Socio-Cognitive Scaffolding with Computer-Supported Collaboration Scripts: a Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Scripts for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) offer socio-cognitive scaffolding for learners to engage in collaborative activities that are considered beneficial for learning. Yet, CSCL scripts are often criticized for hampering naturally emerging collaboration. Research on the effectiveness of CSCL scripts has shown divergent results. This article reports a meta-analysis about the effects of CSCL scripts on domain-specific knowledge and collaboration skills. Results indicate that CSCL scripts as a kind of socio-cognitive scaffolding can enhance learning outcomes substantially. Learning with CSCL scripts leads to a small positive effect on domain-specific knowledge (d = 0.20) and a large positive effect on collaboration skills (d = 0.95) compared to unstructured CSCL. Further analyses reveal that CSCL scripts are particularly effective for domain-specific learning when they prompt transactive activities (i.e., activities in which a learner's reasoning builds on the contribution of a learning partner) and when they are combined with additional content-specific scaffolding (worked examples, concept maps, etc.). Future research on CSCL scripts should include measures of learners' internal scripts (i.e., prior collaboration skills) and the transactivity of the actual learning process.Keywords Collaboration scripts . Collaboration skills . Computer-supported collaborative learning . Domain-specific knowledge . Socio-cognitive scaffolding . TransactivityResearch on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) deals with the question how digital technologies can be used to help groups of learners collaborate on a high level Educ Psychol Rev (2017) University of Augsburg, Universitätsstr. 10, 86159 Augsburg, Germany (Koschmann 1996). A high level of collaboration is reached when groups of learners engage in certain socio-cognitive activities such as explaining (Webb et al. 2009), questioning (King 1998), or arguing (Andriessen, Baker, andSuthers 2003). Through an engagement in such activities, students are assumed to acquire both domain-specific knowledge (i.e., knowledge about the topic that is discussed within the group) and cross-domain skills such as collaboration skills or argumentation skills. In short, collaborative learning is credited for its high potential to facilitate learners' cognitive development (Mugny and Doise 1978;Schwarz and Linchevski 2007). However, as prior research on collaborative learning-both in face-to-face and in computer-mediated settings-has shown, learners often have difficulties engaging spontaneously in beneficial collaborative learning activities (Cohen 1994;Kuhn, Shaw, and Felton 1997). In this article, the term Bunstructured collaboration^is used to refer to such situations in which learners are not supported with respect to their collaborative learning activities.To overcome these problems, learners can be supported by means of socio-cognitive scaffolding that guides them through collaborative activities that enhance learning. In computer-supported lea...

From Cognitive Load Theory to Collaborative Cognitive Load Theory

“…These collaborators will experience less cognitive load and better knowledge structures due to task related transactive activities. A recent meta-analysis provides evidence that CSCL scripts substantially improve learning outcomes for domain-specific knowledge and collaborative skills compared to unstructured CSCL (Vogel et al 2016).…”

Promoting Argumentation Competence: Extending from First- to Second-Order Scaffolding Through Adaptive Fading

“…The scene component has to do with knowledge about situations that may follow each other within the play. For example, during CABLe, a possible scene could be the initial individual idea generation by different learners or the joint development of a solution for the issue at stake (Fischer et al 2013;Kollar et al 2014;Vogel et al 2016).…”

“…For example, in a particular scene, for responding to analysis, a learner's internal script may include scriptlets suggesting to first read the analysis of the learning partner, to evaluate the analysis, and then provide counterarguments to that analysis (see Fischer et al 2013;Kollar et al 2014). Detailed information on the SToG with examples from a range of different studies can be found in Fischer et al (2013), Kirschner and Erkens (2013), Kollar et al (2014), andVogel et al (2016).…”

Higher Education Students’ Perceived Readiness for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

“…However, scholars have reported that not all students could harness the potentials of CSCL environments [16,17]. Indeed, in contrast to the positive findings, there is also a vast body of research literature reporting mixed or negative findings [18,19]. Scholars assert that given the nature of CSCL (i.e., technological and collaborative dependence, high level of agency, and autonomy), an inadequate level of students' readiness for CSCL is one of the important reasons for such discrepancy in terms of mixed positive and negative findings [20,21].…”