Board-based collaboration in cross-cultural pairs

This work in progress reports a study of cross-cultural collaboration mediated by board-based collaborative systems. American-Chinese and American-American pairs performed collaborative design tasks either face-to-face or remotely. Survey data, video recording, and design products were collected to examine the impact of culture (American-American vs. American-Chinese), medium (face-to-face vs. remote), and system (MimioTM vs. SMART BoardTM) on the process and outcomes of collaboration. Results from the survey showed significant effects of these variables on several reliable measures of common ground, cognitive consensus building, perceived performance, and satisfaction. The effects on perceived performance were robust. American-Chinese pairs reported a significantly lower level of consensus when using a system that supports uni-directional (Mimio™) rather than bi-directional interaction on the board.