Collaborative Learning &
Research Project
2000
SmartBoard
1991
1998
Project A
WeBBoard
A Snapshot of the
Collaborative Process
WCU studies leadership and motivation
using sociometric instruments from a
social science perspective.
Cup examines stress & health issues as it
relates to leaderhship from a psychological
perspective.
Casper College - UW/CC
provides writing assistants a streamline
writing process for the collaborative teams.
Asking Questions is a WA’s Norm!
Writing Assistant’s
Bob
Collaborative Faculty
OVERVIEW
The collaborative project is an applied
research project of psychology students at
WCU , CUP, and Writing Assistants at U of
Wyoming.
Students produce final reports integrating
their respective ideas on the relationships
among stress, health, leadership, and
motivation within task-performing groups
Benefits of
Collaborative Model
Learning Environment





Offers different teaching and learning styles
Structured by the professors, but led by the
students
Fosters independent thinking
Creates active learners
Encourages students to seek outside opinions
without being scrutinized
Benefits of
Collaborative Model





Prepares one for the”workplace” by providing:
Exposure to technology
Interpersonal skills to work with groups
Negotiating and problem-solving skills
Knowledge of the collaborative process
Evaluation Criteria
CUP





Collaborative Tangram Paper *
3 Exams (3 measures)
Collaborative Paper
Collaborative Project Rating Scale
Peer evaluations
WCU






Collaborative Tangram Paper *
PowerPoint Seminar Presentation
Collaborative Paper
Collaborative Project Rating Scale
Peer evaluations
(Students are graded independently of “group’s” performance)
Introduction to The Internet &
Collaborative Project

First Meeting: Introduce to Internet,
Collaborative project, assign to groups of four.

Second Meeting: E-mail, “Netscape”, and
WebBoard Training.

Third Meeting: Collaborative Chapter
Collaborative Internet Project

Post Reactions to Collaborative Chapter
 Response from Collaborative Team




Tangram Exercise
Web Calendars
Begin Literature Review Expect ‘drop’ in collaboration -
Writing Assistants






Link the connection between on-line communication
and both written (print) and oral (spoken)
communication.
Help teams clarify ideas.
Provide assistance on specific writing concerns.
Encourage all team members to participate.
Model effective online and written communication.
Assist team members by posing questions and
offering suggestions.
1
 Collaborative Chapter
 Making Contact
 Tangram Project
 Begin Lit. Review
Participants become
Confused
Anxious
Overwhelmed!
 Task Clarification -?
 Duty - Role -?
 “Work”
 Settlement and
Closure
Some initial thoughts!
“Trepidation”- I can’t do
this!






I don’t get it? How can learning shift from the
Prof. to “me”, the “group” & the “Team”?
Who’s in charge?
I never realized working together would be so
difficult!
What I said was not what I meant?
I can’t express how I think, behave, or feel in
words, they’ll be misinterpreted!
Now what do I do?
Let’s look at how others began!
Making Contact -The
Beginning

Hi Everyone, I would like to try to get to know
everyone on a more informal basis before we get into
project mode. I will graduate in Dec, and am looking
forward to going to graduate school. I am leaning
toward forensic psych. Rachel, CUP Sept. 1999

I probably have three semesters to go yet(fingers
crossed) and then if all is well I would like to attend
the MSW program at Pitt. Rikk, CUP Sept. 1999
Writing Assistant
Making Contact

Hello hello everyone in cyberland. I am Jeremy. I am
your own personal Electronic Writing Assistant (EWA).
I work at the Writing Center at Casper College,
Casper, Wyoming. I'm a pre-law student with 2 years
of undergrad work left. I have been working on this
Collaborative project for 2 semesters. We're here to
help with the writing, true, but we actually can do a
lot more than that, if you just ask.

Jeremy, CC Sept 1999
Making Contact -The
Beginning


Hi Everyone. I was thinking that we could try
to do some sort of collaboration activity on
the internet before we have to do the
tangram excercise. Let me know what you
think!
Jackie, CUP Sept 1999
we could all set aside a time to get together in
the collaboratorium. It's a chat room. As we
go through the project it will be a very
valuable tool.
Jeremy, CC Sept 1999
Making Contact -The
Beginning
Hi CUP,
how is everything going ? What does you
teacher have you doing right now? Is there a
specific time when you are all supposed to
write each week? We just finished the
tangram project on Monday. Dave, another
one of our group members dropped out.
That leaves just Tara and me. When we get
a solution to this problem we will let you
know. Write us back and let us know what is
going on out there. Kathy, WCU Sept 1999
What Went Well

Being polite with one another.

ADVICE: One of the most important
things about distance collaboration is
taking the time to find the right words
for our messages so that others don't
misinterpret our meanings. Csulb
What Went Well


We learned to communicate even the
smallest detail. This was important
because assumptions in a virtual group
could lead to misled and frustrated
group members.
Advice: Our collaboration was good but
we rarely kept to deadlines. Csulb
The WWWBoard/
Collaboratorium
Group 1's WWWboard for Collaborative Communication
[ Post Message ] [ FAQ ] [ Group 2 ] [ Group 3 ] [ Group 4 ] [ Group 6 ]
[ WCUPA Syllabus ] [ CSULB Syllabus ]
[ WCU Due Dates ] [ Writing Guidelines ]
[ Tangram Feedback ] [ Collaboratorium ] [ Peer Rating Scale ]
While the nature of this course promotes asynchronous, distance
collaboration such as we might experience in the business world,
there may be times during the semester that communicating in "real"
time would be useful for distant site members.
Collaborative Faculty

Thomas Treadwell
Donna Ashcraft
Bob Mittan
Marty Saxton

Adel Barimani

Paula Davidson
Paul Arsenault
Carole Eklund
Jeremy Wilch






ttreadwe@albie.wcupa.edu
ashcraft@clarion.edu
bmittan@acad.cc.whcn.edu
msaxton@voicenet.com
(CompSoc/GraphPlot
Programmer)
abarimani@wcupa.edu
Academic Computing Support
edmiston@cs.unca.edu
parsenault@wcupa.edu
karo@coffey.com
Lawstud@prodigy.net