Developing Shared Mental Models in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

2008 ◽  
pp. 278-299
Author(s):  
Marissa L. Shuffler ◽  
Gerald F. Goodwin
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Shared Mental Models ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Computer Based

In order to adapt to changing learning environments, instructors must be aware of the challenges that virtuality brings to establishing a shared understanding among online learners. Although developing shared mental models is typically a natural part of learning, it requires significant social and task-related interaction among students, which can be difficult in computer based environments in which social presence is lacking. This chapter will briefly discuss research related to the development of shared understanding and explore what instructors can do to address challenges and facilitate the development of shared knowledge in computer supported collaborative learning environments.

Learning Through Sharing and Regulation

2012 ◽  
pp. 151-162
Author(s):  
Chia-Wen Tsai ◽  
Yi-Fen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
Online Teachers ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Innovative Learning ◽  
Blended Course ◽  
Experimental Group

Many studies investigate the effects of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and also explore how learning processes and social interaction contribute to learning outcomes in online learning environments. This study provides an appropriate design of web-supported collaborative learning (CL) with teacher’s initiation and self-regulated learning (SRL), and demonstrates the effects of this design on improving students’ involvement and helping students attain course goals in a blended course. The authors conducted an experiment with an intervention of web-supported CL with initiation and SRL in a course titled ‘Applied Information Technology: Networking’ that included 112 sophomores from two classes at an academic university in Taiwan. The class of web-supported CL with initiation and SRL was the experimental group, and online CL without initiation or SRL served the control group. The results illustrate that web-supported CL with initiation and SRL could significantly improve students’ involvement in this course. In addition, interviewed students also expressed their positive appreciation for web-supported CL with initiation and SRL. The authors expect the innovative learning activities and teaching method in this study could provide insights for online teachers.

Drawing on Design to Improve Evaluation of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning

2004 ◽  
pp. 281-310
Author(s):  
John B. Nash ◽  
Christoph Richter ◽  
Heidrun Allert
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Program Theory ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Design Learning ◽  
Evaluative Thinking

This chapter addresses theoretical frameworks for the evaluation of computer-supported learning environments. It outlines the characteristics and obstacles this evaluation must face with regard to projects that design learning experiences, stressing the notion that human-computer interaction is imbedded in social context that is complex and dynamic. The authors examine how scenario-based design and program theory can contribute to the design and evaluation of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) and present a case study in which both approaches are applied. Based on the revealed complementary frameworks, a compelling approach is drafted that combines both of them. Our goal is to make CSCL designers more aware of the benefits of evaluative thinking in their work and to introduce two tangible approaches to evaluation that, when implemented as a design step, can strengthen CSCL initiatives.

Supporting Collaborative Project Teams Using Computer-Based Technologies

2004 ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
Student Teams ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Practical Implications

This chapter considers computer-supported collaborative learning within the context of a technology-supported project-based subject offered to advanced-level students in a postgraduate education program. The subject was the focus of a qualitative case study investigation that revealed how student teams worked together on an authentic project task and the role online tools play in supporting their collaboration. This chapter discusses the research and conceptual literature that informed the design of the learning environment, the nature of the research study and the relevant findings, and some of the practical implications for teachers and designers in selecting online tools to support collaborative learning.

Reflection and Intellectual Amplification in Online Communities of Collaborative Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 1950-1960
Author(s):  
Elsebeth Korsgaard Sorensen
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ◽  
Online Collaborative Learning ◽  
Meta Level ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge Building ◽  
Analytical Approaches ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge

An alternative theoretical framework for analyzing and designing computer-supported collaborative learning environments is introduced. Bateson’s theory (1973) is used as a starting point for considering in what sense the specific dialogical conditions and qualities of virtual environments may support learning. We need more stringent analytical approaches of research that relate communicative qualities of virtual contexts to qualities of the collaborative knowledge-building process. This approach suggests that new didactic and instructional methods, addressing the learner’s communicative awareness at a meta-level, need to be developed in order to fully utilize the interactive and reflective potential of online collaborative learning. A deeper understanding of the reflective nature of the online environment and its potential for enhancing intellectual amplification will give rise to the birth of new and more innovative designs of online collaborative learning.

Exploring learning how to learn in a team-based engineering education

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Ifenthaler ◽  
Zahed Siddique ◽  
Farrokh Mistree
Keyword(s):  
Mental Models ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Shared Mental Models ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Representations ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Learning Team

Purpose – In this paper, the authors aim to explore how students learn how to learn in a team-based graduate course Designing for Open Innovation using a theoretical framework that focuses on the cognitive functions of team-based processes and team performance. Design/methodology/approach – An automated assessment methodology for the structural and semantic analysis of individual and shared knowledge representations serves as a foundation for the approach. A case study is presented that explores the development of individual mental models and shared mental models over the course. Findings – An assessment of the mental models indicates that in this course three types of learning took place, namely individual learning, team-based learning, and learning from each other. Originality/value – The automatically generated graphical representations provide insight into the complex processes of the learning-dependent development of individual mental models and shared mental models.

Coercing shared knowledge in collaborative learning environments

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Kirschner ◽  
Pieter J. Beers ◽  
Henny P.A. Boshuizen ◽  
Wim H. Gijselaers
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Shared Knowledge
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