Using Challenge Episodes to Identify Social Regulation in Collaborative Groupwork

In recent years, researchers have shown increased interest in the question of how groups regulate their collaborative work and how this in turn affects their learning experience. There is a lack of empirical studies that explore social regulation in student group work. This study in progress attempts to identify instances of social regulation of learning in group work through examining challenges that students experience throughout interdisciplinary group projects. Building on existing conceptual work, we target different dimensions of social regulation – Planning, Monitoring/Performance and Evaluation. Data is collected from four courses within Tracks – a ten-year educational initiative, aiming to respond to the changing educational needs of future engineers. Within Tracks, students meet and learn collaboratively across programme boundaries and take on relevant challenges with a basis in real-world problems together. Students were asked to self-report in form of reflective writings about challenges and coping strategies. First results indicate that groups employed different forms of social regulation though their affiliation with different study programs made it difficult to schedule collaborative, synchronous meetings. Our findings further highlight the role of motivation in collaborative group work and stimulate a discussion about ‘desirable challenges’ that act as catalysts for learning in group work

Detangling the Interrelationships Between Self-Regulation and Ill-Structured Problem Solving in Problem-Based Learning

One of the goals for problem-based learning (PBL) is to promote self-regulation. Although self-regulation has been studied extensively, its interrelationships with ill-structured problem solving have been unclear. In order to clarify the interrelationships, this article proposes a conceptual framework illustrating the iterative processes among problem-solving stages (i.e., problem representation and solution generation) and self-regulation phases (i.e., planning, execution, and reflection). The dynamics of the interrelationships are further illustrated with three ill-structured problem-solving examples in different domains (i.e., information problem solving, historical inquiry, and science inquiry). The proposed framework contributes to research and practice by providing a new lens to examine self-regulation in ill-structured problem solving and offering guidelines to design effective tools and strategies to scaffold and assess PBL

Regulación compartida en entornos de aprendizaje colaborativo mediado por ordenador: diferencias en grupos de alto y bajo rendimiento

The study presented below focuses on shared regulation processes carried out by small groups of students with different levels of performance in a CSCL environment. The term shared regulation used in the study refers to the process in which multiple students, as a group, act intentionally on their own participation, motivational and cognitive group processes. A case study was conducted, aimed to analyze a small-group collaborative task developed by university students in an asynchronous communication environment for 27 days. A comparative analysis of two groups with high performance in the task and two groups with low performance in the task was developed. The results revealed that the two high performance groups, in contrast to low performance groups, displayed a greater number and more diverse regulation on motivational elements. Regarding regulation on cognitive and participation elements, clear quantitative differences between the groups were not found. However, the qualitative analysis of the data showed a greater involvement of students and better quality of regulation in the two high performance groups. El estudio que a continuación presentamos se centra en los procesos de regulación compartida ejercidos por pequeños grupos de estudiantes con distintos niveles de rendimiento en un entorno de CSCL. Empleamos el término de regulación compartida para referirnos al proceso en el que múltiples alumnos -como grupo- actúan de manera intencional sobre sus procesos grupales cognitivos, de participación y motivacionales. El método que se empleó es un estudio de caso en el cual  alumnos universitarios realizaron una tarea colaborativa en pequeños grupos durante 27 días en un entorno de comunicación asíncrona. Se realizó un análisis comparativo de cuatro pequeños grupos, dos con alto rendimiento en la tarea y otros dos con bajo rendimiento en la tarea. Los resultados del estudio revelaron que los dos grupos de alto rendimiento, en contraste con los grupos de bajo rendimiento, ejercieron mayor cantidad y diversidad de regulación sobre elementos motivacionales; en cuanto a la regulación ejercida sobre elementos cognitivos y de participación no se encontraron, cuantitativamente, diferencias claras entre los grupos,  pero el análisis cualitativo de los datos mostró mayor implicación de los alumnos y mayor calidad en la regulación ejercida sobre dichos aspectos en los grupos de alto rendimiento

Re-examining the Construct Validity and Causal Relationships of Teaching, Cognitive and Social Presence in Community of Inquiry Framework

Despite the prevalence of research on the community of inquiry framework and its associated measurement instrument, more research is needed to re-evaluate the factor structure, study the effects of covariates or measurement invariance, and explore the relationships amongst the three presences. Results of this study indicated that (a) teaching, social, and cognitive presence are each multidimensional and higher-order constructs; (b) measurement invariance was fully achieved for gender and partially for age, ethnicity, discipline, and online experience; (c) structural relationships of the three main constructs—teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence—suggested potential psychometric adjustments. The teaching presence construct in particular should be reconstructed to appropriately reflect and measure the construct as conceptually defined—as a distribution of teaching responsibility and authority—as opposed to how it is currently operationalized in the community of inquiry instrument—as a centralization of responsibility and authority with the instructor

Regulação interpessoal na aprendizagem colaborativa: efeitos na compreensão da leitura e na auto-regulação dos alunos com diferentes estilos cognitivos

In this investigation article it’s reported the results of a quasi-experimental study that aimed to evaluate the impact of a computerbased learning environment that supported social regulation on the learning achievement and self-regulation, implemented in 166 high school students in a public institution in Bogotá. Using a 2x2 factorial design, possible differences between two models of social regulation and two methods of group formation were explored, taking into account the field dependence-independence cognitive styles. Non-parametric tests indicated that the computer support significantly impacted reading comprehension, controlbeliefs about learning, and metacognitive self-regulation in the students. A “mancova” reported no significant differences between the experimental groups, after controlling the effect of covariates; however, trends in data indicated that (a) task regulation benefited achievement and self-regulation more than communication regulation; (b) homogeneous groups achieved better resultsthan heterogeneous groups; and (c) although independent subjects achieved better results than field-dependent subjects, the environment removed the significant differences that existed between both cognitive styles before the intervention, in terms of the initial level of reading comprehension. These results suggest that computer-based support for task and collaboration regulationcan benefit achievement and self-regulation during collaborative learning in distance education.En este artículo de investigación se reportan los resultados de un estudio cuasiexperimental que tenía por objeto evaluar el impacto de un ambiente de aprendizaje computacional. Este proyecto apoyaba la regulación social en el aprendizaje y la autorregulación de 166 estudiantes de Educación Media en una institución pública de la ciudad de Bogotá, Colombia. Mediante un diseño factorial 2x2, se exploraron las posibles diferencias entre dos modelos de regulación social y dos métodos de conformación grupal, teniendo en cuenta el estilo cognitivo de los sujetos en la dimensión dependencia-independencia de campo. Las pruebas no paramétricas implementadas, señalaron que el ambiente impactó significativamente la comprensión lectora, las creencias de control sobre el aprendizaje y la autorregulación metacognitiva de los participantes. Un Mancova no señaló diferencias significativas entre los grupos experimentales, luego de controlar el efecto de las covariables; no obstante, las tendencias en los datos indicaron que (a) regular la tarea benefició en mayor medida el logro y la autorregulación, en comparación con la regulación de la comunicación; (b) los grupos homogéneos alcanzaron mejores resultados que los grupos heterogéneos; y (c) aunque los sujetos independientes alcanzaron mejores resultados que los sujetos dependientes de campo, el ambiente logró difuminar las diferencias significativas que existían entre ambos estilos cognitivos antes de la intervención, en términos del nivel inicial de comprensión lectora. Estos resultados sugieren que implementar soportes computacionales para apoyar la regulación de la tarea y la colaboración, puede beneficiar el logro y la autorregulación durante el trabajo colaborativo en la educación a distancia.Neste artigo apresentamos os resultados de um estudo quase experimental que visou avaliar o impacto de um ambiente deaprendizagem baseado em computador que apoiou a regulamentação social sobre o desempenho de aprendizagem e autoregulação de 166 alunos do Ensino Médio em uma instituição pública em Bogotá. Utilizando um desenho fatorial 2x2, foram exploradas possíveis diferenças entre dois modelos de regulação social e dois métodos de formação de grupos, levandoem conta o estilo cognitivo dos sujeitos na dimensão da dependência de campo-independência. Testes não-paramétricos indicaram que o ambiente impactou significativamente a compreensão da leitura, crenças de controle sobre a aprendizagem e auto-regulação metacognitiva. Um “mancova” não relatou diferenças significativas entre os grupos experimentais, após o controle para o efeito de covariáveis; entretanto, tendências em dados indicou que 1) a regulação de tarefas beneficiou mais a realização e a autoregulação do que a regulação da comunicação; 2) grupos homogêneos obtiveram melhores resultados que grupos heterogêneos; e 3) emborasujeitos independentes tenham obtido melhores resultados que sujeitos dependentes do campo, o ambiente conseguiu desfocar as diferenças significativas que existiam entre os dois estilos cognitivos antes da intervenção, em termos do nível inicial de compreensão de leitura. Estes resultados sugerem que os apoios informáticos à regulação das tarefas e da colaboração podem beneficiar a realização e a auto-regulação durante a aprendizagem em colaboração no ensino à distância

The Relationship Between a Community of Inquiry and Transformative Learning

To prepare learners for success in the 21st century, institutes of higher education must provide students with meaningful learning opportunities, including participation in discourse and critical reflection. The community of inquiry framework describes the elements necessary to create collaborative, online learning environments, while transformative learning describes the content and outcomes of meaningful learning. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study of 242 online, graduate MBA students from a business school in Maryland, was to measure the relationship between a community of inquiry and transformative learning in online, graduate business courses. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to analyze scores from the Community of Inquiry survey instrument and Reflection Questionnaire to determine if there was a significant relationship between a community of inquiry and transformative learning. Results indicated that a significant relationship existed between a community of inquiry and transformative learning. Specifically, cognitive presence within a community of inquiry was found to be significantly related to both the reflection and critical reflection constructs of transformative learning, and teaching presence was significantly related to the reflection subscale. Future studies can investigate strategies for fostering transformative learning within a community of inquiry in online courses, examine different aspects of transformative learning and their relation to a community of inquiry, and replicate the study in different populations and in different disciplines

Learning to make effective English presentations with BusinessApp

Las presentaciones de productos, negocios y/o servicios en inglés son cada día más habituales en un mundo cuyo nivel de globalización no deja de crecer. Sin embargo, precisamente aquellos que más necesitan aprender cómo realizarlas (directivos y profesionales del mundo empresarial en general), son el colectivo que suele disponer de menos tiempo para el aprendizaje de esta competencia, sobre todo en entornos de enseñanza presencial. Pensando en una solución para este problema, los autores de este trabajo se plantearon la hipótesis siguiente: ¿puede una aplicación para dispositivos móviles facilitar a este colectivo el aprendizaje autónomo y ubicuo de los conocimientos necesarios para hacer presentaciones efectivas en inglés? Para confirmar o refutar esta hipótesis se ha desarrollado BusinessApp, una aplicación para móviles (1) concebida para ayudar a sus usuarios a crear y realizar buenas presentaciones profesionales y de negocios, y (2) asentada sobre una sólida base pedagógica y lingüística. Se ha intentado que su uso sea natural e interactivo; y, se han incluido en ella asimismo ejercicios de autoevaluación, que se corrigen automáticamente. Todo ello, a priori, debería posibilitar no sólo el aprendizaje a distancia, semipresencial (blended learning) y ubicuo, sino también autónomo, de sus contenidos. En este artículo se presentan algunos detalles importantes de construcción de BusinessApp, como la metodología seguida, junto con los detalles del desarrollo (metodología y resultados) de una primera evaluación de la aplicación. Esta primera evaluación ha tenido por objetivo averiguar su potencial para el aprendizaje autónomo de los contenidos teóricos propios de la competencia reseñada (presentaciones profesionales orales efectivas en inglés). También se muestra que los resultados obtenidos permiten afirmar la hipótesis de esta investigación, es decir, que es posible aprender autónomamente los conocimientos indicados mediante una aplicación para dispositivos móviles