Visualization of agreement and discussion processes during computer-supported collaborative learning

This study examined the effects of the shared space (SS) on students’ behaviors in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. The SS visualizes discussion and agreement during online discussions. It was hypothesized the SS would increase the media richness of the CSCL-environment, would stimulate critical and exploratory group-norms, would lead to more positive perceptions of online collaboration, and would have an impact on students’ collaborative activities. In total, 59 students working in 20 groups had access to the SS visualization, while 58 students working in 20 groups did not. The results show that students with access to the SS visualization: (a) perceived higher media richness; (b) had a more exploratory group-norm perception; (c) perceived more positive group behavior; (d) perceived their group’s task strategies to be more effective; (e) engaged in different collaborative activities and (f) performed better on one part of the group task. These results demonstrate the potential benefits of visualizing agreement and discussion during CSCL

Visualization of participation: Does it contribute to successful computer-supported collaborative learning?

This study investigated the effects of visualization of participation during computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). It is hypothesized that visualization of participation could contribute to successful CSCL. A CSCL-environment was augmented with the Participation Tool (PT). The PT visualizes how much each group member contributes to his or her group’s online communication. Using a posttest-only design with a treatment (N = 52) and a control group (N = 17), it was examined whether students with access to the PT participated more and more equally during collaboration, reported higher awareness of group processes and activities, collaborated differently, and performed better than students without access to the PT. The results show that students used the PT quite intensively. Furthermore, compared to control group students, treatment group students participated more and engaged more in coordination and regulation of social activities during collaboration by sending more statements that addressed the planning of social activities. However, equality of participation, awareness of group processes and quality of the group products was not higher in the treatment condition. Still, the results of this study demonstrate that visualization of participation can contribute to successful CSCL

Using visualizations to support collaboration and coordination during computer-supported collaborative learning

This thesis addresses the topic of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL in short). In a CSCL-environment, students work in small groups on complex and challenging tasks. Although the teacher guides this process at a distance, students have to regulate and monitor their own learning process, study sources of information, and discuss and argue about the topic of their task. This whole process takes place via the computer: students work with and communicate through the computer. As everyone who has ever worked in a team knows, collaborating with group members is not always easy or without problems. This research therefore addresses four different problems group members may experience during CSCL. First, when students collaborate through the computer they find it difficult to know what their group members are doing. This lack of awareness of group members’ activities can seriously hamper the effective coordination of group work. Furthermore, electronic communication (e.g., through chat) is sometimes more difficult than face-to-face communication because nonverbal ways of communication (e.g., facial expressions, tone of voice) are unavailable. In addition, although critical but constructive discussion is required for successful collaboration, group members often fail to critically evaluate and discuss their own and their group members’ ideas and opinions. The described problems may all undermine the effectiveness and efficiency of CSCL. The aim of this research was to investigate the usefulness of visualizations to overcome the described problems. Specific social and task-related aspects of the collaboration may be visualized in a CSCL-environment using graphical or textual elements. In one of our studies for example, we visualized the symmetry in group members’ participation levels (i.e., do all group members contribute equally to the discussion?). We hypothesized that by giving group members access to visualizations of social and task-related aspects of the collaboration, the collaborative process would improve. Three visualizations were developed: the Participation-tool visualized symmetry in participation levels, the Shared Space visualized the amount of agreement or discussion during chat conversations, and the Graphical Debate-tool visualized how well group members supported a graphical representation of a historical debate with arguments (e.g., have both positions been given equal attention?). The three studies reported on in this thesis largely confirm these expectations. Two of the three developed visualizations (Graphical Debate-tool and Shared Space) led to an increased group performance (i.e., group members wrote better essays). The finding that the third visualization (Participation tool) did not increase group performance highlights the need to further investigate which kinds of visualizations can be effective under which specific circumstances. The results furthermore show visualizations can have an important impact on the collaborative process, by raising group members’ awareness of the activities of their group members, decreasing communication problems, and facilitating the coordination of the collaborative process. Future research however should investigate whether these results extend beyond the subject of history in which the studies were carried out and more attention should be given the role of the teacher in guiding groups of collaborating students

"Ze werken zelfstandig, lang en geconcentreerd": Ervaringen met samenwerken via computers

Eén voor één komen de leerlingen het computerlokaal binnen. Ze gaan achter een computer zitten, starten het programma en loggen in. Vervolgens wordt via het programma, online, contact gezocht met groepsleden. Wanneer na enkele minuten de leerlingen allemaal aanwezig zijn, wordt er overal driftig getikt. De docent loopt rond om te zien of er problemen zijn en gaat na enige tijd ook achter een vrije pc zitten. Hij kijkt mee met wat er door de leerlingen, via de computer, allemaal gezegd wordt en stuurt af en toe ook een bericht. Als de bel gaat, worden door enkele leerlingen nog snel even afspraken gemaakt om in een tussenuur verder te gaan werken in de mediatheek

Using visualizations to support collaboration and coordination during computer-supported collaborative learning

This thesis addresses the topic of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL in short). In a CSCL-environment, students work in small groups on complex and challenging tasks. Although the teacher guides this process at a distance, students have to regulate and monitor their own learning process, study sources of information, and discuss and argue about the topic of their task. This whole process takes place via the computer: students work with and communicate through the computer. As everyone who has ever worked in a team knows, collaborating with group members is not always easy or without problems. This research therefore addresses four different problems group members may experience during CSCL. First, when students collaborate through the computer they find it difficult to know what their group members are doing. This lack of awareness of group members’ activities can seriously hamper the effective coordination of group work. Furthermore, electronic communication (e.g., through chat) is sometimes more difficult than face-to-face communication because nonverbal ways of communication (e.g., facial expressions, tone of voice) are unavailable. In addition, although critical but constructive discussion is required for successful collaboration, group members often fail to critically evaluate and discuss their own and their group members’ ideas and opinions. The described problems may all undermine the effectiveness and efficiency of CSCL. The aim of this research was to investigate the usefulness of visualizations to overcome the described problems. Specific social and task-related aspects of the collaboration may be visualized in a CSCL-environment using graphical or textual elements. In one of our studies for example, we visualized the symmetry in group members’ participation levels (i.e., do all group members contribute equally to the discussion?). We hypothesized that by giving group members access to visualizations of social and task-related aspects of the collaboration, the collaborative process would improve. Three visualizations were developed: the Participation-tool visualized symmetry in participation levels, the Shared Space visualized the amount of agreement or discussion during chat conversations, and the Graphical Debate-tool visualized how well group members supported a graphical representation of a historical debate with arguments (e.g., have both positions been given equal attention?). The three studies reported on in this thesis largely confirm these expectations. Two of the three developed visualizations (Graphical Debate-tool and Shared Space) led to an increased group performance (i.e., group members wrote better essays). The finding that the third visualization (Participation tool) did not increase group performance highlights the need to further investigate which kinds of visualizations can be effective under which specific circumstances. The results furthermore show visualizations can have an important impact on the collaborative process, by raising group members’ awareness of the activities of their group members, decreasing communication problems, and facilitating the coordination of the collaborative process. Future research however should investigate whether these results extend beyond the subject of history in which the studies were carried out and more attention should be given the role of the teacher in guiding groups of collaborating students

Automatic coding of dialogue acts in collaboration protocols

Although protocol analysis can be an important tool for researchers to investigate the process of collaboration and communication, the use of this method of analysis can be time consuming. Hence, an automatic coding procedure for coding dialogue acts was developed. This procedure helps to determine the communicative function of messages in online discussions by recognizing discourse markers and cue phrases in the utterances. Five main communicative functions are distinguished: argumentative, responsive, informative, elicitative, and imperative. A total of 29 different dialogue acts are specified and recognized automatically in collaboration protocols. The reliability of the automatic coding procedure was determined by comparing automatically coded dialogue acts to hand-coded dialogue acts by a human rater. The validity of the automatic coding procedure was examined using three different types of analyses. First, an examination of group differences was used (dialogue acts used by female versus male students). Ideally, the coding procedure should be able to distinguish between groups who are likely to communicate differently. Second, to examine the validity of the automatic coding procedure through examination of experimental intervention, the results of the automatic coding procedure of students, with access to a tool that visualizes the degree of participation of each student, were compared to students who did not have access to this tool. Finally, the validity of the automatic coding procedure of dialogue acts was examined using correlation analyses. Results of the automatic coding procedure of dialogue acts of utterances (form) were related to results of a manual coding procedure of the collaborative activities to which the utterances refer (content). The analyses presented in this paper indicate promising results concerning the reliability and validity of the automatic coding procedure for dialogue acts. However, limitations of the procedure were also found and discussed

Coordinated computer-supported collaborative learning: Awareness and awareness tools

Traditionally, research on awareness during online collaboration focused on topics such as the effects of spatial information about group members’ activities on the collaborative process. When the concept of awareness was introduced to computer-supported collaborative learning, this focus shifted to cognitive group awareness (e.g., information about group members’ knowledge and expertise) and social group awareness (e.g., information about group members’ contributions to the group process). In this article, we show how both cognitive and social group awareness affect coordination of collaborative activities in the content (e.g., cognitive learning activities) and relational space (e.g., maintaining a positive group climate) of collaboration. Furthermore, we describe how cognitive and social group awareness tools (i.e., tools designed to enhance cognitive or social group awareness) may help learners coordinate their activities in both spaces. We present a conceptual framework that shows how group awareness affects coordination in both dialogical spaces and the effectiveness of collaboration

Vragenlijst Gezinsfunctioneren – Ouderversie. Voorlopige Handleiding

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