Concept Maps Used as a “knowledge and Information Awareness” Tool for Supporting Collaborative Problem Solving in Distributed Groups

In today’s information society, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has become increasingly important. However, there are still problems regarding CSCL, especially interaction problems within groups. This study is an investigation of whether a specific kind of awareness tool, namely a tool for making the collaborators aware of relevant domain knowledge and the information underlying this knowledge, is an efficient means to foster computer-supported collaborative problem solving in the context of resource-based learning. In the study presented, an experimental condition, in which the group members of a triad had a “knowledge and information awareness” tool (KIA-Tool), is compared to a control condition, in which the group members did not have it. First results showed that, despite additional information the participants in the experimental condition had to deal with, the KIA-Tool leads to higher performance.