Modeling Group Discourse with Epistemic Network Analysis: Unpacking Connections, Perspectives, and Individual Contributions

Abstract

Operationalizing and modeling group talk has proved to be a consistent challenge in educational research. In this paper, we suggest that epistemic network analysis (ENA) could provide unique insights concerning group talk. Specifically, we use ENA to model the talk orientations put forward in the Exploratory Talk framework (Cumulative, Disputational, Exploratory). Participants (n = 60, 67% female, 33% male) were undergraduate students in an Introduction to Psychology course who took part in three 90-min collaborative online tasks. We coded student discourse according to a set of basic communicative acts reflective of the Exploratory Talk framework. Then, using ENA, we identified different groups’ patterns of discourse at the group and individual level. Presenting the epistemic networks of four purposefully chosen groups, this paper offers three key contributions to modeling and conceptualizing group dialogue: (1) illustrating how ENA could offer new ways to analyze group talk by focusing on the frequency of co-occurrence of connections between a basic set of communicate acts rather than the different communicative acts used; (2) refining the theoretical conceptualization of Exploratory Talk by distinguishing two sub-variations—other-oriented vs. self-oriented Exploratory Talk—that differ according to the depth of engagement with other perspectives; (3) examining how ENA allows unpacking diverging dynamics of individual contributions to group discourse, focusing on the role of individuals that function as “instigators” or “connectors.”