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In this paper, I review two studies (Roschelle, 1996; Baker, Hansen, Joiner, & Traum, 1999) which I believe to represent paradigmatic examples of CSCL research. I offer a critique of these studies based on the theory of inquiry developed by the American pragmatist philosopher John Dewey. Inquiry, for Dewey, represented an exceedingly broad category of activity of which joint problem solving is a special case. I conclude by proposing a description of what I think research in CSCL is, or at least should be, about. This description can be used to distinguish what is done in this field from traditional research in education on learning outcomes, research based on classical information processing theory, and conventional research on social interaction.
Timothy Koschmann (Tue,) studied this question.