Review by: Park, Jonghwi (2005-06-23)

This study investigates the effects of epistemic and social scripts on individual knowledge acquisition in a text-based computer-supported peer-discussion learning environment and a videoconferencing peer-teaching learning environment.

The authors characterize epistemic scripts as prompts to facilitate the epistemic activities which learners use to deal with learning tasks. Expert-like approaches, which Chi et al. (1981) and other cognitive psychologists argued for in 80’s and early 90’s, are examples of epistemic-script-supported learning activities. The authors characterize social scripts as social modes of co-construction which foster learners to specify and sequence their social interactions. Brown & Palincsar’s (1989) notion of reciprocal teaching is an example of a social-script-supported learning activity.

The authors present two studies to investigate the main effects of each type of script and the interaction effects in a 2x2-factorial design. In the first study, based on a web-based problem-oriented peer-discussion, the authors sampled 92 university students and conducted pre- and post-tests. The ANOVA results showed that social scripts produced significant positive effects on individual knowledge acquisition whereas epistemic scripts produced significant negative effects, which is against expected outcomes. The authors reason that social scripts may reinforce collaborative learning mechanisms whereas epistemic scripts may limit processes of reflective thinking and disrupt the development of individual understanding.

The second study is based on a video-conferencing concept-oriented peer-tutoring environment. The authors sampled 86 university students, asking them to take the role of either tutor or tutee and to follow the steps that social scripts prompt. Collaborative learning outcomes were measured in a cued recall test of the main contents. The results show that social scripts significantly foster individual knowledge acquisition, whereas no significant effects were detected for both epistemic scripts and interactions.

The authors conclude that social scripts motivate learners to inquire into the contributions of their partners more critically and thus, enhance their acquisition of knowledge. However, they conclude that it is critical to design epistemic scripts with adequate degrees of freedom to allow for the elaboration of learning materials.

This study empirically shows that there is no one-size-fits-all script to foster collaborative learning processes. It is interesting to see the negative or non-significant effects of epistemic scripts on knowledge acquisition, which went against the expectations of the researchers. It shows that epistemic scripts must be carefully designed in accordance with types of media as well as the characteristics of contents and materials so that learning processes are flexible enough for learners to develop their own understanding though the learning processes.