Computer-supported Collaborative Learning Scenarios Research Articles

Scripting and monitoring meet each other: Aligning learning analytics and learning design to support teachers in orchestrating CSCL situations

AbstractFrom the conceptualization to the evaluation of computer‐supported collaborative learning (CSCL) scenarios, teachers address multiple tasks, sometimes being overwhelmed on account of the required time and associated burden. To support teachers in this endeavor, we propose to connect the pedagogical decisions made at design time with the analysis of the participants' interactions. Thus, teachers would be provided with relevant and coarse‐grained information that could help them manage their CSCL scenarios. This paper synthesizes the main contributions obtained from a 3‐year design‐based research process, and presents the findings obtained from the evaluation of the current proposal in two authentic CSCL scenarios. The participant teachers valued the proposal positively and stated that it was helpful for their orchestration of CSCL scenarios.

Orchestrating Evaluation of Complex Educational Technologies: A Case Study of a CSCL System

As digital technologies permeate every aspect of our lives, the complexity of the educational settings, and of the technological support we use within them, unceasingly rises. This increased complexity, along with the need for educational practitioners to apply such technologies within multi-constraint authentic settings, has given rise to the notion of technology-enhanced learning practice as “orchestration of learning”. However, at the same time, the complexity involved in evaluating the benefits of such educational technologies has also increased, prompting questions about the way evaluators can cope with the different places, technologies, informants and issues involved in their evaluation activity. By proposing the notion of “orchestrating evaluation”, this paper tries to reconcile the often disparate “front office accounts” of research publications and the “shop floor practice” of evaluation of educational technology, through the case study of evaluating a system to help teachers in coordinating computer-supported collaborative learning scenarios (GLUE!-PS). We reuse an internationally-evaluated conceptual framework of “orchestration aspects” (design, management, adaptation, pragmatism, etc.) to structure the case’s narrative, showing how the original evaluation questions and methods were modulated in the face of the multiple (authentic) evaluation setting constraints.

Automated instructional design for CSCL: A hierarchical task network planning approach

In Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), one of the most important tasks for instructional designers is to define scenarios that foster group learning. Such scenarios, defined as Units of Learning (UoLs), comprise different components and are organized according to pedagogical approaches to orchestrate group learning processes. Examples of UoL components are learning objects, student roles, student characteristics (e.g., background, preferences, learning styles, etc.), instructional/learning goals, and activities, among others. Thus, the instructional design (ID) of a proper UoL for CSCL is a complex task that requires practice and experience. This is particularly true when designing, developing, adapting, and customizing UoLs, taking into consideration different instructional/learning goals and individual preferences of students. This paper therefore proposes using a Hierarchical Task Network (HTN) planning approach to automate and optimize the tasks of designers. To accomplish that, we define an initial CSCL scenario as “an ID task” and “a set of information related to students and the domain to be taught.” Then we propose a model that formally describes ID for CSCL as HTN planning, where the initial CSCL scenario is adapted and refined according to student needs. In this model, the ID strategies are defined as hierarchical tasks and methods into a planning domain definition, and the initial CSCL scenario is defined as a planning problem definition. To validate our approach, we develop a CSCL courseware generator that (i) helps designers to set up an initial CSCL scenario; (ii) automatically generates a personalized UoL based on a given initial scenario; and (iii) supports the adaptation of UoLs.

Towards a script-aware monitoring process of computer-supported collaborative learning scenarios

The increasing complexity of CSCL scenarios makes the classroom management highly demanding. Teachers invest considerable effort to design the learning scenario and to be aware of what happens during the enactment. We hypothesise that providing monitoring information closely related to the teachers' pedagogical intentions will help them to understand the unfolding of the learning situation, empowering them to intervene. This article presents a script-aware monitoring process which uses the knowledge about the learning design to guide the analysis of the educational data generated throughout the learning processes. The proposal is illustrated by an example based on a real CSCL scenario in an university course. This example shows how the script-aware monitoring provides useful feedback for the teacher and reduces the effort devoted to management tasks.

LO QUE EL OJO NO VE: UN ESTUDIO DE CASO BASADO EN PROCESOS DE INDAGACIÓN CO(WIKI)LABORATIVOS

In this paper we present a case study of an undergraduate ICT 1 course at the College of Education in the University of Valladolid (Spain). Two different but complementary approaches have been put in practice in the design of the course. Firstly, it is based on the principles of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) (Koschman, 1996), field, using technologies to support the collaborative learning process. On the other hand, it follows an Inquiry based Learning methodology. This special mixture offers a “tasty dish” we have called “Inquiry (cowiki-) based learning”. The whole process was designed, implemented and evaluated by a transdisciplinary community of practice formed by many researchers coming from the ICT and education fields. This paper emphasizes the value of studying CSCL scenarios by using qualitative methods, showing evidence about participatory models of inquiry

Motivation in a computer-supported collaborative learning scenario and its impact on learning activities and knowledge acquisition

Addressing a drawback in current research on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), this study investigated the influence of motivation on learning activities and knowledge acquisition during CSCL. Participants’ ( N = 200 university students) task was to develop a handout for which they had first an individual preparing phase followed by a computer-supported collaborative learning phase immediately afterwards. It was hypothesized that in both phases current motivation (in terms of expectancy and value components) influences both learning activities and knowledge acquisition in a positive way. According to main results, only goal orientations (before learning) were associated with knowledge acquisition respectively observed learning activities during the collaborative phase. Expectancy and value components of current motivation related neither to observed learning activities nor to knowledge acquisition during collaborative learning but were in part associated with learning activities and knowledge acquisition during individual learning. The discussion addresses several possible explanations for these unexpected results.

Scenario-based orchestration of Web 2.0 applications in university teaching and learning processes: a case study

In the context of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), Web 2.0 applications are increasingly being used for Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL). The paper presents the main principles of Web 2.0 and develops the hypotheses derived from the central aspect of collaborative learning. These hypotheses refer to the significance of Web 2.0 for the technical support of various collaborative teaching/learning scenarios within the TEL approach. With an example scenario, the paper demonstrates how Web 2.0 applications can be orchestrated to support a CSCL scenario in face-to-face classes and the effects that this will have on the cooperative learning process of students.