Information Sharing and Interaction in Collaborative Convergence

In multiple research literatures, successful collaborative problem solving and learning is analyzed in terms of success of information sharing. In this paper we report analyses of an experimental study that bring the sufficiency of an information sharing account of collaboration into question. One treatment group achieved greater convergence and integration of information in their handling of a complex problem, yet this same group shared less information in a hidden profile design. An additional analysis was conducted to assess whether interaction beyond information sharing accounts for the convergence and integration. The pattern of convergence is more closely mirrored by interactivity quantified as the number of “round trips” addressing the same information items.