ABCDE: An Action-Oriented Framework for Collaborative Activities

Grace C. Lin, Carúmey Stevens, Amalia C. Toutziaridi, Prerna Ravi, Emma Anderson

Abstract: Although group work is a common classroom practice, understanding how students collaborate during these activities remains complex. In this paper, we introduce the ABCDE framework, which outlines five essential actions learners can take—and teachers can encourage—to foster an inclusive environment for sharing ideas and deepening understanding. Specifically, A represents agreeing, B represents building on ideas, C represents chatting, D represents differing perspectives, and E represents eliciting responses or actions. We demonstrate the framework’s application in two distinct scenarios: one with high schoolers participating in a data science activity, and the other with adults involved in a team-building survival exercise. The framework successfully revealed distinct interaction patterns in these activities.