CTRL: A research framework for providing adaptive collaborative learning support

Abstract

There is evidence suggesting that providing adaptive assistance to collaborative interactions might be a good way of improving the effectiveness of collaborative activities. In this paper, we introduce the Collaborative Tutoring Research Lab (CTRL), a research-oriented framework for adaptive collaborative learning support that enables researchers to combine different types of adaptive support, particularly by using domain-specific models as input to domain-general components in order to create more complex tutoring functionality. Additionally, the framework allows researchers to implement comparison conditions by making it easier to vary single factors of the adaptive intervention. We evaluated CTRL by designing adaptive and fixed support for a peer tutoring setting, and instantiating the framework using those two collaborative scenarios and an individual tutoring scenario. As part of the implementation, we integrated pre-existing components from the Cognitive Tutor Algebra (CTA) with custom-built components. The three conditions were then compared in a controlled classroom study, and the results helped us to contribute to learning sciences research in peer tutoring. CTRL can be generalized to other collaborative scenarios, but the ease of implementation relates to the complexity of the existing components used. CTRL as a framework has yielded a full implementation of an adaptive support system and a controlled evaluation in the classroom.

Designing Configurations of CSCL Scripts Using Interaction Analysis Findings

“…As [13] state in their review of collaboration support systems, "coaching systems help students engaged in computermediated collaboration by assessing the current state of student interaction, comparing the current state to a desired state, and then offering assistance to the students". For building effective coaching systems, we need well structured architectural frameworks such as the one proposed by the Collaborative Tutoring Research Lab (CTRL) [19]. Finally, systematic evaluation studies need to be performed in order to collect and analyze empirical data about the effective use of the proposed approaches for the on-the-fly design such coaching systems.…”

Layered evaluation of interactive adaptive systems: framework and formative methods

“…As noted by Walker et al (2009), wizard-of-Oz is impractical for large-scale research as it creates uncertainty as to whether different facilitators acting as wizards may have different effects.…”

Activity sequence modelling and dynamic clustering for personalized e-learning

“…4, namely the Trial and Error type and the different Help-Seeking types H 1 , H 2 /H 4 and H 3 . System interventions can be grouped into means of individual user support (see, for instance, Koedinger and Aleven 2007) and means of collaboration support (see, for instance, Soller et al 2005or Walker et al 2009), yet based on individual users' model information. It should be noted that the example interventions proposed in this section are not being suggested as the best possible approaches in the respective cases (something that would definitely also depend on the didactic approach employed).…”