Using discourse analysis to assess student problem-solving in a virtual world

Finding effective ways to measure student learning has been an enduring issue across the higher education sector. While much attention has been placed on the integration of technologies to support learning, not as much attention has focused on how these tools may also provide opportunities for the assessment of learning. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how an analysis of students’ real-time communication can be used to identify strategies that may contribute to the arrival at a problem solution. The authors argue that parts of speech and how the language can be used to help student organise their collaborations can be applied to learning and teaching contexts, as the rules of a language are fairly stable. Hence, discourse analysis can be used to inform the design of learning activities and assessment.