Mediating team effectiveness in the context of collaborative learning: The importance of team and task awareness

Sweller

Intern. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn

et al. 2018

Self Cite

262

242

Cognitive load theory has traditionally been associated with individual learning. Based on evolutionary educational psychology and our knowledge of human cognition, particularly the relations between working memory and long-term memory, the theory has been used to generate a variety of instructional effects. Though these instructional effects also influence the efficiency and effectiveness of collaborative learning, be it computer supported or face-to-face, they are often not considered either when designing collaborative learning situations/environments or researching collaborative learning. One reason for this omission is that cognitive load theory has only sporadically concerned itself with certain particulars of collaborative learning such as the concept of a collective working memory when collaborating along with issues associated with transactive activities and their concomitant costs which are inherent to collaboration. We illustrate how and why cognitive load theory, by adding these concepts, can throw light on collaborative learning and generate principles specific to the design and study of collaborative learning. Intern. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn (2018) 13:213-233 https://doi

Section: Learner Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Cognitive Load Theory to Collaborative Cognitive Load Theory

Sweller

Intern. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn

et al. 2018

Self Cite

262

242

Higher Education Research & Development

“…One reason (Fransen, Kirschner, & Erkens, 2011) might be that in educational settings learning in teams tend to focus Running Head: STUDENT TEAMS' DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME 4 primarily on the task aspects of performance at the expense of the team aspects. Although considered pedagogically beneficial, these general 'team skills' (De Hei et al, 2014) are difficult or even unnecessary to train.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Student teams’ development over time: tracing the relationship between the quality of communication and teams’ performance

Pöysä-Tarhonen

Elen

Tarhonen³

2016

Current discussions in higher education and alumni training acknowledge the challenges training programs face in responding to the authentic needs of the labor market. In addition to academic knowledge, higher education institutions are expected to provide general 21st-century skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and interpersonal skills. To meet these challenges, many institutions utilize collaborative pedagogies such as learning in teams. However, teamwork in higher education tends to focus primarily on the task aspects of performance at the expense of the team aspects, and for educators, there may be no feasible way to assess whether the students are learning to work successfully as teams. This paper explores how new student teams (n = 3) that simulate real business teams by taking a challenging entrepreneur assessment, developed over three semesters for general skills (i.e., communication), and whether the improvement in their communication also indicated the teams' improved performance (i.e., financial success). As an analytical tool, the study relies on initial parameters on teams' microdynamics of communication (Losada, 1999) normalized with fuzzy logic. In accordance with the current understanding of team development, the results did not show any linear improvement, but the quality of communication in the teams improved episodically. Further, the results provide evidence of the possible relationship between the improved quality of communication and the teams' collective financial success. However, in future work, due to the lack of sensitivity of the parameters in this context together with the recent criticisms of the mathematical basis of the patterns of team dynamics based on Losada's parameters, they will be reexamined with a Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis.

“…If we observe learning models based on teamwork, we can see that their effectiveness can be conditioned by aspects (Van Woerkom & Croon, 2009) such as awareness of team and task (Fransen, Kirschner & Erkens, 2011) or by those defined by Salas, Sims and Burke (2005), i.e. team leadership, team orientation, mutual performance monitoring, backup behaviour (the ability to anticipate other team members' needs) and adaptability, and mechanisms to support and coordinate the construction of shared mental models.…”

Section: Self-managing Learning and Developing Teamwork Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing self-management and teamwork using digital games in 3D simulations

Cela-Ranilla

Mon

Esteve-González

et al. 2014

AJET

Emerging technologies are providing opportunities for designing new learning environments, especially environments in which students can learn by putting their skills into practice. Knowledge about the development of these experiences needs to be accumulated and processed so that they can be integrated effectively into training programmes. In this study we describe how transferable skills such as self-management and teamwork have been developed by 70 Spanish students of Education and Marketing. The learning experience comprised a serious game designed in a 3D simulation environment. For the analysis, two analytical rubrics were taken as references. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U and Spearman rho were conducted for comparison and correlation analysis. Our results showed that the students performed well and had a positive perception of the suitability of using the simulation environment for the development of transferable skills. We also found that women performed better than men in activities involving teamwork, especially communication tasks. IntroductionLearning environments based on three-dimensional (3D) simulations are suitable platforms for enabling students to put their knowledge into practice in an integrated way. Part of this knowledge is a set of skills that can be implemented in a wide range of personal and professional situations. These so-called transferable skills are an important component of university curricula that has emerged from the construction of the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The construction of didactic methods for developing and evaluating these skills represents a challenge for the majority of higher education (HE) institutions.Emerging technologies are providing excellent opportunities for designing training environments in which learners can develop professional activities that require them to act, take decisions and/or make constructions collaboratively. Environments based on advanced technology enable simulations of professional situations to be created in which students can practice their skills safe in the knowledge that any errors they make will have no repercussions in real life. This safe and controlled process enables the students' learning activities to be analysed, evaluated and reoriented. The simulations can transform an academic activity into a professional environment by controlling certain parameters that allow educational objectives to be achieved. It may be said that the strategies for simulating the professional environment create an educative virtuality when they are also accompanied by a pedagogical strategy that is intended to meet specific teaching objectives.Serious games (technological game-based applications with an educational purpose as well as an entertainment one) via 3D simulations are useful for putting learners in situations where they can acquire transferable competencies. The great potential of digital games does not lie in their gaming characteristics but in the fact that their attributes can be...