Authors: Nataliia Perova, Qaiser Malik, Dr. Ruth Streveler

Our research looks at how to better support collaboration in Communities of Practice. In particular, we focus on using CLEERHub.org as an online platform for collaboration. To facilitate online group research collaboration, CLEERHub integrates Wiki documents for shared co-editing, Resources pages for listing relevant literature information and Discussion spaces for easier communication among group members.

In Fall 2010 we conducted a pilot study to test the feasibility of using the CLEERHub.org platform to support team collaboration. Participants in the study were students enrolled in a semester-long undergraduate course, Contemporary Science and Innovation, designed to introduce students to current scientific and engineering issues. We implemented a CLEERHub Usage Survey that was designed to collect students' feedback about their experiences using CLEERHub as an online space for their assigned team project. Our preliminary findings indicate that many of the students found the CLEERHub workspace useful for their project work. Some of the participants said that CLEERHub made sharing information, planning meetings, and organizing work tasks easier. One of the students said that CLEERHub was useful for doing a brainstorming for the project and allowed everyone to contribute. Another participant commented: ""CLEERHub was most useful for being able to share information online without having to get together outside of class time.""

For this presentation we will focus on how we can design the CLEERHub group workspace to better facilitate collaborative online efforts. Specifically, we will discuss features that would help to support group the problem-solving process during brainstorming and synthesis of ideas stages. We will also discuss possible ways HUBS could support the process of moving from idea to solution-space. We will explore how such an online collaborative environment could offer valuable insights into collaborative knowledge-building.

Natasha Perova is currently a PhD student in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. She previously worked at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a research assistant focusing on students' learning algebra and also taught an introductory physics course at Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts. Before that she worked as a graduate research assistant at the Center for Engineering Educational and Outreach at Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts. Natasha received her M.S. in Mathematics, Science, Technology and Engineering education in 2008 and M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2005 from Tufts University and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Suffolk University.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Natasha Perova; Ruth Streveler; Qaiser Hameed Malik (2011), "CLEERHub: Using an Online Collaborative Workspace as a Cognitive Tool," https://help.hubzero.org/resources/437.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. Hubbub 2011