The literature synthesis project intends to develop methods and a model for helping close the gap between research and practice while centering equity. This goal will have implications for both research and practice. There are 3 stages in the project that work toward this. The first stage (year 1) is mapping during which we will create a synthesis of the literature on the computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) literature and related collaborative learning literature. The synthesis will be created with a bibliometric tool called BiblioTools that maps the literature and shows the themes of the research. The synthesized map of the literature will be used to develop a curated map that will be used to ground the conversations between researchers and practitioners to determine key ideas that are important to both research and practice. The conversations will also uncover gaps in the literature.

The conversations that will occur between the researchers and practitioners start the clarifying stage of the project. Through a modified Delphi Method approach, we will bring together researchers, practitioners to determine the key ideas. The second part of the clarifying stage will be when practitioners and researchers, together, create short primers on the key topics identified in the Delphi Method discussions. The act of writing together will provide further elucidation about how researchers and practitioners think about the topics; this will inform the research field as well as how we translate the materials to practice.

The final stage of the project, in Year 3, is the communicating stage. We will use what we learn in the first two project stages to create new materials that will be used to translate key research findings for collaborative learning into practice. We will work with the partner organizations that are part of the grant proposal to plan how to best disseminate the materials and then do so.

Please send a DM to @virtual_judi on twitter if you're interested.