Conceptual and procedural knowledge construction in computer supported collaborative learning

Abstract: This paper focuses on learners ’ knowledge construction in computer supported collaborative learning. It investigates how far individual knowledge (prior knowledge), collaborative knowledge (the quality of collaborative knowledge construction), and instructional support may contribute to the outcomes of learners ’ knowledge construction. It analyzes predictors for learners ’ learning outcomes with respect to procedural knowledge (successful application of rules for case-solving) and conceptual knowledge (cued answer of theory concepts) under consideration of learners ’ knowledge about theory definitions. To find answers to this issue, results of two studies are presented. They show that predicting factors for learners ’ construction of conceptual knowledge lie mainly in the individual while procedural knowledge benefits of collaborative knowledge construction. Knowledge construction in computer supported collaborative learning Computer supported collaborative learning environments can provide learning experiences which go far further than the pure acquisition of facts. Some focus, for example, on the transfer of knowledge (e.g. Renkl, Mandl & Gruber, 1996), some on learners ’ knowledge about argumentation (e.g. Schwarz, Neumann, Gil & Ilya, 2003), some on their problem-solving skills (e.g. Saljö, Eklund & Mäkitalo, 2006) or particular domain-specifi