Vary representational tools and look for invariants to discover collaboration methods before building CMC interfaces¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article's methodological recommendation for designers is to study how people appropriate flexible, familiar representations before fixing interface assumptions: "Our methodological strategy is to vary the representational tools provided and look for invariants across the different configurations." Rather than mapping a theoretical communication model directly onto an interface, designers should first identify which affordances users take up and for what communicative functions, then build tools that support those flexibilities.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Materials familiar enough that participants need no time to learn their affordances
• Variation in participants and materials across sessions to strengthen claims of generality

Constraints¶

• The authors explicitly state this differs from an experimental design and that no comparisons between experimental groups are made

Target Learners¶

• Designers and researchers of computer-supported collaborative learning tools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Understanding and designing for media appropriation in collaborative learning

Claims¶

• Dyads collaborating via flexible written paper media exhibit invariant communicative practices across media, participants and topics [+W]
• Participants used a limited, polymorphic repertoire of materials, gestures and symbols whose meanings were context-derived [+W]
• Written media afford simultaneous production and comprehension, which pairs appropriate to manage multiple discussion threads [+W]
• Recurring functional/conceptual spaces (personal space, shared work area, conclusions, discard) emerged in every interaction, and pairs resisted re-designating designated spaces [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Nathan Dwyer & Daniel D. Suthers. (2006). Consistent practices in artifact-mediated collaboration. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning 1: 481–511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-006-9001-1