Quality of collaborative interactions in different CSCL-environments

Abstract

In the Twins project we study the quality of interactions during collaborative learning in different CSCL-environments. The aim of the research is investigating the effects of synchronous and asynchronous systems and different collaborative tasks on interactions between students. Two experiments were done in which students aged 16-17 years had to write an argumentative text about genetic modification. In both experiments the collaborative task consisted of two phases, a discussion phase and a collaborative writing phase. Two tasks were designed which differed in the discussion phase. The experiment differed in the use of synchronous or asynchronous commu-nication during the discussion phase of the task. Interactions between students are analysed on the variables exploration and co-working in the space of debate.