The Virtual Math Teams (VMT) project is an NSF-funded research program through which researchers at the College of Information Science and Technology (IST) and the Math Forum investigate the innovative use of online collaborative environments to support effective K-12 mathematics learning. Negotiation is an indispensable element in collaboration, especially in the resolution of situations whose complexity is such that understanding them is enhanced by multiple perspectives made possible through collaboration. Some mathematics problems which are described as ‘ill-structured’ because they admit of several possible interpretations and multiple solutions, are candidates for collaborative problem-solving. Negotiation is necessary to make this collaborative approach possible, inasmuch as sense- and meaning-making associated with this particular approach to problem-solving has for its distinctive characteristic, the dynamics of a group rather than the jig-saw style of cooperating individuals. A research methodology based on conversation analysis is used to identify how negotiation is conducted in online mathematics problem-solving by locating its methods as negotiation is initiated, processed and concluded. Initial findings show: - how changes in the tempo of turn-taking indicate shifts in the conduct of problem-solving, - how repetition and ‘forced conclusions’ are used to negotiate a choice among several problems at hand, - how intervals and transitions are used by participants to indicate preferred responses and responders, - how referencing tools impact negotiation. Findings from this research can assist in the design of CSCL environments, especially in the transformation of generic communication applications to collaborative technology
