Problem solving as a complex, evolutionary activity: A methodological framework for analyzing problem-solving processes in a computer-supported collaborative environment

Viewed through the lens of complex systems science, one may conceptualize problem-solving interactions among multiple actors, artifacts, tools, and environmental structures as goal-seeking adaptations, and problem-solving itself, as a complex adaptive activity. Theories of biological evolution point to an analogical equivalence between problem solving and evolutionary processes and, thus, introduce innovative methodological tools to the analysis of computer-supported, collaborative, problem-solving processes. In this paper, we present a methodological framework for characterizing and analyzing these processes. We describe four measures that characterize genetic evolution - number, function, fitness, and persistence - to characterize the process of collaborative problem solving, and instantiate them in a study of problem-solving interactions of collaborative groups in an online, synchronous environment. Issues relating to reliability, validity, usefulness, and limitations of the proposed methodology are discussed.