Query: Collaborative problem solving

title: Affective field during collaborative problem posing and problem solving: a case study
abstract: Educators in mathematics have long been concerned about students' motivation, anxiety, and other affective characteristics. Typically, research into affect focuses on one theoretical construct (e.g. emotion, motivation, beliefs, or interest) However, we introduce the term affective field to account for a person's various affective factors (emotions, attitudes, etc. in their intraplay. In a case study, we use data from an extracurricular, inquiry oriented collaborative problem posing and problem solving (PP&PS) program, which took place as a 1 year project with four upper secondary school students in Sweden (aged 16 18) We investigated the affective field of one student, Anna, in its social and dynamic nature. The question addressed in this context is: In what ways does an affective field of a student engaging in PP&PS evolve, and what may be explanations for this evolvement? Anna's affective field was dynamic over the course of the program. Her initial anxiety during the PP&PS program was rooted in her prior affective field about mathematics activities, but group collaboration, the feeling of safety and appreciation, together with an increased interest in within solution PP and openness for trying new things went hand in hand with positive dynamics in her affective field.

title: Collaborative Problem based Learning: An Analysis of Problem Solving Skills in Vocational Schools
abstract: This study aims to analyze the effect of using Collaborative Problem Based Learning (CPBL) on students' problem solving skills. This study used a 2x2 factorial design, in which the selection of experimental and control groups was determined with convenience sampling. The data analysis technique of this research is divided into two types, namely the prerequisite analysis test and hypothesis testing. The findings of this study concluded that students who studied with CPBL had significantly higher problem solving skills than students who studied with Direct Instruction (DI) In addition, high problem solving skills were generally owned by students with high initial skills. Meanwhile, the complete the results of the hypothesis test this study also showed a significant interaction between the learning model and initial skills on students' problem solving skills in internal combustion motor competences. This shows that the selection of the right learning model is needed according to the initial skills of students so that problem solving skills can be adequately developed. Thus, it is hoped that vocational school students can become graduates who can compete in the world of work.

title: Exploring social and cognitive dimensions of collaborative problem solving in an open online simulation based task
abstract: Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a complex construct comprised of skills associated with social and cognitive dimensions. The diverse set of skills within these dimensions make CPS difficult to measure. Typically, research on measuring CPS has used highly constrained environments that help narrow the problem space. In the current study, we applied the in task assessment framework to support the exploration of CPS skills at a deep level in an open digital environment in which three students worked together to solve an electronics problem. The construct of CPS was defined in depth prior to the implementation of the environment through the development of a complex, hierarchical ontology. The features from the ontology were identified in the data and four theoretically grounded profiles of types of collaborative problem solvers were produced high social/high cognitive, high social/low cognitive, low social/high cognitive, and low social/low cognitive. Results showed that students in the low social/low cognitive profile group demonstrated poorer performance than students in other profile groups. Further, having at least one high social/high cognitive member in a team facilitated performance. This study offers groundwork for future studies in measuring CPS with an approach suitable for less constrained collaborative environments.

title: The assessment of collaborative problem solving in PISA 2015: Can computer agents replace humans?
abstract: Despite the relevance of collaborative problem solving (CPS) there are limited empirical results on the assessment of CPS. In 2015, the large scale Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) first assessed CPS with virtual tasks requiring participants to collaborate with computer simulated agents (human to agent; H A) The approach created dynamic CPS situations while standardizing assessment conditions across participating countries. However, H A approaches are sometimes regarded as poor substitutes for natural collaboration, and only a few studies have identified if the collaborations with agents capture real dynamics of human interactions. To address this, we validated the original PISA 2015 CPS assessment by investigating the effects of replacing computer agents with real students in classroom tests (human to human; H H) We obtained the original PISA 2015 CPS tasks from the OECD and replaced agents with real students to provide more real life collaboration environments with less control over conversations; the H H was less constrained than the H A but still limited by predefined sets of possible answers from which the humans' would make selections. The interface remained nearly identical to the original PISA 2015 CPS assessment. Students were told the types of collaboration partners, namely humans versus agents. We applied structural equation modeling and multivariate analyses of variance to a sample of 386 students to identify the dimensionality of the CPS construct and compared the effects in CPS performance accuracy and number of behavioral actions. Results indicated no significant differences between type of collaboration partner. However, students performed a larger number of actions when collaborating with a human agent.

title: Towards a generalized competency model of collaborative problem solving
abstract: Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is an essential skill in the 21st century. There is a need for an appropriate framework and operationalization of CPS to guide its assessment and support and across multiple domains. Accordingly, we synthesized prior research on CPS to construct a generalized CPS competency model (i.e. skills and abilities) consisting of the following core facets: constructing shared knowledge, negotiation/coordination, and maintaining team function. Each facet has two sub facets, which in turn, have multiple verbal and nonverbal indicators. We validated our model in two empirical studies involving triadic CPS, but in very different contexts middle school students playing an educational game in a 3 h, face to face session vs. college students engaging in a visual programming task for 20 min via videoconferencing. We used principal component analysis to investigate whether the empirical data aligned with our theorized model. Correlational analyses provided evidence on the orthogonality of the facets and their independence to individual differences in prior knowledge, intelligence and personality and regression analyses indicated that the facets predicted both subjective and objective outcome measures controlling for several covariates. Thus we provide initial evidence for the convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of our model by using two different CPS contexts and student populations. This shows promise towards generalizing across various human human CPS interactive environments.

title: Focused or stuck together: multimodal patterns reveal triads' performance in collaborative problem solving
abstract: Collaborative problem solving (CPS) in virtual environments is an increasingly important context of 21st century learning. However, our understanding of this complex and dynamic phenomenon is still limited. Here, we examine unimodal primitives (activity on the screen, speech, and body movements) and their multimodal combinations during remote CPS. We analyze two datasets where 116 triads collaboratively engaged in a challenging visual programming task using video conferencing software. We investigate how UI interactions, behavioral primitives, and multimodal patterns were associated with teams' subjective and objective performance outcomes. We found that idling with limited speech (i.e. silence or backchannel feedback only) and without movement was negatively correlated with task performance and with participants' subjective perceptions of the collaboration. However, being silent and focused during solution execution was positively correlated with task performance. Results illustrate that in some cases, multimodal patterns improved the predictions and improved explanatory power over the unimodal primitives. We discuss how the findings can inform the design of real time interventions for remote CPS.

title: Monitoring patterns of social and cognitive student behaviors in online collaborative problem solving assessments
abstract: Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a complex skill composed of multiple subskills. While there are several definitions and frameworks for the measurement of CPS, the relationships between the subskills remain unclear. Understanding these relationships can have a direct impact on how assessments are designed, how the measures are developed, and how teaching interventions are planned. The approach outlined here represents use of an inference model in assessment rather than a model in which direct responses to questions with correct and incorrect responses are used to identify abilities. Inferences about capabilities are made based on student behaviors in an online environment as represented through log files generated during test administration. In this study, identified behaviors are common across student, CPS task and assessment. Through the application of an Item Response Theory model, the behaviors can be evaluated much like items on a traditional test. In comparing the difficulty and ordering of items, differences and similarities for each behavior within and across assessments can be examined. This paper presents findings from data collected from over 3000 students that identifies shifts in patterns of student behaviors. The patterns across students, during testing, and across testing situations for CPS subskills such as negotiation, responsiveness, perseverance and communication are presented and discussed. The extent to which assessment design differences between assessments may lead to differences in how students respond to them are highlighted.

title: Assessing individual contributions to Collaborative Problem Solving: A network analysis approach
abstract: Solving (CPS) is an interactive, interdependent, and temporal process. However, current methods for measuring the CPS processes of individuals, such as coding and counting, treat these processes as sets of isolated and independent events. In contrast, Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) models how the contributions of a given individual relate to the contributions of others. This article examines the communications of air defense warfare teams from an experiment comparing two different computer based decision support systems, using this data to ask whether ENA provides a more ecologically valid quantitative model of CPS than coding and counting. Qualitative analysis showed that commanders using one system asked questions to understand the tactical situation, while commanders using an experimental system focused more on actions in response to the tactical situation. Neither of the coding and counting approaches we tested corroborated these findings with statistically significant results. In contrast, ENA created models of the individual contributions of commanders that (a) showed statistical differences between commanders using the two systems to corroborate the qualitative analysis, and (b) revealed differences in individual performance. This suggests that ENA is a more powerful tool for CPS assessment than coding and counting approaches.

title: Exploring Factors that Influence Collaborative Problem Solving Awareness in Science Education
abstract: This study designed a science course following collaborative problem solving (CPS) processes, and examined the effect on students' CPS awareness. The Limnic Eruption CPS course was implemented using a Moodle system in a tenth grade class. Considering the complex and coordinated nature of CPS, in order to improve CPS skills, it is important to identify what are related with the development of all sub skills of CPS. Thus this study aimed to determine potential factors that affect the use of CPS skills in students' motivational and behavioral dimensions. Multiple data sources including learning tests, questionnaire feedback, and learning logs were collected and examined by learning analytics approach. The relationships between students' CPS awareness with their learning motivation and learning behaviors were explored. The research findings indicated a significant positive correlation between CPS awareness and certain learning motivation factors and learning behavior factors. Considering the students' individual differences in learning abilities, we also compared the results of high and low performance groups. As a result, low performers' learning motivation and learning behaviors were correlated with the social domain of CPS awareness, while those of high performers were correlated with their cognitive awareness.

title: Incorporation of Collaborative Problem Solving and Cognitive Tools to Improve Higher Cognitive Processing in Online Discussion Environments
abstract: During collaborative learning in online learning communities, teachers usually guide their students through the learning process by means of discussion based didactics. According to relevant research, an uncontrolled, nonintrusive discussion environment is usually insufficient for promoting higher cognitive processing (HCP) To address this insufficiency, we adopted a collaborative problem solving approach as a teaching strategy to tutor students in online discussion activities using concept maps as a cognitive tool and using Facebook for communication within the learning community. We examined the system using quantitative content analysis and lag sequential analysis to verify the feasibility of the system for improving HCP. The results of this study indicate that the system is capable of guiding cognition and improving HCP. However, the results with respect to improvement must be evaluated after taking into account the appropriateness and difficulty of the questions that were posed to the learners. Moreover, by incorporating a scaffolding function as a teaching strategy and through the application of cognitive tools, learners were better able to concentrate on the learning activities.