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As a result of empirical research into the benefits of peer interaction for learning and development, there is growing interest in designing systems to support collaborative learning. How best to do this for classroom learning is still unclear, and the aim of this thesis is to marry theory with empirical study to produce a set of guide-lines for informing the design of computer based collaborative learning. The resolution of inter-individual conflicts has long been proposed as a mechanism for learning in peer interaction and research indicates that in certain circumstances it does lead to learning. How this finding can be employed in the design of systems is problematic because researchers have typically not unpacked the notion of conflict and not explained how they are resolved. To overcome this a dialogue model of the resolution of inter-individual conflicts in joint planning is proposed. There are three key components in this model; the Task Representation, the Task Focus and the Dialogue focus. Using this model I begin to differentiate between three different types of conflict. Conflicts are caused by Task Representation Differences, Intersection Differences or Task Focus Differences . All three types of interindividual difference can be resolved with a set of discourse transactions and a set of internal resolution procedures. I propose that the resolution of all three can facilitate joint planning and subsequent individual planning. Three experiments are reported which investigate these claims. The first experiment shows that pairs performed better than individuals in a planning task and this beneficial effect carries over to subsequent individual planning. The proposed model is used to investigate this facilitative effect. A corpus of inter-individual conflicts is reported. Most of the conflicts identified in this corpus are either intersection differences or task focus differences and evidence is reported which supports the claim that their resolution can lead to learning. The second and third experiments investigate the claims made from the model about task representation differences and evidence was found to support them. The research reported in this thesis is then related to the design of software to support collaborative learning by presenting a set of guide-lines for informing their design. The work also has important implications for developmental psychology and classroom practice.

Background: There is extensive research on the use of technologies in educational assessment in higher education, but not in primary schools. Recently the Department for Education has been exploring a new way of assessing maths knowledge online for children in Key Stage 2. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to examine the relationship between how children and teachers use Online Maths Websites (OMW) based on their digital experiences through the lenses of Digital Natives and Immigrants. Methods: This thesis started with an exploratory qualitative study, which identified the most common use of technologies in assessment in primary schools. The next three studies of the thesis explored the relationships between the digital experiences of children and teachers and the ways they use the OMW. The first two studies based on self-report while the third study used a combination of self-reported and usage data. Main findings: Study 1 identified the use of OMW as the most common use of technology in assessment in primary schools. Studies 2 and 3 found that the digital experience factors that are positively linked to children’s use of the OMW were mainly their confidence and computer skills. Both studies added evidence to previous research arguing that there is no specific generation of children experts in the use of technologies. Study 3 also revealed that four out of five measures of self-reported and usage data were linked positively. Study 4 showed that digital native and immigrant teachers do not differ as much as authors believe they do. Conclusion: Children’s and teachers’ digital experiences should not be taken as a given, neither as digital natives nor immigrants. Their technological skills should be researched from a combination of usage and self-reported data. Teachers and parents should work together to build children’s technological empowerment.

Most research investigating impression formation during early stages of a relationship on social network sites adopts unrealistic, ecologically invalid social scenarios. This thesis used an ecologically valid social scenario to improve understanding of impression formation during the early stages of a relationship on social network sites. Three studies investigated how students get to know each other on social network sites in the weeks before starting university. A focus group study, a questionnaire study and an experiment demonstrated that incoming undergraduate students form impressions about groups of people (e.g. a group of housemates) and specific individuals (e.g. a housemate) during university transition. The studies highlighted that it is too simplistic to suggest that impression formation about a group of people is different from impression formation about a specific individual. Instead, the coherence of the social target, the nature of the affiliation with that social target, and the strategies used to get to know that social target on social network sites influence how confident students are in their impressions of each other during university transition. Explanations are proposed that, if substantiated, would require expansion of the Hamilton and Sherman’s and cues-filtered in theories of impression formation. The studies highlighted that impression formation and the influence of those three factors can partially explain the intensity of students’ worries about the academic and social aspects of their future university experience. The findings are practically applied as guidance for university and pastoral support services and further research is proposed to test the tentative explanations.

This PhD research investigated the effect of animal presence in long-term foster care through the lens of attachment theory. Previous research has supported the notion that animals may facilitate human-human relationships (Beck & Madresh, 2008; Bernstein et al, 2000; Fine, 2000; Kruger & Serpell, 2006; O’Haire, 2013; Olex, 2003; Sanders, 1999) and improve aspects of relational abilities such as care, empathy, and love (Plakcy & Sackson, 2006; Walsh, 2009a). Other research has suggested human-animal relationships may be beneficial to the facilitation of positive attachment representations and that insecure attachment patterns may be altered through the adjustment of individuals’ working models in relation to their animals (e.g. Kurdek, 2008; Kwong & Bartholomew, 2011; Parish-Plass, 2008, 2013; Sable, 1995; Zasloff, 1996). Empirical and theoretical research has also suggested that along with facilitating human-human relationships, animals may achieve attachment figure status in their own right and enter a human’s attachment hierarchical network (c.f. Beck & Madresh, 2008; Ferry, 2006; Kurdek, 2008; Carr & Rockett, 2013; Sable, 1995; Zilcha-Mano, Mikulincer & Shaver, 2011, 2012). Utilising a reworked version of West at al’s (1998) Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ), longitudinal child-diaries and semi-structured interviews, results demonstrated that (a) children were able to form relationships with animals that satisfied the criteria for attachment bonds (Kwong & Bartholomew, 2011) and (b) that animal presence within the long-term foster environment assisted the development of more- secure relationships between the children and their carers through dual processes of softening the environment (Levinson, 1969) and attachment switching (priming attachment preparation through enhanced relational capabilities – Emmens, 2007). Findings suggest that children living in long-term foster care could benefit from being placed with animal companions and have implications for the attachment literature and foster care practitioners.

Whilst it is understood that aspects of schooling play a role in students’ social and emotional development, there is a gap in the literature in research exploring the relationship between intra-school processes and student mental well-being. This thesis was based on the question: what is the relationship between school contextual factors and student mental well-being? The research was underpinned by Sociocultural understandings of children’s development, and Bernstein’s sociology of pedagogy. An embedded case study approach was taken in which the unit of analysis was pedagogical transitions. The embedded unit of analysis was the psychological development of 13 student participants. A mixed methods approach to data collection was taken, informed by dialectical pragmatism. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase one 9 schools were selected to be positioned along a continuum, developed from a framework derived from Bernstein’s code theory. At one end were schools in which there was a clear demarcation between the academic and pastoral domains: teachers privileged their academic roles, exerting a strong degree of control over student learning; students were relatively passive in the learning process. At the other end were schools in which teachers valued their pastoral roles; exerted a strong degree of control over the norms of social and moral conduct; and students appeared relatively active in the learning process. In phase 2 the mental well-being of 13 participants’ was explored as they moved from one pedagogical context to another. The findings were situated within a CHAT framework allowing me to connect the data from both phases. Changes observed to participants’ feelings of mental well-being related to the extent to which they felt able to actively realise a schools expected ways of behaving; this was determined by the extent to which there was space within their zone of proximal development to creatively overcome contradictions experienced as a result of the pedagogical transitions. The findings have implications for the way in which schools structure their teaching practices.

This thesis investigates the relationship between identity and discourse in a networked collaborative environment in order to explore the following question: Is the construction of a common identity taking place? The research question draws on the socio-cultural theory and, in particular, on the view according to which the development of a common identity is an important dimension of learning. More specifically, the thesis builds upon recent criticism attracted by the sociocultural notion of ―Community of Practice‖ for its inadequate account of the relationship between identity, language and practice, both in traditional and computer-mediated settings. The empirical section of the thesis reports a study which applies the concept of recognition work developed by James Gee to the discursive dynamics identified in a ―discussion room‖ of an Italian online community of young psychologists and psychology students. In the study, discourse analysis was carried out on 20 online discussions and on 23 semi-structured interviews. The findings demonstrate that the notion of recognition work can be used to study how identities are constructed and negotiated through discourse, and provide an additional insight into the role of computer-mediated communication in the relationship between identity and learning. The findings also have theoretical implications, raising the question as to whether the emphasis on communities of practice has exhausted its possible contributions to a socio-cultural theory of learning. Additionally, the thesis also considers the implications for the design of virtual learning environments that try to foster collaborative learning through networked discourse.