Methodological Issues in Measuring Group Learning

In: Small group research: an international journal of theory, investigation, and application, Band 42, Heft 4, S. 379-404

Abstract

This article examines current empirical approaches to group learning. It focuses on two central questions: Are these approaches really measuring group learning, and what critical issues should be resolved in future group-learning research? The rationale for this examination is threefold. First, the last 10 years have seen a substantial increase in research on group learning. As this literature accumulates, it is useful to do a critical review of the connection between the concept of group learning and its operational form. Second, there is a lack of clarity in how learning is operationalized—how researchers capture whether learning has occurred. The third rationale is to make explicit some of the features of group learning to serve as a guide for future research.