1. Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06
Information Behavior of Collaborative Online Small Groups Engaged in Problem Solving - A doctoral dissertation proposal
Nan Zhou
The VMT Project
College of Information Science & Technology
Drexel University
Steve: make sure to talk to the audience instead of reading slides; slides only serve as outline or points that go with the talk or complementary information/details
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

2. An online collaborative world for information behavior study
Immediately available digital resources
Collaborative group as resources
Geographically distributed participants
Ways of communication shaped by the computer mediation
Task structures
Goals of the group
By characterizing the new online collaborative world that exhibits great differences from the world that previous studies are situated in, a need for new model (?) in order to describe this new phenomenon is called upon.
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

3. Traditional settings for studies in information behavior
Individual
Structured task
Focus on information seeking
Usually conducted on observing/recording how individuals as users interact with information systems
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

4. Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06
Question emerged
How will what constitutes information behavior in collaborative small groups be different from traditional settings?
Denise: How does information behavior in collaborative small groups differ from individual behavior, if at all?
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

5. Setting of this research – the VMT (Virtual Math Teams) project
An NSF-funded research program with collaboration between College of IST and the Math Forum at Drexel
Investigates the innovative use of online collaborative environments to support effective K-12 math discourse
Students work collaboratively on math problems in small groups within a synchronized software environment
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

6. How do participants do problem solving in VMT session?
Discuss and build a shared understanding of the problem
Negotiate and formulate the needs for information
Use different resources to obtain information
Ask group members
Recall or associate with prior experiences
Search external information resources
Make use of the environment to share and construct meaning of the discovered information
Wes: logic of bullets needs to be reconsidered; there are empirical and theoretical argument entangled together
Gerry: illustration needed before this slide; answering
It may make better sense if audience see data before this, and present this slide as result from data analysis
When presenting problem statement, I should say “I’m looking at groups that haven’t been looked at. And there is great difference between group and individuals…”
Political issue: avoid using “traditional”, instead, say the type of previous work needs to be adapted to examine the new phenomenon/situation; soften langugage
Johann: some people may ask what are you really want to do here? Are you comparing online communication with face-to-face?
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

7. Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06
106
SUP
is there a formula for a 60/60/60?
8:29:04
107
AVR
I have no idea
8:29:12
108
I think once we find the formula it should be pretty easy
8:29:20
109
I don't think there's a formula, though
8:29:24
110
PIN
search google
8:29:27
111
I think we find it some other way
8:29:29
112
that's what I'm doing
8:29:31
113
what does itmeans by edglengths?
8:29:41
114
jone of the 3 sides?
8:30:23
115
edgelength means length of a side
8:30:42
116 ok
8:30:46
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

8. 363
Quicksilver
and i was thinking of like 9 bricks on the bottom and 4 in the middle and 1 on top
364
Aznx
So, how should we approach this?
365
What can we use that we already know?
366
Layer by layer shown in a chart?
367
bwang8
well we can divide it into a front and a back
368
I'd suggest yesterday's problem.
369
yeah
370
using the formula from yesterday's problem
371
we can figure the front and back easily
372
this
373
we just need to find the center
374
Oh!! Wait...Your thinking of the kind of pyramid that is flat on one whole edge
375
I mean like a real pyramid that each layer is completely centered
376
Draw it.
377
i'll try
378
use the rectangle tool, it's easier
379
Yeah.
380 k
381
o ic
382
top view
383
something like that
384
i c what you mean
385
do u aznx?
386
Since we're both in Spanish class, are you saying something what the Aztecs made?

9. Issues emerged from VMT chat practice
Provided the “dual interactional spaces”, how do participants manage to achieve co-construction of information needs, information sharing, and making meaning of information?
How do they reconcile the differences in the use of math terms or terms that are made relevant in the math context?
As users of the Math Forum, do they make use of the digital library provided by MF? How successful are their experiences?
How do they use wiki as a community resource to build on each other’s ideas to solve problem?
Denise: the first one is good
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

10. Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06
Research Questions
1. Do small collaboration groups in a synchronous computer-supported environment exhibit distinctive patterns in their information behavior as compared to individual actors?
2. How is the group’s information behavior interwoven in its problem-solving and knowledge-construction process?
3. How can access to information facilitate co-construction of knowledge in an online math community?
4. How can the collaboration environment and information resources be designed to help students to learn mathematics collaboratively?
Wes: how is information behavior distinguished from knowledge creation or meaning making that is happening in VMT chat? Is information the right term to use for describing such phenomenon? (Steve: is it just using different terms for the sake of using them?)
Johann: there seems great similarities between information behavior (possibly information seeking? By author) and problem solving, whereas it hasn’t been studied much yet. It seems very interesting work to relate these two together and figure out how they intertwine with each other. It also connects our data very well.
Gerry: research questions are good. And the structure (sequence) is nice. They should be the focus of the presentation.
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

11. Related work on information behavior
Large body of literature, mainly on information seeking (Belkin, Bates, Kuhlthau, Dervin & Nilan, Chatman, Agosto, etc) – take this off
Collaborative IB has been investigated in library context, academic settings, professional settings, everyday life context (Hertzum, Fidel, Bruce, Sonnenwald & Pierce, Prekop, Hyldegard, etc)
Not much work in how information behavior is performed collectively in a synchronous setting; individuals are still the unit of analysis; tend to assign factors (e.g. gener, social-economic) to account for differences; use predefined categories
Soften the words
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

12. Theoretical orientations
Meta-theoretical positions in information science studies: from sender/receiver model to cognitive constructivism to collectivism to constructionism
Paradigm shift in conception of information and what constitutes learning
Call for a paradigm of research in information behavior (Talja and Hansen, 2006):
Observe collaborative activities in authentic settings; focusing on what people actually do;
Apply naturalistic and work practice-driven data collection methods and analysis in order to inform the design of systems for supporting knowledge sharing and collaborative information seeking and retrieval.” (p 117)
Call for paradigm: what is the particular reason for such call?
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

13. Theoretical framework and methodology
Theory of Group Cognition (Stahl 2006) and constructionism
Group as the unit of analysis
Exploratory, design-based, case-based, and micro-analysis of small group interaction and discourse
Murat: ASK model: this study provides an opportunity to examine ASK in a real life setting because participants in a collaborative group make their behavior public to examination. We have the chance to study how they go through the Anomalous State of Knowledge to formulated information needs.
Ramon: it is not clear what research method the author is going to use and how the author is going to do that. It may be better to give an example of data analysis to demonstrate the method.
Say more about the theory of group cognition
Wes: may be helpful to take a look at what qualitative methods other studies used, especially in studying how people use online resources; coding
Journal of Computer Mediated Communication
Susan editor of Design of … system
Denise: when talking about group as the unit of analysis, mention most studies on collaborative information seeking still focus on individuals only in the context of collaboration
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

14. Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06
Bring in information resource
How to use information in problem situation seems to be an obstacle
Gerry: this 3rd example is out of place here. It will be better to put 3 data examples together to introduce the research work by saying what I’m going to be doing now and this is example of what I’m going to look at. You can start off with research question 1, followed by example data 1. discussion of data 1, indicate how it (information behavior) looks different. Then move to RQ2: now we saw indication of how it is different, brings 2, example data 2, see accessing information, which brings RQ3, then look at details in example 3 which takes place in VMT environment. From here brings transition to discuss design issues of the environment, which is RQ4.
Discuss how it’s related to other work and methodology.
Use whiteboard to help construct the application of information – tree diagrams
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06

15. Expected contributions
Build a model that describes information behavior of online small groups engaged in problem solving
Contribute on understanding meaning co-construction, collaboration and problem solving
Inform the design of computer-supported collaborative learning environments to support effective collaborative learning
Needs a stronger ending. Don’t mention “model”. My work only describes what’s going on of group information behavior.
The presentation can start with showing there is big/important differences. Then start to analyze data, show the interwoven process of information behavior and problem solving/knowledge creation, access to information and design implications. (4 bullets correspond to 4 RQs).
State this is new ways of understanding information behavior and this research work is implementing the new paradigm that those people called for.
Data: focus. Illustrate certain point for each example. Make it clear. Don’t get audience lost in details. There is no outline slides. So there is need to say what the data is illustrating, which brings up next RQ.
11/20/2018
Nan Zhou, iSchool at Drexel iConference 06