Gerry Stahl

Embedding critics in design environments

Human understanding in design evolves through a process of critiquing existing knowledge and consequently expanding the store of design knowledge. Critiquing is a dialogue in which the interjection of a reasoned opinion about a product or action triggers further reflection on or changes to the artifact being designed. Our work has focused on applying this successful human critiquing paradigm to human-computer interaction. We argue that computer-based critiquing systems are most effective when they are embedded in domain-oriented design environments, which are knowledge-based computer systems that support designers in specifying a problem and constructing a solution. Embedded critics play a number of important roles in such design environments: (1) they increase the designers understanding of design situations by pointing out problematic situations early in the design process; (2) they support the integration of problem framing and problem solving by providing a linkage between the design specification and the design construction; and (3) they help designers access relevant information in the large information spaces provided by the design environment. Three embedded critiquing mechanisms—generic, specific, and interpretive critics—are presented, and their complementary roles within the design environment architecture are described.

Contributions to a theoretical framework for CSCL

Looking at computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) in terms of (a) collaborative knowledge building, (b) group and individual perspectives, (c) mediation by artifacts and (d) micro-analysis of conversation provides a rich, multi-dimensional starting point for conceptualizing and studying a specific variant of CSCL. These four contributions to CSCL are inter-related. The notion of collaborative knowledge building defines a useful paradigm for conceptualizing learning as social practice. The social interactions and knowledge management activities in which shared knowledge is constructed can be analyzed as the result of interweaving group and personal conversational perspectives. In general, collaborative interaction is mediated by artifacts: sometimes only by transitory artifacts like spoken words or gestures, but increasingly by physical or digital artifacts and media. Empirical studies of collaborative knowledge building employing micro-ethnographic analysis of speech, gesture, artifacts and media can make the details of these collaboration interactions visible, highlighting the interplay of perspectives and artifacts in the trans-personal construction of knowledge. A theoretical framework incorporating models of knowledge building, perspectives and artifacts -- and grounded in empirical analysis of collaborative interaction -- can guide the design of computer-based artifacts and media as support for collaborative learning with appropriate, elaborated and unified conceptualizations.

Embedding computer-based critics in the contexts of design

Computational critiquing mechanisms provide an effective form of computer-human interaction supporting the process of design. Critics embedded in domain-oriented design environments can take advantage of additional knowledge residing in these environments to provide less intrusive, more relevant critiques. Three classes of embedded critics have been designed, implemented, and studied: Generic critics use domain knowledge to detect problematic situations in the design construction. Specific critics take advantage of additional knowledge in the partial specification to detect inconsistencies between the design construction and the design specification. Interpretive critics are tied to perspective mechanisms that support designers in examining their artifact from different viewpoints.

Collaborative information environments to support knowledge construction by communities

Computer-based design environments for skilled domain workers have recently graduated from research prototypes to commercial products, supporting the learning of individual designers. Such systems do not, however, adequately support the collaborative nature of work or the evolution of knowledge within communities of practice. If innovation is to be supported within collaborative efforts, thesedomain-oriented design environments (DODEs) must be extended to becomecollaborative information environments (CIEs), capable of providing effective community memories for managing information and learning within constantly evolving collaborative contexts. In particular, CIEs must provide functionality that facilitates the construction of new knowledge and the shared understanding necessary to use this knowledge effectively within communities of practice.This paper reviews three stages of work on artificial (computer-based and Web-based) systems that augment the intelligence of people and organisations. NetSuite illustrates the DODE approach to supporting the work of individual designers with learning-on-demand. WebNet extends this model to CIEs that support collaborative learning by groups of designers. Finally, WebGuide shows how a computational perspectives mechanism for CIEs can support the construction of knowledge and of shared understanding within groups. According to recent theories of cognition, human intelligence is the product of tool use and of social mediations as well as of biological development; CIEs are designed to enhance this intelligence by providing computationally powerful tools that are supportive of social relations.

Reflections on WebGuide: seven issues for the next generation of collaborative knowledge-building environments

A number of software environments have been developed as media to support collaborative knowledge building, typically featuring a Web-based threaded discussion facility. We have recently developed such a system, known as WebGuide. The distinctive feature of this system is support for structuring collaboration and knowledge construction with personal, group and comparison perspectives. While piloting WebGuide in a middle school classroom and a graduate seminar, we encountered a variety of issues related to both software design and classroom practices. Some of these issues are common to experiences with similar systems and some have to do specifically with support for perspectives. In this paper we review seven of the major issues encountered with an eye toward suggestions for future work.

Intertwining perspectives and negotiation

Cooperative work typically involves both individual and group activities. Computer support for perspectives allows people to view and work in a central information repository within personal contexts. However, work in personal perspectives encourages divergent thinking. Negotiation in group perspectives is needed to converge on consensus, shared understanding, and cooperation. Negotiation processes on their own can delay progress. By intertwining perspective and negotiation mechanisms, individual results can be systematically merged into a group product while work continues. Personal perspectives on shared information are thereby intertwined and merged into a shared group understanding. WEBGUIDE is a prototype system that integrates perspective and negotiation mechanisms; its user interface has been mocked up in detail to work out the many issues involved. We have begun to use partial implementations of WEBGUIDE to support cooperative intellectual work in small research groups.

WebGuide: Guiding Collaborative Learning on the Web with Perspectives

Abstract: We are developing a Web-based tool called WebGuide to mediate and structure collaborative learning. This software uses an innovative mechanism to define a flexible system of perspectives on a shared knowledge construction space. WebGuide provides an electronic and persistent workspace for individuals and teams to develop and share distinctive points of view on a topic. We are designing the software and associated usage practices by trying it out in a middle school classroom and an advanced graduate seminar. Our experience in these use situations has raised a range of questions concerning theoretical and practical issues, which are driving our research. This paper is a reflection on what we are learning collaboratively about how software artifacts can mediate learning and shared cognition. Editors: Gary Boyd (Concordia U., CA) Reviewers: Helen Chappel-Hayios (U. Glasgow, UK), Hans van der Meij (U. Twente, NL) Notes: Since publishing this paper, the author has relocated to the German National Research Center for Information Technology (GMD-FIT) in Sankt Augustin, Germany. He can be contacted at Gerry.Stahl@GMD.de

Internet repositories for collaborative learning: supporting both students and teachers

Most efforts to create computer-supported collaborative learning environments have been focused on students. However, without providing appropriate integration of collaborative activities into curricula, these efforts will have little widespread impact on educational practices. To improve education through technology, learning environments for students must be integrated with curriculum development tools for teachers to create an integrated collaboration-oriented classroom. This paper describes how software tools for Internet repositories can aid fundamental collaboration activities—locat ing, using, adapting, and sharing—at both the teacher level (with the Teacher’s Curriculum Assistant) and the student level (with the Remote Exploratorium). It illustrates how tools for educators and tools for students can be orchestrated into integrated classroom support.

Share globally, adapt locally: software assistance to locate and tailor curriculum posted to the Internet

Abstract Many teachers yearn to break through the confines of traditional textbook-centered teaching to present activities that encourage students to explore and construct their own knowledge. But this requires developing innovative materials and curriculum tailored to local students. Teachers have neither the time nor the information to do much of this from scratch. The Internet provides a medium for sharing innovative educational resources globally. School districts and teacher organizations have already begun to post curriculum ideas on Internet servers. However, just storing unrelated educational materials on the Internet does not by itself solve the problem. It is too hard to find the right resources to meet specific needs. Teachers need productivity software for locating sites of materials across the network, searching the individual curriculum sources, adapting retrieved materials to their classrooms, organizing these resources in coherent lesson plans, and sharing their experiences across the Internet. We have designed and prototyped a Teachers Curriculum Assistant (TCA) that provides software support for teachers to make effective use of educational resources posted to the Internet. TCA maintains information for finding educational resources distributed on the Internet. It provides query and browsing mechanisms for exploring what is available. Tools are included for tailoring retrieved resources, creating supplementary materials, and designing innovative curriculum. TCA encourages teachers to annotate and upload successfully used curriculum to Internet servers to share their ideas with other teachers. In this paper we motivate the need for such computer support and discuss what we have learned from designing TCA.

Collaborative Information Environments for Innovative Communities of Practice

In the information age, lifelong learning and collaboration are essential aspects of most innovative work. Fortunately, the computer technology which drives the information explosion also has the potential to help individuals and teams to learn much of what they need to know on demand. In particular, computer-based systems on the Internet can be designed to capture knowledge as it is generated within a community of practice and to deliver relevant knowledge when it is useful. Computer-based design environments for skilled domain workers have recently graduated from research prototypes to commercial products, supporting the learning of individual designers. Such systems do not, however, adequately support the collaborative nature of work or the evolution of knowledge within communities of practice. If innovation is to be supported within collaborative efforts, these domain-oriented design environments (DODEs) must be extended to become collaborative information environments (CIEs), capable of providing effective community memories for managing information and learning within constantly evolving collaborative contexts.