Successful interaction makes sense to its participants – it is, in other words, coherent. As different resources are employed to indicate mutual orientation by showing which actions are linked and where attention is paid, coherent conversation can be said to be achieved multimodally. This thesis builds on an interactional and ecological theoretical basis, and investigates how strategies for sense-making vary depending on the context of interaction. Specifically, this is a study of interaction in different types of multimodal and multiplex communication situations. The characteristics of these technology-rich communication situations are mapped and, primarily through ethnographic methods and interaction analysis, it is investigated how conversational coherence is maintained. Furthermore, it is suggested how the findings can be applied to inform interaction design. The analysis presented is based on results from four case studies, dealing with different aspects of coherence creation in different English speaking contexts. Study 1 investigates coherence in intertwined threads in dyad instant messaging (IM) interaction, and Study 2 focuses on coherence through conversational feedback strategies in interaction in a multimodal desktop video conferencing system. Study 3 has a somewhat broader focus, as the multiple communication channels in which one participant is involved are all taken into consideration in the investigation of sequential coherence. Finally, in Study 4, the physical and digital interaction in a partly shared studio space is investigated, with an emphasis on how mutual orientation is established during conversation initiation. The findings show that when addressing coherence it is important to acknowledge both dynamic aspects of context, such as activity and participants, and more static aspects, such as communicative affordances of environments and tools. In online and mixed-mode interaction, the notion of context becomes particularly complex, as participants are simultaneously part of both the individual context, which may include digital tools for communication, and the shared context of interaction (polycontextuality). In this thesis, it is further shown that this has consequences for coherent conversation initiation and possibilities to engage in multiple semi-simultaneous conversations (polyfocality). Additionally, the results emphasize the importance of explicit linguistic strategies in computer-mediated interaction.

Στην εργασία περιγράφεται η διαδικασία εξοικείωσης των μαθητών με το εκπαιδευτικό πακέτο της Αλγοριθμικής και τον προγραμματισμό μέσω μελέτης περίπτωσης ενός τμήματος ενιαίου Λυκείου. Η Αλγοριθμική είναι ένα ολοκληρωμένο πακέτο προγραμματιστικών περιβαλλόντων και εργαλείων για τη διδακτική υποστήριξη σεναρίων και δραστηριοτήτων ενταγμένων στα μαθήματα Πληροφορικής της Γ’ Γυμνασίου και των Α’, Β’ και Γ’ Λυκείου. Το περιβάλλον αυτό χρησιμοποιήθηκε για τη διδασκαλία της αλγοριθμικής σκέψης και του προγραμματισμού σε ένα τμήμα της Α’ τάξης ενιαίου Λυκείου. Στην εργασία παρουσιάζονται τα κυριότερα λάθη των μαθητών τόσο στο Δημιουργό Διαγραμμάτων Ροής όσο και στο Διερμηνευτή της Γλώσσας σε αρχικό στάδιο διδασκαλίας όσο και σε πιο προχωρημένο με τη χρήση της δομής επιλογής και συγκεκριμένα εμφωλευμένων ΑΝ. Κρίνεται η αποδοτικότητα των σεναρίων χρήσης της Αλγοριθμικής και γίνονται ορισμένες προτάσεις για τη βελτίωσή τους, καθώς και τη βελτίωση των εργαλείων ΔΔΡ και Διερμηνευτής της Γλώσσας για την καλύτερη χρήση από τους μαθητές. Τέλος, παρουσιάζονται κάποιες υλοποιήσεις μαθητών που είχαν καλή δομή κώδικα και ιδιαίτερη εφευρετικότητα. / The work describes the process of introducing students to computer programming and in particular with the educational package “Algorithmic”, through case study of a single Secondary School classroom. “Algorithmic” is a complete package of programming environments and tools to support teaching scenarios and integrated activities in Secondary School computer classrooms. This package was used in teaching algorithmic thinking and computer programming in a classroom of first grade Secondary School. The paper describes the main errors of students when creating flowcharts as well as computer programs using the software tool “GLOSSA”, in earlier teaching stages and later with the use of more advanced decision structures like nested IF statements. This work studies the efficiency of the usage scenarios of “Algorithmic” and makes suggestions for improving the software tools “flowchart” and “GLOSSA” to be more suitable to the level of students and to the course goals. Finally, the paper presents some well structured programming implementations of students.