Understanding the Connections of Collaborative Problem Solving Skills in a Simulation-based Task Through Network Analysis

Abstract

As one of the identified key 21st century skills, collaborative problem solving (CPS) attracted attention from both education research and the assessment industry. Studies and assessments were developed to conceptualize and to measure CPS skills. Most studies operationalized different dimensions of CPS skills as discrete measures even though they may be interweaving in the construct. In this study we went beyond the separate measures on the different dimensions and focused on the connections among these skills. Using log data of 20,947 events on actions and chats from 43 teams, we studied how different dimensions of CPS skills were connected as reflected in problem solving. CPS skill networks were constructed to capture the co-occurrence of the skills in turns during collaboration. The results showed that teams with high and low performance had significantly different CPS network structures.