Poster #10 - Examining Collaborative Engagement: A Comparison of Interaction Versus Component Dominant Approaches

• In Event: 81.034 - MTCC Poster Session 20
  In Poster Session: 81.034-2 - Student Engagement and Academic Success

Abstract

Often the goal of classroom instruction is to improve student collaboration. This study empirically evaluates two competing explanations for causal mechanisms that relates instruction to collaboration: a) a latent variable, component dominant approach, where instruction influences collaboration which in turn influences student behaviors and b) a network, interaction dominant explanation, where instruction directly influences student behaviors, which in turn influences other behaviors. Data from 529 post-secondary engineering students were analyzed. We used structural equation modeling to test our latent variable approach. We use mixed graphical modeling to test our network approach. The network based approach added substantively to our understanding of how instruction influences the adaptive functioning of student groups, beyond what can be learned from a latent variable approach.

Authors

• Jonathan C. Hilpert, Georgia Southern University

• Gwen C. Marchand, University of Nevada - Las Vegas