Web/spl I.bar/Soc: a Socratic-dialectic-based collaborative tutoring system on the World Wide Web

A Web/spl I.bar/Soc tutoring system for recursion concept learning is proposed. The system integrates different modes of learning, synchronous and asynchronous, collaborative and individualized, into a World Wide Web (WWW) environment. The paper proposes a collaborative learning protocol. Based on the protocol, the principles of the Socratic dialogue are applied to the collaborative learning of recursion concepts. In order to evaluate the effects on learning of the Web/spl I.bar/Soc system, an educational experiment was conducted. The results show that the effects from the Web/spl I.bar/Soc system were more obvious than merely studying articles.

I. Introduction

The use of collaborative learning in the classroom has proven to be effective in improving academic achievement [1]–[4], motivation for learning [5], and social interaction [3]. As a result, some researchers say that the exploration into collaborative learning is one of the greatest topics in education studies in half a century [3].