Lecture Notes in Computer Science- P87 potx

An Online Theme-Based Collaborative Learning System 419 for generating the raw data used in further analysis steps to compute the chosen indicators. Then the raw data is put into the analysis method and is processed there. After the analysis, the high and low level indicators are produced. In the end, indicators which are represents by a certain tool constitute the learning portfolios. Moreover, for the concrete utilization of the indicator norms can be applied. These norms which define desired values and behaviors are used for meta-cognition or guiding. Fig. 5. Schemes of learning portfolios formation In the system we designed, there are three learning activities which are represented in the learning portfolios: 1) sharing and using learning resources, 2) sharing and using learning fruits, 3) interactions and communications in online virtual forums. The indicators in the three kinds of learning activities are described in the case study section. The system by far mainly uses quantitative statistics method to analyze the raw data, and represents indicators in learning portfolios with participation diagrams. 3 System Implementation The standard Object-based software engineering methods were adopted to implement the system. The procedures of implementation mainly went thought three phases. Firstly, PowerDesigner 12, a powerful, visual and easy-to-use enterprise modelling tool, was used to create the requirement model with use case and entity-relation diagrams. Secondly, PowerDesigner 12 automatically converted the entity-relation model into the class model, and efficiently generated the SQL scripts. As we know, the class model shows more details of the static system structure than the module architecture does, and can be used to generate the code frames which shortens the cycle of development; the SQL scripts can be used further to create the target database in MySQL 5.0 which is an open source relation database management system. Thirdly, the programs on Web server (Apache 2.0) were coded with PHP which is a webpage script language. For JPGraph is an Object-Based Graph creating library for PHP, We directly take advantage of its functions to create numerous types of statistical graphs in learning portfolios module. Learning activity Indicator System Interface Raw Data Analysis Methods Learning Portfolio Indicator What should be available? What is available? What do we want achieve? Data flow Constraints Influence 420 Y. Wang and K. Li 4 Case Study The participants were 32 graduate students majoring educational technology in the south china normal university, who took the course of research methods of educational technology. The teacher is a famous professor who has studied CSCL for many years, and three doctor candidates took on the research assistant. The learning theme chosen is about .data collection and analysis of qualitative research method. The study was conducted within 5 weeks after the participants were introduced the OTBCL model and functions of the system. The procedures of this study were carried out strictly according to OTBCL model. The purpose of the case study is to seek the varying rules of participation in group lifecycle. According to the five stages of group lifecycle in collaborative learning proposed by Tuckmann [3], we divide the period of theme learning into five phases, each phase is about one week. In this paper, we explain how to analyze the rules of participation in the two kinds of learning activities: 1) sharing resources, 2) communi- cating in online virtual forums. 4.1 Analysis of Sharing Resources The variation of the number of resources shared shows the dynamic process of collaborative learning. In this activity, we proposed the hypothesis that a group does not perform well if its members share resource in the last two stages of the group lifecycle. In this system, the results of resources shared were automatically summarized in tables, as shown in table 1. Table 1. The results of statistics of sharing resources ĉweek Ċweek ċweek Čweek čweek  S Pr Pu S Pr Pu S Pr Pu S Pr Pu S Pr Pu Group 1 7 5 2 0 0 0 11 11 0 15 2 13 1 1 0 Group 2 0 0 0 4 3 1 1 1 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 Group 3 1 1 0 2 2 0 4 3 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 Group 4 6 5 1 10 9 1 6 5 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 Group 5 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 4 0 10 9 1 3 3 0 Group 6 0 0 0 10 8 2 1 1 0 19 17 2 2 1 1 Group 7 2 2 0 5 5 0 1 1 0 7 7 0 3 2 1 Group 8 2 2 0 18 1 2 61046880001 Remark 1. S: sum of resources, Pr: group private resources, Pu: class public resources. The data in the table1 can not intuitively shows the varying rules and tendency of reading resources in the group lifecycle, so the system generated the line plots. Obvi- ously, Figure 6 clearly shows the variations of participation in sharing resources activity of group 5 and group 8 during group lifecycle. An Online Theme-Based Collaborative Learning System 421 Fig. 6. Variations of participation in reading resources of group 5 and group 8 From the line plots in figure 5, we can easily discover that the peak of sharing resources of group 5 lies in the fourth stages, but that of group 8 lies in the second stages. In the case of group 5, it means that the members of the group did not begin to passively collect and share their resources until the last two stages. But, in the efficiently collaborative learning, the actions of sharing resources are centralized in the first two stages. In addition, the hypothesis is also verified by the task-based performance evaluation: the performance of group 8 is evidently better than that of group 5. 4.2 Analysis of Participation in Online Virtual Forums As we know, efficient communications in online virtual forums can facilitate the knowledge construction. So learning portfolios should provide indicators which can measure the levels of knowledge building. In this system, content analysis was used to perform the function. In the analysis, each note was classified as belonging to one of five levels of the interaction analysis model [5]. In the case study, because knowledge test and application is not the goals of the leaning theme, the system only outputted the results of analysis of the first three levels. The results are shown in the figure 7. The variation of number of notes in group lifecycle can explain whether members of a group devote themselves to communicate, and can indicate which stage is Fig. 7. Content analysis of communications in online virtual forums 422 Y. Wang and K. Li Fig. 8. Variations of communications of forums in group lifecycle centralized by the efforts of members. From the results depicted in the figure 8, we can inspect two kinds of interesting phenomena: 1) Except that of group 1, the peak of participation emerged in the fourth stages of group lifecycle. It means that it is the assignments that force student to take efforts to communicate each other in the fourth stage. 2) Except in group 1 and group 3, the number of notes posted by members in the third stage is less than in the other stages. It shows that the learning motivation of members diminish from the first stage to the third stage. Therefore, the teacher should take effective measures to change the situation. 5 Conclusions and Future Work This paper makes several contributions. Firstly, an online theme-based collaborative learning model (OTBCL model) was proposed, which can guild teachers to implement thematic learning or collaborative learning supported by internet. Secondly, the design and implementation of a powerful system based on the OTBCL model were described in detail. Especially, the principles achieved in the design of system architecture, user interface and learning portfolios module are very useful for developing online collaborative learning system. Lastly, a case study was introduced which ex- plains how to intuitively evaluate the varying rules of participation during group lifecycle and the levels of knowledge construction with statistical diagrams. Researchers in CSCL fields claimed that there are three kinds of collaborative management tools: mirroring tools, monitoring tools and guiding tools [9]. In the system, the selected indicators in the learning portfolios module are belong to the first two kinds, which means teachers would depend on their experiences in CSCL when make decisions in their instruction. Therefore, as for the future of the system, new analysis method need be adopted to analysis the participation and communication of members of a group, such as social network analysis [10], focus group interview and so on. Then, it is necessary to carry out many additional experiments to summarize many causal norms. Supported by the norms, the system can automatically and effec- tively generate useful guides in formative evaluations, which will reduce the burdens of teacher and provide learning scaffolds for students. An Online Theme-Based Collaborative Learning System 423 References 1. Thematic Learning, http://www.4faculty.org/includes/digdeeper/thematic/ thematic_learning.htm 2. Thematic Instruction, http://www.funderstanding.com/thematic_instruction.cfm 3. Collaborative learning: Group work and study teams, http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html 4. Developmental sequence in small groups, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3954/is_200104/ai_n8 943663 5. Gunawardena, C.N., Lowe, C.A., Anderson, T.A.: Analysis of a global online debate and the development of an interaction analysis model for examining social construction of knowledge in computer conferencing. J. Educational Computing Research 17(4), 397–431 (1997) 6. Options for group formation and Race, P. 500 Tips on Group Learning, p. 33. Kogan Page Ltd., London (2000) 7. Communities of practice, http://www.criticalmethods.org/collab/v.mv?d=1_67 8. Harrer, A., et al.: Unified Framework on Interaction Analysis. ICALTS:D.26.2 (2004) 9. Jermann, P., Soller, A., Muehlenbrock, M.: From Mirroring to Guiding: A Review of State of the Art Technology for Supporting Collaborative Learning. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (Euro-CSCL 2001) (2001) 10. Wang, Y., Li, K.: An application of social network analysis in evaluation of CSCL. In: Proceeding of 14th International Conference of Computers in Education, pp. 353–357 (2006) . represented in the learning portfolios: 1) sharing and using learning resources, 2) sharing and using learning fruits, 3) interactions and communications in online virtual forums. The indicators in. theme learning into five phases, each phase is about one week. In this paper, we explain how to analyze the rules of participation in the two kinds of learning activities: 1) sharing resources,. Researchers in CSCL fields claimed that there are three kinds of collaborative management tools: mirroring tools, monitoring tools and guiding tools [9]. In the system, the selected indicators in the