Trajectories of Idea Emergence in Dialogic Collaborative Problem Solving: Toward a Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective

According to the complex dynamic systems (CDS) perspective, learning emerges at various system levels. This study built a coherent theoretical framework based on CDS and Bakhtinian dialogic theory and further employed the concept of attractor (i.e., certain stable states that recur over time) in CDS theory to investigate the trajectories of idea emergence and how they diversified group outcomes in dialogic collaborative problem solving (D-CPS). Two contrasting groups were compared using visual and qualitative analysis approaches. The analysis based on idea tree diagrams showed that new ideas emergent in group discussion tended to attract local utterances and performed features of attractors in CDS in both high-performing and low-performing groups. The analysis based on idea hierarchy diagrams revealed how ideas emerged at various system levels. It was also found that status problems were likely to affect the functioning of regulative feedback loops, which might give rise to different structures of idea evolution. This study proposed CDS theory as an alternative perspective, augmented by the ethical considerations of Bakhtinian dialogism, for examining the dynamics of D-CPS.

Automated summary

This study examined the trajectories of idea emergence in dialogic collaborative problem solving based on complex dynamic systems and dialogic theory, utilizing the concept of attractors. The analysis revealed that new ideas tended to attract local utterances and exhibited features of attractors in both high-performing and low-performing groups, with status issues potentially affecting feedback loops and leading to different structures of idea evolution. The study proposed using CDS theory as an alternative perspective to explore the dynamics of D-CPS, integrated with ethical considerations of Bakhtinian dialogism.