Collaboration on the basis of complementary domain knowledge: observed dialogue structures and their relation to learning success

We present an analysis of dialogues produced in an experimental study on collaborative learning. In the study, tenth graders were first taught either qualitative or quantitative knowledge of classical mechanics. Afterwards, dyads of students who had been taught different knowledge collaboratively worked on problems which were beyond the competence of each student. Qualitatively instructed students gained significantly more from the information provided by their quantitatively instructed partners than the other way round. Analyses of the dialogues produced by the students revealed that successfully learning dyads were characterised by coherent dialogue structures and that students who learned most during the collaboration frequently assumed the role of a reflector.