From Individual Creativity to Team-Based Creativity

Supporting the development of creative competency is important for the actual challenges of the society. However, creativity has been mainly approached in an individual way, without considering the specificities of team-based creativity processes. In this chapter, we establish the differences between creativity as an individual approach and creativity as a collaborative process. Then we discuss creativity from the perspective of the leaners’ and teachers’ attitudes. Subsequently, we discuss the concept of the margin of creativity in different learning activities. We finalize this chapter by discussing digital uses that can support creativity in team-based contexts

Group Awareness, Learning, and Participation in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)

AbstractThe aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between student participation in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and the effects of this on learning outcomes. Within this context, we have taken into consideration the line of research called Group Awareness (GA) to facilitate the processes of interaction between teammates. Group Awareness Widgets (GAw) are tools based on the shared information displayed by the teammates throughout the course of collaboration. The theoretical results of this review demonstrate the need to determine how GA affects the facilitation of student interactions and the enhancement of the collaborative learning process. To this end, we have reviewed the current state of a line of research called GA, a research line that aims to facilitate the communication and coordination processes so as to help to increase the quality of work and the collaboration environments in CSCL. Next, we have briefly discussed the different conceptualizations of the GA focusing on the mechanisms used to support asynchronous GA in a CSCL Environment, and we haven then addressed some of the key dimensions considered, among which we can distinguish behavioral-awareness or participation, cognitive awareness, and social consciousness. The remainder of our work consists of analyzing the relationship between the GA, the students’ learning performance, and their participation

Estrategias de gestión temporal en las actividades colaborativas mediadas por ordenador. : Análisis cualitativo de los episodios estratégicos

El aprendizaje durante toda la vida y el desarrollo de propuestas de formación a distancia basadas en dispositivos informáticos, ha permitido desarrollar el Aprendizaje Colaborativo Mediado por Ordenador (ACMO). En este contexto de aprendizaje, espacio y tiempo se convierten en dimensiones flexibles, lo que exige del estudiante una gran capacidad de autorregulación, sin la cual las posibilidades de éxito disminuirán. En este trabajo, proponemos una metodología de evaluación de la regulación colaborativa integrada a la tarea (online) y basada en la observación de Episodios Estratégicos de Gestión Temporal (EEGT). Mediante esta metodología hemos observado el modo en el que los estudiantes planifican y regulan una actividad síncrona de tipo Chat, con el objetivo de identificar las estrategias de autorregulación utilizadas a lo largo de una tarea colaborativa de carácter auténtico. Al final, planteamos una prueba de conocimientos independiente, posterior a la tarea (offline), para comprobar la relación existente entre autoregulación y calidad del aprendizaje obtenidoDuring the last years, lifelong learning policies and distance learning possibilities are constanly growing, which allow to develop Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. In distance learning, space and time become flexible dimensions, which demand the student's self-regulation competency. Without this competency the student's success possibilities will diminish. In this work, we propose a task-embedded assessment methodology, based on Time Management Strategic Episodes (EEGT). By means of this methodology we have studied the way students plan and regulate a synchronous activity (Chat), aiming to identify self-regulation strategies throughout an authentic collaborative task. After the task, we made an independent assessment knowledge test, aiming to verify the relation between self and group regulation and students' learning quality.L'apprentissage à vie et l'essor des projets de formation á distance fondés sur l'ordinateur ont permis de développer l'Apprentissage en Collaboration Assisté par Ordinateur (ACAO). Dans ce contexte pédagogique, l'espace et le temps prennent des dimensions flexibles, ce qui exige de l'étudiant une grande capacité d'autorégulation, sans laquelle les chances de succès diminuent. Dans ce travail, nous proposons une méthodologie d'évaluation de la régulation collaborative intégrée á la tâche (on line) et fondée sur l'observation d'Episodes Stratégiques de Gestion Temporelle. Grãce à cette technologie, nous avons observé la façon dont les étudiants planifient et régulent une activité synchrone de type Chat, afin d'identifier les stratégies d'autorégulation utilisées au long d'un travail collaboratif authentique. Enfin, nous proposons une épreuve de connaissances indépendante, postérieure à ce travail (offline), pour vérifier la relation existant entre l'autorégulation et la qualité de l'apprentissage obten

Wetting of Nematic Liquid Crystals on Crenellated Substrates: A Frank–Oseen Approach

We revisit the wetting of nematic liquid crystals in contact with crenellated substrates, studied previously using the Landau–de Gennes formalism. However, due to computational limitations, the characteristic length scales of the substrate relief considered in that study limited to less than 100 nematic correlation lengths. The current work uses an extended Frank–Oseen formalism, which includes not only the free-energy contribution due to the elastic deformations but also the surface tension contributions and, if disclinations or other orientational field singularities are present, their core contributions. Within this framework, which was successfully applied to the anchoring transitions of a nematic liquid crystal in contact with structured substrates, we extended the study to much larger length scales including the macroscopic scale. In particular, we analyzed the interfacial states and the transitions between them at the nematic–isotropic coexistence

Measuring students’ Time Perspective and Time on Task in GBL activities

Computer-based learning in general and Game Based Learning (GBL) in particular are becoming widely used in lifelong learning institutions and business schools. However, instructional and research design of these environments is still in a process of adaptation, due to the novelty of the GBL methodology and the initial stage of research studies in the field. One of the key factors in understanding these learning contexts is the time factor, defined both as an objective dimension (Time-on-Task; ToT) and as a subjective, psychological variable (Time Perspective; TP).The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to measure these two temporal variables in computer-based learning activities. In particular, we will raise the question of which techniques and methodologies are being used to measure these temporal variables in computer-based learning and GBL, and we will further discuss these methodologies in order to propose an suitable methodology that could be useful for researchers. For this purpose, an exhaustive literature review on time measurement in the learning sciences was conducted. The outcomes of the study aim to draw a usable methodology for measuring both TP and ToT in computer-based educational contexts. Results of this study could be of interest for researchers and practitioners in the field of computer-based learning when designing and implementing time measures in the learning process

Assessment of e-learners' temporal patterns in an online collaborative writing task

E-learners are generally adults with work and family constraints who get involved in the virtual campus looking for temporary academic flexibility. However, they are often confronted with collaborative learning activities which lead to additional organizational efforts by reducing their individual time flexibility. In this paper, we argue that time is a major variable in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) activities, and that assessing students' use of time in these situations can help educational designers to propose adequate time scripting to plan these educational activities.This case study presents an exploratory analysis of time patterns for 15 groups of students (n=66), involved in a collaborative writing task. The results reveal that (a), e-learners' time-on-task increased since the beginning of the activity, (b), they work more during week days than during weekends and (c), they tend to work during "conventional" hours of the day. The identification of these patterns is the first step toward the development of new methodologies and computer-supported tools to enhance organisation of time and social aspects in CSCL

Assessment of co-creativity in the process of game design

We consider game design as a sociocultural and knowledge modelling activity, engaging participants in the design of a scenario and a game universe based on a real or imaginary socio-historical context, where characters can introduce life narratives and interaction that display either known social realities or entirely new ones. In this research, participants of the co-creation activity are Malaysian students who were working in groups to design game-based learning resources for rural school children. After the co-creativity activity, the students were invited to answer the co-creativity scale, an adapted version of the Assessment Scale of Creative Collaboration (ASCC), combining both the co-creativity factors and learners’ experiences on their interests, and difficulties they faced during the co-creativity process. The preliminary results showed a high diversity on the participants’ attitudes towards collaboration, especially related to their preferences towards individual or collaborative work

Pattern-induced anchoring transitions in nematic liquid crystals

In this paper we revisit the problem of a nematic liquid crystal in contact with patterned substrates. The substrate is modelled as a periodic array of parallel infinite grooves of well-defined cross section sculpted on a chemically homogeneous substrate which favors local homeotropic anchoring of the nematic. We consider three cases: a sawtooth, a crenellated and a sinusoidal substrate. We analyse this problem within the modified Frank-Oseen formalism. We argue that, for substrate periodicities much larger than the extrapolation length, the existence of different nematic textures with distinct far-field orientations, as well as the anchoring transitions between them, are associated with the presence of topological defects either on or close to the substrate. For the sawtooth and sinusoidal case, we observe a homeotropic to planar anchoring transition as the substrate roughness is increased. On the other hand, a homeotropic to oblique anchoring transition is observed for crenellated substrates. In this case, the anchoring phase diagram shows a complex dependence on the substrate roughness and substrate anchoring strength.Comment: 36 pages, 15 figures, revised version submitted to Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte

Learning through playing for or against each other? Promoting collaborative learning in digital game based learning

The process of learning through Game Based Learning (GBL) presents both positive aspects and challenges to be faced in order to support the achievement of learning goals and knowledge creation. This study aims to characterise game dynamics in the adoption of multi-player GBL. In particular, we examine the multi-player GBL dynamics may enhance collaborative learning through a relation of positive interdependence while at the same time maintaining a certain level of competition for ensuring multi-player GBL gameplay. The first section of the paper introduces collaborative GBL and describes the combination of intragroup dynamics of cooperation and positive interdependence and an intergroup dynamic of competition to maintain gameplay. The second part of the paper describes two multi-player GBL scenarios: the multi-player game with interpersonal competition and the multiplayer game with intergroup competition. For each scenario a case analysis of existing collaborative games is provided, which may help instructional and game designers when defining the collaborative GBL dynamics. Technological requirements and best practices in the use of collaborative GBL are described in the last sections