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The computer-supported collaborative problem solving technique is studied and a collaborative problem solving analysis framework is presented. The focus of the research is on the analysis of problem solving as an educational activity.

This paper examines the effect of heterogeneous resources, available to students, during computer-supported collaborative problem solving. A study of collaborative modeling has been conducted in the frame of an authentic educational activity in a secondary school. The students involved were provided with sets of primitive resources of varying degrees of heterogeneity to be used during synchronous computer-mediated modeling activities. Analysis of students'' peer interaction and of the produced solutions revealed that, contrary to our expectations, the group with heterogeneous resources produced solutions of similar quality to those of the reference group, although they were more active, they exchanged more messages, they were involved in deeper discussions and collaborated more for building the constituent parts of the solution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]