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Rational thinking as exemplified in mathematical cognition is immensely important in the modern world. This book documents how a group of three eighth-grade girls developed specific group practices typical of such thinking in an online educational experience. A longitudinal case study tracks the team through eight hour-long sessions, following the students' meaning-making processes through their mutual chat responses preserved in computer logs coordinated with their geometric actions. The examination of data focuses on key areas of the team's development: its effective team collaboration, its productive mathematical discourse, its enacted use of dynamic-geometry tools, and its ability to identify and construct dynamic-geometry dependencies. This detailed study of group cognition serves as a paradigmatic example of computer-supported collaborative learning, incorporating a unique model of human-computer interaction analysis applied to the use of innovative educational technology. A valuable resource for researchers, instructors, and students alike, it offers concrete suggestions for improving educational practice.

Geometry --- Middle school education. --- Middle school students. --- Mathematical ability. --- Arithmetical ability --- Number ability --- Ability --- Students --- Children --- Intermediate school education --- Education --- Mathematics --- Euclid's Elements --- Study and teaching (Middle school) --- Education (Middle school)

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Studying Virtual Math Teams centers on detailed empirical studies of how students in small online groups make sense of math issues and how they solve problems by making meaning together. These studies are woven together with materials that describe the online environment and pedagogical orientation, as well as reflections on the theoretical implications of the findings in the studies. The nature of group cognition and shared meaning making in collaborative learning is a foundational research issue in CSCL. More generally, the theme of sense making is a central topic in information science. While many authors allude to these topics, few have provided this kind of detailed analysis of the mechanisms of intersubjective meaning making. This book presents a coherent research agenda that has been pursued by the author and his research group. The book opens with descriptions of the project and its methodology, as well as situating this research in the past and present context of the CSCL research field. The core research team then presents five concrete analyses of group interactions in different phases of the Virtual Math Teams research project. These chapters are followed by several studies by international collaborators, discussing the group discourse, the software affordances and alternative representations of the interaction, all using data from the VMT project. The concluding chapters address implications for the theory of group cognition and for the methodology of the learning sciences. In addition to substantial introductory and concluding chapters, this important new book includes analyses based upon the author's previous research, thereby providing smooth continuity and an engaging flow that follows the progression of the research. The VMT project has dual goals: (a) to provide a source of experience and data for practical and theoretical explorations of group knowledge building and (b) to develop an effective online environment and educational service for collaborative learning of mathematics. Studying Virtual Math Teams reflects these twin orientations, reviewing the intertwined aims and development of a rigorous science of small-group cognition and a Web 2.0 educational math service. It documents the kinds of interactional methods that small groups use to explore math issues and provides a glimpse into the potential of online interaction to promote productive math discourse.

Group work in education. --- Mathematics --Computer-assisted instruction. --- Mathematics --Electronic discussion groups. --- Mathematics --- Group work in education --- Education, Special Topics --- Education --- Social Sciences --- Computer-assisted instruction --- Electronic discussion groups --- Computer-assisted instruction. --- CAI (Computer-assisted instruction) --- Computer-aided instruction --- Computer-assisted learning --- Computer based instruction --- Computer-enhanced learning --- Electronic data processing in programmed instruction --- ILSs (Integrated learning systems) --- Integrated learning systems --- Microcomputer-aided instruction --- Microcomputer-assisted instruction --- Microcomputer-assisted learning --- Microcomputer-based instruction --- Teaching --- Data processing --- Education. --- Educational technology. --- Learning & Instruction. --- Educational Technology. --- Mathematics Education. --- Study and teaching. --- Instructional technology --- Technology in education --- Technology --- Educational innovations --- Instructional systems --- Children --- Education, Primitive --- Education of children --- Human resource development --- Instruction --- Pedagogy --- Schooling --- Students --- Youth --- Civilization --- Learning and scholarship --- Mental discipline --- Schools --- Training --- Aids and devices --- Educational technology --- Programmed instruction --- Telematics --- Mathematics. --- Math --- Science --- Learning. --- Instruction. --- Mathematics—Study and teaching . --- Learning process --- Comprehension