CORAL: Collaborative Online Research And Learning
 
Social Psychology Laboratory

Coral Course Outline

Course Objectives

Students will :

  • Improve on-line technology skills (e.g., video conferencing, discussion board use, chatroom use, file manager use) and apply them to the collaborative process.
  • Learn about the nature of group processes (e.g., Tuckman’s developmental stages, group member roles, who-to-whom charting,). This added knowledge will be directed towards enhancing understanding of the management of group processes in applied settings.
  • Learn to write an introductory collaborative team assignment & understanding the writing process.
  • Learn to write a research proposal collaboratively.
  • Learn contents of a research proposal (e.g., introduction including literature review, purpose, rationale, significance of research, methodology, & limitations of research). This assignment offers participants experience in managing collaborations, formulating an executive summary of the research proposal and project management.
  • Learn to write a collaborative paper of the team’s (group) developmental stages. This assignment fosters skills in identifying and remedying barriers to team effectiveness.
  • Improve on-line library research skills (Writing Literature Reviews, Appendix A & B; A closer look at locating literature electronically, & Sample ERIC search).
  • Improve interpersonal skills and communication. This offers participation in negotiating outcomes in team settings.
  • Improve collaborative interpersonal and writing skills.
  • Improve writing skills.
  • Improve presentation skills.
Textbooks

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Pyrczak, Fred, & Bruce, Randall. (2005). Writing Empirical Research Reports (5th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing Co.

Galvan, Jose. (2004). Writing Literature Reviews (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing Co.

Assignments

Detailed assignment sheets and suggestions will be provided for each of these aspects of the collaborative project:

    1. Write an introductory paper on collaborative vs cooperative learning.
    2. Develop and present a PowerPoint presentation on collaborative vs cooperative learning.
    3. Each team will develop a research proposal for a study related to one or more topics team members are learning about during the semester.
    4. Develop and submit 3 collaborative analysis reports describing the collaborative process.
    5. Additionally each team will develop a final collaborative analysis paper and PowerPoint presentation.
    6. Complete online pre and post test questionnaires.
Coral Grading Policy

CORAL is not a traditional lecture-based class and we do not use traditional grading methods. Thus, even though assignments may be given a grade, grades should not be interpreted in the same manner as they would in the traditional classroom. CORAL class grades are used primarily as feedback, instead of a measurement of knowledge learned. For example, in a traditional classroom, a D on an exam implies that the student learned a less than average amount of material and can negatively affect the student’s final grade. In CORAL a D on a paper simply suggests that the student and his/her team needs to improve significantly on future papers in order to get a good final grade in the course. Final grades are based the amount of improvement shown in papers and team collaboration. Final grades are determined by:

      1. Quantitative assessment of the final research proposal.
      2. Quantitative assessment of the final collaborative analysis.
      3. Qualitative assessment of collaboration & teamwork throughout the CORAL course.

For a through discussion on assessment in collaborative courses and learning communities that supports this policy click on this link