Resumen

ROSELLI, Néstor D.. Resolución cooperativa de problemas en forma presencial y a distancia tipo chat en diadas y tetradas. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2004, vol.21, n.1, pp.71-97. ISSN 1668-7027.

   The objective of this research is to compare direct (face to face) socio-cognitive interaction with computer mediated socio-cognitive interaction. This comparison was carried out in dyads and in tetrads, in a problem-solving task. The central independent variable was the modality of social interaction: direct and mediated. The size of the group was only a complementary variable, just to test the degree of generalization of the conclusions.    The sample was composed by 12 dyads and 12 tetrads of high school students (sixteen and seventeen years old). The materials included two isomorphic series of problems.    Each dyad and tetrad was required to perform a collaborative teamwork in order to solve one of the series of problems, in both of the tested modalities: direct and mediated. The order of each one of the modalities, as well as the order of each one of the series of problems, was balanced during the experiment.    Data collected shows no significant differences between modalities concerning efficiency in performance. In contrast, there is a significant difference concerning formal characteristics of the interchange. This difference would be related to the intrinsic nature of the channel of communication.    Time of performance is very different in both modalities. It is quite longer in the mediated condition. This is easy to understand considering the written nature of chat communication, where the message has to be typed. Additionally the mediated channel supposes more difficulty to coordinate the exchange in an integrated and coherent way.    Fluency of the dialogical exchange is clearly higher in face-to-face interaction. Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) does not keep the same continuity of the spoken conversation. As typing is slower than speaking, individuals employ a more concise communication, looking for an economical use of the words. So, the number of words of each message is smaller than in oral interaction.    Concerning the different categories of messages, organized interaction seems to be quite important in the mediated condition, especially in dyads. On the contrary, cognitive interaction is stronger in face-to-face condition.    The proportion of outsider interaction (non concerned with the task) shows a significative variation between conditions, but in a different way according the size of the group. In dyads, individuals of the mediated condition are more concentrated in the task, while in tetrads it happens just the opposite: CMC produces more distractive behavior. It is important to say that in this category is included the uninhibited verbalization, very frequent in the mediated communication, especially in tetrads.    A particular type of cognitive interaction is the non-specific cognitive interaction. It includes all verbal manifestations or reactions connected to a cognitive proposal of the partner: request of explanation, understanding confirmation, automatic repetition of the partner's message, and evaluation of the partner's contribution. In other terms, it means the effective integration of the multiple actions in a continuous and articulated discourse, integrating the multiple contributions in a continuous line.    Finally, there are no differences in the social distribution of participation. The homogeneity (or heterogeneity) of dyads and tetrads does not vary as a function of both modalities. The mediated condition does not produce a more democratic distribution of the sujects' participation.    The above conclusions must be considered attending the group size. As a matter of fact, dyads and tetrads do not present the same behavior in both face-to-face and mediated conditions. This means that the group size is an important interactive variable.    What was last said is specially evident in the case of organized interactions, where there is a significative difference between both conditions (face-to-face and mediated) in dyads but not in tetrads.    The size of the group is also a significative variable in the proportion of non-concerned interactions. In tetrads, distractive and uninhibited interactions are more frequent in mediated condition, on the contrary of dyads.

Palabras clave : Socio-cognitive interaction; Computer mediated learning; Cooperative learning; Peer-learning interaction.

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