Peer knowledge modeling in computer supported collaborative learning

Things change. For decades teachers have adhered to the familiar and the routine, teaching largely as they themselves were taught (Cuban, 1993). But there are signs of change in today's classroom. Teachers are beginning to seek new theories and approaches to learning. One currently prominent theme of change is the movement away from the traditional, teacher-centered approach to instruction toward more collaborative approaches such as cooperative learning (Slavin et al., 1985), project-based learning (Blumenfeld et al., 1991), problem-based learning (Barrows & Tamblyn, 1980), and reciprocal instruction (Palincsar & Brown, 1984) in which peerto-peer interaction is highly valued. One interesting question, with respect to these newly emerging forms of instruction, is how can they be supported and enhanced by technology? The dominant paradigm for past work in the use of computers (both in instruction and in other settings) has involved designing software for the solitary user. Recently, however, researchers have begun to investigate the practices and shared artifacts by which groups coordinate their work with an eye toward the development of new facilitating technologies (Bodker & Pederson, 1991). This emerging area of study, known as computer support for cooperative work (CSCW), is founded on the notion that computers can be used to facilitate, augment, and even redefine interactions among members of a work group (Galegher & Kraut, 1990). The term groupware has been coined for software that is meant to be used by groups rather than single individuals (Stefik & Brown, 1989). Research in this area has stimulated interest in the educational possibilities engendered by CSCW, and the acronym CSCL is often used for computer support of collaborative learning, the more focused study of the use of collaboration technology in instruction.

In the past decades, collaborative game-based learning has been used to facilitate students’ learning in authentic learning contexts. Although several previous studies have reported the potential of this approach for students’ learning performance and motivation, unequal participation could negatively influence the learning effectiveness of collaborative learning. To this end, this study developed a mandatory contribution-based collaborative gaming approach (MCCG) to enhance the competencies for conducting practical solutions related to environmental issues during a cross-field learning activity between a school and a museum. MCCG and a conventional collaborative gaming approach (CCG) were implemented to investigate the effects of individual contributions on collaborative learning. Both individual learning achievements and collaborative learning outcomes were assessed. The results showed that game-based collaboration supports can support competency-based education to enhance students’ competencies, such as problem-solving and critical thinking competencies. Those students who learned with the mandatory contribution approach had better collaborative learning outcomes.

With his theory of descriptions Russell wanted to solve two problems concerning denotation and reference, which are formulated here as Problem I and Problem II. After presenting each problem, we describe the main points of Russell’s solution. We deal with Russell’s concepts of existence and then elaborate his presuppositions concerning the relation of denoting and referring. Next we discuss the presuppositions or principles which underlie Russell’s understanding of the objects of reference. These principles are such that if the objects of reference are material objects, they are objects of classical mechanics, or very close to such an interpretation. Finally we show how these principles have to be relaxed if the objects of reference are objects of quantum mechanics or special or general relativity.

Early CAI efforts focused on the transmission or delivery of knowledge to the student. Subsequent work in intelligent tutoring systems took a more cognitive approach and attempted to emulate the behavior of skilled human tutors via software. More recent work has focused on collaborative learning processes, and the idea of a collaboratory as a virtual space for work. This paper describes a design process to support the development and use of collaborative learning technologies. This process, the Learning Collaboratory Design Framework (LuCiDiFy), integrates methods and concepts from cognitive systems engineering, theories of learning and instruction, distributed computing and computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). LuCiDiFy is instantiated in an actual software testbed, the Collaborative Learning Environment for Operational Systems (CLEOS). CLEOS is a collaboratory for teachers, students and practitioners in the physical sciences, and in particular for NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction experiments. CLEOS includes two virtual instrument tutorials, CVS (Collaborative Virtual Spectrometer) and VXRD (Virtual X-Ray Diffractometer); an asynchronous messaging system, the Question Board (QB); a project-based design environment, TOSP (Tool for Organizing and Supervising Projects); and an architecture for developing collaborative apprenticeship learning systems, CALOT (Collaborative Apprenticeship Learning Object Toolkit); an authoring environment, BAUEN (Basic AUthoring ENvironment); and a collaborative multi-user domain (MUD) infrastructure, MudSpot.

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is a pedagogical approach wherein learning takes place via social interaction using a computer or through the Internet. This kind of learning is characterized by the sharing and construction of knowledge among participants. This knowledge is shared through communication technologies embedded in CSCL systems. However in the context of globalization and the expansion of the internet and Information Technology (IT), communication becomes intercultural, so a complex and important dimension is added to CSCL and brings a new type of knowledge, socio-cultural knowledge, that needs to be shared and then presents new challenges. Therefore, in intercultural collaborative learning settings, we need to get and ensure better interaction, to get better learning. Better interaction is reached by promoting motivation to learn in groups, and this is obtained by enhancing user satisfaction which is achieved by the development of tailored CSCL tools to each user according to her socio-cultural background. Adapting the CSCL system to the culture of each participant will allow and facilitate group decision-making in the collaborative learning activity, as we take into account socio-cultural specificities of each learner, this latter will be more comfortable with the system and the other learners, and can collaborate with them to make decisions about the collaborative solution. So this article addresses the challenges started up by this context, which is how to consider socio-cultural specificities of each learner.

<p>As the title suggests, the concept of Computer-Supported Collaborative Language Learning (CSCLL) adopts and shares many aspects of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). This article is an attempt to incorporate CSCL in English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, and to examine the potential applicability of CSCL in ESL and EFL classes. The goal of this article is to examine potential effects of CSCL in ESL and EFL. To validate its usefulness, the theoretical framework of CSCL and the effects of collaboration in language learning are introduced. With guidelines for task design, a sample of CSCLL is presented. The specific description of the sample is designed to enhance the ESL and EFL teachers' understanding and to motivate them to use CSCLL in their teaching contexts. Practical tips for classroom implementation will be also included. In addition, potential benefits and limitations are discussed. Among these are increased authenticity, eliciting students' active participation and interaction, flexibility, reduced anxiety and higher motivation, scaffolding and collaboration, learnercenteredness, developing electronic literacy and promoting ownership and personal responsibility by webpublishing. Affordability, practicality and heavy work-load for the teachers can be considered as potential limitations. Finally, pedagogical implications for teachers and researchers are suggested.</p>

Build grid-enabled large-scale collaboration environment in e-Learning grid

Collaborate like expert designers: An exploratory study of the role of individual preparation activity on students' collaborative learning

A focus on purely individual cognition has set a stage to social construction of knowledge. New learning environments, in many cases supported by computer technology, are often based on collaborating and sharing expertise. As a result research on Computer Supported Collaborative learning (CSCL) environments is a significant and growing field, which actively seeks new methods to resolve the challenges of human learning across diverse levels of interaction in a modern information society. In this chapter we will discuss the concept of collaborative learning and the issues involved in using information and communication technology to support collaborative learning. We begin with the definition of collaboration, which lays the foundation for diverse research perspectives and methodologies on collaborative learning. The chapter also reviews the potential of CSCL environments, and addresses the challenges CSCL environments face.

For practitioners of semiotics the most controversial questions constitute the status and nature of the semiotic object equalized with the sign separated from its object(s) of reference or encompassing its object(s) reference, i.e., whether the sign is a unilateral entity or a plurilateral unit comprised of interrelated constituents, or a relation (a network of relations) between those constituents. Further questions refer to the manifestations of signs, namely, whether they appear in material or spiritual (corporeal or intelligible, physical or mental), concrete or abstract, real or ideal forms of being, being examined subjectively or objectively in their extraorganismic or intraorganismic manifestations. Accordingly, signs are approached either extra- or introspectively, through individual tokens or general types, occurring in the realm of man only; in the realm of all living systems, or in the universe of creatures, extraterrestrial and divine in nature. These varieties of sign conceptions exhibit not only differences in terminology but also in the formation of their visual presentations. Bearing in mind the need for their analysis and comparison, the practitioner of semiotic disciplines has to find a parameter or a matrix that would contain features and components characteristic for particular approaches to their forms of being and manifestation. Within the framework of this article, the adept readers will be provided with a theory-and-method related outlooks on the token and type relationships between the mental and concrete existence modes of semiotic objects and their objects of reference. Having reviewed all hitherto known sign conceptions, it will be demonstrated how their two main components, the signans and signatum, may be modeled with their collective and individual properties as oscillating between the possible four epistemological positions: logical positivism, rational empiricism, empirical rationalism, and absolute rationalism.

The present paper examines the relationship between assessment, locomotion and attitudes and learning outcomes in a Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) framework. Results showed that regulatory mode predicted exam marks, numbers of tasks completed, messages sent and attitudes towards the course and the ingroup. The theoretical implications and some reflections about CSCL and Regulatory-mode Theory (RMT) are presented.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THEORY An important approach to collaborative learning research is the relatively recent eld of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). is chapter will focus on that eld. CSCL is multidisciplinary by its nature and because of its origins (see Stahl, Koschmann, & Suthers, 2006, for a history of CSCL from a perspective similar to the one here). Consider the name, Computer-supported Collaborative Learning: it combines concerns with computer technology, collaborative social interaction, and learning or education-very di erent sorts of scienti c domains. CSCL grew out of work in elds like informaticsand arti cial intelligence, cognitive science and social psychology, the learning sciences and educational practice-domains that are themselves each fundamentally multidisciplinary. eory in these elds may take the form of predictive mathematical laws, like Shannon’s (Shannon & Weaver, 1949) mathematical theory of information, or Turing’s (1937) theory of computation; of models of memory and cognition; or of conceptions of group interaction and social practice. ey may have very di erent implications for research, favoring either laboratory experiments that establish statistical regularities or engaged case studies that contribute to an understanding of situated behaviors.

The significance of socially shared metacognitive regulation (SSMR) in collaborative learning is gaining momentum. To date, however, there is still a paucity of research of how SSMR is manifested in asynchronous computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), and hardly any systematic investigation of SSMR’s functions and evolution across different phases of complex collaborative learning activities. Furthermore, how individual students influence group regulatory effort is not well known and even less how they participate in SSMR over the entire collaborative learning process. The multi-method, in-depth case study presented in this article addresses these gaps by scrutinizing the participation of a small group of students in SSMR in asynchronous computer supported collaborative inquiry learning. The networked discussion, consisting of 640 notes, was used as baseline data. The sets of notes, which formed nine SSMR threads, were identified and their functions analyzed. Several analytical methods, including social network analysis, were used to investigate various aspects of individual participation. The findings show that some SSMR threads lasted over an extended period, and they sometimes intertwined or overlapped. Furthermore, SSMR threads were found to play different functions, mainly inhibiting the perceived inappropriate direction of the ongoing cognitive process. Finally, SSMR was found in all phases of the process – but with some variation. The use of different analytical methods was critical as this provided a variety of complementary insights into students’ participation in SSMR. The value of using multiple, rigorous analytical methods to understand SSMR’s significance over the entire course of an asynchronous CSCL activity is discussed.\n

Learner-centered learning methods have been considered for school education settings to help improve problem-solving skills of learners. Collaborative learning (CL), an approach in which two or more participants attempt to solve a problem together, has proven to be effective. Ambient support, which does not interrupt face-to-face interaction, is necessary in computer-supported collaborative learning or computer-supported cooperative work. Particular displays for such support are used in numerous recently released support systems. Much information, such as the number of utterances of learners and the degree of contribution to a discussion during the learning process, is represented on the displays by these systems; however, such support is not ambient because some participating learners watched the displays instead of focusing on other learners. In addition, support content for each learner is broadcast by these systems. According to research results, such broadcasting displeases some students; therefore, such support is not appropriate. In our research, we have aimed to develop an ambient conversation support system (ACSS) to solve these problems. First, we compared support methods of recently released systems (i.e., public conditions) with our developed approach (i.e., private conditions). Our experimental results indicate that (1) the average speech time per utterance under private conditions was statistically shorter than that of public conditions and (2) this average speech time per utterance under public conditions was statistically shorter than that of conditions in which participants were not supported by an ACSS (i.e., the no-support conditions). Experimental results and our discussion suggest that (1) the ACSS had a positive effect in support of increasing the number of participant utterances and (2) private conditions might pressure each participant against our expectations.

There are many theories useful for framing collaborative-learning research and they may in principle be irreducible to a single theory. Collaborativelearning research explores questions involving numerous distinct—though interacting—phenomena at multiple levels of description. The useful approach may be to clearly distinguish levels such as individual, small-group and community units of analysis, and to differentiate terminology for discussing these different levels. Theory in general has evolved dramatically over the ages, with a trend to extend the unit of cognition beyond the single idea or even the individual mind. Seminal theoretical works influential within collaborative-learning research suggest a post-cognitive approach to group cognition as a complement to analyzing cognition of individuals or of communities of practice. There is no one theory of collaborative learning. Research in collaborative learning is guided by and contributes to a diverse collection of theories. Even the word theory means different things to different researchers and plays various distinct roles within collaborative-learning work. The reading of the history of theory presented here is itself reflective of one theoretical stance among many held, implicitly or explicitly, by collaborative-learning researchers. The nature and uses of theory have changed over history and continue to evolve. The theories most relevant to collaborative learning—in the view developed in this paper—concern the nature of cognition, specifically cognition in collaborating groups. Through history, the analysis of cognition has broadened, from a focus on single concepts (Platonic ideas) or isolated responses to stimulae (behaviorism), to a concern with mental models (cognitivism) and representational artifacts (post-cognitivism). Theories that are more recent encompass cognition distributed across people and tools, situated in contexts, spanning small groups, involved in larger activities and across communities of practice. For collaborativelearning research, theory must take into account interaction in online environments, knowledge building in small groups and cognition at multiple units of analysis. A brief history of theory An important approach to collaborative-learning research is the relatively recent field of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). This chapter will focus on that field. CSCL is multi-disciplinary by its nature and because of its origins (see Stahl, Koschmann & Suthers, 2006, for a history of CSCL from a perspective similar to the one here). Consider the name, Computer-supported Collaborative Learning: it combines concerns with computer technology, collaborative social