An Artificial Intelligence driven Learning Analytics Method to Examine the Collaborative Problem solving Process from a Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) enables student groups to complete learning tasks, construct knowledge, and solve problems. Previous research has argued the importance to examine the complexity of CPS, including its multimodality, dynamics, and synergy from the complex adaptive systems perspective. However, there is limited empirical research examining the adaptive and temporal characteristics of CPS which might lead to an oversimplified representation of the real complexity of the CPS process. To further understand the nature of CPS in online interaction settings, this research collected multimodal process and performance data (i.e., verbal audios, computer screen recordings, concept map data) and proposed a three-layered analytical framework that integrated AI algorithms with learning analytics to analyze the regularity of groups collaboration patterns. The results detected three types of collaborative patterns in groups, namely the behaviour-oriented collaborative pattern (Type 1) associated with medium-level performance, the communication - behaviour - synergistic collaborative pattern (Type 2) associated with high-level performance, and the communication-oriented collaborative pattern (Type 3) associated with low-level performance. The research further highlighted the multimodal, dynamic, and synergistic characteristics of groups collaborative patterns to explain the emergence of an adaptive, self-organizing system during the CPS process.