CAREER: Costs and benefits of problem solving in small groups: An integrated plan for research and education

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The proposed program of research explores the effects of group size on problem-solving. The investigator will systematically look at the processes and outcomes of individuals working along as well as colloborations by dyads and triads as they engage in scientific problem solving activities in which undergraduates are asked to reason about data, evidence, and theories in intact psychology classes. In this manner, the investigator's research program is integrated with her classroom instruction plans for her courses on research methods in education and computer science. The investigator also proposes to conduct a parallel set of laboratory-based studies looking at reasoning about plate tectonics and volcanoes in an attempt to generalize the findings across domains and topics. The central goal of the project is the identification of the specific aspects of collaborative contexts that lead to learning gains and those that do not. Drawing on the literature in social psychology, the investigator has identified four aspects of group problem solving that are implicated in a loss of productivity: changes in motivation and effort, potential for evaluation and conflict, task coordination and representation, pooling of resources. The investigator hopes to produce guidelines for the design of effective collaborative activities that should not only foster learning within her own classes, but have implications across a range of domains and topics in education. The investigator's educational plan includes using her own studies to refine her current undergraduate courses in methods in psychology, and adapting them for use in her course in Computer Science and educational methods classes. In her role as an advisor in the Honors College, she also plans to engage a group of undergraduates as researchers in her lab.