Research

Research on Common Ground in Geo-Collaboration

Since 2005, this project has focused on strategies to support knowledge sharing and common ground building in distributed and synchronous collaboration. We conducted two experiments, developed prototypes, and evaluated collaborative visualizations to support teamwork in geo-spatial planning tasks.

Research Team

John M. Carroll, Gregorio Convertino, Craig H. Ganoe, Wendy A. Schafer, Mary Beth Rosson, Beth Yost

Resources

Project page: CSCL Lab - project description

Convertino et al. (2007). A Role-based Multi-View Approach to support GeoCollaboration, HCI International 2007. Beijing, China, 2007 [paper].

Convertino et al. (2007). Measuring Common Ground in Geo-Collaboration HCI International 2007. Poster. [poster abstract, image].

Carroll J. M., Convertino G., Ganoe C., Rosson M.B. (In Press) Toward a Conceptual Model of Common Ground in Teamwork, Chapter 6, In Letsky M., Warner N., Fiore S., Smith, C. (Eds.) Macrocognition in Teams: Understanding the Mental Processes that Underlie Collaborative Team Activity. New York: Elsevier.

Carroll J.M., Mentis H.M., Convertino G., Rosson M.B., Ganoe C.H., Sinha H., Zhao D., (2007). Prototyping Collaborative Geospatial Emergency Planning Measuring Activity Awareness. Proceedings of ISCRAM 2007.

Convertino, G., Ganoe, C. H., Schafer, W.A., Yost, B., Carroll, J. M., A Multiple View Approach to Support Common Ground in Distributed and Synchronous Geo-Collaboration (2005), CMV 2005: 3rd International Conference on Coordinated and Multiple Views in Exploratory Visualization. July 5, 2005 (London).

Activity Awareness in Computer-Supported Collaboration

People working collaboratively must establish and maintain awareness of one another's intentions, actions, and results. Understanding the role of awareness in computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) and developing effective software tools to support awareness are keys to the future success of CSCW systems. In this research project we developed develop and experimentally evaluate a suite of awareness tools in long-term, distributed collaboration. A classroom-based field study was coordinated with two laboratory experiments, to benefit from both the scope and ecological validity of a field study and the analytical focus and control of a laboratory experiment. A key scientific objective is to investigate and develop the notion of activity awareness, the awareness of project work that supports group performance in complex and long-term tasks.

Research Team

John M. Carroll, Mary Beth Rosson, Gregorio Convertino, Craig H. Ganoe, Amanda Walsh, Janet L. Montgomery

Resources

Project page: CSCL Lab - project description

Carroll, Rosson, Convertino, Ganoe, Activity Awareness and teamwork in CSCW, Interacting with Computers, Jan 2006 [pdf]

The CACHE Study: Supporting Collaborative Intelligence

In this study we evaluated the efficacy of CACHE (Collaborative Analysis of Competing Hypotheses Environment), a collaborative system that supports intelligence analysis in a distributed team of analysts. Over the last 4-5 months we have reviewed relevant literature from group psychology, group decision-support systems, computer-supported cooperative work, and intelligence analysis. We have conducted an evaluation study and we are in the process of analyzing the data collected.

Study conducted at PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), User Interface Research area

Research Collaborators

Peter Pirolli, Dorrit Billman, Jeff Shrager, JP Massar, Randy Gobbel, Stu Card

Resources

Convertino G., Billman D., Shrager J., Pirolli P., Massar JP, (Submitted). The CACHE Study: Group Effects in Computer-Supported Collaborative Analysis.

Shrager J., Massar, JP, Billman, D., Convertino, G., Pirolli, P., (Submitted). The CACHE Bayes Community Model.

Billman, D., Convertino, G. Shrager, J. Massar, JP. and Pirolli P. (2006) The CACHE Study: Supporting Collaborative Intelligence. Paper presented at the HCIC 2006 Winter Workshop. Collaboration, Cooperation, Coordination [abs].

Poster presented at PARC [jpg]

Supporting Intergenerational CSCW
The aging workforce represents a major transformation of the workplace that is demanding attention from researchers. Other notable transformations are the diffusion of computer technology and the rising emphasis on teamwork. We study how technology can support collaboration in intergenerational groups. Drawing on small groups theory and activity theory, we develop a synthetic approach that accounts for group development, types of resources, and levels of analysis. Design requirements and solutions are elicited on this basis.

Research Team

Gregorio Convertino, Umer Farooq, John M. Carroll, Mary Beth Rosson, and Bonnie J.F., Meyer

School of Information Sciences and Technology - {gconvertino, ufarooq, jcarroll, mrosson}@ist.psu.edu

College of Education, Educational Psychology Dept. - bjm8@psu.edu

Resources

BIT journal paper. Convertino et al. (2007) Supporting Intergenerational Groups in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. Special issue on Designing Computer Systems for and with Older Users [paper].

Posters and presentations:

“A Multi-Case Study On Consultation Interactions Computer-Mediated Intergenerational Collaboration. Poster. [poster abstract].
"Intergenrational teams in CSCW", iConference 2005 [abs], ICADI 2006 [abs-pdf] [pres-pdf]
"Minimalist design of collaborative tools and adult learning theory" (To Appear) 2006 Symposium on Adult Development [abs-pdf]

Conference paper: Old is Gold: Integrating Older Workers teams in CSCW, HICSS 2005, Hawai, Jan. 3-6 [paper-pdf]

Supporting Cross-Cultural CSCW

Culture plays an important role in collaboration. Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), a field located between the research on single user applications and that on organizational issues, is increasingly facing the need of accounting for cultural factors in order to understand, support and evaluate collaboration. People from different cultures may have different value systems and attitudes towards the same collaborative activity, which will affect both group relationships and group performance. We are conducted a laboratory study of cross-cultural teams using board-based collaborative tools and performing design tasks.

Project page: CSCL lab