Analysis of group understanding in artifact-mediated discourses

Abstract

A collaborating group is increasingly viewed as a cognitive unit, the workings of which need to be understood independent of its effects on individual learning. We are beginning to understand how groups operate as a cognitive unit that learns, solves problems, and/or constructs new knowledge, but still lack adequate conceptual frameworks and analytic strategies to deal with different dimensions of group cognition. This problem is particularly acute in small group interaction mediated by technologies. While various technological tools are used to support small group interaction, we do not understand clearly yet how group understanding emerges from this process. In this paper, we examined the development of group understanding when the group discourse is mediated by the construction of technological artifacts.