Dennerlein Sebastian, Rella Matthias, Tomberg Vladimir, Theiler Dieter, Treasure-Jones Tamsin, Kerr Micky, Ley Tobias, Al-Smadi Mohammad, Trattner Christoph
2015
Sensemaking at the workplace and in educational contexts has beenextensively studied for decades. Interestingly, making sense out of the own wealthof learning experiences at the workplace has been widely ignored. To tackle thisissue, we have implemented a novel sensemaking interface for healthcare professionalsto support learning at the workplace. The proposed prototype supportsremembering of informal experiences from episodic memory followed by sensemakingin semantic memory. Results from an initial study conducted as part ofan iterative co-design process reveal the prototype is being perceived as usefuland supportive for informal sensemaking by study participants from the healthcaredomain. Furthermore, we find first evidence that re-evaluation of collectedinformation is a potentially necessary process that needs further exploration tofully understand and support sensemaking of informal learning experiences.
Wesiak Gudrun, Al-Smadi Mohammad, Gütl Christian, Höfler Margit
2015
Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is already a central element of online learningenvironments, but is also gaining increasing importance in traditional classroom settings where coursework is carried out in groups. For these situations social interaction, sharing and construction ofknowledge among the group members are important elements of the learning process. The use ofcomputers and the internet facilitates such group work by allowing asynchronous as well as synchronouscontributions toto foster CSCL is the employment of Wiki systems, e.g. for collaboratively working on a writingassignment. We developed an enhanced Wiki system with self- and peer assessment, visualizations, and-science students showed its usefulness for collaborative course work. However, results from studies withtech-savvy participants, who are typically familiar with the benefits as well as drawbacks of such tools,are often limited regarding the generalizability to other populations. Thus, we introduced the Wiki in anon-technological environment and evaluated it with respect to usability, usefulness, and motivationalcomponents. Thirty psychology students used the co-writing Wiki to work collaboratively on a shortpaper. Besides providing an interface for generating and changing a document, the co-writing Wiki offerstools for formative assessment activities (integrated self-, peer-, and group assessment activities) as well-data(activity tracking) as well as questionnaire data gathered at before and after working with the Wiki.Additionally, the instructor evaluated the co-writing Wiki concerning its usefulness for CSCL activities inacademic settings. Despite technical problems and consequently low system usability scores, participantsperceived the offered functionalities as helpful to keep a good overview on the current status of theirpaper and the contributions of their group members. The integrated self-assessment tool helped them toget aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, students showed a high intrinsic motivationwhile working with the co-Writing Wiki, which did not change over the course of the study. From the-writing Wiki allowed to effectively monitor the progress of the groups andenabled formative feedback by the instructor. Summarizing, the results indicate that using Wikis forCSCL is a promising way to also support students with no technological background.environments, but is also gaining increasing importance in traditional classroom settings where coursework is carried out in groups. For these situations social interaction, sharing and construction ofknowledge among the group members are important elements of the learning process. The use ofcomputers and the internet facilitates such group work by allowing asynchronous as well as synchronous contributions to a common learning object independent of student’s working time and location. One way to foster CSCL is the employment of Wiki systems, e.g. for collaboratively working on a writing assignment. We developed an enhanced Wiki system with self- and peer assessment, visualizations, and functionalities for continuous teacher feedback. First evaluations of this ‘co-writing Wiki’ with computer science students showed its usefulness for collaborative course work. However, results from studies with tech-savvy participants, who are typically familiar with the benefits as well as drawbacks of such tools, are often limited regarding the generalizability to other populations. Thus, we introduced the Wiki in a non-technological environment and evaluated it with respect to usability, usefulness, and motivational components. Thirty psychology students used the co-writing Wiki to work collaboratively on a short paper. Besides providing an interface for generating and changing a document, the co-writing Wiki offers tools for formative assessment activities (integrated self-, peer-, and group assessment activities) as well as monitoring the progress of the group’s collaboration. The evaluation of the tool is based on log-data (activity tracking) as well as questionnaire data gathered at before and after working with the Wiki. Additionally, the instructor evaluated the co-writing Wiki concerning its usefulness for CSCL activities in academic settings. Despite technical problems and consequently low system usability scores, participants perceived the offered functionalities as helpful to keep a good overview on the current status of their paper and the contributions of their group members. The integrated self-assessment tool helped them to get aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, students showed a high intrinsic motivation while working with the co-Writing Wiki, which did not change over the course of the study. From the instructor’s perspective, the co-writing Wiki allowed to effectively monitor the progress of the groups and enabled formative feedback by the instructor. Summarizing, the results indicate that using Wikis for CSCL is a promising way to also support students with no technological background.