Collaborative Learning Situations Research Articles

Teacher education students' strategic activities in challenging collaborative learning situations

Abstract This study gives voice to individual students' reflective interpretations of the challenges that they face during collaborative learning. It shows how students describe their strategic activities to overcome these challenges and illustrates how the described challenges are actualized in practice. Forty-three second-year teacher education students worked in small groups during a seven-week didactic math course. Individual students were interviewed after the course and asked about their interpretations of their collaboration in general, as well as their applied strategic activities during challenging collaborative learning situations. The data was complemented with two student groups' video recordings dealing with the group work in order to analyze how the students identified challenges during their collaboration and what types of strategic activities they used to solve these issues. The results showed how students' strategic activities varied among different challenging situations. The students were able to identify and solve the cognitive learning challenges in particular. In contrast, motivational and emotional learning challenges were not recognized and solved that often. It is concluded that ignoring the challenges that students are experiencing can affect their collaboration in many ways such as creating a general work atmosphere, causing unequal participation or lower satisfaction with group learning.

Design and Application of a Remote Electronic Communication Teaching System in a Network Environment

With the design and application of remote teaching system as the research target, this study uses the research methods of literature research method, website inves-tigation method and system development to make a detailed research on the theo-ry of remote collaborative learning and electronic communication technology. On the basis of web-based teaching platform of remote education, this study puts forward a long-remote collaborative teaching system of electronic communication along with the network environment, and designs the function modules of the system in detail, in which the communication effect of electronic communication technology on group members and teachers' creation of collaborative learning sit-uations are fully considered. Finally, the practicality and validity of the system are verified by the realization of the system, which provides a wider development space for the remote teaching system.

Group characteristics and profiles of shared regulation in collaborative environments involving asynchronous communication / Características y perfiles grupales de regulación compartida en entornos colaborativos de comunicación asíncrona

The processes of socially shared regulation in small groups of students who perform collaborative tasks through forums involving asynchronous communication are explored in this article. The specific aim of the study is to identify profiles of shared regulation in groups of students who have different performance levels on the task, depending on the regulatory activities exercised by the groups and their distribution over time. For that purpose, a case study was developed; six small groups of university students collaboratively performed a complex task (for 29 days) in a virtual environment based on asynchronous discussion forums. The results revealed three different profiles: (i) a profile with stable and high regulation; (ii) a profile with partially stable and medium regulation; and (iii) a profile with unstable and low regulation. The first two profiles were observed in the groups with high performance levels on the task, while the third profile was observed in the low-performing groups. Therefore, some recommendations are suggested to support processes of shared regulation in asynchronous collaborative learning situations.

La actividad de los participantes como fuente de información para promover la colaboración. Una analítica del aprendizaje basada en el modelo de Influencia Educativa Distribuida

This article introduces the initial version of a learning analytic based in the model of distributed educational influence (DEI). The central idea of the DEI model is that in collaborative learning situations all the participants are potential sources of support for other participants. On this basis, a research was carried out with a triple objective: i) to analyze if the information provided to the participants has an impact on their collaborative process, ii) to determine whether the provided information has a differential effect depending on the nature of its content and iii) to contrast the usefulness of the analytic developed to analyze the processes of online collaboration. For this purpose, four groups of master's degree students participating in a series of online forums were studied. In general, the results indicate that the information provided to the participants about their activity has an impact on their collaborative processes. However, it has not been possible to demonstrate any differential impact on their collaboration processes depending on the nature of the provided information. The results also point out some limitations on the indicators of the learning analytic proposed.

Intersubjectivity in primary and secondary education: a review study

In this literature review on the dynamics of intersubjectivity in primary and secondary education, we summarise and examine articles published in the last 10 years. This concept is considered relevant in education, in particular to enhance different types of collaborative learning situations. The articles were selected from several databases, all in English and blindly peer-reviewed. From the 157 articles appearing when limiting the contexts to primary and secondary education, 25 empirical studies were selected because they focused on the collaborative activities of students-students and/or teacher-students. We are also interested in understanding the role that technology may play in such process. Additionally, research where some types of digital technologies were used was contrasted with studies with analogical technologies. The selected articles were analysed with the aim of highlighting ideas and critical concepts featuring the process of producing intersubjectivity. As relevant dimensions, we identified: (a) teachers’ role; (b) cultural and/or intercultural dimension; (c) the role of cognitive aspects; (d) the role of social dimension, and (e) the role of space-time. Finally, implications for future empirical studies and educational practices are outlined.

Higher education students’ learning challenges and regulatory skills in different learning situations / Desafíos de aprendizaje y habilidades de regulación en distintas situaciones de aprendizaje en estudiantes de educación superior

First-year higher education (HE) students experience different challenges during their studies. These challenging learning situations can trigger self-regulated learning (SRL) skills, which students use to handle these situations. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate (a) first-year HE students’ cognitive, motivational and emotional challenges experienced in both individual and collaborative learning situations and (b) the relationship between SRL skills and experienced learning challenges. Participants included 107 first-year pre-service teachers. Data consisted of students’ self-reports via (a) open-ended answers on a challenge questionnaire and (b) Likert-scale items from MSLQ and MRS questionnaires. Based on students’ SRL profiles, differential effects on the challenging experiences were investigated. The results show that different aspects related to students’ cognition, motivation, emotions and well-being were challenging for students. Also, connections were found between students’ SRL skills and the types of experienced learning challenges. Students with high SRL reported fewer learning challenges related to motivational aspects and more challenges related to cognitive aspects than students with low SRL.

Promoting Collaborative Learning among Students

What is the distinction between collaborative and co-operative learning? In co-operative learning action is adjusted by individuals in a group to achieve individual goals. In collaborative learning, actions are adjusted to achieve shared goals. They not only learn from the teacher, but also from each other. In contrast in co-operative learning, the teacher still remains in control of what is going on in the class. The design of the collaborative task is crucial to the effectiveness of collaboration. The task must not be one which can be completed only by one person in a group. It should require a contribution from each member of the group. The group members should be interdependent upon each other to successfully complete the task. The task should not be a ‘right answer’ task. There should be several possible answers so that the group members could discuss which answers are better and the reason why some answers are better. What are the challenges of collaborative learning? Participants may only be used to isolated learning, where they compete with other students, and if that is the case, they would find it difficult to adjust to collaborative learning. Some students prefer to be taught and be passive learners, rather than be active learners, which would require more effort on their part. Another challenge is teachers who find it difficult to give up their teacher-centred instructional role and move to a facilitator of learning role. What are the advantages of collaborative learning? Such learning improves communication and dialogue between participants in a group, and assists in socially and intellectually connecting with members of the group. Students are motivated as they are actively involved in the learning process. The retention rate improves and students perform better at assessments, as they have engaged in deeper and more meaningful learning. As students are engaged in discussing and debating they are more likely to become critical learners. When students learn in a group, with other students explaining concepts to them, they will find different interpretations, which will result in students having to re-think their own understanding. There will be development of higher-level thinking skills, oral and written communication (in online collaborative learning), leadership and teamwork skills. A disadvantage of collaborative learning is that there might be one or two who dominate. There might be some who do not make much contribution despite having the opportunity to do so. Collaborative learning may not be suitable to some individuals who prefer isolated learning. They may not gain much benefit if they are forced into collaborative learning situations. Research has shown frustration among some students who have experienced collaborative learning. There may be some students who prefer to learn from an expert on a subject rather than from other students who they perceive to be lacking in knowledge. Students may find that they are studying at a different pace than others in the group, which may cause difficulties to themselves and their group members.

Interaction forms in successful collaborative learning in virtual learning environments

Despite the numerous studies on social interaction in collaborative learning, little is known about interaction forms in successful computer-supported collaborative learning situations. The purpose of this study was to explore and understand student interaction in successful collaborative learning during a university course which was mediated by two different types of virtual learning environment. Through a qualitative case study, we examined how students interacted with each other while working with collaborative tasks. Results indicate that interaction in collaborative situations was more often group-related than task-related. Group-related interaction concentrated mostly on coordination of group work, such as planning and organising group activities. Task-related interaction was mostly in the form of comments or answers to earlier messages. However, there were differences in the interaction forms according to the learning environment. The results of this study provide teachers, educators and educational coordinators guidelines for how to organise and enhance successful collaborative learning both virtually and face-to-face.

How competition and heterogeneous collaboration interact in prevocational game-based mathematics education

The present study addresses the effectiveness of an educational mathematics game for improving proportional reasoning in students from prevocational education. Though in theory game-based learning is promising, research shows that results are ambiguous and that we should look into ways to support game-based learning. The current study explored two factors (i.e., collaboration and competition) that have been associated with motivational and cognitive effects, and have potential to optimize game-based learning. In a fully crossed design, four conditions were examined: collaboration and competition, collaboration control, competition control, and control. It was found that, over all, gameplay did improve students' proportional reasoning skills but that learning effects did not differ between conditions. However, when students’ ability levels were taken into account, an interaction between collaboration and competition was found. For below-average students, the effect of collaboration was modified by competition, showing a negative effect of competition on domain knowledge gains in a collaborative learning situation. In contrast, for above-average students, the data demonstrated a trend that suggests a positive effect of competition on domain knowledge gain in a collaborative learning situation.

Process modeling and decision mining in a collaborative distance learning environment

This paper is divided into four main parts. In the first part of the study, we identified the most significant factors that affect the performance of groups in collaborative learning situations. The results showed that the extent of communication, interactions and involvement/participation between students have crucial impacts on the performance of groups. In the second part of the study, we defined and explained specific alphabets and keywords derived from a collected event log during a distance learning activity using a real-time multi-user concept mapping service. Our aim was to interpret the data in such a way that eventually can increase the instructor’s awareness about entire the collaborative process. In the third part of the study, we used several statistical and process mining techniques in order to discover and compare distinguished patterns of interaction and involvement between the groups with high and low performance. The results showed that the extent of students’ interaction was four times greater in the high performance groups. Similarly, the extent of students’ involvement and participation was three times greater in the high performance groups compared with the low performance groups. In the fourth part of the study, we analyzed the extent of communication with respect to textual and semantic contributions of the students written/typed and shared in the chat rooms during the online distance activity. The results showed that the level of students’ communication was two times greater in the groups with high performance. And finally, we applied a Decision Tree/Rules technique to extract a model of decisions (as well as their possible consequences) about performance of groups in collaborative learning situations.

Personalization of Gamification in Collaborative Learning Contexts using Ontologies

The design of collaborative learning (CL) scenarios that increase both students' learning and motivation is a challenge that the Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) community has been addressing in the past few years. On one hand, CSCL design (i.e. scripts) has shown to be an effective approach to support meaningful interactions and better learning. On the other hand, scripted collaboration sometimes decrease motivation of students to participate in the CL process, which makes more difficult the use of group activities over time. To deal with the problem of motivation, researchers and educators are now looking at Gamification techniques to engage students. Gamification in education is a complex task that requires, from instructional designers, knowledge about game elements (such as leaderboards and point systems), game design (how to combine game elements) and their impact on motivation and learning. To help the adequate use of gamification in collaborative learning activities we have applied ontological engineering techniques to develop an Ontology called OntoGaCLeS in order to formalize the representation of gamification concepts and explain how they affect motivation in CL situations. This paper will present the ontological structure to represent gamified CL scenarios and show the utility of our approach to define personalized conceptual models to gamify CL scenario based on students' needs and individual characteristics.

From face‐to‐face to distance LMS‐mediated collaborative learning situations with GLUE!

ABSTRACTGLUE! is an integration architecture that allows teachers to easily set up an LMS environment with several external tools to carry out complex collaborative learning situations in distance settings. Though its effectiveness in alleviating the burden on teachers of deploying and enacting such situations has been studied elsewhere, there are no studies in the literature analyzing the impact, in terms of learning achievement, of turning traditional face‐to‐face collaborative learning situations into distance LMS‐mediated ones with the support of integration approaches such as the GLUE! architecture. This paper compares the learning achievement in a distance LMS‐mediated collaborative learning situation supported by GLUE! and in the equivalent face‐to‐face in a non‐technological setting. The conclusions of this comparison, along with the fact that GLUE! significantly reduces the set up effort, suggest that GLUE! is a good choice for turning traditional face‐to‐face collaborative learning situations into distance LMS‐mediated ones without significant negative effects in the learning achievement. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:527–536, 2015; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21623

Helping Teachers Align Learning Objectives and Evidence: Integration of ePortfolios in Distributed Learning Environments

ePortfolios are recognized as effective tools for formative assessment. Learn- ing outcomes are demonstrated by a number of work samples, which provide a good overview, not only of the acquired competences, but also of the path followed to get there. However, ePortfolios do no provide means for their automatic integration in Distributed Learning Environments, where the work samples (learning evidence) are scattered across a number of systems, such as Virtual Learning Environments and Web 2.0 tools. This paper proposes a scalable approach to tackle evidence collection in DLEs, by aligning the generated artefacts with the pedagogical purpose the teacher aims at. The proposal takes advantage of Learning Design practices, making alignment explicit to guide the technological infrastructure for the automatic collection and orga- nization of pieces of evidence in an ePortfolio and thus reducing the associated burden on teachers and students. The feasibility of the proposal was assessed by means of an evaluation study, in which a University teacher designed and enacted an authentic collaborative learning situation in the context of a master's degree course.

Degrees of Change: Understanding Academics Experiences with a Shift to Flexible Technology-Enhanced Learning in Initial Teacher Education

The implementation of technology enhanced learning in higher education is often associated with changes to academic work. This article reports on a study of staff experiences with curriculum development and teaching in multiple modes of blended and online learning in a Bachelor of Education degree. The findings indicate that the changes experienced by these teacher educators were significant but not wholesale. More specifically, the findings highlight three particular areas of change that impacted on their role as teacher educators: changed pedagogical practices, particularly in staff-student communication, interaction and relationship building with students; increasing workloads associated with flexible delivery; and changed needs for staff capacity building related to issues of quality in technology enhanced learning. Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) refers to situations in which technology is used to enhance the learners’ experiences. This includes online learning, blended learning and other situations in which technology is used to enrich or extend place-based (on campus) teaching and learning. Although TEL is not associated with a particular pedagogical approach, it is often associated with the use of (a) active approaches to learning which involve both creation and use of rich multimedia digital resources, (b) purposefully designed learning tasks which employ technology to promote cognitive engagement with program content, (c) collaborative learning situations in which communication is mediated by technology, (d) the personalisation of learning experiences afforded by the use of flexible learning technologies, (e) improving learners’ access to authentic learning and practice contexts with networked technologies, and (f) connecting learners with knowledgeable teachers, coaches, mentors and peers who can support learning. For many academics, the implementation of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) in university degree programs is associated with change, particularly changes to academic work. The suggested change is based on two prevalent assumptions in higher education (HE): first, that the dominant teaching model in HE is direct instruction -didactic, teacher driven and limited with respect to consideration of the particular needs of individual learners; and, second, that by its very nature, TEL represents an improvement over historically established university teaching, based on an emerging track record of learner-centric pedagogies and practices which focus on learners, their experiences and the way technology creates opportunities to cater to a variety of learner needs (see Hannafin & Land, 1997). Thus, a contrast has been created which pits the ‘old’ (or status quo) and all of the problems that may be associated with current higher education systems against the ‘new’, in which technology is meant to not only disrupt the status quo, but provide a number of solutions to cure the ills of a ‘broken’ higher education system which may be slow to change. While this contrast is both an oversimplification and a generalisation, it reflects aspects of current teacher education in Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol 40, 7, July 2015 44 Australia, which is the context from which this formative evaluation is drawn. For reasons both historical and pragmatic, teacher education has tended to favour in-person, face-to-face teaching and learning as the preferred mode of delivery in initial teacher education. This makes the implementation of flexible TEL in the context of initial teacher education particularly interesting as a case for the study of the change associated with the implementation of TEL. This article examines the notion of change associated with the implementation of TEL in one teacher education program in Australia. In this article, the relationship between the implementation of TEL and particular changes in organisation, technology or practice is not seen as a fait accompli. Rather, the focus is the potential for change and the evaluation of change as beneficial (or otherwise) to the intended outcomes of a development process. Broadly, this article addresses the following proposition: If a shift to TEL represents the opportunity to change, what changes are necessary and beneficial to the success of the technology enhanced version of the course or program? The approach to this general question is case study in an undergraduate program in Australia. The article focuses on a large-scale curriculum development project which sought to produce multiple flexible, technology-enhanced versions of each individual unit within the degree program. Drawing from academics’ experiences within this project, the article reports on the results of a formative evaluation of the first year of the project. This article aims to improve understanding of the nature and degree of change associated with the adoption of TEL in context and the implications of these changes for the structuring and support of similar development projects.

ANALISE DE AMBIENTES DE GEOMETRIA DINAMICA COLABORATIVA DO PONTO DE VISTA DA ORQUESTRAÇÃO INSTRUMENTAL

Existem muitos software implementando a geometria dinâmica desde os anos 80. Alguns deles propõem funcionalidades de comunicação síncrona permitindo a troca distante de conteúdos de geometria. Mesmo se a disponibilidade de tais funcionalidades é muito importante para dar suporte à colaboração entre parceiros, ela não garante essa colaboração assim como aprendizagens: a concepção e a conduta das situações de aprendizagem colaborativa continuam primordiais. Nesse sentido, nos interessar-nos-emos ao estudo, do ponto de vista da orquestração instrumental, do que três de tais ambientes de geometria dinâmica colaborativa (Geogebra, Tabulae e ‘Regua e compasso’) oferecem não somente para a comunicação síncrona, mas também para a concepção e conduta de situações de aprendizagem colaborativa.http://dx.doi.org/10.14572/nuances.v25i2.2936

Making meaning through joint activity in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) settings: The interplay between content-related and activity-related talk

In the recent literature on CSCL which places the spotlight on participants' talk, there is a clear dichotomy between studies that focus on content-related talk and those that focus on off-topic or activity-related talk. In the approach adopted in this paper, based on the notion of educa- tional influence, the guiding hypothesis is that both forms of talk are close- ly linked in the collaborative dynamics and that activity-related talk, far from being irrelevant, has an essential role to play in promoting the collab- orative construction of knowledge. The paper empirically examines this hypothesis in four online collaborative learning situations. The results show that in small group situations requiring the preparation of a written product devote a major part of their discursive activity to ne- gotiating the form of organization of their joint activity and to making sure that all members are familiar with it. In contrast, the technological tools used in the collaborative situation do not seem to have an impact on the relative weight of the type of participants talk, either content-related or ac- tivity-related.

English

In Taiwan, in an effort to reduce the cost associated with educational training, enterprises have started to resolutely introduce the use of Facebook to support collaboration as part of employee training. Unlike previous studies investigating the effectiveness of conventional learning, the purpose of this paper was to discuss how various factors interconnect to affect Taiwanese employees’ decisions regarding behavioral intention to use Facebook as support in collaborative learning situations. The expanded technology acceptance model (TAM) was applied. Employing structural equation modeling technology, the model was assessed using data collected from 385 participants by way of a survey questionnaire. Results show that social influence was the strongest factor influencing the use of Facebook to support collaboration and training adopting intention. Additionally, the findings also suggest that managers should anticipate that using Facebook to support collaboration in training may be perceived differently depending on the gender of the trainee, as we found that women are strongly influenced by co-workers and supervisors in these matters. Implications both in theory and practice are discussed, based on the findings. Key words: Facebook, technology acceptance model, collaboration, gender.

Considering Learners' Perceptions in Designing Effective 21st Century Learning Environments for Basic Education in Finland

Focusing on so called Key Competences or 21 st Century Skills urges educational organizations to redesign their psychosocial and physical learning environments. Inspired by studies indicating that considering learners' perceptions of learning environments can have a positive impact on learning and wellbeing, our study aims at developing design principles for involving learners in the learning environment design. This pilot case study analyzed 7- to 14-years old Finns' (n = 80) perceptions by using web questionnaires and design workshops. The results are in line with research indicating that Finnish learners value aspects such as safety and peacefulness, the possibilities for rest and physical activity, the presence of nature, and good social relations. They also value versatile, personally meaningful and collaborative learning situations, including both traditional and novel tools and spaces for learning. The study offers educational administrators tools and data for redesigning learning environments.

Understanding Chinese learners' willingness to communicate in a New Zealand ESL classroom: A multiple case study drawing on the theory of planned behavior

Abstract Current approaches to second language teaching place a great emphasis on the development of learners' communicative competence. However, teachers are frequently bewildered by some learners' reluctance to communicate and wonder what impedes their oral participation. To understand this phenomenon better, I conducted a naturalistic inquiry to investigate five Chinese immigrant learners' willingness to communicate in both teacher-led and collaborative learning situations in L2 classrooms. In the study, a number of instruments (in-depth interviews, classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, learning logs) were used to collect data about the learners' oral participation over eighteen weeks. The results revealed that the participants' WTC was context-dependent and varied in two different classroom situations. Drawing on Ajzen's theory of planned behavior, the variations were accounted for in each context. While their WTC in the collaborative context was related to different attitudes toward working collaboratively, four factors, linguistic factors, socio-cultural factors, self-efficacy, learner beliefs, had joint effects on their WTC in the teacher-led context. Based on these findings, I propose a model that aims to capture the pertinent factors mediating learners' oral communication in classrooms. The paper concludes with pedagogical implications.

Designing, implementing and evaluating an online problem-based learning (PBL) environment – A pilot study

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been shown to be effective for promoting student competencies in self-directed and collaborative learning, critical thinking, self-reflection and tackling novel situations. However, the need for face-to-face interactions at the same place and time severely limits the potential of traditional PBL. The requirements of space and for meeting at a specific location at the same time create timetabling difficulties. Such limitations need to be tackled before all potentials of PBL learning can be realized. The present study aimed at designing and implementing an online PBL environment for undergraduate speech/language pathology students, and assessing the associated pedagogical effectiveness. A group of eight PBL students were randomly selected to participate in the study. They underwent 4 weeks of online PBL using Adobe Connect. Upon completion of the experiment, they were assessed via a self-reported questionnaire and quantitative comparison with traditional PBL students based on the same written assignment. The questionnaire revealed that all participating students enjoyed online PBL, without any perceived negative effects on learning. Online PBL unanimously saved the students travel time to and from school. Statistical analysis indicated no significant difference in assignment grades between the online and traditional PBL groups, indicating that online PBL learning appears to be similarly effective as traditional face-to-face PBL learning.