Exploring turn-taking patterns during dialogic collaborative problem solving

This study investigated students’ turn-taking patterns during dialogic collaborative problem solving, with analysis based on the participation-shift analytical framework. 168 primary fourth-grade students were assigned to 42 groups and worked on three mathematical problems for a total of 30 minutes. Group-level analysis revealed that most students accessed the conversational floor by receiving it from the last speaker. Usurping a floor offered to another person and claiming a floor opened to the whole group were positively associated with the intensity and the balance of group discussion. Individual-level analysis further identified four latent profiles of individuals with distinct turn-taking styles: turn-receivers (i.e., receiving the floor assigned by the last speaker) (15%), turn-usurpers (20%) (usurping the floor when it was offered to another person), turn-claimers (10%) (claiming the floor when it was opened to the whole group) and turn-balancers (55%) (no strong turn-taking tendency). Individual participation rates and prior Chinese grades proved to be the two most significant unique predictors of individual membership in the turn-usurper profile. The findings suggest ensuring students’ equitable access to the conversational floor and provide teachers with several specific turn-taking related approaches to promote equity and respect in peer talk.