Flexibility in macro-scripts for computer-supported collaborative learning

By Pierre Dillenbourg, P. Tchounikine. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2007

333 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In the field of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), scripts are designed to support collaboration among distant learners or co-present learners whose interactions are (at least partially) mediated by a computer. The rationale of scripts is to structure collaborative learning processes in order to trigger group interactions that may be rare in free collaboration. Fixing the degree of coercion is a delicate design choice: too rigid scripts would spoil the richness of collaborative interactions; too flexible scripts would fail to induce the targeted interactions. Because of the unpredictability of how scripts will be enacted, both the teacher and the students must be allowed to modify some script features. In this article we propose a conceptual analysis of this notion of flexibility, arguing for a dissociation of constraints that are intrinsic to the pedagogical design of the script and constraints induced by the technology or contextual factors. This difference sets up the limits of flexibility both for the teacher and for the students and provides specification for the computational design. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the operationalization of CSCL scripts should be addressed by implementing script engines handling multiple representations of the script: the script to be executed, the emergent organization of teams, the set of intrinsic and extrinsic constraints and the visual representation of the script for students and teachers.

Subfields: Communication, Computer Science Applications, Developmental and Educational Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/df15393f533698f4958053b7db8f7334ba26fbba

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Citations in the corpus

Regulation and socio-emotional interactions in a positive and a negative group climate (2018, background): “student interactions (Dillenbourg and Tchounikine 2007; Kobbe et al. 2007) and teachers’ guidance in fostering beneficial interactions amongst collaborators (Webb 2009).”
Technology for Classroom Orchestration (2010, methodology): “ManyScripts implements two functionalities for coping with these accidents (Dillenbourg & Tchounikine, 2007).”
The Evolution of Research on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (2009, background): “Dillenbourg and Tchounikine (2007) reviewed the different parameters that teachers should be allowed to modify when they execute scripts.”
Theoretical and Pedagogical Perspectives on Orchestrating Creativity and Collaborative Learning. (2011, background): “…on disciplined improvisation (which highlights the emergent nature of effective classroom practice, e.g. Sawyer, 2004) and structuring collaboration (which highlights [research-based] instructional support for collaboration processes, e.g. Dillenbourg & Tchounikine, 2007; Kobbe et al., 2007).”
The mechanics of CSCL macro scripts (2008, methodology): “Hence, our script environment includes features that enable the teacher to follow student activities in real time and, if necessary, modify the script, for instance by changing groups or deadlines (Dillenbourg and Tchounikine 2007).”
Design for classroom orchestration (2013, background): “Flexibility is a relative concept: not all design decisions can be modified without losing the pedagogical value of the scenario (Dillenbourg & Tchounikine, 2007).”