Project

Fostering Argumentation-Based Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (ACSCL) within academic education in the Agri-Food sciences

Learning to argue is an essential objective in education. Engaging learners in dialogic argumentation in what has been called Collaborative Argumentation-based Learning (CABLE) is an educational approach for preparing learners to manage today’s complex issues and actively participates in knowledge societies.

Profile

Omid Noroozi is a PhD student at the Education and Competence Studies Chair Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He graduated in 2005 from Tarbiat Modares University in Iran with a MSc in Agricultural Extension and Education. He taught various courses in field of Agricultural Education and Educational Technology at various Azad Universities in Iran from 2005 through 2007.

Under direction of prof. Martin Mulder, Omid has been following a PhD program at Wageningen University on Argumentation-Based CSCL within Agri-food sciences in higher education since March 2008. He has presented many papers at international conferences and published various articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. His current research interests include Collaborative Learning, E-Learning and Distance Education, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), Argumentative Knowledge Construction in CSCL, Argumentation-Based CSCL, CSCL Scripts and Transactivity within Agri-food Sciences.

Research

In the last 15 years, online support systems for collaboration or Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments in which learners argue in teams have been found to support the sharing, constructing and representing of arguments in multiple formats. This type of learning arrangement is named Argumentation-Based Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (ABCSCL) and it is seen as a promising context to facilitate CABLE.

Computer-supported Collaboration Scripts have shown to be a promising approach to orchestrate various roles and activities of learners in CSCL. With this PhD project, we aim to foster ABCSCL using a variety of innovative instructional interventions including Transactive discussion and knowledge scripts within academic education in the agri-food sciences. To do so, we first systematically synthesize the influential and constitutional factors of ABCSCL that have been investigated in the past 15 years. We then conduct research in both control-based and quasi-experimental settings to investigate how various CSCL scripts could be designed to facilitate learning.

Keywords

  • Argumentation
  • Argumentative Knowledge Construction
  • Collaborative Argumentation
  • Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
  • Argumentation-Based Computer Supported Collaborative Learning
  • Computer-Supported Collaboration Scripts
  • Transactive Discussion Scripts
  • Transactive Knowledge Scripts

Project Team

  • Omid Noroozi, MSc
  • Prof. Dr. Martin Mulder
  • Dr. Harm Biemans
  • Dr. Armin Weinberger
  • Dr. Mohammad Chizari

Publications

  • Noroozi, O., Busstra, M. C., Mulder, M., Biemans, H.J.A., Geelen, M.M.E.E., van’t Veer, P. & Chizari, M. (in press).
    Online discussion compensates for suboptimal timing of supportive information presentation in a digitally supported learning environment. Educational Technology Research & Development. doi: 10.1007/s11423-011-9217-2.
  • Noroozi, O., Weinberger., Biemans, H.J.A., Mulder, M., & Chizari, M. (in press).
    Argumentation-based computer supported collaborative learning (ABCSCL). A systematic review and synthesis of fifteen years of research (in press). Educational Research Review.
  • Noroozi, O., Biemans, H.J.A., Busstra, M.C., Mulder, M., & Chizari, M. (2011).
    Differences in learning processes between successful and less successful students in computer-supported collaborative learning in the field of human nutrition and health.
    Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 309-318. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.08.009.
  • Noroozi, O., Biemans, H.J.A., Busstra, M.C., Mulder, M., Popov, V., & Chizari, M. (in press).
    Effects of the Drewlite CSCL platform on students’ learning outcomes.
    In Juan, A., Daradoumis, T., Roca, M., Grasman, S. E., & Faulin, J.  (Eds.), Collaborative and Distributed E-Research: Innovations in Technologies, Strategies and Applications (pp. 0-386). IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-46660-125-3.