Supporting knowledge elicitation for learning in virtual teams

The growing complexity and dynamics of professional work increasingly require teamwork. Continuous learning while working will be obligatory to meet the performance requirements of the workplace. In this context asynchronous collaboration becomes more common and poses new educational design questions. Many questions regarding these new ways of working and learning are yet to be resolved. One pivotal issue is how to effectively support eliciting and sharing available but not yet articulated knowledge residing in the minds of individual team members. Suggestions derived from literature about knowledge elicitation point in different directions. In order to investigate knowledge elicitation support for professionals in virtual teams, an electronic Delphi study was executed. The objective was to gain insights regarding knowledge elicitation from a group of 16 representative experts. The results reveal the importance of customising multiple aspects to the specific situation. Each context requires a mixture of team, knowledge awareness and task related prompts. Based upon generic know-how with respect to enabling virtual team dynamics and community formation, social and task related knowledge prompts should be dedicated to the constraints and dynamics of the organisational context

Using enriched skeleton concept mapping to support meaningful learning

Abstract. There has been significant interest among researchers in the instructional use of concept maps and collaboration scripts. Some studies focus on students' collaboration on concept mapping tasks; others focus on scripts to structure learning tasks and guide interactions. Little is known about scripted collaborative concept mapping. This article reports a study in which we examine the effects on meaningful learning of scripting students' argumentative interactions during collaborative "enriched skeleton concept mapping". Each concept in the enriched skeleton concept map (ESCoM) contains "annotated factual multimedia information" and an embedded micro collaboration script. The study was performed in a Biomolecules course of the Bachelor of Applied Science program. First-year students were randomly assigned to an experimental group of 44 students and a control group of 49 students. In the experimental group, students worked together in pairs on an ESCoM guided by embedded collaboration scripts. The control group received the regular course. The results show that students were able to handle and appreciate the enriched skeleton concept mapping products and processes. Moreover, concept maps appeared to be scored reliable and validly. Finally, the regular course exam showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group. Enriched skeleton concept mapping resulted in a better understanding of the conceptual structure of the domain, the concepts and their relations

Applying reflection and moderation in an asynchronous computer-supported collaborative learning environment in campus-based higher education.

Working together while accomplishing a task is a characteristic of a powerful learning environment that aims at active knowledge construction. Studies have demonstrated that collaborative learning by using asynchronous communication tools can have advantages over collaboration in a face-to-face setting. However, it is questionable whether students are able and willing to learn collaboratively through these new kinds of learning environments. The present research investigates whether asynchronous collaborative learning is a feasible learning method for student teachers. In particular, this article explores issues of students’ participation, interaction, and experience while using an asynchronous Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment to facilitate collaborative learning. Two studies that apply various instructional settings are presented. Findings show that students did not use CSCL environment effectively to facilitate their collaboration. A low participation rate, a limited interaction, and some negative experiences indicate that more studies in various topics in CSCL environment are needed

Designing for interaction

At present, the design of computer-supported group-based learning (CS)GBL) is often based on subjective decisions regarding tasks, pedagogy and technology, or concepts such as ‘cooperative learning’ and ‘collaborative learning’. Critical review reveals these concepts as insufficiently substantial to serve as a basis for (CS)GBL design. Furthermore, the relationship between outcome and group interaction is rarely specified a priori. Thus, there is a need for a more systematic approach to designing (CS)GBL that focuses on the elicitation of expected interaction processes. A framework for such a process-oriented methodology is proposed. Critical elements that affect interaction are identified: learning objectives, task-type, level of pre-structuring, group size and computer support. The proposed process-oriented method aims to stimulate designers to adopt a more systematic approach to (CS)GBL design according to the interaction expected, while paying attention to critical elements that affect interaction. This approach may bridge the gap between observed quality of interaction and learning outcomes and foster (CS)GBL design that focuses on the heart of the matter: interaction

Educational research and educational research policy in the Netherlands

The EERJ roundtable took as its point of departure the experience of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) in carrying out policy research. CERI has conducted four reviews of national educational research and development (in New Zealand, England, Mexico and Denmark), and has run a number of meetings specifically on the use of evidence-based policy research (in the USA, Sweden and the Netherlands). Tom Schuller, Head of CERI, presented some conclusions from these and other CERI activities. Responses were made by Wim Jochems, Open University of the Netherlands, Lejf Moos, Danish University of Education, and Agnes van Zanten, Observatoire Sociologique du Changement, CNRS, Paris. The EERJ Roundtable was an opportunity to return to the issues raised in the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) 2003 Hamburg Roundtable on the ‘OECD Examiners’ Report on Educational Research and Development in England’ (European Educational Research Journal, 3(2), 2004, pp. 510?526) in a wider context and as part of a trend to evaluate the quality and organisation of educational research, and its contribution to educational policy

Innovative education: integrating a new educational concept and e-learning.

Innovation is a keystone at UNESCO-IHE both as one of the qualities of expertise in the water sector that it teaches its students and in its own approach to training delivery. In its mission of providing trained water profession als equipped with real expertise and committed to life-long learning, the institute highlights problem-based learning as the optimal method for achieving these goals. Careful research has gone into the design and sequence of the program, and into the adjustments required by the teachers and coaches of the students, so that high quality outcomes are assured and professionally assessed. The addition of e-learning allows even closer linkages to be developed between the learning students do in the "resi dential" setting with that accomplished through projects in the field, thus enhancing both information and communication as well as enabling the creation of e-portfolios for accumulated work storage and assessment