Abstract

ABSTRACT: The need for an Advanced Study Colloquium. The first decade of the 21st century has seen an ever-expanding definition of learning and learning environments. In schools, there has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of learning in groups. At the same time, the physical boundaries of “group learning” are being broken down by advances in technology and communication. Group learning now routinely happens asynchronously, with members residing around the world. Motivation theory has traditionally looked at the individual, focusing on personality characteristics and the influence of external factors to explain self-regulation and motivation to learn. The study of learning in groups or activity systems, including computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has, in turn, neglected the socio-emotional aspects of social settings. Work in both fields has been limited by the lack of interaction among scholars and the constraints of existing theories. Given the increasing importance of understanding learning and motivation in groups, we are proposing a joint colloquium aimed at integrating individual and social, and cognition and motivation.