TSCL: a conceptual model to inform understanding of collaborative learning processes at interactive tabletops

Abstract Emerging systems for tabletop interaction have the potential to support small groups of students in collaborative learning activities. We argue that these devices have the potential to support learning by exploiting the interaction data that they can capture. The capture, analysis and presentation of these data can provide new ways to gain understanding of the collaborative processes. This is particularly important for teachers at two levels. First, they can gain a deeper level of awareness of the progress of individual students and groups in their class and, based on this, make real-time informed decisions. Second, they can do post-hoc reflection and analyse aspects of the class. This paper presents Tabletop-Supported Collaborative Learning (TSCL), a conceptual model that provides foundations for building tabletop-based systems that can inform understanding of the collaborative learning process. The model provides guidance for building the infrastructure to: (i) capture traces of student activity; (ii) exploit these through data analytics techniques; and (iii) provide useful information about the collaborative processes. We illustrate the usefulness of TSCL in its use to create a learning environment that was evaluated in two studies conducted in tertiary education contexts. The first was a laboratory study, where 60 students in 20 groups worked on a concept mapping task, with data from their interaction used to create visualisations of the group processes. The second study was conducted in-the-wild, involving 140 students, working in 8 class sessions.