COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE LEARNING - PROBLEM-SOLVING AND DISTANCE EDUCATION

The aim of this research is to understand how to design effective computer based support for collaborative learning in distance education. This paper reports on three preliminary studies of cooperative problem solving among university students. The first is a questionnaire study of Open University students, the aim of which was to determine their participation in and preferences for cooperative work in their courses. The main finding was that although students expressed a preference in general for working alone as opposed to collaboratively, many of them did participate in collaborative work in their courses, and regarded such activities as helpful in their work. A more detailed investigation was indicated in order to determine the nature of collaborative activities that these students engaged in and the ways in which they found them helpful. Two studies are described, one of which was an observational study of group activities at summer school. The other study compared the use of two different kinds of interface for supporting synchronous cooperative problem solving. The implications from these studies are discussed in relation to designing computer support for collaborative learning. © 1990.