Investigating collaborative problem solving skills and outcomes across computer-based tasks

Abstract

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a critical competency for the modern workforce, as many of todays' problems require groups to come together to find innovative solutions to complex problems. This has motivated increased interest in work dedicated to assessing and developing CPS skills. However, there has been limited attention in prior CPS assessment research on potential differences in how CPS behaviors are exhibited across task contexts. In the current study, we investigated associations among middle- and high-school students’ displayed CPS skills across two online (i.e., via videoconferencing) tasks (Physics Playground and the T-Shirt Math Task) and the extent to which different skills were related to CPS outcomes across those tasks. Results showed variation in associations of CPS skills across the tasks, contributing further evidence to our understanding of how different CPS task designs can give students the opportunity to demonstrate different CPS skills. Our findings highlight the potential of incorporating multiple tasks during CPS assessments and can inform future research on CPS task design and computer-based CPS assessment.