Collaborative problem-solving (CPS) engages students in solving ill-structured problems, creating group knowledge, and developing self-regulation and collaboration skills. Different scaffoldings, such as minimal-guided, task-oriented, and idea-oriented, can be used to facilitate students’ CPS activities, but their effects have not been comprehensively explored. In this research, we use minimally-guided, task-oriented, and idea-oriented scaffoldings to promote Chinese university students’ online CPS activities and use a multi-method approach to analyze the effects of three scaffolding on collaboration. The results indicate relatively complicated collaborative processes and outcomes supported by three scaffoldings. It is initially shown that the idea-centered scaffolding strengthens students’ connections between idea contribution, metacognitive regulation, and knowledge artifact behaviors, which are critical factors for improving the CPS quality. Based on the empirical research results, we conclude that future instructional design should carefully consider the educational culture, time constraint, and student regulation to better facilitate CPS practices.

The importance of English learning is now drawing a growing attention, especially learner's capacity for communication. All kinds of advanced outclass English listening and speaking lessons have emerged in this context. However, problems still exist in middle school English classes, which are dominated by exam-oriented classes like reading and writing classes. The consequence is that listening and speaking classes are usually ignored. This study consists of 3 parts, including the status or current situation of English listening and speaking classes in middle schools, analysis of the problems that lie in it, some proposals to make practical and effective visible teaching designs of middle school English listening and speaking class from the perspective of task-based teaching. 1.1. Political Background "English new curriculum standard of Compulsory education in China (2018)" notes that students in middle schools should achieve a certain level in listening: 1. the ability to understand the intention of speakers. 2. the ability to get the main idea of a conversation based on its context. 3. the ability to memorize the general idea and respond appropriately while listening. Meanwhile in speaking: 1. the ability to express one's own opinions and communicate with others according to a given topic. 2. the ability to ask for help or acquire information effectively. 3. the able to correct oneself in oral expression(Xu Sheng, 2017) 1.2. Theoretical Background As a relatively mature teaching theory, lots of renowned scholars have explored the area of TBLT (Task-Based Language Teaching). As Jia Zhigao concluded that the task is only a kind of method through which can promote students' thoughts and decision making, providing them with the real communicative environment and the opportunity to use the target language to solve problems, so that language learning would become a meaningful and context based language practice (Jia Zhigao, 2005). The implementation of TBLT should be based on the competence of different language learners, with appropriate difficulty and operability, and be both meaningful and interesting, so as to promote the absorption of language information, help learners adjust the cognitive schema and reconstruct their knowledge structures (Fang Wenli, 2003). Furthermore, three types of factors are summarized that have been commonly reported as difficulties in the process of implementing TBLT, institutional culture related factors, classroom teaching related factors and teacher development related factors (Rebecca Adams & Jonathan Newton, 2009). Researches have been carried out to figure out the differences in English teaching achievements caused by teachers' behaviors. John Hattie promotes the idea of visible learning. One point to mention Abstract: Given the current situation that English communicative ability is often neglected in middle school classes, more importance should be attached to students' English listening and speaking ability, which requires more priorities. My research finds that students' needs ...

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