Contextual perspective in analysing collaborative knowledge construction of two small groups in web-based discussion

This paper presents a methodology designed to explore the role of context in collaborative knowledge construction activity in asynchronous web-based discussion. The discussions of two student groups participating in a web-based teacher education course were compared. The comparison aimed to highlight the differences and similarities between the groups’ knowledge construction activity through studying the thematic structure, communicative functions and contextual resources used in their discussions. The results indicated that the different backgrounds of the two student groups influenced the way context was created and interpreted, and how meanings were negotiated. The differences and similarities between the groups’ activity illuminated the situated and mediated nature of learning. The possibilities of the methodology used in this study for evaluating collaborative knowledge construction in context are also discussed.

[1]  Fei Ching Chen,et al.  Effective discussions, social talks and learning: a paradox on learning in discussion forums , 2005, CSCL.

[2]  Per Linell,et al.  Approaching Dialogue: Talk, Interaction and Contexts in Dialogical Perspectives , 1998 .

[3]  F. Fischer,et al.  Fostering collaborative knowledge construction with visualization tools , 2002 .

[4]  F. Fischer,et al.  Epistemic and social scripts in computer–supported collaborative learning , 2005 .

[5]  L. Lipponen,et al.  Patterns of participation and discourse in elementary students’ computer-supported collaborative learning , 2003 .

[6]  K. Kumpulainen,et al.  The situated dynamics of peer group interaction: an introduction to an analytic framework , 1999 .

[7]  Pierre Tchounikine,et al.  Flexibility in macro-scripts for computer-supported collaborative learning , 2007, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[8]  C. Boxtel,et al.  Collaborative learning tasks and the elaboration of conceptual knowledge. , 2000 .

[9]  T. Koschmann,et al.  CSCL 2 : carrying forward the conversation , 2003 .

[10]  Deborah Hicks,et al.  Discourse Learning and Schooling , 2008 .

[11]  Noriko Hara,et al.  Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning: Community of Practice , 2004 .

[12]  James V. Wertsch,et al.  A sociocultural approach to socially shared cognition , 1991, Perspectives on socially shared cognition.

[13]  G. Stahl.  Building Collaborative Knowing , 2006 .

[14]  Stephanie D. Teasley,et al.  Perspectives on socially shared cognition , 1991 .

[15]  S. Engel.  Thought and Language , 1964 .

[16]  Charles Crook,et al.  Computers in the community of classrooms , 1999 .

[17]  Pierre Dillenbourg,et al.  Over-scripting CSCL: The risks of blending collaborative learning with instructional design , 2002 .

[18]  Alfred Bork,et al.  Learning with computers , 1981 .

[19]  Ulla Maija Valleala.  JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 280 , 2006 .

[20]  Mark Guzdial,et al.  Effective Discussion Through a Computer-Mediated Anchored Forum , 2000 .

[21]  D. Garrison,et al.  Methodological Issues in the Content Analysis of Computer Conference Transcripts , 2007 .

[22]  Frank Fischer,et al.  Scripting Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning : cognitive, computational, and educational perspectives , 2007 .

[23]  C. Goodwin,et al.  Rethinking Context: An Introduction , 1992 .

[24]  Heinz Mandl,et al.  Scripting Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning , 2007 .

[25]  Richard Buttny,et al.  Putting Prior Talk Into Context: Reported Speech and the Reporting Context , 1998 .

[26]  N. Mercer.  The quality of talk in children’s collaborative activity in the classroom , 1996, Language and the Joint Creation of Knowledge.

[27]  M. Polanyi.  Chapter 7 – The Tacit Dimension , 1997 .

[28]  G. Stahl.  Building collaborative knowing: elements of a social theory of CSCL , 2004 .

[29]  Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver,et al.  Analyzing collaborative knowledge construction: multiple methods for integrated understanding , 2003, Comput. Educ..

[30]  John McCarthy,et al.  Reviewing the "Community of Practice" Metaphor: An Analysis of Control Relations in a Primary School Classroom , 2001 .

[31]  Päivi Häkkinen,et al.  Learning to collaborate: Designing collaboration in a 3-D game environment , 2006, Internet High. Educ..

[32]  Jan-Willem Strijbos,et al.  What we know about CSCL: ...and what we do not (but need to) know about CSCL , 2004 .

[33]  F. Fischer,et al.  A framework to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning , 2006, Comput. Educ..

[34]  Deborah Hicks.  Discourse, learning, and schooling: Contextual inquiries: a discourse-oriented study of classroom learning , 1996 .

[35]  Roger Säljö,et al.  Learning as the use of tools: a sociocultural perspective on the human-technology link , 1999 .

[36]  C. Goodwin.  Action and embodiment within situated human interaction , 2000 .

[37]  S. Järvelä,et al.  Combining Individual and Group-Level Perspectives for Studying Collaborative Knowledge Construction in Context. , 2007 .

[38]  Sadhana Puntambekar,et al.  Analyzing collaborative interactions: divergence, shared understanding and construction of knowledge , 2006, Comput. Educ..

[39]  Sarah Schrire,et al.  Knowledge building in asynchronous discussion groups: Going beyond quantitative analysis , 2006, Comput. Educ..