12.2. Factors That Make a Difference: Overview

Early CSCL research compared outcomes from various forms of CSCL to outcomes from individual work. Unfortunately, little consensus emerged. As the field matures, a more productive question is: Under what circumstances will individual or group outcomes of a given type be best mediated by what type of online collaborative structures? However, we are unlikely to find guidelines that are universally applicable.

As summarized in Table 12.2, technology features, team assignments, performance evaluation plans, and team sizes are among a number of elements that can affect CSCL outcomes. Any unique combination of those factors may exert different effects. For example, the individual learning outcomes of ...

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