THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ONLINE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN MALAYSIAN TERTIARY CLASSROOM

The paper describes the design and implementation phases of research investigating an online collaborative learning environment in a Malaysian university through the Course Management System (CMS), which aims to promote learning online through collaboration among Science and Mathematics pre-service teachers (Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics). In the design phase, Activity Theory was used to examine the context of Malaysian tertiary classroom on the aspects of technology, pedagogy and social while the model of online collaborative learning (Harasim, 2004) was adapted to collaborative problem-based discussions. The discussions were framed and shaped by the use of authentic and relevant problems that situate learning. Finally, the implementation phase established the collaborative groups and the students engaged in online group through interactions and teamwork in order to tap into cognition as distributed goal-directed activities through the online technology to mediate the learning.