Home Page of Gerry Stahl
Gerry StahlAssociate ProfessorCollege of Information Science & Technology33rd & Market Streets, NW corner (physical address)Drexel University (map, directions)3141 Chestnut Street (mail address)Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA215-260-7467 (cell) 215-895-2494 (fax)http://gerrystahl.net (web)Gerry@GerryStahl.net (email) |
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New! eLibrary of my Collected Writings. Eight volumes now available for free in iPad, Kindle and PDF formats; also in inexpensive paperback.
New! YouTube videos of my keynotes, talks, a seminar, an interview.
New! Studying Virtual Math Teams is now available in paperback at a greatly reduced price.
New! Group Cognition is now available for the Kindle.
Welcome to my website! I am a researcher and professor of information science. My current research (from 2003 to the present) focuses on the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project at Drexel's iSchool and the Math Forum. This project is extensively documented in my recent book on Studying Virtual Math Teams. Our research team uses chat interaction analysis to explore what takes place in online discussion of math by students. The background and motivation for this research in my previous research from 1990 to 2005 is presented in my book on Group Cognition.
My specialty is Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). I am the founding Executive Editor of the International Journal of CSCL (ijCSCL). I have presented at every international CSCL conference (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011) and have collected many resources about CSCL on my website.
All of my own publications are available on this site, listed chronologically. My CV details my academic career. My grants and research during the past 20 years are documented on this site. At Colorado and Drexel I have taught courses on CSCL and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)--how to design software to support collaborative learning, knowledge building and group cognition by online groups. My website also includes glimpses into my biography and personal life.
External Websites: CSCL-Community Blog -- my Amazon -- my Google -- my Scholar -- my YouTube channel -- my Lulu book store -- my Smashwords free ebooks -- ijCSCL website -- ijCSCL at Springer -- VMT Wiki -- VMT Lobby -- VMT website -- mathforum VMT wiki -- mathforum.org -- ISLS -- Wikipedia -- post to blog -- Springer EM -- Drexel BlackBoard
Virtual Math Teams (VMT) is a research project that I have directed since its inception in 2003 at the iSchool and the Math Forum at Drexel University in Philadelphia. A group of PhD students, Math Forum staff, interdisciplinary faculty and visiting researchers collaborate on the project. We are developing an online service for math students to meet in small groups online to discuss challenging mathematical topics. We study the usage of the technological environment that we designed for this service, using a method of chat interaction analysis that we have refined. The project is guided by theories of collaborative learning, community knowledge building and group cognition, that we are exploring.
If you register and log into the VMT Lobby, you can enter the VMT Sandbox room to explore the functionality available there. You can also join a chat room or even create one to invite people to for collaborative online chats. There is an introduction to VMT for students, parents, teachers and researchers at the Math Forum VMT web page. A list of publications about the VMT project is available. The most important analyses of the VMT Project are collected in Studying Virtual Math Teams, which includes 28 chapters by members of the VMT research team, visiting researchers and international colleagues.
Here are some recent papers about the VMT project goals, technology, case studies, methodology, theory and findings:
Stahl, G., & Zhou, N. (2006). The virtual math teams project: A global math discourse community. Paper presented at the International Conference on Computers and Education (ICCE '06), Beijing, China. Retrieved from http://gerrystahl.net/pub/icce2006.pdf.
...an introduction to the VMT project's goals and procedures.
Stahl, G., Çakir, M. P., Weimar, S., Weusijana, B. K., & Ou, J. X. (2010). Enhancing mathematical communication for virtual math teams. Acta Didactica Napocensia, 5. Available at http://GerryStahl.net/pub/adn2010.pdf.
...the VMT project's technology, including new support for dynamic math.
Stahl, G. (2009). How I view learning and thinking in CSCL groups. Opening keynote at the International Conference on Computers and Education (ICCE2009) in Hong Kong, China. Available at http://GerryStahl.net/pub/rptel2010.pdf Slides: http://GerryStahl.net/pub/icce2009.ppt.pdf. YouTube video: http://youtu.be/h5MpUJnTipM.
...the group cognition perspective on an excerpt from a VMT chat.
Stahl, G. (2010). Group cognition as a foundation for the new science of learning. In M. S. Khine & I. M. Saleh (Eds.), New science of learning: Computers, cognition and collaboration in education. New York, NY: Springer. Available at http://GerryStahl.net/pub/scienceoflearning.pdf.
...the project methodology as a rigorous science of learning.
Stahl, G. (2011). How a virtual math team structured its problem solving. Paper presented at the international conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL 2011). Hong Kong, China. Proceedings pp. 256-263. Web: http://GerryStahl.net/pub/cscl2011stahl.pdf, Slides: http://GerryStahl.net/pub/cscl2011stahl.ppt.pdf, YouTube video: http://youtu.be/0Dg02YQCQIE.
...a Conversation Analysis case study of a "longer sequences".
Stahl, G., Zhou, N., Cakir, M. P., & Sarmiento-Klapper, J. W. (2011). Seeing what we mean: Co-experiencing a shared virtual world. Paper presented at the international conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning (CSCL 2011). Hong Kong, China. Proceedings pp. 534-541. Web: http://GerryStahl.net/pub/cscl2011.pdf, Slides: http://GerryStahl.net/pub/cscl2011.ppt.pdf, YouTube video: http://youtu.be/HC6eLNNIvCk.
...an analysis of joint attention across graphical, narrative and symbolic media.
Stahl, G. (2012). Theories of collaborative cognition: Foundations for CSCL and CSCW together. In S. Goggins & I. Jahnke (Eds.), CSCL@work. New York, NY: Springer. Web: http://GerryStahl.net/pub/collabcognition.pdf.
...a synthetic historical review of theories of collaboration at different units of analysis.
I published Studying Virtual Math Teams in 2009. The book includes 28 chapters that discuss and analyze various aspects of the VMT Project. The chapters are written by the core VMT research team and by international collaborators and colleagues. The book introduces the theoretical, methodological, pedagogical and technological approach and findings of the project. Part I situates the research in the perspective of group cognition theory; Part II presents model analyses of interaction in the VMT environment; Part III analyzes aspects of the online discourse; Part IV reviews the design of the technology; Part V considers alternative representations and models of the interaction; and Part VI concludes with reflections on the theoretical implications of the research.
Stahl, G. (2009). Studying Virtual Math Teams. New York, NY: Springer Press.
The 600 page book is published in the Springer Press CSCL book series and is available from Springer, Amazon and book stores.
(Pre-publication drafts of chapters are also available for review online at http://gerrystahl.net/vmt/book/)
I published Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge in 2006. The book includes 21 chapters that review and extend my research during the past decade. The chapters report on several projects to develop software systems (including AI support for group formation, summarization and interanimation of perspectives), on approaches to analyze computer-mediated small-group interactions and on theoretical reflections leading to the notion of group cognition as foundational for collaborative learning.
Stahl, G. (2006). Group cognition: Computer support for building collaborative knowledge. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
The 500 page book is published by MIT Press and is available for a reasonable price from the following sources:
Amazon.com: http://amazon.com/gp/product/0262195399,
Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0262195399&itm=1,
MIT Press: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10926.
(Pre-publication drafts of chapters are also available for review online at http://gerrystahl.net/mit/)
The International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (ijCSCL) was founded in 2006 to provide a venue for publication of leading papers on CSCL research. I co-founded the journal with Friedrich Hesse, the director of the Knowlede Media Research Center in Tuebingen, Germany, and with a Board of Editors including about 40 leading CSCL and CSCW researchers from around the world. The journal is published quarterly by Springer, sponsored by the International Society of the Learning Sciences. Anyone who joins ISLS is entitled to receive paper and electronic copies of the journal. To join ISLS, go to ISLS.org. The ISLS membership fee is deducted from registration at the CSCL or ICLS conference. Most major universities subscribe to ijCSCL as part of Springer's package of educational journals. The full text of all papers in ijCSCL are available for free at ijCSCL.org. For instructions on submitting a paper to ijCSCL, go to ijCSCL.org. A book review and the introductions to previous issues are available on my ijCSCL page
I have tried to gather some resources for people interested in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning and for the community of CSCL researchers. I wrote some overviews of the field from my perspective:
Stahl, G. (2008). Chat on collaborative knowledge building. QWERTY,
3 (1). Retrieved from http://gerrystahl.net/pub/qwerty08.pdf.
...an informal discussion of my personal perspective
on CSCL.
Stahl, G. (2008). Human-human interaction and group learning. Paper
presented at the Human-Computer Interaction Consortium, Frasier, CO. Retrieved
from http://gerrystahl.net/pub/hcic2008.pdf.
...a discussion of technology and pedagogy in the
VMT project and in my HCI course.
Stahl, G., Koschmann, T., & Suthers, D. (2006). Computer-supported collaborative learning: An historical perspective. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. (pp. 409-426). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. in English,
in simplified Chinese, in traditional Chinese,
in Spanish, in Portuguese, in German, in Romanian, in Japanese.
...an overview of the history and issues of CSCL. It provides numerous references for further study and outlines a direction for future work. The view of CSCL, its origins and its future is very
much a particular perspective -- that of the authors.
In addition to giving many presentations on CSCL in North America, I have given keynote talks (as well as other papers) in three other continents:
Stahl, G. (2009). How I view learning and thinking in CSCL groups. Opening keynote talk presented at the International Conference on Computers and Education (ICCE 2009), Hong Kong, China. Available at http://GerryStahl.net/pub/iccekeynote2009.pdf. Video: http://GerryStahl.net/cscl/videos/icce2009stahl.wmv Slides: http://GerryStahl.net/pub/icce2009.ppt.pdf
Stahl, G. (2005). Groups, group cognition & groupware. Opening keynote talk presented at the International Workshop on Groupware (CRIWG 2005), Racife, Brazil. Available at http://GerryStahl.net/pub/criwg2005ppt.pdf.
Stahl, G. (2003). The future of computer support for learning: An American/German DeLFIc vision. Opening keynote talk presented at the First Conference on e-Learning of the German Computer Science Society (DeLFI 2003), Munich, Germany. Proceedings pp. 13-16. Available at http://GerryStahl.net/publications/presentations/delfi Video: http://GerryStahl.net/cscl/videos/stahl.mov.
I post a CSCL-Community blog. I compiled a list of CSCL books on Amazon, I contributed to Wikipedia articles:
CSCL-Community blog: http://cscl-community.blogspot.com.
...news for people interested in CSCL, including announcements of new papers in ijCSCL.
Amazon listmania -- CSCL books: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/R2OYK7US8LYVPN/.
...a bibliography of seminal books on CSCL, CSCL conference proceedings, Springer series of CSCL books, etc.
Wikipedia article on CSCL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Supported_Collaborative_Learning.
...a general description of the reserach field of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning.
Wikipedia article on Group Cognition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_cognition.
...a general presentation of the concept of Group Cognition.
Additional resources related to CSCL -- including a number of videos -- are available from the CSCL page of this site.
My publications are available here organized in a couple of ways. The most up-to-date and useful is the chronological listing. My older writings are categorized by genre; this collection includes informal essays, grant proposals and other materials that are not all included in the chronological list. My CV organizes my professional publications by type. I try to make all of my publications freely available on this site in full text, searchable by Google and Scholar.
I have collected my writings in a series of volumes, organized thematically and chronologically:
A monograph in MIT Press's Acting with Technology book series: Group Cognition:Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge.
A collection of studies in Springer Press's CSCL book series: Studies in Virtual Math Teams.
My collected writings: Gerry Stahl's eLibrary.
My courses are heavily computer-supported. A consequence of this is that the course materials and even the student work is freely available for everyone to share. My teaching at Colorado and Drexel is documented on my teaching page. Recent courses on designing Web 2.0 software to support collaborative learning, community knowledge building and group cognition are completely documented on their wiki sites:
Spring 2007, INFO 608: Designing Social Interaction Software.
...designing software to support the VMT user community.
Winter 2008, INFO 608: Designing IPL Social Interaction.
...designing software to support the Internet Public Library.
Spring 2008, INFO 110: Designing for CSCL.
...designing software to support the CSCL research community.
Spring 2008, INFO 310: Speech chat in VMT.
...designing speech chat software for the VMT environment.
Spring 2009, INFO 782: Issues in Informatics.
...a graduate seminar on post-cognitive theories of cognition.
Spring 2009, INFO 105: Introduction to Informatics.
...an undergraduate exploration of classic texts in informatics theory.
Although most of my research during the past several years has been related to the VMT project, I worked on a variety of projects earlier. Since the development of the Web I have documented my research on my website:
Research at Drexel. grant proposals at Drexel and the Math Forum.
Research in Europe ITCOLE project, BSCL, Synergia.
Research in Colorado WebGuide, State the Essence, Organizational Memory, Articulate Learners, Gamble Gulch, L3D Lab, Communications Theory.
Research previously Hermes, OMOL, WebNet, CIE, TCA, CREW, OptoNet, consulting and programming.
My curriculum vitae (in HTML Web and PDF printing formats) contains exhaustive listings of my academic activities, with links to the original source documents. For my tenure review in Fall of 2007, I compiled additional documentation of my activities at Drexel for internal and external review.
In the mid-1990's, when the Web was young, I started my website in much the same format as it has now. I experimented with including both professional and family materials on the same site. As you can see from the archived versions of my site from 1997, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2009, it has maintained that format for over a decade now. The site still includes biographical data about my education and pictures of friends, family, home, recreation and leisure time activities, including a gallery of my sculpture.
