Collaborative writing, the joint construction of a text by two or more authors, is an instructional practice originally used in first language classrooms. More recently, it has been applied in second language (L2) learning contexts. Collaborative writing can take place in the classroom, with pairs or small groups of learners working face-to-face and interacting verbally to make decisions about the content and form of their text. It can also take place in online contexts, allowing larger groups of learners to collaborate on longer texts over a longer period of time. The aim of this paper is to explore empirical research undertaken on second language (L2) collaborative writing tasks in face-to-face and online environments. Attention is paid to the instructional contexts in which these tasks have been used, including educational settings, learners’ proficiency levels, and task types. After these elements are described, the paper integrates and analyzes research concerning the outcomes of collaborative writing tasks, namely the nature of languaging and peer scaffolding, the writing process, language learning, text quality, and learners’ perceptions of collaborative writing. The paper concludes with pedagogical implications and directions for future research. / text

The purpose of this study is to derive a method for estimation of costs and benefits of implementing Port Collaborative Decision Making (Port CDM), and to apply this method to the Port of Gothenburg. By using the Port of Gothenburg as a case study, conclusions can be drawn regarding the economic viability of Port CDM in one of Scandinavia‟s largest ports. This study considers two major sources of benefits that are hypothesized to result from transitioning to collaborative port operations: improved possibilities for speed optimization prior to arrival in port due to increased predictability in estimated berthing times, and shortened service times due to increased possibility for planning and resource optimization by port service providers.The estimation of impacts is based on one month‟s traffic data in the Port of Gothenburg. Predictability of estimations is analyzed to determine the benefit potential of Port CDM. The estimated cost savings for cargo vessels can be divided into 5 categories: bunker, emission, time, manning and capital cost savings. The costs of implementing and maintaining Port CDM are estimated with values from relevant previous research.The results of this study indicate that the implementation of Port CDM in the Port of Gothenburg is a profitable investment, for the shipping industry and for society as a whole. The estimated annual net benefit is 27.3 million euros. A sensitivity analysis using alternative unit valuations for emissions, as well as low and high estimations of the effectiveness of Port CDM, indicates that the economic viability of the project is robust under all assumptions considered.

This study described how three English language learners from Korean cultural backgrounds in first grade (7 years old) learned and interacted by applying Collaborative Strategic Reading to their reading comprehension instruction. This article also reported the perceptions of three Korean English language learners in cultural aspects of group work. The theoretical framework of Collaborative Strategic Reading relied on reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning. As an instrumental intervention and strategy, this method has been formed to help English language learners and students with reading disabilities improve their ability to comprehend texts. Before examining the impact of Collaborative Strategic Reading, this research focused on the nature of collaborative importance in multicultural consideration by providing students with opportunities to develop more collaborative abilities. / text

This naturalistic study of cases explores the interrelationship between children’s awareness of their own thought processes, their ability to understand key concepts and concept vocabulary and integrate new ideas into their existing knowledge base when engaged in specific genre writing tasks. An adaptation of the framework, originally devised by Swartz and Perkins (1989), was used to identify the levels of awareness in thinking displayed by eight Year 3 children, when engaged in genre writing tasks during one academic year. The addition of ‘collaborative use’ to this framework highlights ways in which collaborative thinking can act as a support for young writers. When children co-construct ideas they endeavour to make their thinking explicit thus enabling teachers to assess levels of conceptual understanding whilst the children are engaged in a writing task. Evidence also suggests that young writers move in and out of the suggested levels of thinking depending on the complexity of the task, their prior knowledge and understanding of key concepts and awareness of the working strategies and thought processes they employ. This study not only contributes to current research on genre writing within school based contexts but makes a unique contribution by highlighting the need for pedagogical strategies to focus on the way young writers think about and understand the underlying concepts and principles related to genre writing tasks. Evidence also suggests that learning objectives presented to this age group often focus on the factual and procedural aspects of a writing task. However, when factual, procedural and conceptual aspects are made explicit through clear, thought-provoking learning objectives then children are able to develop their own creative responses within the linguistic and textual structures of the given genre without being confined by them.

As a community-based AIDS service organization, HIV North Society plays a key role in providing programming and supports for persons at risk or living with HIV in a vast, primarily rural region of Northern Alberta. This thesis examines the question: How can HIV North Society use collaborative strategies to increase and sustain the delivery of programming within Northern Alberta? The action research was performed utilizing a mixed-methods approach, which included an online survey and conversation café. Participants included a select sampling of funders, board members, community members, and persons living with HIV. In accordance with Royal Roads University ethics requirements, this research was conducted with the greatest degree of care and ethical consideration of participants. The research results suggest that there is potentially much value in new collaborative actions to increase program delivery. The new collaborative actions focus on shared vision, community capacity building, and education, for a collective impact.

This thesis presents a qualitative investigation of the effects of social competence on the participation of students with learning disabilities (LD) in the science learning processes associated with collaborative, guided inquiry learning. An inclusive Grade 2 classroom provided the setting for the study. Detailed classroom observations were the primary source of data. In addition, the researcher conducted two interviews with the teacher, and collected samples of students’ written work. The purpose of the research was to investigate: (a) How do teachers and peers mediate the participation of students with LD in collaborative, guided inquiry science activities, (b) What learning processes do students with LD participate in during collaborative, guided inquiry science activities, and (c) What components of social competence support and constrain the participation of students with LD during collaborative, guided inquiry science activities? The findings of the study suggest five key ideas for research and teaching in collaborative, guided inquiry science in inclusive classrooms. First, using a variety of collaborative learning formats (whole-class, small-group, and pairs) creates more opportunities for the successful participation of diverse students with LD. Second, creating an inclusive community where students feel accepted and valued may enhance the academic and social success of students with LD. Third, careful selection of partners for students with LD is important for a positive learning experience. Students with LD should be partnered with academically successful, socially competent peers; also, this study suggested that students with LD experience more success working collaboratively in pairs rather than in small groups. Fourth, a variety of strategies are needed to promote active participation and positive social interactions for students with and without LD during collaborative, guided inquiry learning. Fifth, adopting a general approach to teaching collaborative inquiry that crosses curriculum borders may enhance success of inclusive teaching practices. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-04-14 20:05:55.867 / SSHRC

The purpose of this study was to determine professor and student knowledge of, attitudes towards, and experiences with graduate level collaborative writing in Canadian universities. Data were gathered from professors and students in Engineering, Business, Education, Biology, English, and History. A mixed methods approach using two surveys and eighteen interviews was employed to explore four research questions. The surveys were analyzed deductively. Interviews were analyzed inductively and deductively. Results indicated that collaborative writing is practiced at the graduate level in a variety of ways. Professors and students described collaborative writing as mentorship, in the context of coursework, and as coauthorship for publication. In addition, a significant relationship was found between graduate students writing collaboratively and discipline. The relationship between professors assigning collaborative writing and discipline was also significant. Disciplinary differences were supported by and explored through interview data. Views in the academy seem to be shifting. Although solitary writing is the norm and highly valued in the humanities, participants in this study indicated an openness and desire to include collaborate writing in their graduate level experiences. In fields where collaborative writing is the norm, participants noted areas to address in order to increase its effectiveness. This study has implications in the areas of pedagogical change, technology, and the mandate of higher education.

The use of multimedia content on the web has grown significantly in recent years. Websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Flickr cater for enormous amounts of multimedia content uploaded by users. This vast amount of multimedia content requires comprehensive content modelling otherwise retrieving relevant content will be challenging. Modelling multimedia content can be an extremely time consuming task that may seem impossible particularly when undertaken by individual users. However, the advent of Web 2.0 and associated communities, such as YouTube and Flickr, has shown that users appear to be more willing to collaborate in order to take on enormous tasks such as multimedia content modelling. Harnessing the power of communities to achieve comprehensive content modelling is the primary focus of this research. The aim of this thesis is to explore collaborative multimedia content modelling and in particular the effectiveness of existing multimedia content modelling tools, taking into account the key development challenges of existing collaborative content modelling research and the associated modelling tools. Four research objectives are pursued in order to achieve this; first, design a user experiment to study users’ tagging behaviour with existing multimedia tagging tools and identify any relationships between such user behaviour; second, design and develop a framework for MPEG-7 content modelling communities based on the results of the experiment; third, implement an online service as a proof of concept of the framework; fourth, validate the framework through the online service during a repeat of the initial user experiment. This research contributes first, a conceptual model of user behaviour visualised as a fuzzy cognitive map and, second, an MPEG-7 framework for multimedia content modelling communities (MC2) and its proof of concept as an online service. The fuzzy cognitive model embodies relationships between user tagging behaviour and context and provides an understanding of user priorities in the description of content features and the relationships that exist between them. The MC2 framework, developed based on the fuzzy cognitive model, is deep-rooted in user content modelling behaviour and content preferences. A proof of concept of the MC2 framework is implemented as an online service in which all metadata is modelled using MPEG-7. The online service is validated, first, empirically with the same group of users and through the same experiment that led to the development of the fuzzy cognitive model and, second, functionally against the folksonomy and MPEG-7 content modelling tools used in the initial experiment. The validation demonstrates that MC2 has the advantages without the shortcomings of existing multimedia tagging tools by harnessing the ease of use of folksonomy tools while producing comprehensive structured metadata.

Computers are valuable tools for a wide range of work tasks. A substantial limitation on their value, however, is the predominant focus on enhancing the work of individuals. This fails to account for the issues of collaboration that affect almost all work. Research into computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) aims to eliminate this deficiency, but the promise of computer systems for group work has not been met. This thesis presents four design principles that promote the development of successful groupware. The principles identify the particular problems encountered by groupware, and provide guidelines and strategies to avoid, overcome, or minimise their impact. Derived from several sources, the major influence on the principles development is an investigation into the relationship between factors affecting groupware failure. They are stimulated by observations of groupware use, and by design insights arising from the development of two groupware applications and their prototypes: Mona and TELEFREEK. Mona provides conversation-based email management. Several groupware applications allow similar functionality, but the design principles result in Mona using different mechanisms to achieve its user-support. TELEFREEK provides a platform for accessing computer-supported communication and collaboration facilities. It attends to the problems of initiating interaction, and supports an adaptable and extendible set of "social awareness" assistants. TELEFREEK offers a broader range of facilities than other groupware, and avoids the use of prohibitively high-bandwidth communication networks. TELEFREEK demonstrates that much can be achieved through current and widely accessible technology. Together, Mona and TELEFREEK forcefully demonstrate the use of the design principles, and substantiate the claim of their utility.

The purpose of this study was to determine professor and student knowledge of, attitudes towards, and experiences with graduate level collaborative writing in Canadian universities. Data were gathered from professors and students in Engineering, Business, Education, Biology, English, and History. A mixed methods approach using two surveys and eighteen interviews was employed to explore four research questions. The surveys were analyzed deductively. Interviews were analyzed inductively and deductively. Results indicated that collaborative writing is practiced at the graduate level in a variety of ways. Professors and students described collaborative writing as mentorship, in the context of coursework, and as coauthorship for publication. In addition, a significant relationship was found between graduate students writing collaboratively and discipline. The relationship between professors assigning collaborative writing and discipline was also significant. Disciplinary differences were supported by and explored through interview data. Views in the academy seem to be shifting. Although solitary writing is the norm and highly valued in the humanities, participants in this study indicated an openness and desire to include collaborate writing in their graduate level experiences. In fields where collaborative writing is the norm, participants noted areas to address in order to increase its effectiveness. This study has implications in the areas of pedagogical change, technology, and the mandate of higher education.