Interconnections between the discursive framing of space-time and the interpretation of a collaborative task

The purpose of the present study was to examine the discursive framing of space-time in the context of a collaborative task in a higher education course. We employed the concept of chronotope, which was developed within the dialogical approach for a socio-cultural examination of space and time. We conducted participant observation at a media-design course in which students worked in groups to develop a project. We collected video-audio records of the students' activity and analysed qualitatively the students' interaction whenever we detected a link between the framing of space-time relations (chronotope) and the interpretation of the collaborative task. The analysis identified some aspects of chronotopes that appear tightly connected to the interpretation of the task: 1) the future-oriented envisioning of potential trajectories of engagement; 2) definitions of the time structure of the activity; 3) consideration of chronotopic constraints; 4) monitoring of the task; 5) focus on the present moment. Furthermore, we have found that the students had different assumptions concerning the space-time of the activity depending on their professional background. In sum, we argue that the framing of space-time is a further aspect of the context involved in the process of task interpretation, additional to the institutional aspects already identified by previous research.