Guided reciprocal questioning to support children's collaborative storytelling

10 11 Abstract Developing shared understanding is essential to productive collaboration where a 12 product is jointly constructed. This is especially true when the different collaborators’ 13 contributions need to build coherently on one another, as, for example, when making a story 14 together. This study investigated whether encouraging children to engage in discussion 15 though a Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning (GRPQ) script whilst drawing together leads 16 to better collaborative storytelling. Thirty-six 6–7 year old children used a computer17 drawing application called KidPad to tell collaborative stories supported by interactive 18 drawings, and were trained in the GRPQ script. Using a within-subjects design, it was 19 shown that the GRPQ script promoted engagement in interactive discussion and led to the 20 production of richer and more coherent collaborative stories. Furthermore, this benefit was 21 often maintained once the explicit support was withdrawn. These findings suggest that the 22 GRPQ script is an effective way to improve children’s collaborative storytelling and one 23 that children can internalise and apply themselves.