Analyzing collaborative knowledge construction

Cindy E Hmelo-Silver
2003 Computers & Education  
Documenting collaborative knowledge construction is critical for research in computer-supported collaborative learning. Because this is a multifaceted phenomenon, mixed methods are necessary to construct a good understanding of collaborative interactions, otherwise there is a risk of being overly reductionistic. In this paper I use quantitative methods of verbal data analysis, qualitative analysis, and techniques of data representation to characterize two successful knowledge building
more » ... ns from a sociocultural perspective. In the first study, a computer simulation helped mediate the interaction and in the second, a student-constructed representation was an important mediator. A fine-grained turn-by-turn analysis of the group discussions was supplemented with qualitative analysis of larger units of dialogue. In addition, chronological representations of discourse features and tool-related activity were used in study 2 to gain an integrated understanding of how a student-generated representation mediated collaborative knowledge construction. It is only by mixing methods that collaborative knowledge construction can be well characterized. # Analyzing collaborative knowledge construction, central to sociocultural theories of learning, has much in common with the three blind men and the elephant from the Indian parable that describes their observations, each from their own point of view:
doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2003.07.001 fatcat:wxykv6pduzeqzkxj7cczvpbfrq