause changes in education. These changes result in new human learning processes that evolve to collaborative e-learning approach, where social and mobile networks take a great relevance.In this paper we introduce SCHOM (SCHOlar Messaging). We have developed this tool for communication and collaborative e-learning in wired and wireless environments. SCHOM, a SaaS (Software as a Service) in the cloud, allows the exchange of information between members of a domain intra and/or inter academic. SCHOM can be used in different communication channels such as e-mail, instant messaging, chats, discussion boards or microblogging. Besides, it supports different devices: smartphones, tablets or computers.One of the main advantages of this tool is that it ensures the digital anonymous. For instance, one user could send a message to other one knowing his identity. Nevertheless the user will not know the communication channel used to send the message. Each user selects the channels whereby he wants to receive his messages.Registered users on the system are organized in groups (or organizational units) by forming relationships n:m. Groups in turn can be nested to build hierarchical structures that can simulate real work environments, for example, a faculty with its degrades, courses and subjects, … A group (each member regardless of the nesting level) can also be receiver of messages.     

Student perceptions of collaborative learning,social presence and satisfaction in a blended learning environment: Relationships and critical factors

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of the students’ perceived levels of collaborative learning, social presence and overall satisfaction in a blended learning environment. This research studied the relationship of these three variables and identified critical factors related to them. The participants were 48 graduate students who took a blended-format course in health education and worked on a collaborative group project related to the development of a comprehensive HIV-AIDS prevention plan. Data was collected from the Student Perception Questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. The analysis of quantitative data indicated that student perceptions of collaborative learning have statistically positive relationships with perceptions of social presence and satisfaction. This means that students who perceived high levels of collaborative learning tended to be more satisfied with their distance course than those who perceived low levels of collaborative learning. Similarly, students with high perceptions of collaborative learning perceived high levels of social presence as well. Surprisingly, the relationship between social presence and overall satisfaction was positive but not statistically significant. Interview data revealed that (a) course structure, (b) emotional support, and (c) communication medium were critical factors associated with student perceptions of collaborative learning, social presence, and satisfaction. Explanations about findings and implications for instructional design are discussed in the conclusion.     

Assessing effectiveness of learning units under the teaching unit model in an undergraduate mathematics course

This paper reports on the findings of the evaluation of Learning Units (LU), a special type of Learning Object designed to help overcome the difficulties associated with learning Calculus concepts at undergraduate level. An Interactive Platform for Learning Calculus (PIAC) that serves as a container for the LU was created following a specific instructional design, namely, the Teaching Unit Model (TUM), which in turn, rules the platform's design, development and implementation. A general perspective on the development of the platform and its LU is presented, including the results of usability and functionality evaluations, which indicate that the platform and the LU comply with different functionality and usability criteria which are fundamental for their introduction into formal university courses. The platform was utilized in a higher education Calculus course, and its effects on different aspects of the learning process were studied. Two experimental groups and two control groups for a total of 102 students taking the Calculus course participated in the study. Results indicated an overall acceptance of using PIAC in class. Important evidence was obtained on the positive effects of using PIAC, not only influencing academic performance of students, but also in motivational aspects of the learning process. The grades obtained in all of academic activities by the groups using PIAC, compared with the control groups, provide solid evidence to the positive influence of the intervention of the technology under the TUM.     

The impact of goal specificity and goal type on learning outcome and cognitive load

Two hundred and thirty three 15-year old students conducted experiments within a computer-based learning environment. They were provided with different goals according to an experimental 2 × 2 design with goal specificity (nonspecific goals versus specific goals) and goal type (problem solving goals versus learning goals) as factors. We replicated the findings of other researchers that nonspecific problem solving goals lead to lower cognitive load and better learning than specific problem solving goals. For learning goals, however, we observed this goal specificity effect only on cognitive load but not on learning outcome. Results indicate that the goal specificity affects the element interactivity of a task and cognitive load with both, problem solving goals or learning goals. But differences in overall cognitive load are not sufficient for explaining differences in learning outcome. Additionally, differences in strategy use come into play. Specific problem solving goals seem to restrict students to use a problem solving strategy whereas nonspecific problem solving goals or learning goals allow students to use a learning strategy. We conclude that in order to foster learning, students must be provided with goals that allow them to use a learning strategy. Additionally, providing them with nonspecific goals decreases cognitive load and, thus, enables students to learn with less effort.     

The influence of virtual presence: Effects on experienced cognitive load and learning outcomes in educational computer games

Does the immersive design of an educational gaming environment affect learners’ virtual presence and how much do they learn? Does virtual presence affect learning? This study tries to answer these questions by examining the differences in virtual presence and learning outcomes in two different computer-based multimedia environments: a gaming environment with high immersive design vs. hypertext learning environment with low immersive design. As the main focus, the effect of virtual presence on learning is also explained and tested. By identifying virtual presence as a variable that may determine learning, it is argued that computer gaming environments present a new challenge for researchers to investigate, particularly, the effects of virtual presence on the immersive design of games in order to help designers to predict which instructional configurations will maximize learning performance. In general, results revealed that the high-immersive gaming environment leads to the strongest form of virtual presence but also decreased learning. Although regression analyses indicate that virtual presence positively influences trivial- and non-trivial learning outcomes, learners who learned in a low-immersive environment outperformed the gaming group. A mediation analysis showed that the relation between virtual presence and non-trivial learning outcomes is partly mediated through increased cognitive load.     

The role of collective efficacy, cognitive quality, and task cohesion in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL)

Research has suggested that CSCL environments contain fewer social context clues, resulting in various group processes, performance or motivation. This study thus attempts to explore the relationship among collective efficacy, group processes (i.e. task cohesion, cognitive quality) and collaborative performance in a CSCL environment. A total of 75 Taiwanese college students (divided into 25 groups) participated in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied for data analysis. The results indicate that collective efficacy significantly predicted task cohesion but not cognitive quality in the CSCL environment. For the role of group processes in performance, both task cohesion and cognitive quality significantly predicted group performance, but cognitive quality predicted better than task cohesion. In addition, for the predictive capability of prior performance, task cohesion, and cognitive quality in collective efficacy, the results showed that only task cohesion predicted subsequent collective efficacy significantly in the CSCL environment.