Collaborative Group Work Research Articles

When design just isn’t enough: the unanticipated challenges of the real world for large collaborative displays

Large interactive displays for supporting workgroup collaboration comprise a growing area of ubiquitous computing research and many such systems have been designed and deployed in laboratory studies and research settings. Such displays face difficulties in real-world deployments, as they are often supplemental technologies as opposed to primary tools for work activities. In this work, we investigate the integration and uptake of the NASA MERBoards, shared interactive displays that were deployed to support science tasks in the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions. We examine the hurdles to adoption imposed specifically by the real-world circumstances of the deployment that were external to the design of the system, and explain how these concerns apply to the general deployment of shared ubicomp technologies in the real world.

A Qualitative Study of a Nutrition Working Group

The Behavioral Change Consortium (BCC) Nutrition Workgroup (NWG) is a multidisciplinary collaboration of representatives from BCC sites and federal agencies. Its mission is to improve measurement of dietary variables. This article presents findings from a qualitative study of perceived effectiveness of the workgroup collaboration. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted and examined for common themes using the constant comparison method. Themes contributing to perceived effectiveness included: funding and additional resources; invested, committed, and collegial members; strong leadership, clearly articulated goals, and regular communication. Influences seen as reducing effectiveness were: distance, disparate nature of the studies, limited time, and problems associated with starting collaboration after the primary studies had begun data collection. NWG members felt that the workgroup would continue to be successful; however, there were concerns about responsibility for writing and authorship of manuscripts and the need for continued funding to ensure full participation and productivity.

Adult Students' Reasoning in Geometry: Teaching Mathematics through Collaborative Problem Solving in Teacher Education

This article reports research that is concerned with pre-service teachers2 working collaboratively in a problem-solving context without teacher involvement. The aim is to focus on the students’ heuristic strategies employed in the solution process while working on two problems in geometry. Two episodes from the dialogues in one group of students with limited mathematical backgrounds have been chosen to illustrate some mathematical movement throughout the group meetings, from working with the first problem to working with the second one. The findings reveal that three categories of strategies, visualising, monitoring, and questioning, play an important role in order to make progress with the problems. As a preparation for working on the two problems, metacognitive training in combination with cooperative learning was introduced to the students throughout a month. The study indicates that these critical components in the design of the instructional context stimulated the students with limited background in mathematics to improve their problem-solving skills. The analysis has particularly focused on the important role of the process writer that provokes the mathematical discussion by generating utterances categorised as looking-back questions. By recapitulating the solution process or the last idea introduced in the dialogue, the process writer stimulated the establishment of a common ground for the further discussion. The article also deals with issues of teacher involvement in students’ mathematical discussions in collaborative working groups.

Towards a social affordances perspective of media capabilities and interface design

AbstractThis study examined the relationships between collaborative group work and communication technologies. First, a model of experience depicting the most perceptually relevant aspects of group work was produced using self‐guided focus groups and survey responses. Eleven elements of the group work context, their interrelationships, and technologies supporting collaborative activity were described. The model suggested communication technologies are situated within contexts of use that affect and are affected by relevant aspects of that context. Participant task groups then resolved various problems using one of three technologies: face‐to‐face, voice conferencing, or chat. Activity unfolded longitudinally allowing for the emergence of situated actions, interaction, and technology effects. Individual and collective perceptions of how technology affected each element of the model, and how those elements impacted perceptions of technology, were analyzed via in‐depth interviews.

The effect of gender on trust perception and performance in computer‐mediated virtual environments

AbstractAn important area in Computer‐Mediated Communication (CMC) is how gender affects trust building and performance in virtual settings. This paper empirically investigates gender differences in two media, video and Instant Messaging, while performing negotiation tasks. The primary results indicate that: (1) female pairs perceive higher levels of trust than male pairs when gender information about the partner is either seen via the video channel or mutually revealed via the IM channel, and (2) male/female pairs have better performance outcomes than female pairs. The results imply that having females in the remote working teams may help teams achieve high levels of initial trust leading to cooperation and information sharing in virtual settings. In addition, the results suggest that gender diversity, as represented in male/female pairs, may be important to quality performance outcomes in collaborative work groups.

A Conversation With Zoltan P. Dienes

The name of Zoltan P. Dienes (1916–) stands with those of Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Edward Begle, and Robert Davis as a legendary figure whose work left a lasting impression on the field of mathematics education. Dienes’ name is synonymous with the multibase blocks that he invented for the teaching of place value. Among numerous other things, he also is the inventor of algebraic materials and logic blocks, which sowed the seeds of contemporary uses of manipulative materials in instruction. Dienes’ place is unique in the field of mathematics education not only because of his theories on how mathematical structures can be effectively taught from the early grades onwards using manipulatives, games, stories, and dance (e.g., Dienes, 1973, 1987), but also because of his tireless attempts for over 50 years to inform school practice through his fieldwork in the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Papua New Guinea, and the United States. Dienes’ theories on the learning of mathematics have influenced many generations of mathematics education researchers, particularly those involved in the Rational Number Project (http://education.umn.edu/rationalnumberproject/), and more recently those working in the models and modeling area of research. Dienes championed the use of collaborative group work and concrete materials, as well as goals such as democratic access to the process of mathematical thinking, long before the words constructivism, equity, and democratization became fashionable. In this rare interview, Dienes (see Figure 1) reflects on his life, his work, the role of context, language, and technology in mathematics teaching and learning today, and on the nature of mathematics itself. Figure 1 Zoltan P. Dienes, April 25, 2006, Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Role of Computer Mediated Communication in solving collaborative learning empowerment problems in higher education: a case study of Oman

AbstractThe concept of collaborative work is gaining rapid acceptance in almost all disciplines of numerous organizations in the world like financial institutions, educational institutions, and business organizations (Ancona, 1990; Bettenhausen, 1991; Gallucci, 1985). Switzer and Shriner (2000) were of the view that students are the most obvious party who benefit from collaborative group work among students, faculty members, and the community. According to them there are four overlapping types of benefits for students. These are: 1) immediate educational benefits, 2) immediate social benefits, 3) critical thinking benefits, and 4) long-term career benefits.Research suggests that Face to Face (FTF) interaction in collaborative learning does not solve the communication problems in Arabic culture due to religious and cultural factors. It is necessary to think of an alternative that would respect the general scope of collaborative work (in terms of its multisided but interactive effect) but favour women’s inv...

Effects of computer collaborative group work on peer acceptance of a junior pupil with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

The study investigated the effects of computer collaborative group work, facilitated by an adult, on peer acceptance of a junior boy with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It aimed to ascertain whether collaborative group work on a computer, with the facilitation of an adult, could help to raise his peer acceptance among his classmates. Data were gathered before and after computer group work sessions. Interviews and questionnaires were conducted on parents and teachers to help establish the history background data and their concerns on the boy’s peer acceptance. Sociometrics testing of classmates was used to determine peer acceptance among the boy’s immediate peer group. During the adult-facilitated computer sessions, the facilitator reinforced positive social behaviour and interactions. After the computer sessions, interviews and questionnaires were conducted again on parents, teachers and facilitator in an attempt to capture information on the child’s behaviour and attitudes during the computer sessions. Sociometrics testing was also conducted again to determine if the peer acceptance among the boy’s immediate peer group has changed. The results indicated encouraging improvements in the raise of his peer acceptance among his classmates in general. Although this was a discrete setting, the finding is promising and this strategy may be replicated in school to support mainstream inclusion for children with ADHD.

Preface to the special issue on user modeling to support groups, communities and collaboration

Technology should support and enhanceour ability towork, learn, andmakedecisions. These activities naturally involve collaboration and communication, yet the personal computers we use to carry them out are traditionally individualized. This special issue addresses the design and extension of adaptive individual user technology to support complex collaborative processes involving information sharing, communication, and collaborative group work. Recent integration efforts have successfully combined collaborative and communication services with multi-user tools to create environments that enable individuals to communicate and share information. Examples of such environments include computer-supported collaborative workspaces, distributed learning management systems, online communities of interest, and peer-to-peer systems. While these environments enable collaboration, they provide no guarantee that timely productive collaboration occurs and proceeds effectively. Such assurance requires more substantial effort in understanding how the collaboration process is shaped by the individuals’ characteristics, behaviors, and relationships, and how to support their dynamic interaction. Models of groups, collaboration, and communities collect and structure the

Nurse intention to remain employed: understanding and strengthening determinants

This paper reports a study testing a hypothesized model of the determinants of nurse intention to remain employed in current hospitals of employment. Previous research has shown that stronger nurse intention to remain employed is associated with higher job satisfaction, higher organizational commitment, higher perceived manager support, lower burnout, higher work group cohesion, being older, having more years of nursing experience and having lower levels of education. A descriptive survey design was adopted. Over 13,000 Ontario, Canada nurses were invited to complete a mailed survey between February and May 2003. The Ontario Nurse Survey includes instruments and items measuring job satisfaction, burnout, professional nursing practice environment, demographic characteristics of nurse respondents and items about intention to remain employed. Two multiple regression models, one including all variables and the other using a stepwise method, were used to test the proposed model. Regression models explained 34% of variance in nurse intention to remain employed. The strongest predictors were nurse age, overall nurse job satisfaction and years of employment in the current hospital. Although the proposed model hypothesized six categories of predictors of intention to remain employed, only four of these were statistically significant determinants of nurse intention to remain: job satisfaction, personal characteristics of nurses, work group cohesion and collaboration, and organizational commitment of nurses. The other two categories of predictors, nurse burnout and nurse manager ability and support, may be predictors of job satisfaction and have indirect effects on intention to remain employed that are mediated through job satisfaction. Possible strategies to strengthen predictors of intention to remain employed include employment practices that reflect moral integrity, incorporate clear communication systems, maximize employee involvement in decision-making, promote praise and recognition, and establish a shared vision and goals.

SELF-ORGANIZING CONTEXTUALIZED MOBILE WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT WITH COLLABORATIVE ART LEARNING

With the development in wireless technology and the sophistication in wireless devices, enterprising mobile workforces have grown in recent years. Mobile workforces do not work at a fixed area in a company and they have to visit customers or sell their products in public areas. Therefore, it is important for these enterprises to properly allocate their mobile workforces and leverage their collaborative cooperation. In this paper, we present a novel mechanism, named the collaborative ART learning (CART), which drives social-awareness collaboration between mobile workforces in a public area (e.g., an exhibition center). Because of the characteristics of a pubic working space, this method is situated in a wireless P2P network environment. The mobile workforce peers self-organize dynamically into appropriate collaborative work groups to accomplish tasks on demand. With CART, each peer of a task group receives adjustments of recognized capability levels after the task assigned is completed. CART learns the way to organize fitting collaborative work groups through cycles of problem solving and work force status adapting, leading to continued satisfactory collaborative performance.

Collaborative Group Work and Individual Development of Metacognition in the Early Years

This paper tracks the individual development of metacognition in two five year old children over an academic year as they engage in a cognitive acceleration through science education programme CASE@KS1. Using qualitative analysis and case study methods it demonstrates how collaborative group work with small children impacts on the development of their individual metacognitive processing. Important variables that facilitate or hinder this development are teased out and relationships between the groups and the individual are analysed. Difficulties with the concept of metacognition and in particular how to assess and measure it are discussed. A framework of analysis based on verbal interactions is developed from the early theories of metacognition and this is combined with an in-depth grounded analysis. This approach provides insight into what we can mean when we speak of young children being metacognitive.

How Pupils Can be Helped to Develop Socially and Emotionally in Science Lessons

In this article, the authors argue that secondary school academic subjects should integrate elements of pastoral work into their teaching through the use of collaborative group work. Pupils who are given the opportunity to develop emotionally and socially are more likely to understand each other, which can lead to a reduction of conflict in the classroom. Social and emotional development can be facilitated in normal school lessons, such as science, through structured group work. The evidence shows that pupils do improve their communication and understanding of other pupils in the class, developing their emotional literacy. Further investigation indicates that benefits are sustained and that the class is more cohesive and mutually supportive.

Laura's story: Using Problem Based Learning in early childhood and primary teacher education

Increasingly, graduates across a range of professions are required to possess the ability to critically evaluate information, solve problems and participate in collaborative group work. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach to learning that emphasises student centred engagement with real problems or situations, involving learners in active decision making processes and in using theory to inform practice. This paper reports the perceptions a group of pre-service educators had to their participation in a unit of study conducted using a PBL scenario. The paper examines issues associated with teacher education, such as skills acquisition and the notion of the ‘gap’ between theory and practice. The findings reported here indicate that PBL offers the opportunity for pre-service educators to participate in a learning experience that supports them in developing skills appropriate to their profession and in understanding how theory may be related to practice.

Study of a crippled goddess: An interpretation of cybernetic images in the exploration of conceptions of technology

This case study examined several images from a series of related, technologically-influenced artworks. The images were composed during collaborative group work where the participants' goal was to create an illustrated narrative that retold an ancient myth in a modern, technological context. The images were analyzed through a visual and social semiotic lens in order to understand this particular group's assumptions about human and technological relations. Although technology is often implicitly associated with modernist terms (such as instrumental or utilitarian), postmodern interpretations of technology are becoming more culturally widespread and are garnering closer examination. Analyses of the images drawn by the principal artist suggest postmodern interpretations of human-technological integration. Rather than showcasing modernist qualities of completeness and instrumentality, technological integration in the selected artworks appeared to be depicted as partial, fetishized, and simulated.

From the Editor

“When three people are walking together, there must be a teacher for me.” Chinese proverb. Confucian Analects. (The Columbia World of Quotations, 1996) This Chinese proverb reminds us of three ways this issue of Topics in Language Disorders (TLD) on literacy partnerships provides a timeless message. First, different learners require varied forms of instruction. Not every individual with a language disorder benefits from the same teaching and therapeutic approach. Children of different ages, with varied strengths and needs across language systems and modalities require individualized intervention targets and approaches to fit their unique literacy-learning needs. Secondly, “walking together” can be taken as a metaphor alluding to enhancement of learning opportunities through cooperative planning by professionals and others who share a common goal but varied perspectives and training. Third, the proverb intimates that teaching–learning interactions can be situated in the walk of everyday activities. The authors of this issue describe approaches in which language-literacy activities are explicit but embedded within natural learning contexts. In this issue of Topics in Language Disorders, Drs. Froma Roth and Diane Paul bring together a group of authors known for their work as clinician-researchers. As explained by the issue editors, this group's collaborative work was stimulated by discussions about partnerships for literacy in the context of a committee of the Division for Communicative Disabilities and Deafness of the Council for Exceptional Children, chaired by Diane Paul. True to the topic of this issue, the authors collaborated in conference calls to outline an address to the complex topic of best methods for supporting literacy learning by children with special needs. The group also planned presentations at national conferences of the Council for Exceptional Children and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Those activities led, in turn, to the design for this issue under the able leadership of issue editors Roth and Paul. Readers will find reviews of the limited scientific evidence for collaborative approaches to literacy interventions. In addition to reviewing relevant literature, the authors use case examples to illustrate collaborative methods for working with children and adolescents across age ranges and targeting varied aspects of language-literacy learning. Thus, consistent with Confucius' saying, the issue provides a teacher for everyone—from readers interested in the background principles of literacy partnerships, to readers working to foster emergent literacy-learning and sound and word awareness, to readers helping students through the supports of writing lab instruction and assistive technology, to readers working to help high school students comprehend complex written texts as they read. In other words, we think that each reader interested in the topic of literacy-enhancing partnerships will find at least one teacher in this issue for him or her. In introducing this issue on partnerships, long-time editor Dr. Katharine G. Butler and associate editor Dr. Nickola Wolf Nelson take this opportunity to comment on our partnership as well. Over the 25 years of the journal's existence, numerous issue editors, authors, and readers of TLD have benefited from Butler's generosity as a mentor and have admired her breadth of knowledge and collaborative partnerships that cross international as well as discipline boundaries. Nelson is one of many who has benefited from Butler's formal and informal teaching and mentoring. Our formal partnership in editing TLD began with the 25th anniversary volume in 2005. With the publication of Volume 26, Issue 2, the partnership will continue, but with a seamless shifting of titles. Butler will continue her leadership role at the helm of TLD as Editor Emerita. Nelson will assume the formal role as Editor. We do not expect the nature of our partnership to change or any dramatic changes in the journal its readers have come to know and respect. As always, we welcome reader input and ideas for topics you would like to see addressed in future issues. We invite your continued communication with either or both of us. In the meantime, we are pleased to offer you this issue full of ideas and examples of partnerships for literacy. Katharine G. Butler, PhD, Editor Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD, Associate Editor

Theories of Learning and Their Implications for On-Line Assesment

The pedagogy underlying online learning and teaching is being reconceptualised to incorporate the opportunities being offered by the development of online educational settings. The pedagogy of constructivism and in particular socio-constructivism is underpinning much of the online learning and teaching developments currently being developed. The developments in online learning and teaching however are not being matched by developments in computer based assessment. The scope of computers to offer varied, adaptive and unique assessment is still underdeveloped according to Brown, Race and Bull (1999). This paper briefly reviews the theories of learning and their relationship with traditional forms of assessment and seeks to argue for the need to further develop online assessment tools to further facilitate the growth in process based learning activities such as collaborative and cooperative group work consistent with a socio-constructivist pedagogy.

Collaborative management education: an online community in Europe?

This paper explains the relevance of recent research projects to the work of the 'European Enhancement of Early Years Management Skills' project. The research explores and compares students' perspectives and experiences of face-to-face and online collaborative learning using a Problem Based Learning approach in undergraduate Management Education for Early Years Education and Care Managers. The first research collected data on perceptions of learning outcomes achieved and reflective individual evaluations at key assessment points via questionnaire, on students' views of the nature and delivery of the course through focus group discussions, on grades attained and on tutor reflections. While no differences were found in grades achieved or in self-reported attainment of course outcomes, collaborative learning was perceived more favourably by online learners than face-to-face learners and these online learners demonstrated a more rapid development of academic literacy. The follow-up research study confirmed the findings that the online students valued collaborative group work significantly higher than the face-to-face students.

Adapting Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment for Inpatient Settings

ABSTRACT Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment (Drake et al.), an Evidence-Based Practice designed for persons with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders, was developed for delivery in outpatient settings and has been implemented widely in community mental health centers. Until recently, inpatient services compatible with IDDT were not available for dually diagnosed individuals who experienced psychiatric hospitalization at the onset of illness or over the course of treatment. For those individuals receiving outpatient IDDT, hospitalization could mean a disruption to gains painstakingly achieved in the community. Historically, inpatient psychiatric treatment has not been integrated with treatment for substance use nor has it been delivered by staff with expertise in both disorders. An initiative spearheaded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) and the Ohio Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Coordinating Center of Excellence (SAMI CCOE) to transfer the demonstrated value and success of the original outpatient IDDT model to the inpatient setting began close to three years ago. Building on the experience of some pioneering Ohio inpatient SAMI programs (Hurst, Neuzil et al, in preparation), and the experience of the SAMI CCOE and ODMH, a collaborative workgroup developed an IDDT Inpatient Adaptation protocol and fidelity index that has since been piloted at a number of sites in Ohio's Integrated Behavioral Healthcare System (IBHS). A work in progress, the IDDT Inpatient Adaptation is an important step toward providing consistent and continuous care to persons with co-occurring disorders across service delivery settings.

Chips off the old block [global teamworking

Global teamwork is key to the new era of IT product development. This article explains how sharing product development between collaborative workgroups thousands of miles apart is the future of semiconductor invention. This model can be emulated across multiple industry segments, just with different domain expertise.