A conceptualization of factors affecting collaborative knowledge building in online environments
| Pages | 62-89 |
| Date | 22 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2019-0046 |
| Published date | 22 November 2019 |
| Author | Samar Ghazal,Hosam Al-Samarraie,Bianca Wright |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
A conceptualization of factors
affecting collaborative knowledge
building in online environments
Samar Ghazal
Centre for Instructional Technology and Multimedia,
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, and
Hosam Al-Samarraie and Bianca Wright
School of Media and Performing Arts, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to address the major findings of published research on the factors
influencing students’knowledge building in an online collaborative environment.
Design/methodology/appr oach –The Preferred Reportin g Items for Systematic Revie ws and
Meta-Analyses was used to review and synthesize existing empirical studies on knowledge building in a
collaborative learning context. In total, 24 studies were identified from major electronic bibliographic
databases. The research was conducted between 2017 and 2019. Results of these studies were analyzed to
determine potential factors that may influence the knowledge-building process among students.
Findings –Factors related to interaction and participation, task, student and support were found to be the
major factors driving students’knowledge building in the online collaborative learning environment. The
association between these factors and certain collaborative tasks was mapped.
Originality/value –Findings from this review can help decision makers of higher education in both
developing and developed countries to take the necessary steps in order to promote effective knowledge-
building practices in online collaborative learning. It may also help educational policy makers to understand
the particulars of collaborative knowledge-building practices, so to increase organizational overall
effectiveness and performance.
Keywords Knowledge building, Collaborative learning, Computer-mediated communication,
Distributed environments
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
The recent movement of educational policy makers to encourage students to engage in
effective knowledge-building activities has resulted in various societal, economic and
environmental problems that are still emergent and not well studied (Csikszentmihalyi and
Wolfe, 2014; Lai and Campbell, 2018). Thus, it is important that students develop their
intellectual skills such as critical thinking, creativity, problem solving and collaboration in
order to effectively deal with these problems (Lin et al., 2017; Al-Samarraie and Saeed, 2018).
Since collaborative learning activities are consistent with a sociocultural perspective (where
knowledge is socially constructed), individuals can share knowledge and tackle
communication losses with other individual group members (Ioannou et al., 2014). In the
current knowledge society, collaboration between members has become an essential element
for ensuring effective knowledge-building practices. Veerman and Veldhuis-Diermanse
(2001) defined collaborative learning as a pedagogical process that encourages students to
discuss problems and viewpoints from different perspectives and to elaborate and refine
their understanding to build new knowledge.
One of the most important areas of collaborative learning is the use of advanced
technologies to support various collaboration and sharing scenarios (Stahl et al., 2006). An
influential example of an institutional model using computer-supported collaborative
learning (CSCL) technology is “knowledge building,”also known as knowledge creation,
Online Information Review
Vol. 44 No. 1, 2020
pp. 62-89
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-02-2019-0046
Received 7 February 2019
Revised 7 May 2019
13 August 2019
Accepted 3 October 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
62
OIR
44,1
which is defined as “the production of knowledge that adds value to the community”
(Scardamalia and Bereiter, 2016). The notion of knowledge building has emerged as a
promising pedagogical advance in online collaborative learning. Knowledge building is a
collaborative process that deals with the production and improvement of ideas in a context
specific situation. Within the knowledge-building process, students treat new knowledge or
information as something problematic that needs to be explained. Moreover, the literature
explained that knowledge advancement is the collective work shared between the members
of a group, and that knowledge is improvable through discourse (Scardamalia, 2002;
Scardamalia and Bereiter, 2016). Therefore, knowledge building has been characterized as
“knowledge creation,”a third metaphor for learning (Paavola et al., 2004) that integrates the
“knowledge-acquisition”(cognitive) and “participation”(situated) learning metaphors.
There is increasing pressure to provide learners with the abilities to construct
meaningful knowledge and become an effective member in the collaborative learning
process (Sahni, 2018). To address this issue, knowledge-building theory has been used as a
promising pedagogical approach to preparing students for online collaborative learning
(Scardamalia and Bereiter, 2003, 2016). This theory asserts the significance of creating
knowledge jointly in a society, and describes what learners need to achieve in order to
enhance their capacity to learn, mainly through discussion (Scardamalia and Bereiter, 2016).
Thus, it is anticipated that engaging students in a constructive discourse for the
development of new knowledge is important in the collaborative context (Law et al., 2011).
Scardamalia and Bereiter (2016) indicated that the learning that accompanies the process of
knowledge building involves sub-skills and socio-cognitive dynamics embedded in the
foundation of other learning approaches. Furthermore, the current conceptualization of the
knowledge-building process consists of collective cognitive responsibilities and students’
engagement within a community to create and share new knowledge that is supported by
online forums (Lee et al., 2017). This understanding has evolved alongside the development
of what is referred to as CSCL and Knowledge Forum. CSCL and Knowledge Forum are
networked learning environments designed using socio-cognitive and socio-technological
dynamics, particularly to support knowledge advances among members of the group
(Stahl et al., 2006; Balakrishnan, 2015).
Based on these, it can be said that the primary aim of CSCL is to provide the ability for
learners to fully engage in the community, as well as creating a new structure for social
communication that is critical for supporting individuals’participation in the process of
knowledge building (Yücel and Usluel, 2016). This might result in different emergent
processes and outcomes that may substantially influence the knowledge-building process in
an online collaborative learning environment. Previous studies on CSCL (e.g. MacLeod and
Yang, 2018; Reis et al., 2018) have identified and explained the role of various antecedents to
the development of individuals’knowledge building through engagement of students in
certain learning situations. Common aspects that have been studied in the literature usually
consists of individuals’interaction (Cacciamani, 2017), participation (Niu and van Aalst,
2009; Naranjo et al., 2012; Yücel and Usluel, 2016), complex reasoning and level of
argumentation (Noroozi et al., 2013), metacognitive understanding (Cesareni et al., 2008;
Cacciamani et al., 2012), cognitive learning styles (Balakrishnan, 2015), design processes
(Lai, 2015), regulatory processes (Järvelä et al., 2016) and motivational and scaffolding roles
(Rienties et al., 2012). Despite these, there are still a number of challenges regarding the
suitability of the current learning and teaching approaches for building students’knowledge
in a university context (van Aalst, 2009; So et al., 2010). One of them is the pervasive
conception that knowledge-building activities are only suitable for students with higher
cognitive abilities (Chan and Lee, 2007). This belief has been commonly shared among
research communities attempting to promote more student agency and responsibility in
learning (So et al., 2010). For instance, Zohar and Dori (2003) argue that teachers with these
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Collaborative
knowledge
building
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