Content analysis: What are they talking about?

Quantitative content analysis is increasingly used to surpass surface level analyses in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (e.g., counting messages), but critical reflection on accepted practice has generally not been reported. A review of CSCL conference proceedings revealed a general vagueness in definitions of units of analysis. In general, arguments for choosing a unit were lacking and decisions made while developing the content analysis procedures were not made explicit. In this article, it will be illustrated that the currently accepted practices concerning the ‘unit of meaning’ are not generally applicable to quantitative content analysis of electronic communication. Such analysis is affected by ‘unit boundary overlap’ and contextual constraints having to do with the technology used. The analysis of e-mail communication required a different unit of analysis and segmentation procedure. This procedure proved to be reliable, and the subsequent coding of these units for quantitative analysis yielded satisfactory reliabilities. These findings have implications and recommendations for current content analysis practice in CSCL research

Use of expertise by beginning experts solving wicked problems

Unpublished paperIn this paper we study how groups of beginning experts solve a type of problem that has been referred to as ‘wicked’ or ‘social science problem’. An example of such a problem is that of school drop-out, which can be defined as a school and curriculum problem, a socio-economic problem, a cultural problem, a behavioral problem, et cetera. Mono-disciplinary teams of beginning experts in different fields addressed the problem of advising the State Board of Governors on measures to reduce school drop-out. One group demonstrated expert-like behavior in solving the problem. The other groups concentrated on particular aspects of the problem and its proposed solution whilst neglecting other aspects. Their approach contained a mixture of (beginning) expert and novice behavior, demonstrating that the expert-novice continuum is not clear-cut for these types of problem. The use of external representations that signal which aspects of the problem solving process need additional effort is discussed as a promising support, in particular to inter-disciplinary teams

The effect of roles on computer-supported collaborative learning.

Strijbos, J. W. (2004). The effect of roles on computer-supported collaborative learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Open University of the Netherlands, The Netherlands