SoCS: The Fourth Party: Improving Computer-Mediated Deliberation through Cognitive, Social and Emotional Support

该项目将开发和评估软件，以支持参与在线社会审议的人，特别是与争端解决和协作查询有关的人。该软件将模拟和监控人们在合作或参与解决争端时的审议过程技能。应用程序将在三个已经支持在线对话的领域：1)在线纠纷解决(例如，eBay和美国国家调解委员会)；2)开放式研究性学习环境中的协作学习；3)关于公民和伦理问题的对话和审议。该项目将搭建环境，增加结构或将注意力集中在社交过程上，支持个人技能的提高，并促进人群的智慧，使参与者能够产生更好的结果。这个项目涉及五个系的教职员工：法律研究、心理学、政治学、计算机科学和教育。这项研究促进了社会问题(协作、争议解决和批判性思维)和计算技术(在线争议解决、辩论和协作)的发展。它进一步研究建立社交社区，探索指导和协作问题，并开发评估工具来衡量在线支持的效果。更广泛的社会影响。该项目对在线人与人之间的交流有了进一步的理解。它将使更多的人获得社会审议工具，促进更多人对讨论的兴趣，并提高在线纠纷和合作的质量。该项目为在线社区进行更智能的交流奠定了基础，对协作的复杂性产生了新的理解，并产生了协同在线讨论的新模式。

This project will develop and evaluate software to support people engaged in online social deliberation, especially as it relates to dispute resolution and collaborative inquiry. The software will model and monitor deliberative processes skills while people are either in collaboration or involved in settling disputes. Applications will be in three domains that already support online conversations: 1) online dispute resolution (e.g., eBay and the U.S. National Mediation Board); 2) collaborative learning in open-ended inquiry learning environments; and 3) dialog and deliberation on civic and ethical issues. The project will scaffold situations, adding structure or focusing attention on social processes, support improvement of individual skills, and facilitate a. Wisdom of crowds that enables participants to produce improved results. This project involves faculty across five departments: legal studies, psychology, political science, computer science and education.Intellectual Merit. This research advances social issues (collaboration, dispute resolution, and critical thinking) and computation techniques (online dispute resolution, argumentation and collaboration). It furthers research into building social communities, explores issues of coaching and collaboration and develops evaluation tools for measuring the effect of online support.Broader Societal Impact. This project advances the understanding of online human-human communication. It will enable more people to access social deliberative tools, promote interest in discussion among more people and improve the quality of on-line disputes as well as collaborations. The project lays the groundwork for more intelligent communication in online communities, creates new understandings of the complexities of collaboration and produces new modes of synergistic online discussions.