I would like to sketch a framework/model of how spatial feature are important and relevant for collaborative problem solving. Roschelle and Teasley (1995) state that: collaboration is a coordinated, synchronous activity that is the result of a continued attempt to construct and maintain a shared conception of a problem. These authors also propose the notion of joint problem space to explain what is going on during collaboration: () Social interactions in the context of problem solving activity occur in relation to a Joint Problem Space (JPS). The JPS is a shared knowledge structure that supports problem solving activity by integrating (a) goals (b) descriptions of the current problem state, (c) awareness of available problem solving actions, and (d) associations that relate goals, features of the current problem state, and available actions." Hence, collaboration is a process of solving a problem and maintaining a shared conception of the situation (the JPS) by integrating information during the task. This understanding of the task is continually shaped and reshaped during the course of the interaction.

In the context of my PhD (that would like to focus on the effectiveness of locative media), information about space and spatial features (like location, area, division of zones...) could enrich the joint problem space described previously. There is hence an overlap between the JPS and real space.

The point of such a model would be to describe the relations between spatial features and the joint problem space.