Abstract

Social Annotation (SA) tools can be used to facilitate active and collaborative learning when students have to study academic texts. However, making these tools available does not ensure students participate in argumentative discussions. Scaffolding students by means of collaborations scripts geared towards collaboration and discussion encourages students to engage in meaningful, high-quality interactions. We conducted an experiment with students (n=59) in a course running at a Dutch university, using the SA tool Perusall. A control group received normal instructions, while an experimental group received scaffolding through collaboration scripts. The results showed a significant increase in the number of responses to fellow students for the experimental group compared to the control group. The quality of the annotations, measured on levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, increased significantly for the experimental group compared to both its baseline measurement and the control group. However, when scaffolding was faded out over subsequent assignments these differences became non-significant. The experimental groups’ increased quality of annotations did not remain over time, suggesting that internalization of the scripts was not achieved.

Highlights

  • When preparing for lectures by reading academic texts, students’ understanding of literature benefits from discussing it together (Miller et al, 2018)

  • We focus on how one can assess whether more meaningful interactions have occurred using Bloom’s taxonomy (Bloom, 1956)

  • RQ 1: Will students, who are scaffolded through collaboration scripts, engage in interactions more often while performing tasks in a Social Annotation (SA) environment, compared to students who do not receive scaffolding through collaboration scripts? RQ 2: Will students, who are scaffolded through collaboration scripts, have higher percentages of annotations on levels of higher order cognitive processing of Bloom’s revised taxonomy while performing tasks in a SA environment, compared to students who do not receive scaffolding through collaboration scripts? RQ 3: Will effects of scaffolding through collaboration scripts remain over time when the scaffolding for the experimental group is slowly faded out during the course? Based on the scaffolding-through-scripts theory and internalization theory, we formulate two hypotheses: H 1: RQ 1 and RQ 2 will be confirmed

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Summary

Introduction

When preparing for lectures by reading academic texts, students’ understanding of literature benefits from discussing it together (Miller et al, 2018). RQ 2: Will students, who are scaffolded through collaboration scripts, have higher percentages of annotations on levels of higher order cognitive processing of Bloom’s revised taxonomy while performing tasks in a SA environment, compared to students who do not receive scaffolding through collaboration scripts? Students receiving scaffolding through collaboration scripts will show higher levels of interactions and a higher quality of annotations, measured with Bloom’s revised taxonomy, compared to students who do not receive this scaffolding.

Results
Conclusion

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