Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) beschäftigt sich mit einer Möglichkeit, Lernenden eine virtuelle Lernumgebung zu bieten, in der sie die Vorteile von E-Learning, wie zeitliche Flexibilität oder Ortsunabhängigkeit, mit den Vorteilen einer kollaborativen Zusammenarbeit kombinieren können. Hierbei steht die systematisch vorbereitete, tutoriell begleitete, unter Projektbedingungen (klare Zielvorgabe, offener Lösungsweg, begrenzte personelle und zeitliche Ressourcen) realisierte und mit Hilfe von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie hauptsächlich in virtueller Umgebung stattfindende, selbstorganisierte Kleingruppenarbeit an authentischen Problemstellungen im Mittelpunkt. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Unterstützung eines Entscheidungsträgers beim Treffen von VCL-bezogenen Planungsentscheidungen und somit die Erhöhung der Wahrscheinlichkeit eines erfolgreichen Einsatzes dieser Lehrform. Hierfür wurden basierend auf den Erfahrungen und Daten, die innerhalb von sieben VCL Projekten zwischen 2001 und 2003 am Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsinformatik, insb. Informationsmanagement, der Technischen Universität Dresden gesammelt und ausgewertet wurden, die Besonderheiten eines VCL Einsatzes systematisiert und ein Vorgehensmodell zur Unterstützung des Entscheidungsträgers abstrahiert. Die im Teil A der Arbeit vorgestellten Informationen ermöglichen dem Leser, Virtual Collaborative Learning in die Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Lehrformen der virtuellen Gruppenarbeit einzuordnen, eine präzise Vorstellung über die mit VCL erreichbaren Ziele zu gewinnen und VCL im Detail kennen zu lernen. Dieses Wissen ist notwendig, um das im Teil B vorgestellte Vorgehensmodell erfolgversprechend nutzen zu können. Das Vorgehensmodell teilt den gesamten Entscheidungsprozess in einzelne Phasen, die Phasen in mehrere Schritte und die Ermittlung möglicher Alternativen in mehrere aufeinander aufbauende Module auf. Zu den einzelnen Vorgehensschritten stehen dem Entscheidungsträger im Anhang unterstützende Informationen, abgeleiteten Empfehlungen, Checklisten und abstrahierte Regeln zur Verfügung.

This paper presents an advanced – international – blended learning arrangement. It has been developed, implemented and reviewed regularly in the last 4 years at the authors’ institution. Instead of referring solely to traditional classroom teaching, we use and continually refine this arrangement in our every-day formal teaching and learning processes at Technische Universitaet Dresden. By this we take into regard the changes induced by the Bologna Roadmap and try better to support its “new” didactical objectives: more interactive and interdisciplinary modules with focus upon the (practical) integration of professional and methodical responsibility, decision-making and soft skills.

This study sought to identify factors that optimize individual and collaborative cognitive processing in complex learning environments. Across two laboratory sessions, the effects of manipulating instructional sequence delivery (high cognitive load vs. low cognitive load) of a simulation-based game and learning condition (individual vs. collaborative) were examined on retention and transfer of instructional content. The instruction was a set of tutorials for preparing novice students to use Aspire, a simulation-based game, developed by Cisco, that teaches entrepreneurial and computer networking skills within the industry of information technology. An instructional sequence by learning condition interaction was found on transfer, but not retention, measures. For delayed transfer performance, individuals who received high load instruction experienced cognitive overload that exceeded their cognitive capacity. Collaborative students were able to collaborate with each other in a way that reduced the high cognitive load imposed by the instructional sequence; thus, they were able to process the instructional content across their collective working memory. Individual students were not able to reduce the cognitive load imposed by the instructional sequence; thus, they had less working memory capacity for processing the instructional content. Collaborative students who received the low load instruction also demonstrated lower motivation than those who received high load instruction. Taken together, these findings support the notions of individual and collective working memory processing differences. This study holds implications for leveraging technology to design learning environments that aid students in attaining collaborative skills and knowledge needed for the 21st century. / text

Simulation and Web-based Learning (WBL) are both educational approaches that are increasingly applied in medical education. However, little is known about how these two instructional approaches may be integrated to improve learning outcomes. A prospective three-arm experimental study of different WBL preparation materials was conducted. Thirty undergraduate medical students with no prior experience in central venous catheterization (CVC) were randomly assigned to one of three preparatory interventions: tradition reading materials (TM), observational practice (OP), or OP and educational networking (OPEN). Participants then completed a simulation-based training workshop in CVC and a delayed retention test. Performance was assessed by a task-specific checklist, global rating scale (GRS) and by measuring time to competency. Main findings reveal a significant linear trend across the TM, OP and OPEN groups in time to competency. This exploratory study demonstrates the potential utility of Web-based observational practice and collaborative learning for improving the efficiency of simulation-based training.

Simulation and Web-based Learning (WBL) are both educational approaches that are increasingly applied in medical education. However, little is known about how these two instructional approaches may be integrated to improve learning outcomes. A prospective three-arm experimental study of different WBL preparation materials was conducted. Thirty undergraduate medical students with no prior experience in central venous catheterization (CVC) were randomly assigned to one of three preparatory interventions: tradition reading materials (TM), observational practice (OP), or OP and educational networking (OPEN). Participants then completed a simulation-based training workshop in CVC and a delayed retention test. Performance was assessed by a task-specific checklist, global rating scale (GRS) and by measuring time to competency. Main findings reveal a significant linear trend across the TM, OP and OPEN groups in time to competency. This exploratory study demonstrates the potential utility of Web-based observational practice and collaborative learning for improving the efficiency of simulation-based training.

This design-based research study investigates the development of progressive discourse among participants (n=15, n=17, n=20) in three online graduate course contexts. Progressive discourse is a kind of discourse for inquiry in which participants share, question, and revise their ideas to deepen understanding and build knowledge. Although progressive discourse is central to knowledge building pedagogy, it is not known whether it is possible to detect its emergence in the patterns of participation in asynchronous conferencing environments or what kinds of instructional scaffolding are most effective to support its development. This study offers a unique perspective by characterizing episodes of discourse where participants honor the commitments for progressive discourse and by refining designs of peer and software-based scaffolding for progressive discourse. Results showed that measures such as note count, replies, and thread sizes can determine some qualities of online discourse but do not shed light on the development of progressive discourse. Thus an in-depth analysis of discourse for groups was developed to trace the interdependent individual contributions to the group discourse. Peer scaffolding that made norms for progressive discourse explicit was introduced to encourage participants to engage in sustained student-centered discourse for inquiry. Findings show that this intervention was most effective at the beginning of a course for newer online learners and newer graduate students, and least effective for students who were practicing K-12 teachers. A significant barrier to fostering progressive discourse is the tendency for teachers to reject these norms and revert to belief-mode thinking and devotional discourse typical of traditional schooling. Additionally, findings suggest that software-based scaffolding (as found in Knowledge Forum’s scaffold support feature) is a promising avenue for future design innovations to encourage progressive discourse. Although the results of this study are only suggestive, the findings do illustrate ways in which graduate students can uphold the commitments to move beyond expressions of socio- affective connection and opinion to discuss ideas in ways that lead to more useful explanations. The implications for these results for analyzing the quality of online discourse and the designs of instructional scaffolding in online learning environments are discussed.

Web-based collaborative learning is becoming an increasingly popular educational paradigm as more individuals who are geographically isolated seek higher education. As such students do not meet face to face with their peers and teachers, support for collaboration becomes extremely important. Successful collaboration means asking questions to gain a better understanding of the main concepts, elaborating and justifying opinions and sharing and explaining ideas. When group members' combined skills are sufficient to complete the learning task, effective group work can result in greater overall achievement than individual learning. Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have been shown to be highly effective at increasing students' performance and motivation. They achieve their intelligence by representing pedagogical decisions about how to teach as well as information about the learner. Constraint based tutors are a class of ITSs that use Constraint-based Modelling(CBM) to represent student and domain models. Proposed by Ohlsson, CBM is based on learning from performance errors, and focuses on correct knowledge. In this thesis, we present COLLECT-UML, a collaborative constraint-based ITS that teaches object-oriented analysis and design using Unified Modelling Language (UML). While teaching how to design UML class diagrams, COLLECT-UML also provides feedback on collaboration. Being a constraint-based tutor, COLLECT-UML represents the domain knowledge as a set of syntax and semantic constraints. However, it is the first system to also represent a higher-level skill such as collaboration using the same formalism. We started by developing a single-user ITS that supported students in learning UML class diagrams. The system was evaluated in a real classroom, and the results showed that students' performance increased significantly. We then extended the system to provide support for collaboration as well as domain-level support. The enhancement process included implementation of the shared workspace, modification of the pedagogical module to support groups of users, designing and implementing a group-modelling component, and developing a set of meta-constraints which are used to represent an ideal model of collaboration. The effectiveness of the system was evaluated in two studies. In addition to improved problem-solving skills, the participants both acquired declarative knowledge about effective collaboration and did collaborate more effectively. The participants enjoyed working with the system and found it a valuable asset to their learning. The results, therefore, show that CBM is an effective technique for modelling and supporting collaboration in computer-supported collaborative learning environments.

This design-based research study investigates the development of progressive discourse among participants (n=15, n=17, n=20) in three online graduate course contexts. Progressive discourse is a kind of discourse for inquiry in which participants share, question, and revise their ideas to deepen understanding and build knowledge. Although progressive discourse is central to knowledge building pedagogy, it is not known whether it is possible to detect its emergence in the patterns of participation in asynchronous conferencing environments or what kinds of instructional scaffolding are most effective to support its development. This study offers a unique perspective by characterizing episodes of discourse where participants honor the commitments for progressive discourse and by refining designs of peer and software-based scaffolding for progressive discourse. Results showed that measures such as note count, replies, and thread sizes can determine some qualities of online discourse but do not shed light on the development of progressive discourse. Thus an in-depth analysis of discourse for groups was developed to trace the interdependent individual contributions to the group discourse. Peer scaffolding that made norms for progressive discourse explicit was introduced to encourage participants to engage in sustained student-centered discourse for inquiry. Findings show that this intervention was most effective at the beginning of a course for newer online learners and newer graduate students, and least effective for students who were practicing K-12 teachers. A significant barrier to fostering progressive discourse is the tendency for teachers to reject these norms and revert to belief-mode thinking and devotional discourse typical of traditional schooling. Additionally, findings suggest that software-based scaffolding (as found in Knowledge Forum’s scaffold support feature) is a promising avenue for future design innovations to encourage progressive discourse. Although the results of this study are only suggestive, the findings do illustrate ways in which graduate students can uphold the commitments to move beyond expressions of socio- affective connection and opinion to discuss ideas in ways that lead to more useful explanations. The implications for these results for analyzing the quality of online discourse and the designs of instructional scaffolding in online learning environments are discussed.

The Education Faculties within the universities are looking to meet the needs of their learners more completely. Teaching and learning strategies are being adopted to make educational provision more flexible by using computer supported collaborative learning environments. However, research has shown that in preservice teacher programs, many teachers do not have a complete knowledge of subject-matter or pedagogical content knowledge. This study investigated how a lesson-planning task within the context of a computer supported collaborative learning environment can facilitate the growth of teacher knowledge, specifically subject-matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge about the teaching of ratio and fraction. The findings from this research showed that using a lesson-planning task facilitated the development of teacher knowledge, specifically subject-matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Within the computer supported collaborative learning community, the preservice teachers were able to articulate their current understandings and re-define their knowledge of fraction and ratio. The thesis concludes with a conceptual framework and some specific guidelines for the design of a scaffolded computer-mediated community and discusses implications for the design of future collaborative learning environments.

This thesis is an investigation into the exercise of autonomy in the practice of collaborative, project-based classrooms. The investigation set out to answer two research questions: What are the forms of autonomy expected of students in project-based classes?, and What are the factors that mediate the employment of autonomy in these classes? The investigation gathered qualitative data from students and teachers of four project-based, computer-assisted courses in four language departments at The University of Melbourne. The study was carried out in two stages, over two years. In all, a total of ten 14-week classes run by four teachers were investigated, containing a total of 136 students. The first year (stage one of the investigation) focussed on teacher practice and course syllabi, and addressed the first research question. The second year (stage two), focussed on student practice and addressed the second research question.