Journal article
Boundaries and roles: Positioning and social location in the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) online community
Computers in human behavior, v 26(4), pp 524-532
01 Jul 2010
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
As research in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) expands its understanding of joint knowledge building, new perspectives on how social reality is constructed become necessary. Our research concentrates on the longitudinal or diachronic trajectories of Virtual Math Teams (VMT) at The Math Forum, an online community supporting mathematical inquiry. We investigate how these virtual teams constitute themselves while engaged in building collaborative knowledge. We describe as well, through the lens of positioning theory, the interactional activities that allow participants to situate themselves, others, and their collective knowledge resources over time. Our analysis suggests that positioning work is central to constructing a sustained problem space and illustrates how the configurations of positions and resources that co-participants put forward through interaction might change across a team's trajectory. These changes constitute and are sensitive to the participants' evolving reasoning routines and other forms of joint participation uniquely related knowledge building. In addition, we show that the VMT activity system affords participants a level of disciplinary engagement which is partly illustrated by active engagement in positioning work. Finally, we suggest that an interactional approach to roles and participation provides a fruitful framework for researchers, designers, and practitioners interested in understanding and creating engaging CSCL interactions. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Details
- Title
- Boundaries and roles: Positioning and social location in the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) online community
- Creators
- Johann W. Sarmiento - Drexel UniversityWesley Shumar - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Computers in human behavior, v 26(4), pp 524-532
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 9
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Communication
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000278348500005
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-77955230011
- Other Identifier
- 991019167693404721
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InCites Highlights
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- Web of Science research areas
- Psychology, Experimental
- Psychology, Multidisciplinary