Negotiating about shared knowledge in a cooperative learning environment

Abstract

A goal of cooperative learning is the construction of shared knowledge. Shared knowledge represents the common understanding of a group of individuals with respect to the content domain; the active construction of shared knowledge enhances acquisition and retention. Two requirements have to be met during the construction process: First, shared knowledge should be represented explicitely; second, the participants' multiple perspectives need to be integrated. We focus on the second aspect, called knowledge negotiation, by which the learners' common understanding is construed. However, common understanding comes in degrees. We provide a theoretical perspective for the negotiation process and propose a quantification of shared knowledge, called the degree of agreement (degreement). Finally, we discuss how a learning environment for distributed learners can support the process of cooperative knowledge construction.