Resolving Differences of Perspective in a VMT Session

Abstract

According to influential theories of learning, individual learning is most effectively furthered by the resolution of differences—whether the differences are those of cognitive conflict in the individual’s mental processes or those of multiple perspectives interacting in group knowledge-building processes. This chapter investigates the methods used by virtual math teams to resolve differences of perspective having to do with the group’s approach to working on a problem. A fine-grained analysis of chat interaction shows how participants engage in artful ways to negotiate or produce agreement by using each other’s conclusions and appending them to their distinct, seemingly incompatible approaches. Participants negotiate which approach is in use, who is to participate in the unfolding of proffered approaches and in what order competing approaches are to be used. Participants also negotiate how solutions are to be assessed for adequacy and correctness. This interactional process of resolving differences drives the learning activity of the virtual math team by structuring the continuity of the discourse.