Designing for and facilitating knowledge-building discourse in online courses

2020 ◽  
Vol 121 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 487-501
Author(s):  
Matthew Duvall ◽  
Anthony Matranga ◽  
Jason Silverman
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Design Features ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Grouping Strategies ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge Building ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge

Purpose Founded in sociocultural theories of learning, the authors argue that engaging learners in collaborative knowledge building is critical. When responding to others’ ideas, research shows that learners in online settings more frequently focus on surface-level aspects of colleagues’ contributions – sharing, comparing and praising – rather than engaging in knowledge building. Collaborative, knowledge-building discourse includes generative interactional practices that feature disagreeing, negotiating meaning, testing and reflecting on co-constructed ideas, summarizing conversations and making metacognitive contributions to discussions. The purpose of this paper is to review studies that show evidence of key design features and pedagogical practices that support collaborative knowledge building by promoting generative interactional practices and particular patterns in interaction. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper presents pragmatic design and instructional guidelines for online course discussions. The purpose is to synthesize existing research and share a detailed framework for supporting generative discussion in asynchronous online work. Findings The authors review studies that show evidence of key design features and pedagogical practices that support collaborative knowledge building. Design features to promote generative discourse include using the asynchronous nature of online settings to have students work privately, share their work, discuss their work with the class and then revise; providing instructions/discussion criteria that scaffold knowledge building; and using appropriate digital tools that mediate interaction around content. The pedagogical practices that affect patterns of interaction include modeling generative discourse, promoting increased interactions by and between participants and using opportunistic grouping strategies. Originality/value The authors include examples from one of their existing online courses that include these design features and pedagogical practices and discuss results from their ongoing work regarding the generativity of learner interactions in this course.

A conceptualization of factors affecting collaborative knowledge building in online environments

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samar Ghazal ◽  
Hosam Al-Samarraie ◽  
Bianca Wright
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Bibliographic Databases ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Collaborative Learning ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge Building ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the major findings of published research on the factors influencing students’ knowledge building in an online collaborative environment. Design/methodology/approach The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses was used to review and synthesize existing empirical studies on knowledge building in a collaborative learning context. In total, 24 studies were identified from major electronic bibliographic databases. The research was conducted between 2017 and 2019. Results of these studies were analyzed to determine potential factors that may influence the knowledge-building process among students. Findings Factors related to interaction and participation, task, student and support were found to be the major factors driving students’ knowledge building in the online collaborative learning environment. The association between these factors and certain collaborative tasks was mapped. Originality/value Findings from this review can help decision makers of higher education in both developing and developed countries to take the necessary steps in order to promote effective knowledge-building practices in online collaborative learning. It may also help educational policy makers to understand the particulars of collaborative knowledge-building practices, so to increase organizational overall effectiveness and performance.

The role of collaborative knowledge building in the co-creation of artifacts: influencing factors and propositions

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 779-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Mariano ◽  
Yukika Awazu
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge Building ◽  
Organizational Rules ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge

Purpose This paper assesses the role of collaborative knowledge building in the co-creation of artifacts in the knowledge management field. Design/methodology/approach Fifty-eight papers published in six knowledge management-related journals were analyzed. The framework for analysis included 13 codes. Studies were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings Findings showed that several factors influenced the co-creation of artifacts in collaborative knowledge building. At the micro level, individual motivation, capabilities and reflexivity seemed to play a central role in co-creation processes. At the meso level, teamwork and shared understanding were identified as two key major factors. At the macro level, structural, behavioral and cognitive factors were identified; they included organizational rules and workplace setting, organizational culture and learning and memory. Managerial agency, characteristics of artifacts and knowledge brokers and boundary spanners also seemed to have an influence at the inter-organizational levels of analysis. Research limitations/implications This study has limitations related to scope of contribution, covered time span (17 years) and restrictions in journal subscriptions. Practical implications The study will help managers understand the intricacies of collaborative knowledge building practices to increase organizational overall effectiveness and performance. Originality/value This study is a first attempt to systematically assess the role of collaborative knowledge building in the co-creation of artifacts, and therefore, it represents a primary reference in the knowledge management field. It proposes some initial propositions that can guide future empirical studies.

scholarly journals Recommending collaboratively generated knowledge

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 871-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiqin Chen ◽  
Richard Persen
Keyword(s):  
Recommender System ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Learning Objects ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge Building ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge

With the development and adoption of information technologies in education, learners become active producer of knowledge. There is an increasing amount of content generated by learners in their learning process. These emerging learning objects (ELOs) could potentially be valuable as learning resources as well as for assessment purpose. However, the potentials also give rise to new challenges for indexing, sharing, retrieval and recommendation of such learning objects. In this research we have developed a recommender system for emerging learning objects generated in a collaborative knowledge building process and studied the implications and added values of the recommendations. We conducted two evaluations with learners to assess and improve the system?s design and study the quality and effects of the recommendations. From the evaluations, we received generally positive feedback and the results confirm the added values of the recommendations for the knowledge building process.

scholarly journals USING MICROSOFT TEAMS TO SUPPORT COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE BUILDING IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Buchal ◽  
Emmanuel Songsore
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Student Collaboration ◽  
The Past ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge Building ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge ◽  
Better Than

The current study investigates students’ use of Microsoft Teams as a collaborative knowledge building platform for a group sustainability assessment project. Ashby’s sustainability assessment method was used to provide scaffolding. Surveys (n=16) were administered to assess the nature of student collaboration, including students’ experiences using collaboration tools in the past, the activities students engaged in while working on the group project in MS Teams, self-assessment of collaborative abilities, comfort with giving, receiving and sharing comments and feedback, assessment of the effectiveness of Ashby’s sustainability assessment method in developing these abilities, and their overall assessment of MS Teams as a collaborative knowledge building tool. Students rated their collaborative abilities to be good to excellent and felt that the project was effective in developing those abilities. They are comfortable providing and receiving feedback and sharing their contributions openly. They found MS Teams to be extremely useful, and better than alternative platforms for key tasks including messaging, file sharing and collaborative authoring.

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