Group Problem Solving Research Articles

Professional Competencies ToolKit: Using Flash Cards to Teach Reflective Practice to Medical Students in Clinical Clerkship.

Early clinical experiences can be overwhelming to medical students. The Professional Competencies ToolKit (ProComp ToolKit) gives medical students a framework on which to build these early experiences and reflect on issues related to professionalism as each patient encounter unfolds. The ProComp ToolKit is a set of 28 flash cards, grouped within six domains of professional competency. Each flash card is a tool for learning, defining a topic in a catchy title and laying out a specific set of skills to be acquired within the clinical setting. Tasks and tips on each flash card guide students through the process of clinical observation, self-observation, and patient interactions. Students meet in small groups with facilitators every 2 weeks throughout the year to discuss these experiences. At the end of the year, students write a narrative based on the flash card that was most meaningful to their professional identity development. We demonstrated how the student narratives that emerged from using the flash cards, exchanged in a small-group setting, led to group problem solving and validation of students' experiences and values. In the narratives, students discussed the origin of negative behaviors and attitudes that can become normalized in patient care while asserting the primacy of patient-centered care and devising self-awareness strategies. Our experience using the ProComp ToolKit shows that teaching reflective practice can successfully be integrated into students' clinical experiences. Professionalism skills can be reflected upon such that they become habitual and integral to students' developing professional identities.

Physical models can provide superior learning opportunities beyond the benefits of active engagements.

The essence of molecular biology education lies in understanding of gene expression, with subtopics including the central dogma processes, such as transcription and translation. While these concepts are core to the discipline, they are also notoriously difficult for students to learn, probably because they cannot be directly observed. While nearly all active learning strategies have been shown to improve learning compared with passive lectures, little has been done to compare different types of active learning. We hypothesized that physical models of central dogma processes would be especially helpful for learning, because they provide a resource that students can see, touch, and manipulate while trying to build their knowledge. For students enrolled in an entirely active‐learning‐based Cell & Molecular Biology course, we examined whether model‐based activities were more effective than non‐model based activities. To test their understanding at the beginning and end of the semester, we employed the multiple‐select Central Dogma Concept Inventory (CDCI). Each student acted as their own control, as all students engaged in all lessons yet some questions related to model‐based activities and some related to clicker questions, group problem‐solving, and other non‐model‐based activities. While all students demonstrated learning gains on both types of question, they showed much higher learning gains on model‐based questions. Examining their selected answers in detail showed that while higher performing students were prompted to refine their already‐good mental models to be even better, lower performing students were able to construct new knowledge that was much more consistent with an expert's understanding. © 2018 The Authors. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology., 46(5):435–444, 2018.

A successful experience with the flipped classroom in the Transport Phenomena course

Transport Phenomena is a core subject in Chemical Engineering studies. Its fundamentals need significant effort to be understood. Furthermore, students must apply theory to solve practical engineering problems, and it is usually problem resolution which has the largest weight in course assessment. However, due to the high amount of theory that must be covered in Transport Phenomena courses, usually little classroom time is reserved for practice and problem-solving skills are not worked in class. This constitutes a serious misalignment between learning activities, expected outcomes and evaluation. In this article, we propose the flipped classroom as a suitable methodology to solve this issue. As a pilot study, we flipped one unit of the Transport Phenomena course of the Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering. Theory was provided through whiteboard animated video before the classroom sessions. Classroom time was mainly dedicated to participative discussion and problem solving in small groups. Satisfaction questionnaires were used to monitor student perception of learning quality before and after the methodology update. Student judgement on the interest of the subject and the value of the learnt concepts boosted about 20% on average with the flipped classroom. Around 70% of the surveyed students reported that the new methodology increased their motivation and that it helped them to learn both theory and practice. These results indicate that the flipped classroom is suitable for highly-technical classes with a large amount of complex theory, and it helps in the understanding and application of such theory.

Psychometric Models of Small Group Collaborations.

The social combination theory of group problem solving is used to extend existing psychometric models to collaborative settings. A model for pairwise group work is proposed, the implications of the model for assessment design are considered, and its estimation is addressed. The results are illustrated with an empirical example in which dyads work together on a twelfth-grade level mathematics assessment. In conclusion, attention is given to avenues of research that seem most fruitful for advancing current initiatives concerning the assessment of collaboration, teamwork, and related constructs.

University Students’ Perception on the Flipped-learning-based Introductory Physics Course in which Class Hour are Divided into Lectures and Group Problem Solving

University Students’ Perception on the Flipped-learning-based Introductory Physics Course in which Class Hour are Divided into Lectures and Group Problem Solving

Group Problem Solving as a Different Participatory Approach to Citizenship Education

Purpose: The main goal of this article is to define and justify group problem solving as an approach to citizenship education. It is demonstrated that the choice of theoretical framework of democracy has consequences for the chosen learning goals, educational approach and learning activities. The framework used here is an epistemic theory of deliberative democracy. It is argued that such an approach enhances teachers’ and pupils’ autonomy. Design/methodology/approach: First, it was discussed what kind of theory of democracy lies behind the mainstream approach to citizenship education. Then, it was demonstrated how a chosen theory of democracy and citizenship leads to a specific translation into educational principles. In order to define and translate the chosen framework into educational principles and learning activities, different disciplines were drawn upon: political philosophy, cognitive and educational psychology. Findings: Group problem solving was defined as an alternative participatory educational approach to citizenship education and four educational principles were defined: argumentation, connected learning, decision making and thinking together. Practical implications: Educationalists, policy makers and researchers working on citizenship education should discuss their ideals of democracy and citizenship in order for these to become an object of scrutiny in the curriculum.

Distinct and combined effects of disciplinary composition and methodological support on problem solving in groups

Several reasons for the use of multidisciplinary teams composed of individuals with natural science and engineering background in problem‐solving processes exist. The most important are the integration of science‐based technologies into products and processes, and benefits for the problem‐solving process thanks to new knowledge and new perspectives on problems. In this study we analyse the implications of interdisciplinary (science – engineering) group problem solving from a managerial as well as from a cognitive perspective. We then report on an experiment investigating the impact of problem‐relevant disciplinary group composition and methodological support on the problem‐solving process and its outcome. The findings of the experiment have managerial, theoretical, and pedagogical implications related to early phases of New Product/Process Design processes in high‐technology and scientific knowledge‐related domains.

Collaborative model development increases trust in and use of scientific information in environmental decision-making

While science matters for environmental management, creating science that is credible, salient to decision-makers, and deemed legitimate by stakeholders is challenging. Collaborative modeling is an increasingly-used approach to enable effective science-based decision-making. This work evaluates the modeling process conducted for two hydropower dam licensing negotiations, to explore how differences in the collaborative development of hydrological models affected differences in their use in subsequent decision-making. In one case, the model was developed iteratively through deliberation with stakeholders. Consequently, stakeholders understood the model and its limitations and trusted the model and modelers; the model itself was also better designed to evaluate resource managers’ questions. The collaboratively-developed model became the focal point for subsequent negotiations and enabled creative group problem-solving. Conversely, in the case with less engagement during model development, the model was not used subsequently by decision-makers. These differences are argued to result from trust built during the modeling process, applicability of the model to test real management scenarios, and the broader social context in which the models were used.

A century of teaching veterinary parasitology in South Africa – Lessons learnt

Finding a healthy balance between classical parasitology and clinical veterinary medicine remains a challenge. Veterinary parasitology, of vital interest in sub-Saharan Africa, has always featured prominently at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria (founded in 1920). The faculty was initially an integral part of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI), and parasitology was taught by specialist researchers from OVI – a cult of total coverage prevailed. Presenting three separate courses – ectoparasitology, helminthology and protozoology – continued for many decades. From 1949 to 1973 an attendance course in veterinary parasitology was presented in the final academic year. This was revived in 1995, with a “refresher” in parasitology for final-year students (during their clinic rotation), including diagnostic parasite identification and problem-solving group discussions (prepared and led by students). Student contact time (including practical classes and assessments), initially 80 h/discipline/year, was gradually reduced. A species-based approach (introduced in 1998) had a major impact - an introductory course in general parasitology was followed by fragmented lectures in the subsequent 2 years on key parasitic diseases in the species-based subjects. In 2013 the curriculum reverted to being discipline-based, i.e. all aspects of parasitology and parasitic diseases covered during one academic year. The 3 sub-disciplines are included in a 2-semester course, with a total contact time of 100 h, which barely meets the minimum recommended by the WAAVP. Various lessons learnt are discussed.

The Process and Implication of Inter-Professional Education: A Systematic Review

Background: The practice of inter-professional education (IPE) is expanding rapidly especially in the developing countries. The goal of IPE is to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes that result in effective Inter-professional (IP) team behaviors and competency. Therefore, it is essential to understand more about the activity, other professional’s involvement and its implications for nursing students and institutions.Purpose: This paper aimed to review the process and other professional’s involvement in IPE’s nursing education, and describe the implication after implementing IPE for nursing students and institution.Methods: A comprehensive multi-step search of the literature in IPE using ProQuest, EBSCO and Cengage databases was performed. Samples of 19 studies met the inclusion criteria and were used in this study.Results: None of the studies reported findings from developing country, while there were only two studies conducted in Asia. IPE programs utilize a variety of combinations of interactive learning methods, such as group problem solving, focus group interview, social networking (website), and simulated patient or simulated based training (SBT) which is becoming the most common methods employed. IPE gives benefits for the students, such as improving communication skills, recognizing the role and responsibilities, understanding the value and ethics and also increasing teamwork and team-based care.Conclusion: Despite the limitations, this systematic review found a number of activities and other professionals that can be involved with nursing in the IPE implementation. It also found out that IPE applied in a variety of clinical settings is well received by the students and enable them to learn the knowledge and skills for collaborative learning.

The Effect of Digital Documentary Production through Field Work on Geography Students’ Problem-Solving Skills

In this study, views of students about the applicability of the digital documentary production through fieldwork model and the effect of it on their problem-solving skills were examined. The study was conducted in Turkey, in 2016-2017 spring term with 15 geography teacher candidates who chosen by convenience sampling method. In this study, within producing student digital documentary via fieldwork (FwDD) which is the outcome of the project-based learning (PBL) process, students were asked to carry out field works and to reflect their observations through a digital documentary, on Cultural Geography subjects. The data was collected through Problem-Solving Inventory and focus group interviews, in this case study. Paired Samples Test and content analysis were used for analysis of the data. The findings showed that FwDD-PBL lead to a significant difference regarding the students’ problem-solving skills since the effect size is 0.61. Students stated that they learned to use the technology for educational and reflective purposes, that the project increased their motivations and enterprisingness besides their creative thinking and decision-making skills. The study is important to provide the students effective instruction and teaching skills. It is expected that the results will be useful to encourage the use of FwDD-PBL model in geography education.

L’approccio Flipped Classroom nel Movimento “Avanguardie Educative”

This contribution, which begins with an introduction to the Flipped Classroom approachand the “Avanguardie Educative” movement, presents the main findings of a survey into this practiceconducted through a semi-structured questionnaire distributed to a group of participating schools. Initialresults from the valid questionnaire responses (n=107) indicate that where the Flipped Classroom techniqueis implemented across disciplines, this is generally performed by a small group of teachers and is mainlyadopted to actively engage students in the learning process. Enabling and hindering factors in implementingthis approach include the availability of technology at school and the level of teacher training. This approachis mainly used in learning activities such as group work, laboratory lessons and problem solving. Finally, theability to learn-to-learn and digital competence emerge as the main student competences that this approachsupports.

Beyond the Isolated Self: Extended Mind and Spirituality

ABSTRACTExtended Cognition is a theory from philosophy of mind that has its roots in the more general notion of Embodied Cognition. Embodied cognition understands all human thought as involving the body (not just the brain), and as always situated in particular contexts. Cognitive extension goes further to suggest that intelligent mental processes often include things outside the brain and body, involving interactions with other persons or external artifacts that significantly enhance cognitive capacities. Thus, while intelligence was once thought to be an attribute of a single individual’s brain, it is now understood to extend into processes outside the person within immediate interactive space. For example, smart phones or problem-solving groups expand cognitive capacities beyond what is possible on one’s own. This article explores the possibility of supersizing-through-extension spirituality and Christian life within the interactive space of congregations and religious communities.

Quantitative Reasoning for Teachers: Explorations in Foundational Ideas and Pedagogy

This note describes a course designed to prepare community college instructors and K-12 teachers for teaching foundational aspects of quantitative reasoning. A body of literature on quantitative reasoning and quantitative literacy informed the course design. The note describes the course content, which includes engaging in case studies, reading and discussion, writing assignments, group problem solving, and news-of-the-day presentations. Details of these assignments are provided. The capstone assignment for the course is for participants to design a set of case studies for their own students. Details of this assignment are also provided as well as specific examples of participants’ learning.

Connecting Problem-solving Style to Peer Evaluations of Performance in Secondary Cooperative Learning Projects

With an evolving and expanding agricultural industry, it is crucial to provide future professionals with valuable experiences and skills in problem solving, communication, and teamwork. Agricultural summer programs for secondary students, which provide cooperative learning experiences with a focus on group work and problem solving, aim to help meet the current demand of employment in the various disciplines within agriculture. Many of these summer programs offer secondary students opportunities to learn more about agriculture, and gain experiences as they work in teams to consider the agricultural issues they may face upon entering the workforce. While adaption-innovation theory has been used in agribusinesses across the world to provide explanation to how people work together in teams to solve complex ill-defined problems, little is known regarding the degree the theory applies to secondary student learning in groups. This study utilized a quantitative, quasi-experimental design to further explore how high school students’ problem-solving styles impact their perceptions of group members in a cooperative learning experience while participating in the Virginia’s Summer Residential Governor’s School for Agriculture program. The findings and recommendations can assist instructors in providing cooperative learning experiences to their students and further maximize high school student’s experiences in working in teams and solving complex ill-defined problems associated with agricultural issues.

An effectiveness study of group psychoeducation for hepatitis C patients in community clinics.

A successful psychoeducation program for serious mental illness, PsychoEducation Responsive to Families (PERF), was modified for hepatitis C virus (HCV). An effectiveness study was carried out comparing HCV-PERF with didactic education. A sample of 309 adult HCV patients was recruited from three outpatient settings and randomized (60% HCV-PERF, 40% didactic control). Groups met for 90 min bimonthly for 6 months following separate structured protocols. HCV-PERF sessions included a didactic curriculum developed uniquely for groups by member choice, with group problem-solving and support interactions. Patients were assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and 1 year later. Demographic and HCV-related variables and structured diagnostic interview data were obtained. Both groups improved significantly on major depression and alcohol and drug use, quality of life, risk behaviors, and treatment satisfaction, and worsened on disability and perceived HCV-related problems. Intervention groups did not differ on outcomes. Even though the active intervention did not achieve a significant improvement relative to the control condition, the observable improvements in both conditions warrant further exploration of the contributions of education and support as potentially important elements of HCV behavioral intervention. Further study is needed to identify elements common to education interventions that may be contributory to the improved outcomes over time.

Group Problem Solving in Class Improves Undergraduate Learning.

Developing methods for improving student learning is a long-standing goal in undergraduate science education. However, the extent to which students working on problems in small groups versus individually results in improved learning among undergraduate science students has not been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. We have performed such a trial with 80 students in an undergraduate biochemistry class, in which students were randomized to either learning in groups or learning individually. All students participated in the same class, which consisted of a lecture with periodic breaks for students to solve problems using an audience response system. Students in the individual learning condition answered these questions on their own, but students in the group-based learning condition answered these questions in an assigned group of four students. At the end of the class, all students then took the same exam as individuals. The exam had two types of questions—recall questions, in which students had to simply recall information provided to them, and predict questions, in which students had to apply their new knowledge to a new context. Students in the individual and group-based learning conditions performed similarly well on recall questions. However, students who had been in the group-based learning condition performed significantly better as individuals on the predict questions. This suggests that learning in groups may be more effective than individual learning for undergraduate science students, particularly for applying their knowledge to new contexts; this highlights the potential need for pedagogical approaches in undergraduate science courses that incorporate learning in groups.

Using a flipped-classroom to teach shock and vibration in naval systems

A new course, Shock and Vibration, was taught at Michigan Technological University in the spring of 2017. The senior elective course in mechanical engineering was designed to give students insight into shock and vibration problems, with specific applications in naval and marine systems. The course design used a flipped-classroom approach exclusively, meaning the students watched recorded lectures prior to each class session and in-class time was used for group problem solving, quizzes, demonstrations, and discussions. A laboratory session was also included in the course. This talk will give a brief overview of the course material, cover the pros and cons of the flipped-classroom, and provide some pointers from a first-timer’s perspective.

Emergent Leadership in Children's Cooperative Problem Solving Groups

ABSTRACTSocial skills involved in leadership were examined in a problem-solving activity in which 252 Chinese 5th-graders worked in small groups on a spatial-reasoning puzzle. Results showed that students who engaged in peer-managed small-group discussions of stories prior to problem solving produced significantly better solutions and initiated significantly more effective leadership than control students. A mediation analysis suggested that it was because of effective leadership that groups who had experienced discussions achieved better problem solutions.

Collective teacher efficacy research: implications for professional learning

PurposeResearchers have provided critiques of teacher efficacy research along with suggestions for future research, but no recent reviews have examined the state of collective teacher efficacy (CTE) research as it relates specifically to professional development. This review addressed the following questions: How much research attention has been paid to professional learning and CTE? What does the research tell us about professional learning and CTE? What do we know about influencing CTE through professional learning? The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachEducational Resources Information Center and EBSCO databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles written in English and published over the last ten years (between 2007 and 2017). The search terms included “collective efficacy” and “teacher or teachers” and “professional development and professional learning” and were extended beyond titles to include keywords contained within the articles. This would help to broaden the search and increase the number of hits.FindingsThere is little that can be gleaned from the research related to professional learning and the contextual factors that influence collective efficacy beliefs. Only one study (Paxon et al., 2014) in this review considered the formation of CTE in relation to both remote and proximate sources. Although some of the studies explained Bandura’s (1993) sources of CTE, reference to the sources were notably absent in the reported findings, implications, and conclusions of many of the studies. Contextual variables examined in the component studies included either implementation patterns, trust, sense of belonging, teacher uncertainty, opportunities for teacher leadership, social relationships, and/or labels assigned to low performing districts and/or high performing districts.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation that influences the findings of this review is that the review was not exhaustive, and articles written in English with the search terms outlined did not capture the population of possible articles. Future reviewers may uncover new patterns in CTE research by searching non-English journals and by examining the range of work completed in graduate theses and dissertations.Practical implicationsIn regard to promising professional learning designs, inquiry based approaches, including collaborative action research, problem-solving groups, and teams’ monitoring and tracking individual student progress seemed to hold promise. In each of these designs, educators collaboratively analyze student evidence for the purpose of evaluating their impact, reflecting on their collective work, and determining optimal next steps. Interpreting results by examining student learning data might help to strengthen connections between perceived levels of difficulty related to teaching tasks and perceptions of group competence. When conversations shift from generalized talk about student’s progress and polite sharing of teaching strategies to more in-depth conversations about the connections between the two, professional learning becomes more impactful. The interpretation of results, leads to shifts in causal attributions – from assumptions which included “I planned and taught the lesson, but they didn’t get it” to “you haven’t taught it until they’ve learned” as a result of engaging in these types of professional learning designs.Originality/valueHattie’s (2015) research, which synthesized major findings from over 1,200 meta-analyses relating to influences on student achievement, demonstrated the magnitude and overall distribution of more than 150,000 effect sizes. In a recent update, Hattie (2016) ranked CTE as the number one influence of all the factors related to student achievement, reporting an effect size of 1.57.This update was based on Eells’ (2011) meta-analysis that synthesized correlational evidence for CTE and student achievement. Eells (2011) found that CTE was strongly and positively associated with student achievement “across subject areas, when using varied instruments, and in multiple locations” (p. 110). Eells (2011) finding is becoming more widely disseminated through the promotion of Hattie’s (2016) Visible Learning Research due to its prominent position within that body of evidence. Thus, the interest of practitioners in the field, including administrators, teachers, and professional learning facilitators has been piqued. Gaining a better understanding of CTE, sources that shape it, and its antecedents and consequences are likely to surface as a major upcoming focus for designers and facilitators of professional learning. There is a small amount of extant research that examined professional development effects on teacher efficacy (Tschannen-Moran and McMaster, 2009; Ross and Bruce, 2007). However, there are many voids in the collective efficacy research. Given this void and the increased interest to gain a better understanding of CTE on part of practitioners, not only is additional research needed, it is imperative to find ways to address the ongoing dilemma of making research and theory relevant to educators’ practice.