Action Based Collaboration Analysis for Group Learning
Martin Mühlenbrock · 2001
This book describes a piece of innovative research into analyzing the actions and interactions of co-learners in computer-supported group learning environments. So far, in computersupported collaborative learning (CSCL) the computational facilities are mainly used to mediate communication and to provide interactive tools, e.g., for joint problem solving or to externalize and represent ideas in group discussions. Although the basic information about which users ’ communications and actions are available in the machine, it is usually not used to structure and support the collaborative learning process. After the limited success of “intelligent tutoring environments ” for individual learning, the expectation is not that collaborative learning should be intelligently controlled and directed by a machine. Yet, a certain degree of “insight ” on the part of the system environment into the structure and dynamics of the group learning process should lead to new ways of supporting and scaffolding the learning group. Without globally directing the learning process, the system can, for instance, identify specific needs of one learner or learning group which could be supported by other learners or tutors, i.e., it can help to manage human resources. Structuring and interpreting group learning processes on certain levels of aggregation and abstraction can serve as a starting point