Scripting Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: Cognitive, Computational and Educational Perspectives
Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Series; 6 (2007)Abstract
Research on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is a multidisciplinary field that can be located at the intersection of cognitive
psychology, computer science, and education. Yet, the different epistemological
and theoretical backgrounds of these disciplines often make fruitful
exchange between them difficult. To put it in other words, CSCL urgently
needs to develop and use boundary concepts that can bring psychology,
computer science, and education closer together to improve cumulative research
and development of computer-supported learning environments. This
book focuses on one term we believe has the potential to become a real
boundary concept in CSCL - "scripting". However, the term script has different
connotations and traditions in the different disciplines: For cognitive
psychology, scripts are individual memory structures that guide us in understanding
and acting in particular situations. In computer science, scripts are
used by designers to create and adapt system behaviour and to guide learners
through complex work or learning processes. In education, scripts are instructional
scaffolds that structure the learning processes within groups of
learners. From these different connotations, it becomes clear that efforts
have to be taken among researchers in the three disciplines to more precisely
describe their specific notions of what scripts are (and what they are not) and
to more systematically relate theory and research on scripts between the
three disciplines.
It is our belief that this book represents the state of the art of research on
scripting computer-supported collaborative learning and that it provides a
starting point for the development of a common understanding of scripting in
CSCL. As such, we intend it to be a valuable resource for research, development
and teaching.