Interaction Analysis for the Detection and Support of Participatory Roles in CSCL

Interaction analysis (IA) methods and tools aim to enhance collaboration, providing support for basic functions such as awareness, regulation or evaluation. The importance of these functions depends on the roles played by the participants in a collaborative experience. For this reason, IA tools need to recognize the dynamic role transitions that usually occur in authentic learning settings, as well as to interpret and manage the information needs required by these changing roles. We are working in the definition, developing and validation of a conceptual framework for characterizing roles in collaborative learning contexts that aims at supporting IA tools in achieving these goals. In this paper we present the main results obtained from an experience that illustrates how this framework, initially proposed in a previous paper, supports the definition of IA indicators and values for detecting role transitions in a dynamic way. This experience is part of a longitudinal validation process of the framework that we are carrying out in various authentic learning contexts.