Structured Dialogue for supporting group collaboration: A case study in tertiary education

Abstract

In computer supported collaborative learning settings there is a need to structure collaboration in order to foster productive interactions. In the ……. environment, which is characterized by activity-oriented learning, the structuring of the collaborative setting addresses issues pertaining to group formation and collaboration model followed by the groups and the structuring of the dialogue. The communication tool supports both the free and the structured form with different scaffolding communication means, communication acts and sentence openers. The teacher has the ability to design the collaborative activities and appropriately define/adapt the communication means. The results of two studies conducted in tertiary education, revealed that the students effectively utilized the structured form resulting in more coherent conversations and they acknowledge the added value of the structured form.