e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

12.9. Collaborative Group Techniques

Collaborative structures that promote reliance of team members on each other and also foster individual accountability have proven most effective in face-to-face environments. In this section we review two structures that have been used extensively in face-to-face collaborative learning environments: structured controversy and problem-based learning. Structures such as these that have been evaluated in face-to-face collaborative settings can serve as starting points for the building of CSCL environments.

12.9.1. Structured Controversy

Wiley and Voss (1999) showed that individual learners assigned to write a pro and con argument learned more than learners asked to write either a narration or a summary. The ...