ReaderBench: Automated evaluation of collaboration based on cohesion and dialogism

As Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) gains a broader usage, the need for automated tools capable of supporting tutors in the time-consuming process of analyzing conversations becomes more pressing. Moreover, collaboration, which presumes the intertwining of ideas or points of view among participants, is a central element of dialogue performed in CSCL environments. Therefore, starting from dialogism and a cohesion-based model of discourse, we propose and validate two computational models for assessing collaboration. The first model is based on a cohesion graph and can be perceived as a longitudinal analysis of the ongoing conversation, thus accounting for collaboration from a social knowledge-building perspective. In the second approach, collaboration is regarded from a dialogical perspective as the intertwining or synergy of voices pertaining to different speakers, therefore enabling a transversal analysis of subsequent discussion slices.