The Role of Collaboration, Computer Use, Learning Environments, and Supporting Strategies in CSCL: A Meta-Analysis

TLDR

This meta‑analysis examines how collaboration, computer use, and extra learning environments or supporting strategies influence outcomes in computer‑supported collaborative learning. The authors extracted and coded 425 empirical studies from 2000 to 2016 and analyzed study features as potential moderators. Collaboration, computer use, and extra learning environments or supporting strategies all produced significant positive effects on knowledge gain, skill acquisition, and student perceptions, with computer use also enhancing group task performance (ES = 0.89) and social interaction (ES = 0.57), and the largest effect size observed was 0.89 for group task performance.

Abstract

This meta-analysis synthesizes research findings on the effects of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) based on its three main elements: (1) the collaboration per se, (2) the use of computers, and (3) the use of extra learning environments or tools, or supporting strategies in CSCL. In this analysis, 425 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2016 were extracted and coded, and these generated the following findings. First, the collaboration had significant positive effects on knowledge gain (ES [effect size] = 0.42), skill acquisition (ES = 0.64), and student perceptions (ES = 0.38) in computer-based learning conditions. Second, computer use led to positive effects on knowledge gain (ES = 0.45), skill acquisition (ES = 0.53), student perceptions (ES = 0.51), group task performance (ES = 0.89), and social interaction (ES = 0.57) in collaborative learning contexts. Third, the use of extra learning environments or tools produced a medium effect for knowledge gain (ES = 0.55), and supporting strategies resulted in an ES of 0.38 for knowledge gain. Several study features were analyzed as potential moderators.