All nine students sent their opening statements and they addressed the above
questions. These initial statements provided a starting point for discussion as
students commented on each other's initial statements and mentioned the points
with which they agreed and disagreed. The exchanges were mainly
complementary as students covered many aspects and discussed different
scientific controversies. Students were asked to exchange ideas, debate findings
and produce a collective group report at the end of the day. As mentioned before
one of the aims of the course was to help students develop skills to consider ways in which the contemporary mass media influence the communication of
scientific information and understanding. As we will see below in the
collaborative processes analysis, students collaboratively considered media
influence on scientific information and understanding and both the task set and
the resourcing of the collaborative experience led to extensive discussion and a
product (final collaborative report) that could be evaluated, which helps to
assess learning (Crook 1994).