Origami-based collaborative spatial problem-solving: Multimodal observational study

The study examined students' spatial collaborative problem-solving behaviors when engaging in a design task dependent on spatial reasoning. Thirty undergraduate students working alone and collaboratively were tested on performance differences in solving an origami Sonobe cube as an active hands-on spatial problem solving task. Epistemic network analysis and sequential pattern mining were conducted to reveal the relationships among collaborative problem solving behaviors and students’ embodied engagement displayed in low - versus high-performing student pairs. The core findings were that successful student pairs (higher scores on their final sketches) engaged more in sketching and gesturing in their collaborative problem-solving process, whereas their less successful peers engaged more in trial-and-error or heuristic experimentation by manipulating the origami units. This study can contribute to developing specific pedagogical strategies that better prepare students for collaboration on tasks that require a high level of spatial cognition.