Influence of authority on convergence in collaborative learning

Teachers and students have established social roles, norms and conventions when they encounter Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) systems in the classroom. Authority, a major force in the classroom, gives certain people, objects, representations or ideas the power to affect thought and behavior and influences communication and interaction. Effective computer-supported collaborative learning requires students and teachers to change how they understand and assign authority. This paper describes two studies in which students' perceptions of authority led to learning difficulties while they were engaged in collaborative learning. Students converged on either a representation or representational style that they believed was authoritative instead of basing their choice on how well the available representations communicated a concept. Methods to help students avoid such premature convergence are suggested.

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