Measuring Team Knowledge

Abstract

Multioperator tasks often require complex cognitive processing at the team level. Many team cognitive processes, such as situation assessment and coordination, are thought to rely on team knowledge. Team knowledge is multifaceted and comprises relatively generic knowledge in the form of team mental models and more specific team situation models. In this methodological review paper, we review recent efforts to measure team knowledge in the context of mapping specific methods onto features of targeted team knowledge. Team knowledge features include type, homogeneity versus heterogeneity, and rate of knowledge change. Measurement features include knowledge elicitation method, team metric, and aggregation method. When available, we highlight analytical conclusions or empirical data that support a connection between team knowledge and measurement method. In addition, we present empirical results concerning the relation between team knowledge and performance for each measurement method and identify research and methodological needs. Addressing issues surrounding the measurement of team knowledge is a prerequisite to understanding team cognition and its relation to team performance and to designing training programs or devices to facilitate team cognition.

A framework to analyze argumentative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning

“…The lower the value, the more homogeneous was participation within that one group. This method has been developed for measuring team knowledge (Cooke, Salas, Cannon-Bowers, & Stout, 2000) and has been applied by Fischer and Mandl (2001a). However, this measure is problematic with respect to extreme values.…”

The Effect of Personality Style and Team Organization on Team Performance

“…When the complexity of a task exceeds the cognitive ability of a single individual and the formation of teams is necessary (Cooke, Salas, Cannon-Bowers & Stout, 2000), there are many factors that must be considered in order to allow a team to have the best chance of success. Teamwork can be considered to be the end result of the collaboration of individual cognition, behaviors and attitudes (Salas & Fiore, 2004 (Klimoski & Mohammed, 1994).…”

Exploring the Relationship Between Distributed Training, Integrated Learning Environments, and Immersive Training Environments

“…Teams play an increasingly large role in many aspects of military work. In particular, the growing complexity of tasks frequently surpasses the cognitive capabilities of individuals and thus, necessitates a team approach (Cooke, Salas, Cannon-Bowers, & Stout, 2000;Salas, Cannon-Bowers, Church-Payne, & SmithJentsch, 1998). However, most individuals have little formal training in how to work within a group, much less how to learn within one.…”

“…At the heart of both individual and team training, however, is the ability to accurately and reliably assess learning and measure the knowledge that results from training. Although progress has been made on knowledge measurement at the individual level, the measurement of team knowledge, and team cognition in general, is still in its infancy (Cooke et al, 2000). In addition, extensive research has been performed on individual's cognitive skill acquisition (see above), however, team learning and computer supported cooperative learning have only recently become the focus of attention, especially for groups larger than two individuals.…”

“…The research has focused on improving methods for measuring and improving team performance (Cooke, 2005;Cooke et al, 2000;Driskoll & Salas, 1991;Dwyer, Oser, Salas, & Fowlkes, 1999;Winfred, A., Edwards, B., Bell, S.T., Villado, A., & Bennett, W., 2005;Wright & Kaber, 2005). Various factors can affect team performance such as the usability of the system (i.e., interface, how intimidating, how realistic, etc.…”