Abstract
Being 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.
Highlights
Collaborative learning and problem solving are increasingly used in today’s education
There is a wide range of studies showing that group members who are successful in their collaborations negotiate with each other (Hmelo-Silver and Barrows 2008) and reciprocally share how they are doing with the task (Rogat and Linnenbrink-Garcia 2011; Ucan and Webb 2015)
When learners engage in monitoring interactions, expressing their views to each other and acknowledge that there is a challenge in terms of their learning process, it can invite socially shared regulation, consisting of negotiated and reciprocal regulatory processes such as planning, monitoring, and controlling among the group members (Hadwin et al 2018; Malmberg et al 2015)
Summary
Collaborative learning and problem solving are increasingly used in today’s education. There is a wide range of studies showing that group members who are successful in their collaborations negotiate with each other (Hmelo-Silver and Barrows 2008) and reciprocally share how they are doing with the task (Rogat and Linnenbrink-Garcia 2011; Ucan and Webb 2015) In other words, they engage in metacognitive monitoring, which can lead to more profitable strategies in collaborations (Hadwin et al 2018). When learners engage in monitoring interactions, expressing their views to each other and acknowledge that there is a challenge in terms of their learning process, it can invite socially shared regulation, consisting of negotiated and reciprocal regulatory processes such as planning, monitoring, and controlling among the group members (Hadwin et al 2018; Malmberg et al 2015). Thinking about progress and performance in terms of a collaborative problem-solving task can be considered a metacognitive monitoring process (Ackerman and Thompson 2017; Clark and Dumas 2016; Rogat and Linnenbrink-Garcia 2011; Ucan and Webb 2015)
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