Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 40 Number 1: Fall 2007

	Edited by Dr. Lynne Schrum, George Mason University
formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education

Volume 40 Number 1 Fall 2007

Collaborative Learning Through Chat Discussions and Argument Diagrams in Secondary School

Miika Marttunen and Leena Laurinen
University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Abstract

This study clarifies whether secondary school students develop their argumentation skills through reading and collaboration. The students first constructed an individual argument diagram on genetically modified organisms, read three articles, and improved their diagrams. Next, they engaged in a chat debate, reflected on their debate by constructing a collaborative argument diagram on it, and finally finished their individual diagrams. The analyses compared the diagrams students finished after the debate and reflection with the diagrams they constructed before the debate. Collaboration not only encouraged students to elaborate their previous arguments but also helped them to recall and create ideas and arguments.

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Contributors

Miika Marttunen is a senior researcher (DEd) of educational sciences in the University of Jyväskylä. His research interests include collaborative learning, argumentation, and network interaction. (miika.marttunen@edu.jyu.fi.)

Leena Laurinen is a professor of Education in the University of Jyväskylä. Her research interests include collaborative learning, argumentation, and parental beliefs. (leena.laurinen@edu.jyu.fi.)

Copyright 2007, (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.