How to improve collaborative learning with video tools in the classroom? Social vs. cognitive guidance for student teams

Digital video technologies offer a variety of functions for supporting collaborative learning in classrooms. Yet, for novice learners, such as school students, positive learning outcomes also depend centrally on effective social interactions. We present empirical evidence for the positive effects of instructive guidance on performance and on learning of students who use web-based video tools during a short collaborative-design task in their history lesson. In an experiment with 16-year old learners (N0148) working on a history topic, we compared two contrasting types of guidance for student teams’ collaboration processes (social-interaction-related vs. cognitive-task-related guidance). We also compared two types of advanced video tools. Both types of guidance and tools were aimed at supporting students’ active, meaningful learning and critical analysis of a historical newsreel. Results indicated that social-interaction-related guidance was more effective in terms of learning outcomes (e.g., the students’ history skills) than cognitive-task-related guidance. The different tools did not yield consistent results. The implications of these findings are discussed. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (2012) 7:259–284 DOI 10.1007/s11412-012-9145-0 C. Zahn (*) School of Applied Psychology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Riggenbachstrasse 16, CH-4600 Olten, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] K. Krauskopf : F. W. Hesse Knowledge Media Research Center (KMRC), Schleichstrasse 6, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany K. Krauskopf e-mail: [email protected] F. W. Hesse e-mail: [email protected] R. Pea H-STAR Institute (Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research), Wallenberg Hall, Serra Mall, Building 160, Stanford, CA 94305, USA e-mail: [email protected]