Student learning and team formation in a structured CSCL environment

A computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment aims to facilitate student learning by letting them work in small teams with the support of computer technology. Two important factors that affect work in such scenario are: interaction among the students and compatibility or interactivity of the team members. I-MINDS is a tool designed to support structured Computer Supported Collaborative Learning. In I-MINDS we try to improve both the quality of student learning and the quality of student team work with the help of intelligent agents. I-MINDS facilitates student interaction through its forums and can build student teams. In our two-semester long experiment we studied the effect of the interaction environment on the learning and performance of students in face-to-face and structured CSCL scenarios. Moreover, we studied how a student's self-reported efficacy, teamwork and interaction skills affect his or her performance in face-to-face and structured CSCL settings. Our results indicate that even though students prefer face-to-face interactions; structured CSCL environment may increase their individual performance. Furthermore, we find that factors such as the difficulty of the problem or task to be solved and team member compatibility influence the quality of teamwork in structured CSCL.