The Rogerian Interface: For Open, Warm Empathy in Computer‐mediated Collaborative Learning

1 February 1996

journal article
research article
Published by Taylor & Francis in Innovations in Education and Training International

Vol. 33 (1) , 13-21
https://doi.org/10.1080/1355800960330103

Abstract

‘Flame wars’ are self‐reproducing cycles of defensive, contemptuous imputation. They are a well‐known problem in computer‐mediated communication. They are especially harmful to collaborative learning. The diametric opposite of a flame war is the self‐reproducing, Rogerian cycle of open, warm empathy. This cycle forms the core of collaborative communication. Wherever it is present, it replaces flaming ‐‐ by definition. As the core of collaborative communication, it is logically necessary for collaborative learning. In order to encourage collaborative learning and flame‐damping most directly, therefore, an experimental computer‐mediated course from the Open University (UK) incorporated a form of the Rogerian cycle explicitly into its user interface. This paper describes its implementation. A separate paper describes the theory behind the implementation and its practical success.

Keywords

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