scholarly journals Exploring the effect of three scaffoldings on the collaborative problem-solving processes in China’s higher education

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Ouyang ◽  
Zixuan Chen ◽  
Mengting Cheng ◽  
Zifan Tang ◽  
Chien-Yuan Su
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Collaborative Problem Solving ◽  
Collaborative Problem ◽  
Collaborative Processes ◽  
Educational Culture ◽  
Group Knowledge ◽  
Structured Problems ◽  
Multi Method Approach ◽  
Task Oriented

AbstractCollaborative problem-solving (CPS) engages students in solving ill-structured problems, creating group knowledge, and developing self-regulation and collaboration skills. Different scaffoldings, such as minimal-guided, task-oriented, and idea-oriented, can be used to facilitate students’ CPS activities, but their effects have not been comprehensively explored. In this research, we use minimally-guided, task-oriented, and idea-oriented scaffoldings to promote Chinese university students’ online CPS activities and use a multi-method approach to analyze the effects of three scaffolding on collaboration. The results indicate relatively complicated collaborative processes and outcomes supported by three scaffoldings. It is initially shown that the idea-centered scaffolding strengthens students’ connections between idea contribution, metacognitive regulation, and knowledge artifact behaviors, which are critical factors for improving the CPS quality. Based on the empirical research results, we conclude that future instructional design should carefully consider the educational culture, time constraint, and student regulation to better facilitate CPS practices.

Promises and Challenges of Scaffolded Instruction

1994 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A. Winn
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Reading Difficulties ◽  
Student Characteristics ◽  
Collaborative Problem Solving ◽  
Collaborative Problem ◽  
Scaffolded Instruction ◽  
Challenging Students ◽  
Made In

Scaffolded instruction refers to teachers (a) challenging students to engage in tasks that they are unable to complete independently and (b) providing the support needed to enable students to share the teachers' understanding of the tasks and successfully carry them out. This article addresses the potential and the challenges of scaffolded instruction within the context of an exploratory study of the implementation of mediated collaborative problem solving. This model of instruction for self-regulation was implemented by the author with two groups of students, most of whom were experiencing reading difficulties. The model and its implementation are described and suggestions for making scaffolded instruction manageable are made in the areas of planning, attention to student characteristics, and use of a routine or metascript.

scholarly journals The pivotal role of monitoring for collaborative problem solving seen in interaction, performance, and interpersonal physiology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eetu Haataja ◽  
Jonna Malmberg ◽  
Muhterem Dindar ◽  
Sanna Järvelä
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Collaborative Problem Solving ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Collaborative Group ◽  
Collaborative Task ◽  
Collaborative Problem ◽  
Group Members

AbstractBeing aware of the progress towards one’s goals is considered one of the main characteristics of the self-regulation process. This is also the case for collaborative problem solving, which invites group members to metacognitively monitor the progress with their goals and externalize it in social interactions while solving a problem. Monitoring challenges can activate group members to control the situation together, which can be seen as adjustments on different systemic levels (physiological, psychological, and interpersonal) of a collaborative group. This study examines how the pivotal role of monitoring for collaborative problem solving is reflected in interactions, performance, and interpersonal physiology. The study has foci in two central characteristics of monitoring interactions that facilitate groups’ regulation in reaching their goals. First is valence of monitoring, indicating whether the group members think they are progressing towards their goal or not. Second is equality of participation in monitoring interactions between group members. Participants of the study were volunteering higher education students (N = 57), randomly assigned to groups of three members whose collaborative task was to learn to run a business simulation. The collaborative task was video recorded, and the physiological arousal of each participant was recorded from their electrodermal activity. The results of the study suggest that both the valence and equality of participation are identifiable in monitoring interactions and they both positively predict groups’ performance in the task. Equality of participation to monitoring was not related to the interpersonal physiology. However, valence of monitoring was related to interpersonal physiology in terms of physiological synchrony and arousal. The findings support the view that characteristics of monitoring interactions make a difference to task performance in collaborative problem solving and that interpersonal physiology relates to these characteristics.

scholarly journals What affordances do open-ended real-life tasks offer for sharing student agency in collaborative problem-solving?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juuso Henrik Nieminen ◽  
Man Ching Esther Chan ◽  
David Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Collaborative Problem Solving ◽  
Student Agency ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Collaborative Problem ◽  
Mathematical Arguments ◽  
Life Tasks ◽  
Collaborative Construction

AbstractThe important role of student agency in collaborative problem-solving has been acknowledged in previous mathematics education research. However, what remains unknown are the processes of agency in open-ended tasks that draw on real-life contexts and demand argumentation beyond “mathematical”. In this study, we analyse a video recording of two student groups (each consisting of four students) taking part in collaborative problem-solving. We draw on the framework for collaborative construction of mathematical arguments and its interplay with student agency by Mueller et al. (2012). This original framework is supplemented by (i) testing and revising it in the context of open-ended real-life tasks, with (ii) student groups rather than pairs working on the tasks, and by (iii) offering a strengthened methodological pathway for analysing student agency in such a context. Based on our findings, we suggest that the framework suits this new context with some extensions. First, we note that differences in student agency were not only identified in terms of the discourse students drew on, but in how students were able to shift between various discourses, such as between “mathematical” and “non-mathematical” discourses. We identify a novel discourse reflecting student agency, invalidation discourse, which refers to denying other students’ agency by framing their contribution as invalid. Finally, we discuss the need to reframe “mathematical” arguments—and indeed student agency—while the task at hand is open-ended and concerns real-life contexts.

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