Information technology as boundary object for transformational learning

Collaborative work is considered as a way to improve productivity and value generation in construction. However, recent research demonstrates that socio-cognitive factors related to fragmentation of specialized knowledge may hinder team performance. New methods based on theories of practice are emerging in Computer Supported Collaborative Work and organisational learning to break these knowledge boundaries, facilitating knowledge sharing and the generation of new knowledge through transformational learning. According to these theories, objects used in professional practice play a key role in mediating interactions. Rules and methods related to these practices are also embedded in these objects. Therefore changing collaborative patterns demand reconfiguring objects that are at the boundary between specialized practices, namely boundary objects. This research is unique in presenting an IT strategy in which technology is used as a boundary object to facilitate transformational learning in collaborative design work

Facilitating Collaborative Learning in 3D Virtual Worlds. A Qualitative Meta Study.

This master thesis serves to investigate how collaborative learning can be facilitated in 3D virtual environments. The objective was to see how 3D virtual worlds could be applied when conducting collaborative learning, both formal and informal. I was also interested in reflection as a part of collaborative learning processes, and chose to integrate this into my research questions: 1. How can 3D virtual worlds, like SecondLife, facilitate collaborative learning? 2. How can one use virtual worlds for collaborative learning-purposes in both formal and informal learning situations? 3. In what way can reflection be beneficial to collaborative learning in virtual worlds? SecondLife is a widely used 3D virtual world, utilized in a variety of learning situations. Its design and layout seem conducive to creating spaces that facilitate collaboration, and supports both formal and informal learning. I have used a variety of theoretical frameworks and perspectives to structure the thesis, and form the basis for the discussions and conclusions. I have utilized constructivist learning theory to describe the collaborative learning facilitated through virtual environments. This is due to the generous focus on collaboration and team-work throughout this thesis. As collaborative-learning situations enable the creation of shared practices and understanding, I will discuss the perspectives surrounding communities of practice, first coined by Lave and Wenger (Wenger 2000). Computer-supported collaborative learning is a perspective that serves to integrate technology and learning, and I have relied on this to contextualize the examples used, the CAMO-project being one of them. Its objective was to create cultural awareness in military operations, through collaborative simulations in a virtual Afghan village. The other example involved nursing students, who practiced communication skills with fatally ill patients and their relatives. Both examples highlights the opportunities for collaborative learning in virtual environments. Taking advantage of new technology for learning purposes, could create new possibilities for learning, maybe particularly collaborative learning. This is an important topic, as it could facilitate better and more motivating learning methods. Research Method and Data Analysis As this thesis is a qualitative Meta study, I relied on interviewing as my main data collecting method. I interviewed three practitioners within the field of technology and learning. They had earlier collaborated as facilitators in the CAMO-project, and also possessed a variety of experiences with 3D virtual worlds and learning. The data collected was analyzed and categorized through an iterative process. I worked with the transcribed interviews and notes, in several stages to analyze and attain the best categorizations for the data gathered. These five categories included: 1. SecondLife as a Learning Environment, 2. Comparison Between Different 3D Virtual Worlds, 3. Collaborative Learning, 4. Formal and Informal Learning and 5.Dialogue and Reflection. These categories helped me present the most valuable data andformed the basis for the discussion. Findings and Main Conclusions The informants and the theoretical framework both supported 3D virtual worlds and the opportunities within these platforms to contain great potential for collaborative work. As collaborative learning requires participants to socially interact and communicate with each other, the suitability relies on the communication options and features within the learning platform. SecondLife and other 3D virtual worlds are often created to serve as arenas for socialization, they are therefore well equipped with the necessary communication tools. To facilitate both formal and informal learning there are aspects that need to be present. Within 3D virtual worlds there needs to be possibilities to plan and design formally structured exercises, as well as unstructured informal activities. The informants were generally favorable to utilizing virtual environments for informal learning purposes, but disagreed on the formal learning possibilities. However, there are numerous examples of 3D virtual worlds being utilized for formal learning practices, and all the informants have had positive experiences with lectures and seminars conducted virtually. Reflective practice, most notably known through the work of Donald. A. Schön, proposes the importance of dialogues and reflection sessions, for participants in collaborative learning activities (Schön, 1983). This was a major part of the CAMO-project, and enabled the participants to express, challenge and reflect on the learning experience. The informants were unanimous in their perceived importance of reflection, to attain the most valuable learning outcome. They saw this as an important aspect of collaborative learning

The Effect of Varied Gender Groupings on Argumentation Skills among Middle School Students in Different Cultures

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the effect of varied gender groupings on argumentation skills among middle school students in Taiwan and the United States in a project-based learning environment that incorporated a graph-oriented computer-assisted application (GOCAA). A total of 43 students comprised the treatment condition and were engaged in the collaborative argumentation process in same-gender groupings. Of these 43 students, 20 were located in the U.S. and 23 were located in Taiwan. A total of 40 students comprised the control condition and were engaged in the collaborative argumentation process in mixed-gender groupings. Of these 40 students, 19 were in the U.S. and 21 were in Taiwan. In each country, verbal collaborative argumentation was recorded and the students’ post essays were collected. Among females in Taiwan, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that statistically a significant gender-grouping effect was evident on the total argumentation skills outcome, while MANOVA indicated no significant gender-grouping effect on the combined set of skill outcomes. Among females in the U.S., MANOVA indicated statistically significant gender-grouping effect on the combined set of argumentation skills outcomes Specifically, U.S. female students in mixed-gender groupings (the control condition) significantly outperformed female students in single-gender groupings (the treatment condition) in the counterargument and rebuttal skills. No significant group differences were observed among males. A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine how the graph-oriented computer-assisted application supported students’ development of argumentation skills in different gender groupings in both countries. In each country, all teams in both conditions demonstrated a similar pattern of collaborative argumentation with the exception of three female teams in the U.S. Female teams, male teams, (the treatment condition) and mixed-gender teams (the control condition) demonstrated metacognition regulation skills in different degrees and with different scaffolding

Providing behaviour awareness in collaborative project courses

Several studies show that awareness mechanisms can contribute to enhance the collaboration process among students and the learning experiences during collaborative project courses. However, it is not clear what awareness information should be provided to whom, when it should be provided, and how to obtain and represent such information in an accurate and understandable way. Regardless the research efforts done in this area, the problem remains open. By recognizing the diversity of work scenarios (contexts) where the collaboration may occur, this research proposes a behaviour awareness mechanism to support collaborative work in undergraduate project courses. Based on the authors previous experiences and the literature in the area, the proposed mechanism considers personal and social awareness components, which represent metrics in a visual way, helping students realize their performance, and lecturers intervene when needed. The trustworthiness of the mechanisms for determining the metrics was verified using empirical data, and the usability and usefulness of these metrics were evaluated with undergraduate students. Experimental results show that this awareness mechanism is useful, understandable and representative of the observed scenarios.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Providing behaviour awareness in collaborative project courses

Several studies show that awareness mechanisms can contribute to enhance the collaboration process among students and the learning experiences during collaborative project courses. However, it is not clear what awareness information should be provided to whom, when it should be provided, and how to obtain and represent such information in an accurate and understandable way. Regardless the research efforts done in this area, the problem remains open. By recognizing the diversity of work scenarios (contexts) where the collaboration may occur, this research proposes a behaviour awareness mechanism to support collaborative work in undergraduate project courses. Based on the authors previous experiences and the literature in the area, the proposed mechanism considers personal and social awareness components, which represent metrics in a visual way, helping students realize their performance, and lecturers intervene when needed. The trustworthiness of the mechanisms for determining the metrics was verified using empirical data, and the usability and usefulness of these metrics were evaluated with undergraduate students. Experimental results show that this awareness mechanism is useful, understandable and representative of the observed scenarios.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Planning Collaborative Learning in Virtual Environments. La planificación del aprendizaje colaborativo en entornos virtuales

Collaborative learning has a strong presence in technologysupported education and, as a result, practices being developed in the form of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) are more and more common. Planning seems to be one of the critical issues when elaborating CSCL proposals, which necessarily take into account technological resources, methodology and group configuration as a means to boost exchange and learning in the community. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relevance of the CSCL planning phase and weigh up the significance of its key design components as well as examining group agreement typology and its usefulness in team building and performance. To do so, research was carried out using a nonexperimental quantitative methodology consisting of a questionnaire answered by 106 undergraduate students from 5 different CSCLbased subjects. Results prove the usefulness of the planning components and the drafting of group agreements and their influence on group building and interaction. In order to ensure the quality of learning, it is essential to plan CSCL initiatives properly and understand that organizational, pedagogical and technological decisions should converge around a single goal which is to sustain the cognitive and social aspects that configure individual and group learning

The added value of implementing the Planet Game scenario with Collage and Gridcole

This paper discusses the suitability and the added value of Collage and Gridcole when contrasted with other solutions participating in the ICALT 2006 workshop titled “Comparing educational modelling languages on a case study.” In this workshop each proposed solution was challenged to implement a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning situation (CSCL) posed by the workshop’s organizers. Collage is a pattern-based authoring tool for the creation of CSCL scripts compliant with IMS Learning Design (IMS LD). These IMS LD scripts can be enacted by the Gridcole tailorable CSCL system. The analysis presented in the paper is organized as a case study which considers the data recorded in the workshop discussion as well the information reported in the workshop contributions. The results of this analysis show how Collage and Gridcole succeed in implementing the scenario and also point out some significant advantages in terms of design reusability and generality, user-friendliness, and enactment flexibility

Introducing New Methodologies for Identifying Design Patterns for Internationalization and Localization

This paper describes a new methodology for deriving interaction design patterns from an analysis of ethnographic data. It suggests using inductive and deductive analysis processes to identify and articulate patterns that address the needs of culturally diverse users of interactive, collaborative systems. This might inform the internationalization and localization process of computer supported collaboration systems

Helping design educators foster collaborative learning amongst design students

This paper discusses the development of online teaching resources that enable design educators to foster collaborative learning amongst students in the design disciplines. These online teaching resources will be made available through the Design Collaboration website. This website was recently set up by Northumbria University, a UK based institution, to provide an online resource for design educators wishing to develop collaborative pedagogies in design education. It currently contains case studies of collaborative student projects but lacks practical teaching resources. As a result, a research project was set up to compliment the current case studies by creating a suite of design-specific tools and resources that will help foster team management and development. Although various institutions have addressed the subject of group work and collaborative learning, there has been no online resource dedicated to the development of practical teaching tools to help design students work and learn together. This paper focuses on showcasing the range of teaching tools and resources developed through classroom-based trials. These resources have been developed specifically in consultation with Northumbria University's design educators and trialled with undergraduate and postgraduate students from different design disciplines. In addition, issues surrounding the translation of these tools into a practical, easy to use and accessible in an online format is discussed. The Icograda World Design Congress 2009 Education Conference is the ideal international platform to share these tools with the wider design education community. More importantly, we hope to grow the website by encouraging other design educators to submit case studies to the website, using it not only as a means of sharing good practice but also as a tool for reflection. The research value is two-fold (a) translating implicit knowledge of collaborative learning into a practical teaching resource and, (b) helping tutors improve their teaching practice, by linking the teaching resource to real experiences through case studies and interviews