EVALUATING THE DYNAMICS OF INTELLECTUAL COLLABORATION
IN A CASE-BASED ONLINE LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
1Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02115, 2Harvard
Life Sciences, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, 3Harvard
Graduate School of Education, 4Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, 5Program
for Interdisciplinary Learning, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge
MA 02138 U.S.A. [http://icon.fas.harvard.edu]
PURPOSE: The dynamics
of intellectual collaboration are not well understood. Collaboration among
medical students during an online, case-based tutorial was studied using a
quantitative intellectual convergence model. The Interactive Case-based Online
Network (ICON) is a web-based instrument that allows students to see the
consequences of their decisions and interact with each other, faculty
consultants, and virtual patients as a means of enhancing case-method
tutorials. Using ICON, discussions are recorded in a Brainstorm module,
providing the opportunity to analyze decision-making and team cooperation that
are otherwise difficult to track in the classroom. Here we describe a
derivative of the three-phase model embedded in ICON: idea generating, idea
linking, and intellectual convergence.
METHODS: Three teams
of eight students (n=24) participated in ICON tutorials, consisting of seven
cases during a two-month Neuroscience course. Each student contributed
discussions of hypothesis and differential diagnosis. Transcripts were scored
into one of three phase domains. Patterns of convergence were mapped for each
case.
RESULTS: Data analysis of aggregate level metrics demonstrates that intellectual collaboration in case simulation can be quantitatively measured. Divergent profiles of convergence among teams consisted of entering the convergence phase later compared to reaching consensus early on before linking of ideas. The findings point to the predictive power of the model in reconstructing distributions of students’ levels of team cooperation.
CONCLUSION: ICON offers
a unique environment to profile quantitative measures of intellectual
collaboration in case-based learning. By tracking the progression of team
cooperation, educators can obtain real-time information to enhance the practice
of decision-making and collaboration that will produce best possible outcomes.
Supported by CRICO/RMF and the Provost Award for
Innovations in Instructional Technology.