Successful Collaborative Problem-Solving Through Constructing Qualitative and Quantitative Domain-Specific Representations

• In Event: Pedagogical Approaches to Enhancing Problem-Based and Simulation-Based Learning

Abstract

Teams of learners in four experimental conditions solved a complex problem in a predefined order, but differed in the representational tool(s) they received. Teams in the causal-only and simulation-only conditions (i.e., partly matched) received either a causal or a simulation tool and were supported during only one of the two part-tasks. Teams in the simulation-causal condition (i.e., mismatched) received both tools, but in an order that was mismatched to the part-task demands. Teams in the causal-simulation condition (i.e., mismatched) received both tools in an order that matched the part-task demands of the problem phases. As expected, the results revealed that teams in the matched condition had more elaborated discussions and, as a consequence, performed better on the complex learning-task.

Authors

• Bert Slof, University of Groningen

• Gijsbert Erkens, Utrecht University

• Paul A. Kirschner, Open University of the Netherlands