Scripting synchronous collaborative writing in second language education within a multi-shared visual workspace: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

This study explores collaborative writing in a multi-shared visual workspace, involving 76 students in higher education. We adopted the Activity-Centred Analysis and Design framework to describe our quasi-experimental design and the influencing context variables. First, we studied the impact of a collaboration script on students' perceived quality of the group processes and the evaluated quality of their writing products. Findings revealed no significant differences in the overall quality of the group process and the overall writing product quality. However, when looking at the individual dimensions, the experimental condition demonstrates significantly higher scores on the lexicon dimension. Second, the interaction with the shared visual workspace was studied. While participants expressed an overall positive perception of the multi-shared visual workspace and its benefits for joint coordination, the use of a collaboration script did not significantly impact students' perception of the shared screen's added value. This study contributes to understanding the complexity of collaborative writing implementation in innovative learning spaces, with practical implications for educators and designers in creating effective computer-supported collaborative learning environments, considering different (i.e., social, set, and epistemic) design dimensions. Considering the limitations of the current study, we also express future research aspirations.