Authority and convergence in collaborative learning

Teachers and students have established social roles, norms and conventions when they encounter Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) systems in the classroom. Authority, a major force in the classroom, gives certain people, objects, representations or ideas the power to affect thought and behavior and influences communication and interaction. Effective computer-supported collaborative learning requires students and teachers to change how they understand and assign authority. This paper describes two studies in which students' ideas about authority led them to converge on what they viewed as authoritative representations and styles of representation too early, and the early convergence then hindered their learning. It also describes a third study that illustrates how changes to the CSCL system CAROUSEL (Collaborative Algorithm Representations Of Undergraduates for Self-Enhanced Learning) improved this situation, encouraging students to create representations that were unique, had different styles and emphasized different aspects of algorithms. Based on this research, methods to help students avoid premature convergence during collaborative learning are suggested.     

Using Jigsaw and Case Study for supporting online collaborative learning

In CSCL contexts (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) collaborative activities with different levels of structuredeness are often used to foster discussion and exchange among students and enhance collaboration. In this field the debate around whether and to what extent it is useful to structure the activities proposed to students, is still very lively. In this paper two collaborative activities are explored, namely a simple Case Study (moderate level of structuredness) and the Case Study joint with the Jigsaw (higher level of structuredness). Starting from the analysis of the interactions occurred among students of two real online courses performing these activities, it is possible to identify strong points and weaknesses of the two activities, so to draw some reflections on the impact of structuredness on the collaborative learning process.     

Exploring academic teachers’ continuance toward the web-based learning system: The role of causal attributions

The Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM) is a popular model used to explain the continuance of information system usage. However, past studies have found that the ECM, based on extrinsic motivations (e.g. perceived usefulness, user satisfaction), has limitations insofar as people often have both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations simultaneously. This study used the belief of causal attributions to extend the ECM and verify it in a web-based learning system (WLS) context. Nine hypotheses were derived from the modified ECM. Empirical data were collected by a mail survey from faculty with experience of WLS in Taiwanese universities. The final sample used for further analysis comprised of 144 respondents. The results revealed that the modified ECM has greater power to explain the continued intention of WLS usage even if the effects of user satisfaction and perceived usefulness on continued intention are reduced.     

Differences in learning processes between successful and less successful students in computer-supported collaborative learning in the field of human nutrition and health

This study aimed to investigate the differences in learning processes between successful and less successful pairs of students in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) in the field of human nutrition and health. As part of their regular MSc (and optional BSc) course “Exposure assessment in nutrition and health research” at Wageningen University, 44 students were asked (as an individual pretest) to design and analyze a study which evaluates a certain dietary assessment method. Subsequently, they were asked to discuss their evaluation studies in randomized pairs using a CSCL platform. As an individual posttest, students had to re-design and re-analyze the same evaluation study. The quality of students’ knowledge construction in both tests and characteristics of their learning processes in the CSCL environment were assessed through two coding schemes. Based on their learning outcomes (quality of knowledge construction), pairs of students were divided into two subgroups: successful and less successful students. Next, the learning processes of these subgroups were compared. This study revealed that the learning processes of successful and less successful students in the CSCL environment differed in terms of relevance, width and depth of discussion and justification and reasoning. Based on these findings, recommendations for further research and educational practice are formulated.     

Investigating ICT using problem-based learning in face-to-face and online learning environments

This article reports on the design, implementation and evaluation of a module in the MEd (Business) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong in which an explicit problem-based learning (PBL) approach was used to investigate the challenges associated with the adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Hong Kong secondary school classrooms. PBL influenced both the way the curriculum was developed and the process by which students (n = 18) investigated topics related to the integration of ICT in business studies classrooms. The evaluation was based on five evaluative questions dealing with the implementation of PBL, the extent to which PBL facilitated academic discourse, the extent of ‘new’ knowledge about ICT that had been created, the role of the tutor, and the online learning environment provided. The evaluation revealed that PBL provided a practical approach to investigating ICT in both face-to-face and online learning environments, leading to ‘new’ knowledge about challenges associated with the adoption and use of new technologies in various educational settings.     

Supporting teachers in guiding collaborating students: Effects of learning analytics in CSCL

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of teacher supporting tools that present summaries, visualizations, and analyses of student participation and discussion on the way teachers guide collaborating groups of students in a digital learning environment. An experimental set-up was used in which authentic student data was converted to simulation vignettes that participants could interact with, enabling them to act as the teacher. The vignettes contained groups that had a problem concerning participation or discussion. When presented with the supporting tools, teachers and student teachers were better able to spot the problems regarding participation, intervened more often in problematic groups as time progressed, and displayed more specific explanations of their actions.     

Research in online learning environments: Priorities and methodologies

Due to increasing demand for education and training in the information age, online learning and teaching is becoming a necessity in our future. However, lack of research goals to understand impact of online learning environments on students is a problem in research on online learning environments. We identified four main research goals to pursue in online learning environments based on their impact on learner achievement, engagement, and retention (opposite of attrition). Those goals are (a) enhancing learner engagement & collaboration, (b) promoting effective facilitation, (c) developing assessment techniques, and (d) designing faculty development programs. Current promising work in those areas is presented. Four methods that are common in the instructional technology literature are recommended to pursue those goals. Formative research and developmental research are relevant for all four. Although appropriate for any of the goals, experimental research is a better fit for goals b and c, and activity theory is useful for goals a and b.     

Effects of an online learning community on active and reflective learners’ learning performance and attitudes in a face-to-face undergraduate course

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an Online Learning Community (OLC) on active and reflective learners’ learning performance and attitude in a face-to-face undergraduate digital design course. 814 freshmen in an introductory digital design course were randomly assigned to one of two treatments: one offered students an OLC, which required students to discuss their assignments and readings online and participate in certain online learning activities; the other one did not offer the OLC (NC: no online learning community), but required involving students in face-to-face discussion. Individual students’ learning styles were measured using Felder and Solomon’s Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire. Results indicated that both active and reflective learners in the OLC intervention performed significantly better than those who were in the NC intervention. Results also indicated that active learners performed significantly better than reflective learners in the NC intervention; however, reflective learners performed significantly better than active learners in the OLC intervention. No significant difference between active and reflective learners’ attitudes was found. These findings indicated that OLC might be an effective means for improving both active and reflective learners’ learning performance and attitudes; however, its effects on active learners might not be as great as on reflective learners.     

The effectiveness of using procedural scaffoldings in a paper-plus-smartphone collaborative learning context

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using procedural scaffoldings in fostering students’ group discourse levels and learning outcomes in a paper-plus-smartphone collaborative learning context. All participants used built-in camera smartphones to learn new knowledge by scanning Quick Response (QR) codes, a type of two-dimensional barcode, embedded in paper-based learning materials in this study. Sixty undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at a four-year university in southern Taiwan participated in this study. Participants were randomly assigned into two different groups, using procedural scaffoldings learning and non-procedural scaffoldings learning. The learning unit about the Long Tail, an important concept used in products sales, was the learning task that participants were expected to complete. During the experiment, pretest–posttest and the completed group worksheets were used to collect data. The researchers applied content analyses, chi-square test, t-test, and ANCOVA to answer research questions. The findings indicated that participants in the experimental group using procedural scaffoldings achieved better learning outcomes than their counterparts in the control group in terms of group discourse levels, group learning, and individual learning.     

Using computer supported collaborative learning strategies for helping students acquire self-regulated problem-solving skills in mathematics

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of a proposed computer-based instructional method in Primary Education for self-regulated problem solving. The proposed instructional method is based on Sternberg’s model of problem solving within an authentic context. It consists of three main phases: observation, collaboration and semi-structured guidance. The ultimate learning objective is to augment the autonomous problem-solving skills of primary school children. In our study the Synergo tool was used, which is a synchronous computer supported collaborative learning tool, as well as the Moodle learning management system. The context which frames the method is authentic, very close to a students’ realistic learning situation. The findings of this study advocate that students can increase their problem-solving skills in a relatively short period of time. At the same time, they can improve their approach to the solution of a given mathematical problem, performing significant signs of autonomy.     

The problem arena of researching computer supported collaborative learning: Introduction to the special section

In this introduction to the special section, research in relation to asynchronous discussions in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments is analysed from a methodological perspective. The discussion centres on three quality issues that are considered as critical in recent content analysis approaches: (1) the accuracy of the research methodology applied to gather data in CSCL-settings, (2) the low reliability of the research instruments and procedures, and (3) questions about the validity of the research instruments. Finally, the four contributions in the special are positioned in relation to these three critical topics.     

Group differences in computer supported collaborative learning: Evidence from patterns of Taiwanese students’ online communication

This study explored the differences among online elementary school student groups based on their communication features. Two hundred and ninety-one Taiwanese students, ranging in age from 11 to 12 years old, participated in this study. The students were randomly arranged within-class into three-member groups. Each group was asked to use a collaborative learning system to accomplish a group task generating a shared concept map. The textual discussions in each group during collaboration were collected, coded, categorized, and quantified to profile their communication characteristics. Cluster analysis on the resulting communication characteristics resulted in four types of small student groups, including passive or reticent, frequently off-task, actively participating, and knowledge emphasizing. Most student groups (56%) were found to be relatively passive or reticent. Frequently off-task student groups made a protrusive amount of messages for off-task social purposes. The actively participating student groups were characterized by abundant discussion, particularly for continuing task, managing procedure and coordinating efforts. The distinctive feature of knowledge emphasizing student groups was that they devoted particular attention to task related knowledge. In addition, they performed better in task accomplishment.     

The effects of problem-based learning on the classroom community perceptions and achievement of web-based education students

Web-based education as an alternative to face-to-face teaching is now being extended as an application to higher education. Much effort is undertaken to provide multimedia rich, attractive content to learners. While the use of multimedia technologies has a noticeable effect on students’ learning, so does the selected teaching methodology. Underpinned by the Constructivist approach, problem-based learning is one of the methods that could be applied in web-based learning environments. The current study investigates the effects of problem-based learning on students’ classroom community perceptions and their achievement. It focuses on the tertiary level course “Introduction to Computers” offered by the Department of Business Administration of the Distance Education Program at a higher education institution in Turkey. The results indicated that students who worked on problem-based projects felt much more ‘connected’ to other class members when compared to the control group. They achieved higher scores in the post-tests although their online midterm and final examination scores did not indicate any difference between the groups.     

Assessment of programming language learning based on peer code review model: Implementation and experience report

The traditional assessment approach, in which one single written examination counts toward a student’s total score, no longer meets new demands of programming language education. Based on a peer code review process model, we developed an online assessment system called EduPCR and used a novel approach to assess the learning of computer programming languages. Using this approach, students peer review programs written by other students, share ideas and make suggestions to achieve an objective of collaborative and interactive learning. Teachers assess and give scores to students based on their performance in writing, reviewing and revising programs and their abidance to a peer code review process. After using this approach in two courses in two consecutive semesters, we observed significant improvements of student learning in various aspects. We also conducted two questionnaire surveys and two interviews. The survey data and the interview report indicated that this assessment approach demonstrates high practical values in assessing student learning outcomes in programming languages. Additionally, this approach leads to several interesting research topics for future research in this field.     

An automatic group composition system for composing collaborative learning groups using enhanced particle swarm optimization

One goal of collaborative learning is to maximize the learning performance of all participating students. In order to achieve this aim, the first step is to consider how to assist instructors in forming well-structured collaborative learning groups with a good work atmosphere to promote successful outcomes for all members. Generally, understanding levels and interests of students are two grouping criteria that are usually considered by practicing instructors. Nevertheless, when the instructors face a large number of students, simultaneously considering the two grouping criteria to form the students in an appropriate collaborative learning context is almost impossible. To address this problem, this study formulates a group composition problem to model the formation of collaborative learning groups that satisfy the two grouping criteria. Moreover, this study is based on a novel approach called particle swarm optimization (PSO) to propose an enhanced PSO (EPSO) for composing well-structured collaborative learning groups. In addition, the experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed approach is an applicable and robust method that can aid instructors in planning different kinds of collaborative learning processes.     

Providing effective feedback, monitoring and evaluation to on-line collaborative learning discussions

Learning and knowledge building have become critical competences for people in the knowledge society era. In this paper, we propose a sociolinguistic dialogue model for understanding how learning evolves and how cognitive process is constructed in on-line discussions. The knowledge extracted from this model is used to assess participation behavior, knowledge building and performance. The ultimate purpose is to provide effective feedback, evaluation and monitoring to the discussion process. Seven hundred students from the Open University of Catalonia in Spain participated in this study. Results showed that learning and knowledge building may be greatly enhanced by presenting selected knowledge to learners as for their particular skills exhibited during interaction. In addition, this valuable provision of information is used as a meta cognitive tool for tutors and moderators for monitoring and evaluating the discussion process more conveniently. This contribution presents our conceptual model for interaction management as well as key design guidelines and evaluation results. Implications of this study are remarked and further research directions are proposed.     

Comparing the roles of representations in face-to-face and online computer supported collaborative learning

This paper reports an empirical study comparing the role of discourse and knowledge representations (graphical evidence mapping) in face-to-face versus synchronous online collaborative learning. Prior work in face-to-face collaborative learning situations has shown that the features of representational notations can influence the focus of learners' discourse and collaborative activities. Two hypotheses were considered in the present study: (1) The influence of knowledge representations in the online condition could be weaker because of the lack of shared awareness and meaning that results from working together in front of a physically shared display, and because of the greater difficulty of utilizing the representations as a resource for conversation through gestural deixis, and (2) The influence of knowledge representations in the online study could be stronger because participants must rely more on them to compensate for the absence of face-to-face modes of communication. Quantitative results largely support the second hypothesis. There was greater consideration of certain coding categories supported by the knowledge representation software. However, essay quality and other observations provide indirect support for the first hypothesis. Explanations for these results and implications for the design of online collaborative learning environments are provided.     

Tracing the development of teacher knowledge in a design seminar: Integrating content,pedagogy and technology

Effective technology integration for teaching subject matter requires knowledge not just of content, technology and pedagogy, but also of their relationship to each other. Building on Schulman’s [Schulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: foundations for a new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1–22] concept of pedagogical content knowledge, we introduce a framework for conceptualizing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge—TPCK [Mishra, P., Koehler, M.J., (in press). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A new framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record]. We report the results of a semester-long investigation of the development of TPCK during a faculty development design seminar, whereby faculty members worked together with masters students to develop online courses. Quantitative discourse analysis of 15 weeks of field notes for two of the design teams show participants moved from considering technology, pedagogy and content as being independent constructs towards a richer conception that emphasized connections among the three knowledge bases. Our analyses suggests that developing TPCK is a multigenerational process, involving the development of deeper understandings of the complex web of relationships between content, pedagogy and technology and the contexts in which they function. Pedagogic, pragmatic, theoretical, and methodological contributions are discussed.