EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS IN COMPUTER-SUPPORTED PEER-PEER LEARNING

Three case studies are presented to support the claim that mechanistic groupware can improve efficiency and effectiveness in the classroom. Each case study involved an entire 15-week course and used a different groupware system. In the first case study students and the teacher on ly interacted through e-mail that is archived on the Web. The teacher invested more effort in guiding the online discussion than would have been required to give lectures. However, this course was effective as reflected in student response to a questionnaire about the quality of the learning experience. In the next case study student teams submitte d exercise answers and comments that were semi-automatically graded th rough a database management system. Students were relatively dissatisf ied with the course and were relatively inactive in peer-peer assessme nt online. In the final case study, all student work was online in the form of exercise and comment submissions. This course was efficient f or the teacher, and the students learned effectively. The expertise of the teacher and the motivation of the students are important factors in determining the optimal mapping among students and teachers, their educational tools, and their learning objectives. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd. All rights reserved.