Fraunhofer Institut für Integrierte Publikations-und Informationssysteme IPSI

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  • Publication
    Interdisciplinarity in the CSCL community - An empirical study
    ( 2007)
    Wessner, M.
    ;
    Kienle, A.
    In previous work the CSCL community was analysed with respect to its scope, development, continuity and connectivity (Hoadley 2005, Kienle & Wessner 2005, Kienle & Wessner 2006). Main insights included a relatively low but stable continuity of individuals in the community, increasing international participation and increasing connectivity across different countries. Concerning the disciplines involved in CSCL and the disciplinary backgrounds of CSCL community members it was found that a variety of disciplines are represented in the community. A detailed analysis of the way these disciplines contribute to the progress of CSCL, the way members with different disciplinary backgrounds collaborate is still missing. In this paper we report an analysis of the CSCL community with respect to the disciplinary background of its members and the interrelation of various disciplines in CSCL. The analysis is based on a survey among members of the CSCL community actively involved in th e CSCL 2007 conference (reviewers and authors of accepted contributions). The paper reports and discusses main results of this analysis with respect to disciplinary background of CSCL community members as well as links between the disciplines. In addition it provides insights into motives for interdisciplinary collaboration, beneficial and hindering factors. The results should help to sharpen our view of the CSCL community, contribute to a shared understanding about what CSCL (currently) is (and what is it not) and point out perspectives for future development of the CSCL community.
  • Publication
    Exploiting context information for identification of relevant experts in collaborative workplace-embedded e-learning environments
    ( 2007)
    Lokaiczyk, R.
    ;
    Godehardt, E.
    ;
    Faatz, A.
    ;
    Goertz, M.
    ;
    Kienle, A.
    ;
    Wessner, M.
    ;
    Ulbrich, A.
    This work introduces an approach to discover collaboration partners and adequate advising experts in a workplace-embedded collaborative e-learning environment. Based on existing papers dealing with work task and user context modelling, we propose the following steps towards a successful collaboration initiation. In the beginning, the user's current process task needs to be identified (1). Taking into account the knowledge about the current process, availability of experts as well as organizational and social distance, relevant experts regarding the actual work task of the learner are pre-selected by the environment (2). Depending on the pre-selection and users' preferences, the potential collaboration partners are displayed in an expert list (3). That way, the learner is able to initiate beneficial collaborations, whose transcripts are used to enhance the existing knowledge base of learning documents (4).
  • Publication
    Explicit referencing in learning chats
    ( 2006)
    Holmer, T.
    ;
    Kienle, A.
    ;
    Wessner, M.
    Chat is used in many learning scenarios and platforms for synchronous communication support. Up to now evaluation of chat communication requires time consuming manual coding and analysis of the chat transcript. In this paper we present a method that combines manual and automatic steps: (1) chat transcripts are manually referenced, i.e. for each chat contribution it is determined to which previous contribution it refers to. (2) the referenced chat transcripts are structurally analysed by calculating different measures. The results of this structure analysis help to evaluate the learning chat and indicate where further (manual) analyses might be helpful. In addition, the ability of chat to support a certain type of learning scenario can be evaluated. We then discuss how chat can be improved by providing functionality for explicit referencing to the participants during the chat. The evaluation of a university seminar in the winter term 2004/2005 that used the tool KOLUMBUS Chat shows that references are used to different extents and not continuously. We analyse the reasons for (not) using explicit references. The results provide hints about the technical and organisational design for learning chats using references.
  • Publication
    Shared referencing of mathematical objects in online chat
    ( 2006)
    Stahl, G.
    ;
    Zemel, A.
    ;
    Sarmiento, J.
    ;
    Cakir, M.
    ;
    Weimar, S.
    ;
    Wessner, M.
    ;
    Mühlpfordt, M.
    We conceptualize referencing as a primary means of establishing intersubjective meaning and, therefore, as an important consideration in supporting collaborative learning. What we call group cognition is a discourse-centered analysis of the interactional basis of collaborative knowledge building, establishing common ground and co-constructing shared meaning. This epistemological perspective has methodological, technological and pedagogical implications. It directs empirical analysis toward the manifold forms of referencing that constitute small-group communication. Studies of how students actually make sense of, adapt and adopt referential affordances in computational media are used to inform the design of educational software environments. In particular, we are developing an online service for groups of people to discuss mathematical themes. This paper looks at how a group of students used methods of referencing to co-construct geometric objects in a chat room with gra phical referencing tools.
  • Publication
    Designing an online service for a math community
    ( 2006)
    Wessner, M.
    ;
    Shumar, W.
    ;
    Stahl, G.
    ;
    Sarmiento, J.
    ;
    Mühlpfordt, M.
    ;
    Weimar, S.
    In the Virtual Math Teams project an online service for groups of people to discuss and collaboratively solve mathematical problems is being developed. The paper takes a qualitative approach to looking at the design-based research process of developing the platform for a synchronous math problem solving environment. We sketch the transition from early experiments with commercially available tools to a series of studies conducted with a research tool finally to the design of a platform which provides the technical basis to a scalable public service. For this design we had to take into account requirements from students, tutors, the service provider as well as researchers from various disciplines. We discuss some design decisions which lead to a platform which addresses the diverse requirements of the various stakeholders. The paper underscores the value of a design-based research process and a self-reflexive process as we develop insights about online math problem solving.
  • Publication
    Our way to Taipei - An analysis of the first ten years of the CSCL community
    ( 2005)
    Kienle, A.
    ;
    Wessner, M.
    Ten years of international CSCL conferences give proper reason to reflect on the development of the CSCL community. Based on an analysis of conference proceedings, lists of participants and lists of program committee members, this paper provides insights about the development of the CSCL community in its first decade. A focus is set on the continuity of active and passive membership, the geographical distribution and the international connectivity of the community. Contrary to our expectations, only a relatively small number of people participate continuously in the community. Concerning the geographical distribution we found that the community is increasingly international in conference participation, authors, and program committees. The international connectivity of the community is also increasing which can be seen in a growing number of citations and co-authorships across different countries. These results can serve as a basis for further cultivation of the CSCL community.
  • Publication
    Explicit referencing in chat supports collaborative learning
    ( 2005)
    Mühlpfordt, M.
    ;
    Wessner, M.
    In Pfister & Mühlpfordt (2002) a study was presented showing that chat discussions with a strict turn order combined with the requirement to assign a type and an explicit reference to each message lead to a higher learning score than discussions in a normal chat or in a chat with strict turn order only. Due to the experimental design it was not possible to judge the role of explicit referencing. Now we present the "missing" data: The higher learning score can be explained just by the explicit referencing. We argue that this is an important design issue for chat applications, because it seems that explicit referencing leads to a more homogeneous discourse behavior (more homogeneous participation, more participation in parallel discussion threads) and a better grounding. A case study explored the use of the referencing function in a less restricted everyday collaborative situation.
  • Publication
    Principles for cultivating scientific communities of practice
    ( 2005)
    Kienle, A.
    ;
    Wessner, M.
    Scientific communities can be seen as a specific type of Communities of Practice (CoP). In this paper we analyze scientific communities from the CoP point of view. We show how models and design principles from CoP can be interpreted and adapted for scientific communities. Taking the CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) community as an example, we instantiate the adapted design principles and trace the development of this community based on an analysis of its first decade of existence (1995-2005). This analysis includes an analysis of CSCL conference proceedings and an analysis of the lists of participants and program committee members of CSCL conferences.