Collaborative Problem Solving

Complex learning aims at the integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes; the coordination of qualitatively different constituent skills; and the transfer of what is learned to daily life or work settings. Recent instructional theories stress authentic learning tasks as the driving force for learning; but due to the complexity of those tasks, learning may be hampered by the limited processing capacity of the human mind. In this article we present a framework for scaffolding practice and just-in-time information presentation, aiming to control cognitive ...

This paper follows up our theoretical discussion of the potential for collaborative problem solving in Design and Technology (Hennessy and Murphy, 1999). In this paper we report our empirical investigation of peer collaboration in a setting where we identified the presence of significant pre-conditions for productive collaboration. The study investigated the participation of two boys aged 13 who worked together with their teacher over 8 weeks in designing and making an aid for a child with a disability. We analysed their participation using a framework of key features derived from the research literature.

Climate change presents additional challenges to a diverse country like Cameroon that shares the Congo Basin rainforest. Not only is the population vulnerable to the direct effects of climate change, forest-dependent communities are also vulnerable to changing environmental policy that may affect their access to forest resources. Using a qualitative approach to data collection through semi-structured interviews and content analysis of relevant documents, the perception of decision-makers within, and the response of the institutions of the state, the private sector and civil society to the complex challenges of climate change in the Congo Basin forest of Cameroon were analysed. Results indicate that while decision-makers’ awareness of climate change is high, a concrete institutional response is at a very early stage. Cameroon has low adaptive capacity that is further constrained by weak linkages among government institutions nationally and between different levels of government and with communities. Civil society institutions play a role in enhancing government capacity to respond, particularly in relation to new international policies on climate change and forests. Adaptive capacity would be further enhanced by facilitating institutional linkages and coordinating multilevel responses across all boundaries of government, private sector and civil society. A collaborative capacity builder could foster the transfer, receipt and integration of knowledge across the networks, and ultimately build long-term collaborative problem-solving capacity in Cameroon.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the dimensions of clinical expertise in physical therapy practice across 4 clinical specialty areas: geriatrics, neurology, orthopedics, and pediatrics. Subjects were 12 peer-designated expert physical therapists nominated by the leaders of the American Physical Therapy Association sections for geriatrics, neurology, orthopedics, and pediatrics. Guided by a grounded theory approach, a multiple case study research design was used with each of the 4 investigators studying 3 therapists working in one clinical area. Data were obtained through nonparticipant observation, interviews, review of documents, and analysis of structured tasks. Videotapes made during selected therapist-patient treatment sessions were used as a stimulus for the expert therapist interviews. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed through the development of 12 case reports and 4 composite case studies, one for each specialty area. A theoretical model of exper...

Technological advancements initially made it possible for individuals with different cultures from different parts of the world to consider working together, and eventually collaboration turned into a necessity. Based on this necessity, OECD measured collaborative problem-solving (CPS) competencies of 15-year-old students from the countries participating in PISA assessment in 2015. The objective of this study is to examine the data on Turkey from PISA 2015 CPS survey through Deterministic-Input, Noisy-Or-Gate (DINO) cognitive diagnostic model and to determine the students' levels of CPS competencies as well as difficulty levels of these competencies. In this context, primarily, attributes of CPS competency domain were examined and the model with the most appropriate number of attributes, classification accuracy and consistency was determined for the analysis of PISA 2015 CPS data. The sample of this descriptive study consists of 435 students. As a result of the analysis, the Q-m...

Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) transform the ways in which the applications are created in a distributed environment work. Commonly, these applications are based on Web Services technologies. Web Services allow integration and collaboration through Internet standards. Recently, SOA has emerged as paradigm to develop collaborative systems, specially, Collaborative Web Browsing. Collaborative Web Browsing (co-browsing) aims at extending currently available Web browsing capabilities in order to allow several users to " browse together " on the Web. A co-browsing system should provide all the facilities required for allowing users to establish and release, in a very simple and flexible way, browsing synchronization relations as well as interactions with continuous media presentations embedded within Web pages. This paper presents the design, modeling, and implementation of the co-browsing system called CoLab from a point of view of SOA. CoLab provides all the functionalities required for allowing users to collaboratively browse the Web. CoLab presents a service-oriented architecture where the functionalities for co-browsing are performed.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) refers to a recurrent pattern of developmentally inappropriate levels of negativistic, defiant, disobedient, and hostile behavior toward authority figures. ODD is one of the most common (and debilitating) comorbid disorders within Tourette's disorder (TD). Diverse psychosocial treatment approaches have been applied to children's ODD-related behaviors. In this paper, the authors articulate a transactional developmental conceptualization of oppositional behavior and describe a cognitive-behavioral model of intervention -called Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) -emanating from this conceptualization. The specific goals of the CPS approach are to help adults (1) understand the specific adult and child character-istics contributing to the development of a child's oppositional behavior; (2) become cognizant of three basic strategies for handling unmet expectations, including (a) imposition of adult will, (b) CPS, and (c) removing the expectation; (3) recognize the impact of each of these three approaches on parent -child interactions; and (4) become proficient, along with their children, at CPS as a means of resolving disagreements and defusing potentially conflictual situations so as to reduce oppositional episodes and improve parent -child compatibility. Summary data from an initial study documenting the effectiveness of the CPS approach (in comparison to the standard of care) are also presented. D

This paper addresses issues of using computer technology to support in-classroom teaching and learning regarding one of the most frequent problems in such scenarios: the students' attention. First, it presents the distraction and focus of attention problems that arise while using computer technology with off-the-shelf software for supporting different activities which take place in usual lectures. Examples of these activities

The purpose of this study was to document how teachers and students describe and comprehend the ways in which participating in an augmented reality (AR) simulation aids or hinders teaching and learning. Like the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) interface that underlies Internet games, AR is a good medium for immersive collaborative simulation, but has different strengths and limitations than MUVEs. Within a designbased research project, the researchers conducted multiple qualitative case studies across two middle schools (6th and 7th grade) and one high school (10th grade) in the northeastern United States to document the affordances and limitations of AR simulations from the student and teacher perspective. The researchers collected data through formal and informal interviews, direct observations, web site posts, and site documents. Teachers and students reported that the technology-mediated narrative and the interactive, situated, collaborative problem solving affordances of the AR simulation were highly engaging, especially among students who had previously presented behavioral and academic challenges for the teachers. However, while the AR simulation provided potentially transformative added value, it simultaneously presented unique technological, managerial, and cognitive challenges to teaching and learning.

There are fewer more important issues in the world today than how resolve conflict between people. The truth is, however, that we already know a great deal about how to resolve interpersonal conflict between people.  The problem is that this knowledge is typically the province of scholars, practitioners and other people who have expertise.  From Conflict to Collaboration is a step-by-step guide to managing and resolving conflict between people in everyday situations.  The key to conflict resolution is to treat interpersonal conflict not as a battle or competition, but instead as a type of problem to be solved.  The problem to be solved is that of meeting the human needs of all parties to a conflict.  This book walks the reader through four basic steps in resolving conflict in everyday relationships.  These include (a) recognizing the humanity of the other, (b) identifying the human needs of each party; (c) brainstorming novel ideas to meet constituent needs;  (d) inventing novel solutions to the problem of meeting those needs.  The book contains detailed examples of each of the principles and strategies discussed.  It also contains chapters managing strong emotion, resolving conflict in the context of power differentials, and adopting conflict resolution values as a way of life.

Though much information behaviour takes place in collaborative settings, information behaviour processes are commonly perceived and modelled by information scientists as individual processes. The paper presents and discusses the findings from a qualitative preliminary case study exploring KuhlthauÕs Information Search Process (ISP) model in a group-based educational setting. The aim of the study was to explore if members of a group behave differently from the individual modelled in the ISP model and further, if members of a group demonstrate different behaviours or they will assimilate and turn the group into Ôan individualÕ, just in another sense. During a project assignment, which lasted seven weeks, two groups of information science students filled out a questionnaire and kept diaries of their activities and information-related behaviour. Further, the students were interviewed three times each during the study. It was found that contextual and social factors seem to affect group membersÕ physical activities and their cognitive and emotional experiences during a project assignment with relevance to information behaviour. Though group members to some extent demonstrated similar cognitive experiences as the individual in the ISP model, these experiences did not only result from information seeking activities but also from work task activities and intragroup interactions. Regarding group membersÕ emotional experiences, no emotional Ôturning pointÕ resulting in certainty and relief by the end of the information seeking process was identified. Further, some of the group members still felt uncertain, frustrated and disappointed at the end of the project assignment, which partly was associated with a mis-match in motivations, ambitions and project focus among group members. Regarding the intragroup behaviour, group members did not demonstrate similar behaviours, meaning that ÔgroupsÕ cannot be perceived or modelled as Ôan individualÕ, just in another sense. Groups consist of individuals engaged in and affected by a collaborative problem solving process involving information (seeking) behaviour. A natural extension of the ISP model in relation to group processes is suggested, addressing also the impact of social and contextual factors on the individualÕs information behaviour.

The use of student assessment data is a key component of a model of instructional coaching, Student-Focused Coaching (Hasbrouck & Denton, 2005), designed to support student achievement by engaging reading teachers in a collaborative problem-solving process to modify instructional strategies with the goal of enhanced student outcomes. In this paper, we describe the role of student assessments in a technology-based implementation of the Student-Focused Coaching model provided to reading intervention teachers within a study of scalingup research-validated educational innovations. Examination of transcripts of teacher-coach interchanges in the technology-based implementation of Student-Focused Coaching supported the key role of assessment in that model, revealing that coaches frequently (a) answered teachers' questions related to assessment, (b) suggested that teachers implement specific instructional strategies based on assessment results, (c) engaged teachers in examining assessment results and observing students for specific purposes, and (d) provided feedback, especially encouragement, to teachers about students' progress based on assessment results. Further, these classes of interactions were observed between coaches and teachers in both a flexible intervention heavily dependent on teacher decision-making and in a highly prescriptive intervention program.

This article describes a detailed analysis of knowledge building in a problem-based learning group. Knowledge building involves increasing the collective knowledge of a group through social discourse. For knowledge building to occur in the classroom, the teacher needs to create opportunities for constructive discourse in order to support student learning and collective knowledge building. In problem-based learning, students learn through collaborative problem solving and reflecting on their experiences. The setting for this study is a group of second-year medical students working with an expert facilitator. The analysis was designed to understand how the facilitator provided opportunities for knowledge-building discourse and how the learners accomplished collective knowledge building. We examined episodes of knowledge-building discourse, the questions and statements that the students and facilitator generated throughout the tutorial, the change in their understanding of the problem that they were solving, and the collective knowledge that was constructed. The results indicate that the group worked to progressively improve their ideas through engaging in knowledge-building discourse. The facilitator helped support knowledge building through asking open-ended metacognitive questions and catalyzing group progress. Students took responsibility for advancing the group's understanding as they asked many high-level questions and built on each others thinking to construct collaborative explanations. The results of this study provide suggestions for orchestrating knowledge-building discourse.

This paper addresses issues of using computer technology to support in-classroom teaching and learning regarding one of the most frequent problems in such scenarios: the students' attention. First, it presents the distraction and focus of attention problems that arise while using computer technology with off-the-shelf software for supporting different activities which take place in usual lectures. Examples of these activities are presentations of learning material, discussion, individual and collaborative problem solving, and difficulties of switching from one to another. A solution to this problem is an integrated approach with a particular implementation under the notion of "CiC". The implemented system attempts to reduce the number of interactions needed to switch from one activity to another as well as to reduce the cognitive load for both teacher and students. The usage of both this system and standard software are compared and research results are presented. Results show the CiC is useful to solve the problem.

During the last decade an increased interest has been observed on computer-supported collaborative problem solving. This relatively new area of research requires new methodological approaches of interaction and problem solving analysis. Usually analysis of collaborative problem solving situations is done through discourse analysis or interaction analysis, where in the center of attention are the actors involved (students, tutors etc.). An alternative framework, called ''Object-oriented Collaboration Analysis Framework (OCAF)'' is presented here, according to which the objects of the collaboratively developed solution become the center of attention and are studied as entities that carry their own history. This approach produces a reversed view of the process, according to which the solution is made of structural components that are 'owned' by actors who have contributed in various degrees to their development. OCAF provides both qualitative and quantitative measures of collaboration. It is shown that this framework can be applied effectively both in synchronous computer supported collaborative environments of distance groups and in face-to-face collaborative activities. #

Current research in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)(Kienle & Wessner, 2006) and knowledge building (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006) produced many classifications of educational settings where collaboration takes place. Many types of software have been investigated as well as different educational settings. For instance, Russell et al.(2002) investigate the effects on collaboration around large interactive displays. Shen (2003) shows how the use of an interactive surface, a table-top display, helps on ...

This paper discusses the potential of Design and Technology (D&T) as an environment for collaborative problem solving. Peer collaboration is considered to be a valuable learning mechanism but has not generally been exploited by teachers or explored by researchers in this context. D&T is unique in involving procedural problem-solving activity where talk between peers relates to physical manipulation and feedback and both concrete models and graphical representations play an important mediating role. The role of teachers is central to our discussion, particularly their task structuring, agendas and pedagogic strategies for supporting learning through collaboration; these have been underplayed in much of the general research literature on collaboration. Our discussion works towards a framework for analysing collaborative problem-solving activity in D&T, building on sociocultural perspectives and deriving additional insights into pupils' social and cognitive strategies from the literature on classroom talk.

Teamwork is always challenging. Adding the complication of problem solving and software design only amplifies this challenge. The challenges of developing software as a team can be reduced by using groupware to coordinate and communicate the intricate details involved in the process. This study set out to determine if in fact there are tools available to assist in the collaborative problem solving and software development process. It must be understood at the outset of this paper that problem solving is at the heart of software development.

The features and potential of MMOGs to constitute environments for collaborative problem solving activities for learning are the main focus of this paper. Principles from the area of CSCL, problem-solving, cognition and learning can be applied to the design of an educational MMOG so as for effective interactions and collaboration among the players to be fostered. We attempt to propose a framework for the investigation and design of effective collaborative problem solving tasks within MMOGs.

ABSTRACT: Whether mathematical problem solving is done face-to-face or through computer-mediated communication, as long as there are multiple participants with their respective approaches, procedures and assessment methods, there is a need for participants to resolve their differences, whether through negotiation, argumentation or some other interactional activity to initiate, maintain and conclude their collaborative problem-solving activity. When this collaborative problem solving is conducted in the quasi- ...

Convencido de la necesidad de tender puentes entre las ciencias sociales y políticas y la administración y gestión de empresas, el autor reúne en este libro experiencias y conocimientos adquiridos en diferentes organizaciones, tanto comerciales como no lucrativas, en cometidos que abarcan desde la investigación básica a puestos de dirección. Organización, jerarquía, toma de decisiones, acción coordinada y burocracia, son ejes propios de las ciencias de la administración, mientras que participación, horizontalidad, asamblearismo, acción colectiva y democracia lo son de las ciencias sociales y políticas. Ambos conjuntos de conocimientos no deben considerarse adversarios en una competición que carece de sentido. De este cruce de saberes y prácticas podrá derivarse, para beneficio de todos, la implantación de un sistema voluntario de indicadores de calidad democrática. Según el autor, tan necesario como mostrar un pasado transparente lo es comprometerse públicamente con el futuro, día a día, objetivo tras objetivo, mediante la mejora permanente de procesos en todos los rincones de la acción política, sea en el ámbito legislativo, ejecutivo o judicial. Sostiene Víctor Sampedro que las barreras ideológicas para introducir mecanismos gerenciales en el campo político tienen consecuencias letales: la política como manipulación de los representantes (falsedad, fraude, corrupción) o resignación de los representados (desencanto, cinismo, apatía). El protocolo de actuación de este libro impugna y combate estas dos degeneraciones de partida. En opinión de José Luis González Quirós, pedir que los partidos se comprometan a tener en cuenta sus propios criterios de control de calidad y que se decidan a hacerlos públicos puede considerarse como bastante ingenuo, pero, tal vez por eso mismo, podría terminar por ser revolucionario. Porque la existencia de un SIC, como el que propone el autor, serviría para actuar en la fuente misma en la que brotan los desmanes.

Multiple theories of problem-solving hypothesize that there are distinct qualitative phases exhibited during effective problem-solving. However, limited research has attempted to identify when transitions between phases occur. We integrate theory on collaborative problem-solving (CPS) with dynamical systems theory suggesting that when a system is undergoing a phase transition it should exhibit a peak in entropy and that entropy levels should also relate to team performance. Communications from 40 teams that collaborated on a complex problem were coded for occurrence of problem-solving processes. We applied a sliding window entropy technique to each team's communications and specified criteria for (a) identifying data points that qualify as peaks and (b) determining which peaks were robust. We used multilevel modeling, and provide a qualitative example, to evaluate whether phases exhibit distinct distributions of communication processes. We also tested whether there was a relationship between entropy values at transition points and CPS performance. We found that a proportion of entropy peaks was robust and that the relative occurrence of communication codes varied significantly across phases. Peaks in entropy thus corresponded to qualitative shifts in teams’ CPS communications, providing empirical evidence that teams exhibit phase transitions during CPS. Also, lower average levels of entropy at the phase transition points predicted better CPS performance. We specify future directions to improve understanding of phase transitions during CPS, and collaborative cognition, more broadly.

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The purpose of this study was to document how teachers and students describe and comprehend the ways in which participating in an augmented reality (AR) simulation aids or hinders teaching and learning. Like the multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) interface that underlies Internet games, AR is a good medium for immersive collaborative simulation, but has different strengths and limitations than MUVEs. Within a design-based research project, the researchers conducted multiple qualitative case studies across two middle schools (6th and 7th grade) and one high school (10th grade) in the northeastern United States to document the affordances and limitations of AR simulations from the student and teacher perspective. The researchers collected data through formal and informal interviews, direct observations, web site posts, and site documents. Teachers and students reported that the technology-mediated narrative and the interactive, situated, collaborative problem solving affordances of the AR simulation were highly engaging, especially among students who had previously presented behavioral and academic challenges for the teachers. However, while the AR simulation provided potentially transformative added value, it simultaneously presented unique technological, managerial, and cognitive challenges to teaching and learning.

Discourse, especially dialogic communication between students in collaborative problem- solving groups, plays a central role in educational reforms informed by learning science. This study examined the quality of discourse in problem-based learning groups in a university course. The study found a low incidence of high quality dialogue (dialogic communication, elaboration and co-construction of ideas, productive disciplinary discourse) in 12 one-hour

Teams are increasingly asked to solve complex and novel problems. From a broad range of domains such as the military, healthcare, and industry, difficult problems requiring the adaptation of a diverse set of expertise to one-of-a-kind situations are becoming more commonplace. These types of performance contexts require collaborative problem solving; however, the bulk of research on teamwork has dealt with behavioral coordination in routine tasks. This leaves a gap in the theory available for guiding design and training interventions to support collaborative problem solving, or knowledge-work, in teams. This paper addresses this gap by 1) providing a review of relevant theoretical issues, specifically the team cognition and externalized cognition literature, 2) advancing a theoretical framework and propositions rooted in this literature that relate the role of group process and external representations of problem spaces on problem solving outcomes, and 3) discussing future directions for testing, applying, and refining this model.

The paper studies undergraduate students' synchronous peer interaction using a shared Activity Space and a text communication tool. Several groups of students collaborated in order to accomplish a data-modelling task in the context of a Databases University undergraduate course. The paper presents the collaboration support environment, ie a concept-mapping tool, used in this study. Subsequently, evaluation of the effectiveness of the environment in the educational process is discussed along various dimensions, like ...

Based on the unique clinical correlates of two subtypes of childhood aggression (reactive and proactive), this study examined possible differential treatment effects for children with varying degrees of reactive or proactive aggression receiving one of two types of psychosocial treatment aimed at addressing these unique characteristics. Fortyseven affectively dysregulated children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) participated in the study. Results suggest a main effect for type of treatment, modest support for the moderating role of proactive aggression, and no support for reactive aggression as a moderator of treatment outcome. Implications for assessment and treatment of aggression are discussed.

Although individual use of computers is fairly widespread, in meetings we tend to leave them behind. At Xerox PARC, an experimental meeting room called the Colab has been created to study computer support of collaborative problem solving in face-to-face meetings. The long-term goal is to understand how to build computer tools to make meetings more effective.

The aim of this study was to investigate multiprofessional collaboration as well as collaboration between professionals and challenging students and their parents in which the focus for these collaborations was on handling the challenging students’ academic and social behavior. A grounded theory study of collaboration between a prereferral resource team and teachers, principals, challenging students, and their parents was conducted. Qualitative interview and focus group methods were used. The findings presented a grounded theory of collaborative synchronizing in relation to challenging students around two ideal types, human resource synchronizing and human resource desynchronizing.

Empathy has been suggested to facilitate effective collaborative problem solving in children. The current study adapted the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI, Davis, 1980), a well-validated empathy measure for adults, for use with children aged 8 and 9 years. Four hundred and thirteen school children aged between 7;11 and 9;11 years completed the new measure, ‘Feeling and Thinking’ (F&T) aimed at measuring both the affective and cognitive components of empathy. Principal Components Analysis with Varimax rotation produced a clear and logical four factor solution that resembled but did not duplicate the IRI. Further scrutiny reduced the scale to a more parsimonious 12 item, two factor scale representing the two components of empathy. It is suggested that F&T is capable of measuring empathy in children. Further psychometric investigations of the F&T will enhance knowledge of the affective/cognitive distinction in empathy.

This paper describes the architecture of the ModelllingSpace open problem-solving environment. Modelling-Space is a new learning environment supporting synchronous and asynchronous collaborative problem solving by students at a distance. We describe here the key design decisions of the ModellingSpace software and in particular issues related with support for students with heterogeneous sets of primitive entities, control of interaction and dialogue, representation of the entities and models in a format that ...

Investigations of peer collaboration often vary task or social aspects of collaborative contexts and assume that these aspects of the context are experienced similarly by individuals. The present study examined how social aspects (group friendship and gender) of a peer collaborative context related to differences in adolescents' interpretations of task and social problems that occurred while collaborating with peers in a naturalistic classroom setting. Eighth-grade adolescents (N = 82, 44 females) worked with peers on a six-week Spanish project at school. Adolescents chose to work primarily with same-gender peers and friends. Task and social interpretations of problems were assessed twice. The salience of task problems decreased over time; social problems became somewhat more salient. Social problems were less salient to females than to males. Greater group friendship was associated with the lesser salience of task problems early in the project. The salience of social problems, gender, and friendship were important for understanding performance on the project. The value of considering the context of peer collaborative problem solving from individuals' perspectives is discussed.

This paper provides an overview of a method and tool that have been used for studying interaction in the frame of synchronous collaborative problem solving activities. This method is based on the "Object-oriented Collaboration Analysis Framework (OCAF)", a framework that puts emphasis on the abstract and tangible objects that appear on the mediating computer screen during problem solving. The notions

We describe a swarming-agent-based, mixedinitiative approach to infrastructure defense where teams of humans and software agents defend cooperating organizations in tandem by sharing insights and solutions without violating proprietary boundaries. The system places human administrators at the appropriate level: where they provide system guidance while lower-level agents carry out tasks humans are unable to perform quickly enough to mitigate today's security threats. Cooperative Infrastructure Defense, or CID, uses our ant-based approach to enable dialogue between humans and agents to foster a collaborative problemsolving environment, to increase human situational awareness and to influence using visualization and shared control. We discuss theoretical implementation characteristics along with results from recent proof-of-concept implementations.