JOURNAL: Education and Information Technologies
VOLUME: 01
ISSUE: 01
PAGES: 0075-0096

AUTHOR: Margaret M. McManus, Robert M. Aitken

ADDRESS: Mathematics and Computer Science Department, La Salle University, 1900 West Olney Avenue, Philadelphia. E-mail: mcmanus@lasalle.edu, Philadelphia, PA 19 141-1199, USA. Computer and Information Sciences Department, Temple University, Computer Building (038-24). E-mail: aiken@falcon.cis.temple.edu, Philadelphia, PA 19 122, USA

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses how a group leader computer tutor may aid students in learning collaborative skills in a co-operative learning environment. However, students need to learn collaborative skills and practice using them. The group leader computer tutor discussed in this paper is designed on the principles of co-operative learning, intelligent tutoring systems and computer-supported collaborative work within an intelligent collaborative learning system (ICLS). The group leader aims to facilitate group work on the task level and to teach students how to use collaborative skills in the discussion level as students work on networked computers in the Jigsaw method of co-operative learning. The ICLS and its group leader were used by two classes at a liberal arts university. Qualitative research shows that the students' co-operative attitudes changed and academic achievement improved from pre- to post-treatment. Students, especially, used the telligence,collaborative learning, computer assisted instruction, learning systems, tutoring