Collaborative learning aspects in VSE

In the last years the attention for the learning methodologies has produced a shift from simply transmitting the knowledge to actually building knowledge (Vrasidas, Charalambos, 2000). The active involvement, the reciprocal collaboration among the learners, the concrete experimentation in the learning process are become the main features to consider in a learning process (Merrill, 2001). In fact the learning is facilitated when learners is actively engaged in solving real-world problems and actives his/her existing knowledge as a foundation for new knowledge. Furthermore the learning has an improvement when the learners compare their comprehension and negotiate and validate it, through a ideas change. When the student engages him/herself in active, constructive, intentional, authentic and cooperative learning he/she achieve a meaningful learning. The activity is necessary but not sufficient, it is essential that the learners reflect on their activity and observations, in order to construct their own simple mental models, which become increasingly exact. The learning has to be intentional because the learners learn more when they are fulfilling an intention. The learning has to be authentic because, as shown from many researches, the learning process is more effective when the learning tasks are situated in real contexts or simulated in some case/problem based learning environment. . The learning has to allow the collaboration among the students because during the collaboration they can analyze in critical way and negotiate their ideas, compare among them the understood concepts, validate their insights and propose other more complex investigations. Finally the meaningful learning is a combination of active, constructive, intentional, authentic and collaborative learning (Jonassen et al., 1999). In this work we want to investigate a possible didactic model for VSE starting from the Brousseau Theory of Didactic Situation suitably modified taking into account collaborative learning features.