Student' Strategic Actions in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) can be a powerful tool in creating learning communities in which students have a chance to construct knowledge collaboratively and to develop explanations of the subject to be studied. It is obvious, however, that collaborative inquiry is a cognitively-challenging task for an individual student. More evidence on the nature and quality of students' actions and strategic processes in CSCL is needed to make these models more applicable in different domains of classroom learning. The aim of this study was to analyse students' strategic actions in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. Eighteen secondary school students, ages 13–14 years, participated in CSCL inquiries in their literature class. The networked technology environment used was CSILE. The students had three inquiry-based CSCL projects, each lasting for six weeks. The data-collection procedures used were questionnaires, students' written computer notes and repeated process-oriented interviews. The results show the dominance of a superficial approach toward inquiry. This is evidenced by the students' fact-oriented computer notes and their self-reported, surface-level strategic actions. However, the results show a growing amount of collaborative discussion in the networked database. Collaborative networked discussions manifest an increase in deeper-level cognitive strategies and progressive student inquiries. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Self-Regulated Learning in Refugee Entrepreneurship Education: A University-Based Program for Tibetan Entrepreneurs in India

This article presents a case study evaluation of an entrepreneurship education (EE) program for Tibetan refugees in India. In the context of both calls for and critiques of entrepreneurial support strategies for refugee communities, the authors of this study used mixed methods and ethnographic approaches to reflect upon the delivery and reception of the Tibetan Entrepreneurship Development initiative’s preincubation training program during its third cycle. Two innovative features of this program—its use of the material and intellectual resources of a university to support the refugee-entrepreneurs and its pedagogical emphasis on self-regulated learning—might serve as a model for similar initiatives among refugee groups in South Asia and beyond. Examining the participants’ evolving entrepreneurial visions of themselves and their community, we offer critical reflections on the program’s successes and areas for improvement.