Browsing by Subject "Collaborative learning"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Co-learning, co-creating : a case study on collaborative art in a high school classroom
(2017-12-07) Exner, Maggie Marion; Bain, Christina; Bolin, Paul E
The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits and challenges of collaborative art-making in one high school art class from the teacher’s and students’ perspectives. This case study examined one collaborative art project in a Painting II class that took place at a high school in the Austin, Texas area. This study focused on teacher and students’ perceptions of collaborative art-making based on their experiences facilitating or participating in the collaborative art project. The participants for this study were one art teacher and 18 high school students enrolled in the Painting II class. Data collected for this study included four 80-minute observations of the class, student response surveys, and teacher and student interviews. Four of the 18 students and the teacher were interviewed in the fall of 2016 in order to shed light on their perceptions of what they found beneficial and challenging about the collaborative art project. The findings of this study indicate that the art teacher and the majority of the students had positive experiences with the collaborative art project. Eight themes emerged as benefits of collaborative art-making and seven emerged as challenges. The outcomes further suggest that collaborative art projects can help build 21st century learning skills that inevitably benefit high school students preparing for college and future careers.
Educational innovation with CSCL building better schools for 21st century learners
(2011-05) Kim, Do Hun; Resta, Paul E.; French, Karen
Social interaction is a powerful medium in education. In this report, I discuss how computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) helps K-12 students to enhance learning. I discussed why socio-constructivism in CSCL is a promising learning method. In addition I suggest that CSCL enhances students’ self-driven learning, motivation, and critical thinking. I also examine how CSCL can be successfully implemented in K-12 schools. In this context, the report identifies the challenges posed by technology implementation and changing teachers’ beliefs in introducing this innovation into schools, and how those challenges can be met. Finally, based on perspectives in support of CSCL, the paper does a critical analysis of the Korean e-learning project, which created a national online leaning network for K-12 students, called Cyber Home Learning System (CHLS), and suggests ways that CSCL may enhance this program.
Efficient algorithms for structured inference and collaborative learning
(2020-08-14) Hashemi, Abolfazl; Vikalo, Haris; de Veciana, Gustavo; Dimakis, Alexandros G.; Liu, Qiang; Sanghavi, Sujay
Massive amounts of data collected by modern information systems give rise to new challenges in the fields of signal processing, machine learning, and data analysis. In contemporary large-scale datasets, there are often hidden low-dimensional structures either in the form of parsimonious representations that best fit the data or the desired unknown information itself. Identifying parsimonious representations and exploiting underlying structural constraints lead to improved inference. Furthermore, these large-scale datasets are distributed among a network of resource-constrained systems capable of exchanging information. Hence, designing accelerated and communication efficient learning and inference algorithms is of critical importance. In the first part of this dissertation, we first study the setting where the unknown parameter of interest has hidden sparsity structures. The task of reconstructing the sparse parameter can be formulated as an ℓ₀--constrained least square problem. Motivated by the need for fast and accurate sparse recovery in large-scale setting, we propose two efficient sparse reconstruction and support selection algorithms and analyze their reconstruction performance in a variety of settings. Next, we consider applications of the proposed algorithms in structured data clustering problems where the high-dimensional data is a collection of points lying on a union of low-dimensional and evolving subspaces. By exploiting sparsity to model the low-dimensional union-of-subspaces structure of the data as well as its underlying evolutionary structure, we propose a novel evolutionary subspace clustering framework and demonstrate its successful deployment in computer vision and oceanography applications. In the second part of this dissertation, we consider observation selection and information gathering algorithms in communication-constrained networked systems where we study structural properties of observation selection criteria, design efficient greedy algorithms, and analyze their performance by leveraging the framework of weak submodular optimization. In the final part of this dissertation, we study the task of learning parameters of a machine learning model in a collaborative manner over a communication-constrained network, and design an efficient communication compressing optimization algorithm that reduces the amount of communication in the network while achieving a near optimal converge rate for general nonconvex learning tasks.
Experiences and engagement levels of entering community college students and returning students
(2008-12) De los Reyes, Maria Oralia; Roueche, John E.
In order to explore the differences in engagement levels between entering and returning community college students, the researcher analyzed 13,300 surveys from the 2007 Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) pilot data set utilizing a quantitative methodology. This study focused on analyzing engagement levels of entering and returning students in six constructs: Active and Collaborative Learning, First Day, Student Effort, Student-faculty Interaction, Support for Learners, and Motivation. After the comparison between the two groups was performed, data were disaggregated by eleven groups to further explore differences. Differences in engagement levels were explored in terms of students’ characteristics such as remedial background, age, gender, full-time status, ethnicity, degree seeking, first generation, and traditional status. The results of this study revealed that returning community college students in general, are more engaged in educational practices associated with persistence than entering students. In addition, findings suggest that with the exception of one variable (overall high school grade average), students commonly categorized as “at risk” or “disadvantaged” (developmental, non-traditional, part-time, first generation, minorities) overwhelmingly held higher levels of engagement in all positive engagement variables of the six analyzed constructs. Furthermore, in an analysis of disaggregated data by eleven groups of students, the following was found: o Students who placed in three developmental courses were by far the most highly engaged group in all positive engagement variables of the six constructs. o Students with the highest level of engagement in the two negative variables of the Student Effort construct (skipped class or came to class without completing readings or assignments) were traditional, 18-19 year olds, not-first generation, and non-developmental students. o Students who reported that success courses had helped them to get the knowledge necessary to succeed in college were overwhelmingly disadvantaged students (developmental, non-traditional, females and minorities). o Developmental students showed higher levels of engagement with regard to college services. o Financial aid advising and skill labs (math, reading, and writing) were the two services with the highest number of statistically significant differences throughout the eleven groups. This study was concluded with recommendations for further research and strategies that community college stakeholders could implement to increase student retention.
Fostering active learning through the use of feedback technologies and collaborative activities in a postsecondary setting
(2010-05) Guerrero, Camilo; Robinson, Daniel H.; Borich, Gary D.; Katayama, Andrew D.; Svinicki, Marilla D.; Vaughn, Brandon K.
Technology is enjoying an increasingly important role in many collegiate pedagogical designs. Contemporary research has become more focused on the ways that technology can contribute to learning outcomes. These studies provide a critical foundation for educational researchers who seek to incorporate and reap the benefits of new technologies in classroom environments. The aim of the present study is to empirically assess how combining an active, collaborative learning environment with a classroom response system (colloquially called “clickers”) in a postsecondary setting can influence and improve learning outcomes. To this end, the study proposes an instructional design utilizing two feedback response-formats (clickers and flashcards) and two response methods for answering in-class questions (collaborative peer instruction and individual). The theoretical bases that provide the academic structure for the five instructional conditions (control, clicker-response individual, clicker-response peer instruction, flashcard-response individual, and flashcard-response peer instruction) are the generative learning theory and social constructivism. Participants were 171 undergraduate students from an Educational Psychology subject pool from a large Southwest university. The researcher used a two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with two treatments (response format and collaboration level) as the between-subjects factors; students’ posttest scores as the dependent variable; and pretest scores as the covariate. Results showed no significant main effects; however, the study produced statistically significant findings that there was an interaction effect between the use of clickers and a peer instruction design. To follow up the interaction, the researcher conducted tests of the simple effects of response format within each collaboration condition, with the pretest as the covariate. Results showed that for students who collaborated, clickers were better than flashcards, whereas when students worked individually, there was no difference. This study builds upon existing studies by using a stronger empirical approach with more robust controls to evaluate the effects of a variety of instructional interventions, clicker and flashcard response systems and peer instruction on learning outcomes. It shows that clicker technology might be most effective when combined with collaborative methods. The discussion includes implications, limitations, and directions for future research.
Knowledge building using wikis in a computer-supported collaborative writing task
(2011-05) Woo, Jeong Won; Resta, Paul E.; Liu, Min; Maloch, Beth; Northcutt, Norvell; French, Karen
The purpose of this study was to investigate how Scardamalia’s (2002) socio-cognitive determinants of knowledge building emerge in a computer-supported collaborative writing task, and to understand students’ perceptions of knowledge building experience and the use of tools, including wikis, to support the collaborative writing process. The setting of this study was a graduate level online course on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), in which all course activities were conducted collaboratively in an online environment. Data sources included: transcripts of online inputs in the wiki areas; interviews with 15 participants; participants’ reflective journals; transcripts of asynchronous online discussions and synchronous chats. Data were analyzed using content analysis for the transcripts of wiki areas and grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) was used in the analysis of data from the interviews. Results of the data analysis indicated that the three groups in this study participated in the collaborative knowledge building activity in different ways. The three factors that influenced their participation in the activity included: group dynamics, collaborative writing task, and collaborative writing tools. These factors interacted with each another and impacted their knowledge building discourse in the following ways: improvable ideas, constructive use of authoritative sources, epistemic agency, and embedded and transformative assessment. As a result of their engagement in knowledge building discourse, participants successfully completed the collaborative writing project and shared a strong sense of community and co-ownership of the knowledge product. The findings of this study may shed light on the strategies and environmental factors that encourage knowledge building discourse as well as the synergetic combination of technology tools and knowledge building task. In addition, understanding the process of knowledge building in a computer-supported collaborative writing task and the participants perception of knowledge building and the use of tools may help instructor better prepare learners to become collaborative learners and effective knowledge workers.
Multimedia instruction for individual and collaborative interactive learning environments : a cognitive load approach
(2011-05) Nihalani, Priya K.; Robinson, Daniel H.
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.
Out of sight, out of mind : how proximity influenced access during computer supported collaborative authoring
(2010-05) Herschell, Mary Heather; Maloch, Beth; Resta, Paul E.; French, Karen; Mosley, Melissa; Svinicki, Marilla
In spite of the popularity of technologies that facilitate distance learning, institutions still educate students who gather together in shared physical spaces. But now even these traditional settings for learning are more collaborative and technology-rich environments. Qualitative methods in the sociolinguistic tradition allowed me to attend carefully to the vocal and non-vocal interactions of students engaged in a computer supported collaborative authoring assignment. Three research questions guided my inquiry: 1) In what ways did students negotiate roles and responsibilities?; 2) In what ways did students negotiate access to their assignment?; and 3) what was the nature of discourse in computer supported collaborative authoring? I conducted microanalysis of the communication in online discussions and face-to-face discourse throughout an entire semester of one graduate level course entitled The Psychology of Teachers and Teaching. My data revealed that the online discussion forum, physical proximity to the computer during face-to-face collaboration and instructor influence shaped the students’ roles and responsibilities as well as their entry into the assignment. I propose a model illustrating how students negotiate entry into computer supported collaborative authoring assignments and discuss its implications for teaching and learning.
Understanding two year college mathematics faculty perceptions and use of cooperative learning
(2017-08-11) Castillo, Adam Joseph; Marshall, Jill Ann; Treisman, Uri; Starbird, Michael; Saenz, Victor; Mesa, Vilma
Cooperative learning, or the instructional use of small groups so that students actively work together to increase their own and each other’s learning, is a well-documented pedagogical approach to promote student learning. However, despite ample research on cooperative learning in the K-12 setting, there is little research on two-year college mathematics faculty perceptions of cooperative learning and their reported use of this instructional strategy in mathematics courses. A mixed methods study was conducted on two-year college mathematics faculty at Texas two-year colleges to understand their perceptions regarding cooperative learning and its use and what the implementation of cooperative learning looks like in developmental and college-level mathematics courses. Results show that two-year college mathematics faculty who implement cooperative learning are more likely to report having support and opportunities to learn than faculty who report that they do not implement it, implying that college administrators, deans, and department chairs must find ways to provide this support and let two-year college mathematics faculty experience strategies that support student learning. Non-implementing faculty were more likely to report that the barriers to implementing cooperative learning (time constraints, student characteristics) were prohibitive. Further, there are notable differences in classroom instruction among faculty who report using cooperative learning, ranging from primarily traditional lecture instruction with minimal time devoted to small group work, to collaborative learning, in which students work informally in small groups on self-directed tasks, to formal cooperative learning in which the instructor incorporates all the essential elements identified by Johnson and Johnson (2009). Strikingly, collaborative learning, with less formal structure imposed by the instructor, appeared to be more successful in promoting these essential elements than the more formal cooperative learning prescribed by those authors. This supports assertions in the literature that collaborative learning may be at least as appropriate a choice at the two-year college level (Hennessey & Evans, 2006).