Analysis and Assessment of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Conversations

The presentation will consider Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) in small teams using instant messenger online conversations (chats). The theoretical background of CSCL will be introduced. Discourse analysis techniques will be discussed, starting from a theory based on music polyphony, which helps to understand how learners inter-animate in collaborative chats. Software tools for discourse analysis based on natural language processing and social networks techniques wil be presented and two experimental cases will be considered: Mathematical problem solving in virtual teams of K-12 students (research performed in the VMT project at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA) and knowledge construction in virtual small groups of students from a Computer-Science department (the EU FP7 LTfLL and the Romanian K-Teams projects)