Collaborative learning environments have been analysed extensively, yet we know relatively little about how students experience their participation in long-term learning communities where learners work together over extended periods of time. This study aims to understand pre-service teacher-students' experiences and accounts of their participation…

This article discusses how children can build teamwork through science activities. Through science experiences, the excitement can generate a sense of shared community in class. Science experiments help develop children's learning. Science experiences are a prime source of powerful new words because they use a common language to describe the…

This article presents a conceptual analysis of collaboration scripts used in face-to-face and computer-mediated collaborative learning. Collaboration scripts are scaffolds that aim to improve collaboration through structuring the interactive processes between two or more learning partners. Collaboration scripts consist of at least five components:…

For this study, the authors developed a multi-item, multi-dimensional scale for peer evaluation encompassing five key dimensions: dependability, task and maintenance orientation, domineering behavior, free-riding behavior, and individual competence. They also tested the relationship between these dimensions and two outcome variables: overall…

The proliferation of online courses has become a major concern for some educators when it comes to whether they apply valid and reliable instruments to asses learning outcomes. In addition, few publications seem to have dealt with the faculty realm that addresses the front-end fundamental learning principles of instruction that underlie quality…

In this case study our aim was to gain more insight in the possibilities of qualitative formative peer assessment in a computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. An approach was chosen in which peer assessment was operationalized in assessment assignments and assessment tools that were embedded in the course material. The course…

The study describes a teaching action undertaken in the belief that the use of methodologies based on active and cooperative learning could obviate some of the most worrying deficiencies in current scientific teaching, while at the same time supporting the validity of the constructivistic theory that prompted them. A teaching action on genetically…

Group cohesiveness is a topic addressed in most small group communication texts and courses and is often defined as the degree of attraction members feel towards one another, the degree of loyalty within a group, or the "groupness" felt among members. Further, groups which are cohesive tend to be happier and more productive. When working on…

This article argues that children in a particular virtual community are learning through their participation in the discursive and social practices of the community. Using Wenger's model of "communities of practice" the article illuminates examples of children's learning that were a direct result of collaboration towards a common goal.…

As computer-mediated communication (CMC) is becoming more mainstream in higher education (HE), the issue of social interaction online and its impact on learning has been raised. CMC theorists have argued that shared group identity produces the online social presence necessary for successful interaction but that other identities may be inhibiting.…

Online learners often stay located in, and tied to, their communities, kinship networks, households, and workplaces. Institutions providing online education can thus create ties to communities as students draw their learning into networks in which they are already embedded. Frequent interactions across multiple media that are afforded by…

The influence of social relationships, positive interdependence, and teacher structure on the quality of partner reading interactions was examined. Partner reading, a scripted cooperative learning strategy, is often used in classrooms to promote the development of fluent and automatic reading skills. Forty-three pairs of second grade children were…

This study presents a continuing investigation of influences on outcomes achieved by students working in groups of three on tasks related to chance and data. Earlier research described final mathematical outcomes and identified 17 factors influencing three types of short-term outcomes for groups working in an "isolated setting." The current report…

This study uses systemic functional linguistics and the related critical discourse analysis to examine intertextual links between four eighth-grade students' talk in informal conversations as they generated ideas for the characters of their narrative writing. Data sources included classroom observations, students' drafts and polished writing,…

Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating experience-based education. Psychological research and theory suggests that by having students learn through the experience of solving problems, they can learn both content and thinking strategies. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method in which students learn…