The effect of collaborative knowledge modeling at a distance on performance and on learning

Josianne Basque (1) , Béatrice Pudelko (1)

1 Centre LICEF - TÉLUQ - Laboratoire d'Informatique Cognitive et d'Environnements de Formation - Téluq, l'université à distance de l'UQAM

This study examines the effect of co-elaborating a knowledge model in dyads at a distance on performance and on learning. Forty-eight adults participated in the study. Participants were trained to re-represent knowledge taken from a text, using an object-typed knowledge modeling editor software tool. Knowledge modeling is similar to concept mapping, except that the former is based on a typology of knowledge objects and a typology of links, and that the structure of the knowledge representation is not necessarily hierarchical. Immediately after the 75-minute training session, each participant constructed a knowledge model individually. The experimental session consisted of elaborating a knowledge model in dyads. In the first condition, participants constructed and shared the knowledge model at a distance, using a whiteboard and a chat tool (synchronous distance group). In the second condition, participants elaborated one knowledge model with a turn-taking approach; they used e-mail to communicate their work-in-progress to each other (asynchronous distance group). In the third condition, participants worked at the same computer (face-to-face group). Pre- and post-tests were administered to measure learning in the domain. Results show that the quality of the knowledge models was better for dyads in the face-to-face condition than for the ones in the asynchronous distance condition, but only for the score related to knowledge objects (and not to propositions). Results also indicate that working at a distance in a synchronous mode was more beneficial for learning than working face-to-face at the same computer. It may be that subjects in the face-to-face group focused more on the metalanguage used to construct the knowledge model. These results should be interpreted with caution considering the short duration of the experiment and the low familiarity of participants with the targeted domains and with knowledge modeling. (http://cmc.ihmc.us/papers/cmc2004-231.pdf)

Domaines: Environnements Informatiques pour l'Apprentissage Humain

Josianne Basque, Béatrice Pudelko. The effect of collaborative knowledge modeling at a distance on performance and on learning. First International Conference on Concept Mapping (CMC 2004), 2004, Pamplona, Spain. pp.67-74. ⟨hal-00190711⟩