1. Collaboration in Educational Settings Nathan Campbell Lisa Doan Kirill Kireyev Malte Winkler

2. Traditional Instruction “Sage on Stage” Limited interaction, participation –Hard to ask questions Cramming for tests –Shallow understanding –Low retention rate Competitive grading discourages cooperation Not taught how to find information Material not personally interesting, relevant

3. Why Collaboration? Solve large problems Teaches valuable “people” skills Self-empowerment, responsibility, self- expression Attitudes towards learning “When you teach, you learn” Synergy of ideas, “symmetry of ignorance” Cognitive Dissonance Theory –Learning by resolving disagreements

4. Why Computer-aided Collaboration? Helps mediate opinions (everyone is heard) Easy to organize/visualize information Work remotely Reach out to wider audience Contribute at any time Store information, discussions for later access Fun

5. Our Research Internet –Overview of technologies, lessons Books Interviews –CU faculty members Observations Discourse via Swiki

6. Interviews & Observations People: –Gerhard Fischer / Hal Eden (Swiki) –Sebastian De La Chica (UI design) –Michael Main (WebCT) –Carl Wieman (Clickers) –Amer Diwan Technologies: –WebCT –EDC –FEEL (DLC ’04) –Swiki –Moodle –Clickers

7. Interviews & Observations Issues –Structured vs. unstructured –Whiteboard vs. message board –In class vs. online discussions Generalizations –“Beaten Path” Remembering reasoning –“Cycle of Abandonment” Critical mass for acceptance of technology

8. Cycle of Abandonment

9. Different Modes of Collaboration

10. Collaboration: Challenges Re-structuring educational practices Creating supportive environment –Non-competitive –Open-ended creative projects Re-thinking grading policies “Free-rider” problem Scheduling overhead Teaching collaboration skills

11. Technology Design Questions Balance online vs. face-to-face –How to integrate? Structured (WebCT) vs Unstructured (wiki) –Freedom may be messy, overwhelming General vs. specific Mediation? Support flexibility, evolution –Users will use in different ways Sensitive to context, time

12. Making Collaboration Successful Shared motivations, common goals Adequate incentives Positive interdependence Symmetry of ignorance –Diversity of opinions, backgrounds Flexibility, opportunities for creativity Establishing team goals, deadlines, roles Regular synchronous meetings Social relationship building