Implementing dynamicity in research designs for collaborative digital writing
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Implementing dynamicity in research designs for collaborative digital writing Volkmar P. Engerer 1 Received: 5 July 2020 / Accepted: 18 October 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract This paper implements a dynamic (i.e. temporal and local) research design for collaborative digital writing (CDW) in writing assignments in higher education. This research design builds on my paper “Temporality revisited: Dynamicity issues in collaborative digital writing research”, published in this journal (Engerer 2020). The design identifies current state-of-the-art approaches to digital writing and introduces 1) the components of text (the process and products of writing and learning communication), 2) external variables such as learning orientations and group composition, 3) an intermediate layer of time management that is related to organizing the assignment, and 4) the sphere of knowledge construction. The main modification, however, is the addition of four features specifically connected to time-related aspects: 5) micro-analysis, 6) dynamicity, 7) writer relevance and 8) source status. This dynamized research design is applied in a study of writing assignments carried out by the author with students of information science in the spring term of 2016. It is demonstrated how the temporal organization of a CDW process can be visualized and how central concepts such as Task structure, Reference structure and Final target structure are construed, operationalized and dynamically related to each other. Furthermore, a real-time analysis of sequential concept building is provided. The discussion shows that the study integrates all the above elements 1)-8) of a dynamic research design for CDW, although to different degrees. The study presented here can provide a general background for designing research in CDW and can inspire CDW researchers to capture in their research designs the dynamic, time-related features in CDW. Keywords Collaborative digital writing . Conceptual learning . Feedback . Google docs .
Higher education . Knowledge construction . Leximancer . Research design
* Volkmar P. Engerer [email protected]
1
Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen, Søndre Campus, build. 4, Karen Blixens Plads 8, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
Education and Information Technologies
1 “Temporality revisited”: A dynamized research design for CDW This paper is a continuation of Engerer (2020) (referred to in the following by “Temporality revisited”). It explored the complex feature of dynamicity (a composite of temporal and local properties) in research on collaborative digital writing (CDW) in academic writing assignments. CDW is related to the broader field of research dealing with both learning communication and text creation, more generally labeled “collaborative writing” (Beck 1993; Kimmerle et al. 2017; Yeh 2014). This area experienced a substantial upturn with the advent of digital distance communication and the possibility of engaging several students “synchronously”
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