How Material Objects Shape Student Team Learning Processes

Abstract

We bring attention to the important, but previously overlooked, role that seemingly mundane material objects in management classrooms can have in student team learning processes. Specifically, we consider how material objects can shape team learning processes. We conducted an inductive qualitative study exploring how teams in an undergraduate strategy course worked together using two types of material objects: (a) whiteboards and (b) flip charts. Our findings indicate that how students interact with material objects when participating in team learning processes is influenced by four properties: (a) object location (static, mobile), (b) record-keeping (temporary, permanent), (c) form (whole, segmented), and (d) sensory awareness. These properties were found to afford student teams different possibilities for using the object which, in turn, shapes team learning processes through the level of agency over embodied learning, the nature of problem-solving behaviors (expansionist or reductionist), and approach to conceptual understanding (synergistic or discrete). The study contributes nuanced insight into the role of material objects in team learning processes and has pedagogical and practical implications for researchers and educators. 我们注意到在管理课程中,曾被忽视的教学设备对于学生小组学习的过程是非常重要的。所以:教学设备会如何影响小组学习过程?我们利用了两个教学设备:白板和活动挂图板,来探讨本科策略课程中的小组合作关系,并对此进行了归纳定量研究。我们的发现显示,在参与小组作业时,学生与教学设备的互动主要被四个方面影响:物品位置(静态、动态);时效性(暂时性、永久性);形态(整合性、分散性);和感官意识。通过使用教学设备,这些特点为学生小组提供了不同的可能性:将小组学习塑造得有自我控制感而不是单一具像化;问题解决行为性质,即扩展主义者或简化主义者;和概念理解方式(协同或离散)。此研究有助于深入了解教学设备在小组合作过程中的作用,同时对科研人员和教育工作者具有教育与实践意义。 关键字词:教学设备,团队学习,体验式学习,学习过程,本科教育,策略教学,定量研究,管理课程