Understanding the role of I-positions facilitating knowledge construction in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment

This study qualitatively develops further understandings regarding knowledge and identity construction within computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research by applying discourse analysis and the dialogical self theory (DST) to investigate the role of interpersonal and intrapersonal voices in facilitating knowledge construction. We analyzed and compared the audio recordings of ten students separated into two groups of five (group A and group B) as they engaged in dialogue to construct knowledge for a learning task on physics in a CSCL environment. We divided the dialogue of each group into dialogues by identifying their discourse functions (DF) on the basis of interactional events related to knowledge construction. We then grounded the I-positions of I-it, I-me, I-you and I-we at the utterance level so that we could visualize and describe them within the dialogues that were relevant during knowledge construction in each group. Results showed that the process of knowledge construction for collaborative learning related to DF as well as their use of I-positions. Group A, who failed the learning task, often employed interpersonal voices (I-it/I-me) in dialogues that focused on reviewing directions and strategies at the individual level rather than collective clarification and elaboration or empirical evaluation of knowledge. Group B, who succeeded with the learning task, employed both interpersonal (I-it/I-me) and intrapersonal voices (I-you/I-we) with intrapersonal voices peaking in usage during collective empirical evaluation of knowledge. Our findings underscore prior research that CSCL involves not only knowledge but also identity negotiation as well as demonstrating that DST can aid this exploration.