Students’ Attitudes toward Process and Product Oriented Online Collaborative Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 1300-1319
Author(s):  
Xinchun Wang

Although the pedagogical advantages of online interactive learning are well known, much needs to be done in instructional design of applicable collaborative learning tasks that motivate sustained student participation and interaction. In a previous study based on a Web-based course offered in 2004, Wang (2007) investigated the factors that promote sustained online collaboration for knowledge building. By providing new data from the same Web-based course offered in 2006 and 2007, this study investigates students’ attitudes toward process- and product-oriented online collaborative learning. The analysis of 93 post course survey questionnaire data show that the overwhelming majority of students have positive experience with online collaborative learning. Data also suggest that students are more enthusiastic about process-oriented tasks and their attitudes toward product-oriented collaborative learning tasks are mixed.

Author(s):  
Xinchun Wang

Although the pedagogical advantages of online interactive learning are well known, much needs to be done in instructional design of applicable collaborative learning tasks that motivate sustained student participation and interaction. In a previous study based on a Web-based course offered in 2004, Wang (2007) investigated the factors that promote sustained online collaboration for knowledge building. By providing new data from the same Web-based course offered in 2006 and 2007, this study investigates students’ attitudes toward process- and product-oriented online collaborative learning. The analysis of 93 post course survey questionnaire data show that the overwhelming majority of students have positive experience with online collaborative learning. Data also suggest that students are more enthusiastic about process-oriented tasks and their attitudes toward product-oriented collaborative learning tasks are mixed.


Author(s):  
Xinchun Wang

Although the pedagogical advantages of online interactive learning are well known, much needs to be done in instructional design of applicable collaborative learning tasks that motivate sustained student participation and interaction. Among others, some of the known factors that affect the outcomes of interactive learning include the structure of the online discussion, group size and group cohesion, strictly enforced deadlines, direct link of interactive learning activities to the assessment, and the differences between process and product oriented collaborative learning. This study explores the differences between process and product oriented group learning activities and their impact on online cooperation and collaboration in Web-based courses.


Author(s):  
Jianxia Du ◽  
Xun Ge ◽  
Ke Zhang

This case study was designed to investigate students’ perceptions and experiences of the dynamics of online collaborative learning over a semester. Multiple sources of data were collected and triangulated through pre- and post-surveys, personal interviews, group reflection papers, and instructor’s observations. Forty-one graduate students enrolled in the same course with the same instructor in two different learning environments – web-based and web-supplemented, participated in the study. The overall results indicated that students in the two environments shared their positive understandings and perceptions about online collaborative learning, which were significantly deepened over time. However, the students in the web-based class were found more positive about the advantages of online collaborative learning than those in the web-supplemented class as their learning experience developed. The study also identified the attributes that were considered crucial to successful online collaboration.


Author(s):  
Sebastian Strauß ◽  
Nikol Rummel

AbstractUnequal participation poses a challenge to collaborative learning because it reduces opportunities for fruitful collaboration among learners and affects learners’ satisfaction. Social group awareness tools can display information on the distribution of participation and thus encourage groups to regulate the distribution of participation. However, some groups might require additional explicit support to leverage the information from such a tool. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of combining a group awareness tool and adaptive collaboration prompts on the distribution of participation during web-based collaboration. In this field experiment, students in a university level online course collaborated twice for two-weeks (16 groups in the first task; 13 groups in the second task) and either received only a group awareness tool, a combination of a group awareness tool and adaptive collaboration prompts, or no additional support. Our results showed that students were more satisfied when the participation in their group was more evenly distributed. However, we only found tentative support that the collaboration support helped groups achieve equal participation. Students reported rarely using the support for shared regulation of participation. Sequence alignment and clustering of action sequences revealed that groups who initiated the collaboration early, coordinated before solving the problem and interacted continuously tended to achieve an equal distribution of participation and were more satisfied with the collaboration. Against the background of our results, we identify potential ways to improve group awareness tools for supporting groups in their regulation of participation, and discuss the premise of equal participation during collaborative learning.


Author(s):  
Ke Zhang ◽  
Xun Ge

This chapter aims to help readers build a solid understanding of the complexdynamics of online collaborative learning from multiple perspectives, and thusbecome more capable to utilize different instructional strategies to achieve pro-ductive online collaboration. On the basis of extensive review and integration ofresearch from multiple disciplines, the authors discuss the dynamics of online col-laborative learning from four aspects: team task, team development, member rela-tionship, and communication media, with one section designated to each of them.The sections each comprise presentation of the issue, theoretical frameworks, sug-gested strategies, and how it relates to other aspect(s), as applicable. The chapterconcludes with implications for practice in online collaborative learning andfuture research for managing learning in virtual collaborative environments. Thischapter is considered a valuable artifact to guide practice and research in onlinecollaborative learning in various settings.


Author(s):  
Antonio Santos Moreno

This chapter describes an instructional online collaborative learning model that addresses the phenomenon from a systemic human relations and interaction perspective. Its main purpose is to aid students in their social building of knowledge when learning in a CSCL environment. The model argues that knowledge building in a networked environment is affected by the communication conflicts that naturally arise in human relationships. Thus, the model is basically proposing a way to attend to these communication conflicts. In this line, it proposes a set of instructional strategies to develop the student’s meta-communication abilities. The concepts and instructional suggestions presented here are intended to have a heuristic value and are hoped to serve as a frame of reference to: 1) understand the complex human patterns of relationships that naturally develop when learning in a CSCL environment, and 2) suggest some basic pedagogical strategies to the instructional designer to develop sound online networked environments.


Author(s):  
Rodney Nason ◽  
Eearl Woodruff

The field of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has been growing in a number of areas and across a number of subjects (Koschmann, 1996; Koschmann, Hall, & Miyake, 2002; Wasson, Baggetun, Hoppe, & Ludvigsen, 2003). One of the most promising pedagogical advances, however, for online collaborative learning that has emerged in recent years is Scardamalia and Bereiter’s (1996) notion of knowledge-building communities. Unfortunately, establishing and maintaining knowledge-building communities in CSCL environments such as Knowledge Forum® in the domain of mathematics has been found to be a rather intractable problem (Bereiter, 2002b; Nason, Brett, & Woodruff, 1996). In this chapter, we begin by identifying two major reasons why computer-supported knowledge-building communities in mathematics have been difficult to establish and maintain.


2011 ◽  
pp. 1725-1731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rod Nason ◽  
Eearl Woodruff

One of the most promising pedagogical advances for online collaborative learning that has emerged in recent years is Scardamalia and Bereiter’s (1996) notion of knowledge-building communities. Unfortunately, establishing and maintaining knowledge-building communities in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments such as Knowledge Forum® (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1998) in the domain of mathematics has been found to be a rather intractable problem (Bereiter, 2002a; Nason, Brett, & Woodruff, 1996).


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samar Ghazal ◽  
Hosam Al-Samarraie ◽  
Bianca Wright

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.


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