This work considers group discussion data, as recorded in video conferencing settings, and demonstrates the ability to use readily available computational tools to glean important information characterizing the dynamics of the group discussion. In particular, our toolbox reveals a number of important characteristics of a discussion, including who…

A core element of student-teacher partnerships, a form of student participation, is their dialogical nature. However, little research attention has been paid to communication in this context. Therefore, this study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of their deliberative communication patterns. Seventeen deliberative episodes, derived from two…

There is increasing interest in self-efficacy (SE) as a variable to predict learner behavior during tasks, but many tasks involve learners working collaboratively in groups. Collective efficacy (CE) can be used to assess the feelings of the group about their overall ability to complete a task. It has been largely ignored in the field of second…

Background: A lack of student 'buy-in' and engagement are often major obstacles in academic literacy courses. To create a dialogic learning environment which encourages student investment and challenges traditional student-lecturer hierarchies of power, the curriculum of a first-year academic literacy course at a South African university was…

Small-group discussion is a central component of 21st-century biology classrooms. Many factors shape these discussions and thus influence potential learning gains. This study examined how accuracy and idea consideration shaped small-group discussions in undergraduate biology labs (12 groups, M = 42.8 talk turns). To do this, we asked: (1) Is there…

Originally designed for first language classrooms, literature circles have been adapted for second language (L2) contexts to enhance reading proficiency and discourse skills. While traditional practice in L2 settings involves assigning roles to students for engaging with texts, critiques have highlighted potential constraints on participation and…

Previous research has highlighted the importance of social relationships in mathematical group work while working on modelling activities. This study analyses the interaction of sixth-grade students in Primary Education (11 to 12 years old) carrying out a modelling task in groups with a Fermi problem used as the modelling activity. The focus of…

Although researchers recognize the importance of discussing support for math learning within online learning communities, there is a lack of relevant network classifying methods and analyses at the group level to understand the behavioral differences between groups with varying levels of activity, including their mathematical literacies. In this…

Three staples of management and organizational behavior classes are units on creativity, problem solving, and group decision making. This article presents an experiential exercise in creative problem solving in which the participants attempt to create a cartoon caption both individually and in small groups. The cartoons all come from "The New…

One important dimension of classroom group dynamics & collaboration is how much each person contributes to the discussion. With the goal of measuring how much each student speaks, we investigate how automatic speaker diarization can be built to handle real-world classroom group discussions. We examine key design considerations such as the…

Successful problem-based learning (PBL) often requires students to collectively regulate their learning processes as a group and engage in socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL). This paper focuses on how facilitators supported SSRL in the context of middle-school game-based PBL. Using conversation analysis, this study analyzed text-based…

This article shares an approach specifically for fostering equitable small-group, student-to-student discourse (S[superscript 3]D). The S[superscript 3]D approach is a two-phase process focusing on implicit strategies. Phase 1 involves assessment of current small-group discourse through three lenses: group dynamics, discourse quality, and teacher…

Information sharing is a critical aspect of effective team functioning. However, it can be challenging to discern whether the information communicated is fact, opinion, or someone's best guess (FOG) due to the varied understandings, assumptions, and interests team members bring to any collaboration. In this article, we introduce a role-play…

This study focuses on teachers' group decision making during Dutch allocation meetings. A previous interview study showed that teachers question the objectivity of decisions due to negative interaction experiences and a lack of structure during these meetings. To characterize the structure and interaction of these meetings, 33 student allocations…

We investigated how the level of variance in students' prior knowledge may have influenced their collaborative interactions and science learning in small groups. We examined learning outcomes from 102 groups from seven science teachers' classes and discourse from two contrasting groups: Homogeneous versus heterogeneous. We examined individual and…