Research by Andrea Kienle and Martin Wessner
I have been following the work by Kienle and Wessner during my analysis of related work in the area of scientific communities of practice. I want to point to the design patterns listed by the authors as I find them particularly interesting in the discussion on the future of the open knowledge society and its venues.
- Smooth transitions between different degrees of participation: New people with new ideas should be able to join the community as easily as possible; already existing members should be able to participate over a period of time on different levels.
- Networking of local coordinators: Local coordinators influence by their publications, lectures, and advice how other work is perceived by their fellows.
- Rotation of meeting locations: To provide low barriers for new people living near the meeting location to enter the community.
- International program committees: committee members distribute information about the conference locally and encourage people from their local networks to submit to the conference. International program committees may thus lead to more international group of authors.
These principles have been based on an empirical study and biometric analysis of the CSCL community as well as conceptual work by Etienne Wenger et Al.. The design principles have been applied to propose a community platform for the CSCL community. A community platform might also be potentially useful to foster the the exchange and discussion in the knowledge society.
For more detailed information see:
- Interdisciplinarity in the CSCL Community: An Empirical Study (2007)
- Analysing and cultivating scientific communities of practice (December 2006)
- The CSCL community in its first decade: development, continuity, connectivity (March 2006)
- Principles for Cultivating Scientific Communities of Practice (2005)