Theories of Cognition in Collaborative Learning

Abstract

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