Chat for Teamwork Discussion: An Exploratory Study in a Training Course

Introduction

Currently, students need flexible study paths and laboratories which use the technologies (Papadimitriou, Papadakis, & Lionarakis, 2017), learning to effectively use technological communication channels and tools. In the university education field, we conducted a case study to explore the development of chat communication of engineering and psychology undergraduate teams engaged in digital interaction design. The present study considers CMC in terms of symbolic text-based interaction (Spitzberg, 2006), focusing on communication via chat as a possible and important tool to successfully cooperate with colleagues. This paper provides original insights into the use of digital technologies, analysing the content of chat communication among teammates. Particularly, the present study aims to explore: a) the possibility to share a common structure of knowledge about task and team, that is team mental models (TMMs), through the technology-mediated communication of the chat; b) the association between written interaction styles and quality of the task performed. The results suggest that a chat-based system allows to develop a collective knowledge of a team; moreover, content-related characteristics are associated with the efficiency and quality of the task performed. Suggestions for further research and practice implications are provided.