Development of Actionable Insights for Regulating Students’ Collaborative Writing of Scientific Texts

Abstract

We develop indicators for teachers to monitor and regulate students’ collaborative writing on a web-based science learning environment. Visualizations of carefully selected indicators are proposed to teachers in order to facilitate the tracking, analysis and management of the students’ collaborative work process over time. Our research method is based on a user-centered approach. Via focus groups and interviews, teachers have participated in the design of the indicators and visualizations. This communication presents (a) the mapping from collected data to educational constructs underlying our analytical approach for collaborative writing, (b) indicators and visualizations produced to provide actionable insights to teachers, and (c) lessons learned from our iterative human-centered design process. The results are transferable to other learning environments and design processes.