An Exploratory Approach to Predicting Performance in an Online Electronics Collaborative Problem-Solving Task

Abstract

In a study of 370 postsecondary students in electronics, engineering, and other science classes, we investigated collaborative problem-solving (CPS) skills that best predict performance at individual levels in an online electronics environment. The results showed that while monitoring was a consistent predictor across levels, other skills such as executing, sharing information, planning, and maintaining communication each predicted individual performance at one or more levels of the task. The availability of background data on students' content classes and associated content knowledge to analyze the model results can help identify possible cues for instructors across domains to help students improve specific CPS skills to achieve high performance in activities conducted in collaborative learning environments.