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The mechanics of CSCL macro scripts

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International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Macro scripts structure collaborative learning and foster the emergence of knowledge-productive interactions such as argumentation, explanations and mutual regulation. We propose a pedagogical model for the designing of scripts and illustrate this model using three scripts. In brief, a script disturbs the natural convergence of a team and in doing so increases the intensity of interaction required between team members for the completion of their collaborative task. The nature of the perturbation determines the types of interactions that are necessary for overcoming it: for instance, if a script provides students with conflicting evidence, more argumentation is required before students can reach an agreement. Tools for authoring scripts manipulate abstract representations of the script components and the mechanisms that relate components to one another. These mechanisms are encompassed in the transformation of data structures (social structure, resources structure and products structure) between script phases. We describe how this pedagogical design model is translated into computational structures in three illustrated scripts.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by the Swiss Center for Innovation in Learning (SCIL, University of St. Gallen) which is funded by the Gerbert Rüf foundation. Special thanks to SCIL members Taiga Brahm and Sabine Seufert. The paper was also supported by Kaleidoscope, a European Network of Excellence, in particular members of the MOSIL and COSSCILE groups, including Frank Fischer, Lars Kobbe, Armin Weinberger, Andreas Harrer, Nils Malzahn, Paivi Hakkinen, Raia Hamalainen, Sanna Jarvela, Ulrich Hoppe and Pierre Tchounikine. We also benefited from the contributions of our team members Shuja Parvez and Patrick Jermann and our former colleague Daniel Schneider.

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  1. School of Computer and Communication Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Pierre Dillenbourg & Fabrice Hong

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  1. Pierre Dillenbourg
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  2. Fabrice Hong
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Correspondence to Pierre Dillenbourg.

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Dillenbourg, P., Hong, F. The mechanics of CSCL macro scripts. Computer Supported Learning 3, 5–23 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-007-9033-1

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