Natalia Reich-Stiebert

The acquisition of online interaction competencies is an important learning objective. The present study explored the relationships between the first-language heterogeneity of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) groups and the development of students’ online interaction self-efficacy via a pretest–posttest design in the context of a nine-week CSCL course. The research participants were 1525 freshmen receiving distance education who were randomly assigned to 343 CSCL groups. Independent of their own language status, students in CSCL groups featuring first-language heterogeneity exhibited lower precourse–postcourse gains in online interaction self-efficacy than students in groups without heterogeneity. Consistent with a theoretically derived moderation model, the relationships between first-language heterogeneity and self-efficacy gains were moderated by the amount of time that the groups spent on task-related communication during the initial collaboration phase (i.e., the relationships were significant when little time was spent on it but not when a great deal of time was spent on it). In contrast, the amount of time that groups spent on communication related to getting to know each other was ineffective as a significant moderator. Follow-up analyses indicated that time spent getting to know each other in first-language heterogeneous CSCL groups seems to have had the paradoxical effect of increasing rather than decreasing perceptions of heterogeneity among group members. Apparently, this effect impaired online interaction self-efficacy gains.

With this literature review, we provide a systematic overview on and working definition of mental labor in the context of unpaid work—an inherent cognitive component of daily routines primarily related to domestic or childcare tasks. Our methodology followed PRISMA guidelines, and 31 full-text articles were included. Articles were peer-reviewed and published in social science, sociological, and psychological journals. The studies applied quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches including, interviews, online surveys, observations of family routines, time estimates, and experiments. The samples covered a wide age range, consisting mostly of U.S. American or European middle-class women and men (married or in a relationship). Predominantly, the articles show that women perform the larger proportion of mental labor, especially when it comes to childcare and parenting decisions. Further, women experience more related negative consequences, such as stress, lower life and relationship satisfaction, and negative impact on their careers. We offer an integrative theoretical perspective to explain the gendered distribution of mental labor and cognitive load. We consider theoretical and practical implications of these findings for reducing gender inequality in mental labor in the context of unpaid work within the household and childcare.

MedienPädagogik ist ein Open-Access-Journal und richtet sich an Fachpersonen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, die sich mit Fragen der Vermittlung zwischen Menschen und Medien in pädagogischen Kontexten beschäftigen (Medienpädagogik). Die Zeitschrift bietet ein Forum, um Fragen der medienpädagogischen Theoriebildung zu verhandeln und sich über den Stand des Fachdiskurses zu orientieren. MedienPädagogik berichtet über Beiträge zur empirischen Medienforschung und bildet eine Plattform für die methodologische Diskussion. Die Zeitschrift MedienPädagogik wird von der Sektion Medienpädagogik der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft (DGfE) getragen und durch die Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich unterstützt.

Robots are interesting because they exist as a real technology that you can really study—you can get a degree in robotics—and they also have all this pop-culture real estate that they take up in people's minds.