Using Design-Based Research to Improve Peer Help-Giving in a Middle School Math Classroom

Abstract

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments are often designed to support student collaboration within a single digital platform. However, with the growth of technology in classrooms, students often find themselves working in multiple contexts (i.e., a student might work face-to-face with a peer on one task and then move to engaging in an online discussion for homework). We have created a CSCL environment that aims to support student help-giving across a variety of digital platforms. This paper describes three cycles of a design-based research study that aims to design a system to support help-giving and improve interaction quantity and quality across different contexts as well as to better understand whether students benefit by the addition of multiple contexts. The paper shares major refinements across the three cycles that worked to balance research, pedagogical, and technological goals to improve students’ help-giving behavior in a middle-school mathematics classroom.