Proposal for CSCL Research Project

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has been defined by Koschmann (1996) as “a field of study centrally concerned with meaning and the practices of meaning-making in the context of joint activity, and the ways in which these practices are mediated though designed artifacts” (p. 2). CSCL is designed to analyze how the combination of computers/technology and collaborative activities enhance learning. The purpose of this paper is to describe a study that would investigate the use of collaborative activities in a project-based learning environment to move group participants from novice to experts within the learning community through the use of appropriate scaffolding and to enhance female self-efficacy related to science.
According to a 2004 study, “While women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they make up only 26 percent of the science and engineering workforce” (U.S. Department of Education, 2007, p. 3). Gender differences in perceptions about academic abilities in relation to math and science are specifically evidenced in middle school aged children:
In general, researchers have found that girls and women have less confidence in their math abilities than males do and that from early adolescence girls show less interest in math or science careers. This gender difference is interesting, and somewhat puzzling, given that males and females generally enroll in similar courses and display similar abilities (at least as measured by course grades). In other words, girls, particularly as they move out of elementary school and into middle and high school and beyond, often underestimate their abilities in mathematics and science (Institute of Education Sciences-U.S. Department of Education, 2007, p. 6).
Because of the emphasis on increasing female self-efficacy in science, female scientists will be recruited as participants in the collaborative work. According to the study conducted by the Institute of Education Science, one strategy for addressing female self-efficacy related to science is the use of female role models:
Teachers should expose girls to female role models who have achieved in math
or science in order to promote positive beliefs regarding women’s abilities in
math and science. Even in elementary school, girls are aware of the stereotype
that men are better in math and science than women are. Exposing girls to
female role models (e.g., through biographies, guest speakers, or tutoring by
older female students) can invalidate these stereotypes (Institute of Education Sciences-U.S. Department of Education, 2007, p. 5).
This study will address girls’ self-efficacy related to science and also extend our understanding of the learning process of participants through the use of scaffolding in a CSCL environment for adolescent boys and girls.
Studies indicate most students are bored in school (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, & Whalen, 1993). Valuing course objectives and being engaged in course activities, as well as believing one has the ability to be successful in the course, are critical factors in learner motivation. “Beliefs of personal efficacy constitute the key factor of human agency. If people believe they have no power to produce results, they will not attempt to make things happen” (Bandura, 1977, p. 3). When students are not engaged and are bored in class, they are less likely to increase their knowledge (Blumenfeld et al, 1991). An inquiry learning culture produces engaged and active learning, as well as more enhanced production of explanations in both males and females (Prinsen et al, 2007). Learning sciences research suggests that the inquiry learning culture of project-based learning may offer a potential solution to the problem of boredom in school.
The theoretical background of project-based learning includes active construction, situated learning, social interactions and cognitive tools. Project based learning increases student engagement; therefore, students are less likely to be bored. Students learn by doing and applying ideas through real-world activities. The five key features of project-based learning include the following:
1. Instruction begins with a driving question and a problem to be solved.
2. Students explore the driving question by participating in authentic, situated- inquiry. As students explore the question, they develop an understanding of the discipline and also how to apply their understanding.
3. Students, teachers, and community members engage in collaborative activities to find answers to the question.
4. During the inquiry process, students are scaffolded with learning technologies that allow them to perform activities normally beyond their individual ability.
5. Students create a set of products to address the needs of the question. These products are shared artifacts that represent the learning of the class (Blumenfeld et al, 1991; Krajcik, et al., 1994; Krajcik, Czerniak, & Berger, 2002).
Learning sciences research shows that deep understanding occurs when learners actively construct meaning based on their experiences and interactions in the world. Situated learning requires that learning take place in real-world, authentic context. For example, in science, when students design their own investigation to answer a question that is important to them or to their community, they see the value of science and also see how science can be applied to solve real-world problems. Social interaction also plays a key role in learning. The best learning results when students, teachers and subject matter experts from the community work together in a situated activity to construct shared solutions to problems and new understandings of underlying principles. Deeper understanding is developed through sharing, applying and debating ideas with others and this process of back and forth interaction creates a community of learners (Vygotsky, 1978; Lave, 1991; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1996). Also, the use of cognitive tools can amplify and expand what students are able to learn. Learning technologies can support students in accessing and collecting a range of information; provide tools for visualizing complex, abstract ideas; allow for distance collaboration; assist in planning, building and testing models; and allow for the development of multimedia knowledge artifacts that can be shared globally. Using the principles of group interaction to form collaborative communities to construct knowledge (Vygotsky, 1978; Lave, 1991; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1996), the learning activities will occur in an authentic group context, be project based, and include activities with an authentic focus (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). According to Vygotsky (1978) classroom social interactions should be arranged in such a way that weaker students will be “scaffolded” by stronger students. Vygotsky situates learning in the zone of proximal development which he posits is the “distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (p. 86).
Project-based learning creates a setting for the discovery that there may be more than one technique for interpreting data and more than one approach for solving a problem. “Individuals generate personal beliefs from their own perspectives, but they do so on the basis of sociocultural knowledge, shared language, and external representations. Further, these beliefs become knowledge through social interaction, communication, discussion, clarification, and negotiation. Knowledge is a socially mediated product” (Stahl, 2006, p. 205). Driving questions guide instruction and should be meaningful and important to learners. The driving questions are tools for organizing and directing the activities of the project. The driving questions provide an authentic context in which students will be able to establish and explore learning goals, as well as provide continuity and coherence to the project. Specific features of driving questions include:
1. The question is feasible; therefore, students can design and perform investigations to answer the question. 2. The question is worthwhile; therefore, appropriate responses should contain rich science content that aligns with national and state standards and relates to real-world science. 3. The question is contextualized in that the question is an important, real-world question. 4. The question is meaningful, interesting and exciting to learners. 5. The question is ethical in that in addressing the question, students will do no harm to individuals, organizations or the environment (Krajcik et al, 2002).
Historically, in the United States, females are less interested in pursuing science than males: “by eighth grade, boys are twice as interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) careers as girls are” (LiveScience, 2007, http://www.livescience.com/health/070827_girls_math.html). Therefore, this study will include scaffolding to address girls’ self-efficacy related to science. Also, the study will extend our understanding of the importance of scaffolding in the learning process of participants in a CSCL environment. This project, grounded in computer-supported collaborative learning, focuses on meaning making through the combined use of computers and collaboration:
Small group processes of collaborative knowledge building can construct meanings of symbolic and physical artifacts like words, gestures, tools, or media. The meanings of these meaningful artifacts are group accomplishments resulting from social interaction and are not attributable to individual participants. The artifacts retain intersubjective meaning, which can be learned or renegotiated later. The meaningful artifacts are interpreted by individuals from within the current situation or activity (Stahl, 2006, p.346).
Because research indicates that females prefer interactive and collaborative uses of technology, CSCL is an appropriate environment for this study: “Girls appear to be particularly interested in interactive technology that encourages communication, collaborative learning, the solving of complex social dilemmas, intensive writing and flexible problem solving (AAUW Educational Foundation Research 2000)” (Prinsen et al, 2007, p. 394). This study will include opportunities for students, teachers and female members of the local science community to collaborate with one another to investigate group-developed driving questions. The community of learners will address questions through dialogue and written discourse, collect data, discuss findings, and form group conclusions. They will create a presentation or other artifact to illustrate their understanding. Also, because the rules for these collaborative activities are explicitly expressed, girls will be more confident in participating in the project (Prinsen et al, 2007).
Scaffolding students is critical to the success of any project-based learning scenario. Krajcik and Blumenfeld (2006) are precise in their strategies for scaffolding:
Our scaffolding strategies include making the rationale behind explanations explicit, modeling how to construct explanations, providing students with opportunities to engage in explanation construction, and writing scaffoding comments on students’ investigation sheets (p. 324).
This study will incorporate the above cited techniques for scaffolding within the project-based learning environment.