Ordered Network Analysis of Prompted Student Discourse in a Collaborative Learning Context

Prompting serves an important role in collaborative learning processes by promoting engagement and facilitating the sharing of ideas and information. Prompts can support learning by eliciting critical thinking and guiding deeper inquiry through questions, hints, suggestions and feedback. Studies have shown that both prompting by adults and peers can contribute to student learning and engagement in collaborative settings. This paper examines patterns of directed connections among salient constructs in prompted discourse of students in an online collaborative STEM learning environment. In particular, the study analyzes adult- versus peer-prompted discourse and how they evolve over the course of a collaborative learning session.