ABSTRACT
Introduction
We define cognitive mentoring as joint problem solving involving a more-knowledgeable colleague (mentor) and less-knowledgeable peer (learner) in the context of an authentic task. Schlager, Poirier, and Means (1996) identify several highly iterative mentoring stages (problem definition, problem diagnosis, execution, evaluation, reflection) each involving a number of specific processes (e.g., demonstration, scaffolding) that participants execute. Distant Mentor (DM; Schlager, Means, O'day, & Poirier, 1994) was developed to facilitate and examine cognitive mentoring at a distance in the field of engineering. DM allows people in different locations working in a networked UNIX environment to joindy interact with a circuit board manufacturing simulation while maintaining a conversation over the network-based audio channel. DM supports both natural language and point-and-click gestures to query, rewind, and step through the simulation for information needed to diagnose the cause of manufacturing problems, and provides a history of prior queries and answers for easy review. Using the system, we examined questions such as: How does the aid of a mentor improve the speed and quality of subjects' solutions? Does DM afford any advantages over a mode of distant collaboration that is used commonly today—the telephone and FAX machine?
