Hewitt, Allan (2008) Children's creative collaboration during a
computer-based music task. International Journal of Educational
Research, 47 (1). pp. 11-26. ISSN 0883-0355 The purpose of this
study was to identify and analyse specific instances of
transactive communication as children engaged in a paired melody
writing task using a computer-based composing environment.
Transactive communication has been identified as one of the
features of general collaborative engagement that is most
helpful in an educational sense, and which makes collaborative
learning an important tool for learning and teaching. The paper
reports the results of an empirical study in which a group of 10
and 11 year olds worked in pairs to compose short melodies using
computers. Analysis of between-pupil dialogue suggested that
levels of transactive communication varied between pairs, and
also within pairs as pupils took on different roles at the
computer. Factors of individual difference, such as musical
expertise or whether the pair were