Enhancing Collaboration through Assessment & Reflection

There is a growing interest among educational settings, especially in higher education, in letting people learn and work together in small groups. This is known as collaborative learning (CL). However, working in a group can be very frustrating, especially when a fellow group member is failing his/her appointments; not fulfilling his/her tasks on time; being less productive; producing low quality of work; and is free-riding on the work of others. Research has shown that group members’ self perceptions show a tenuous to modest relationship with their actual behavior and performance. Students tend to overrate themselves and hold overinflated views of their expertise, skill, and character. This tendency of group members to believe that they are performing effectively, while they often are not, can undermine the groups’ social (e.g., team development) and cognitive performance (e.g., quantity and quality of work), and cause it not to reach its full potential. To enhance collaboration and alleviate biased self perceptions, the learning environment can be augmented with computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) tools that make group members aware of the discrepancies between their self perceptions and their actual behavior and performance. Two operationalizations of such tools were developed for this research project, namely (1) a shared self and peer assessment tool (Radar) and (2) a shared reflection tool (Reflector). These tools are intended to help group members become better aware of their individual and group behavior and to stimulate them to set goals and formulate plans for improving the group’s social and cognitive performance. Using Radar, students rate themselves and their peers on four social aspects (i.e., influence, friendliness, cooperation, and reliability), and two cognitive aspects of collaboration (i.e., productivity and quality of contribution). Radar shares these self and peer ratings with each group member, by visualizing these ratings anonymously in a Radar diagram. To further enhance students’ awareness of behavior and performance, the CSCL-environment was also augmented with a shared collaborative reflection tool (Reflector), which stimulates and supports students to reflect upon the discrepancies between their self perceptions (i.e., self ratings), and their actual behavior (i.e., received peer ratings), and provides students with cues for behavioral adaptation. Overall, the effects of Radar and Reflector on group members’ individual behavior and social group performance look very promising. Results strongly indicate that, over time, Radar and Reflector can have a positive effect on perceived social and cognitive behavior, lead to more congruency between self and peer ratings, and have a positive effect on social group performance. Furthermore, reflection prompts aimed at the discrepancies between self ratings and received peer ratings, stimulate students to set higher standards for themselves, resulting in more moderate and less optimistic self and peer perceptions. Reflection prompts aimed at reaching a shared conclusion about the group’s functioning and formulating plans to improve it, stimulates group members to create shared norms and standards about what can be referred to as good group behavior and high-quality performance, lead to more consensus among peer raters, and a more valid perception of social group performance.