Interpersonal Coordination and Co-regulation During Collaborative Problem Solving

How interpersonal interaction shapes collaborative problem solving in digital STEM learning environments.

Award: NSF 1660894 (Role: PI)

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is an essential 21st century skill in our increasingly connected and globalized world. Yet, there is a paucity of knowledge on how to define, measure, and develop this skill, especially in the context of STEM learning. Thus, the goal of this project is to gain fundamental knowledge on how interpersonal interactions influence CPS processes and outcomes in digital STEM learning environments. The hypothesis is that CPS is fundamentally about communication and coordination among people who have thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and who both react to and influence each other’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Increasing basic understanding on how these interpersonal processes emerge and influence outcomes is a critical step towards designing next-generation STEM learning environments that make CPS more enjoyable, engaging, and effective.

Selected papers

  • Duran, N. D., Paige, A., & D’Mello, S. K. (2024). Multi-level linguistic alignment in a dynamic collaborative problem-solving task. Cognitive Science, 48, e13398. [PDF]
  • D’Mello, S. K., Duran, N. D., Michaels, A., & Stewart, A. E. B. (2024). Improving collaborative problem-solving skills via automated feedback and scaffolding: A quasi-experimental study with CPSCoach 2.0. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 34, 1087–1125. [PDF]
  • Stewart, A. E. B., Rao, A., Michaels, A., Sun, C., Duran, N. D., Shute, V. J., & D’Mello, S. K. (2023). CPSCoach: The design and implementation of intelligent collaborative problem solving feedback. Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2023), LNAI 13916, 695–700. [PDF]
  • Sun, C., Shute, V. J., Stewart, A. E. B., Beck-White, Q., Reinhardt, C. R., Zhou, G., Duran, N. D., & D’Mello, S. K. (2022). The relationship between collaborative problem solving behaviors and solution outcomes in a game-based learning environment. Computers in Human Behavior, 128, 107120. [PDF]
  • Sun, C., Shute, V. J., Stewart, A., Yonehiro, J., Duran, N. D., & D’Mello, S. (2020). Towards a generalized competency model of collaborative problem solving. Computers & Education, 143, 103672. [PDF]

See the full list on the publications page.