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No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of collaborative learning strategies on formulating solutions to linear programming word problems that were designed to incorporate problem-solving skills. Forty-six students majoring in business at a small southwest college in Virginia participated in the study. After an instruction session, a study period, and a question and answer discussion, participants completed the test instrument based upon random assignment to three treatment groups. These included individual study with individual test taking (control), paired study with individual test taking, and paired study with paired test taking. All participants returned in 17 days to complete a posttest individually having received no further instruction in linear programming theory. The following null hypothesis was examined: No differences in treatment means measuring problem-solving abilities would be found based on students' test and posttest scores using two treatment groups of collaborative study, with collaborative or individual test taking, and a control group of individual study with individual test taking. After satisfying the assumptions of no difference in ability in the treatment groups, establishing significant influence of ability on test score and posttest score variables, and establishing homogeneity of regression, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis was rejected. Treatment had a significant effect on the variance for the test score variable, F = 3.92, p < .05, and for the posttest score variable, F = 4.44, p < .05. Newman-Keuls post hoc test showed significant differences in the adjusted means of the test score variable between the individual study with individual test taking group (72.22) and the paired study with paired test taking group (87.86). For the posttest score variable, the Newman-Keuls post hoc test revealed significant differences between the adjusted means of the individual study with individual test taking group (36.25) and the paired study with individual test taking group (59.20), and between the adjusted means of the individual study with individual test taking group (36.25) and the paired study with paired test taking group (55.77). Implications of findings and recommendations for further research were discussed. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the effects of group cohesiveness on group conformity, and on member satisfaction. In this study, group cohesiveness, group conformity, and member satisfaction were considered to be constructs. The definition of the construct of group cohesiveness included the interrelated components of psychological closeness, interpersonal liking, group affiliation, and trust. The definition of group conformity included the components of compliance and acceptance. The definition of member satisfaction included the components of satisfaction with the group decision, satisfaction with the group process, and satisfaction with the group atmosphere. The major research hypotheses suggested that group cohesiveness has an effect on member satisfaction, on acceptance of social influence, and on compliance with the group. The study examined also the role of the moderating variables of self-esteem, sociometric status, and gender. A total of 77 undergraduate students at Virginia Tech participated in a decision-making experiment. The students were led to believe they were assigned to congenial work groups based on their responses to pre-experimental questionnaires. In fact, the students were randomly assigned to groups, and randomly assigned to one of the two treatment conditions high or low cohesiveness. Verbal and written manipulation instructions were used to induce high and low cohesiveness in the groups. This manipulation was significant, and moderately successful. During the experiment, the subjects had to work on two rank-ordering exercises as individuals, and as groups. The experimental results suggested that group cohesiveness and member satisfaction are significantly correlated. Subjects who perceived their group to be highly cohesive were more satisfied with the experimental group meeting than subjects who perceived their group to be less cohesive. There was no evidence for a relationship between group cohesiveness and acceptance of social influence. This finding, however, should not be generalized since it is possible that group cohesiveness has no immediate impact on acceptance in emerging groups. The results also suggest there is a relationship between group cohesiveness and compliance. Students who were assigned to the high cohesiveness treatment complied more frequently with their group than students who were assigned to the low cohesiveness treatment. / Master of Science

Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-72).

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Research has repeatedly shown that when groups whose members have varying expertise are combined to make a decision, they tend to discuss common information at a higher rate than unique information, hindering their ability to make the best decision. In response to these findings and the fact that organizations are increasingly using groups rather than individuals to make important decisions, a new intervention was developed based on past research to help groups make better decisions and discuss more unique information. The intervention was developed through three phases to determine which techniques were most powerful. The formal evaluation of the intervention was tested on a total of 228 undergraduate students (44 groups of four and 52 individuals). Groups were randomized into an experimental condition, receiving the intervention, or a control condition. Groups participated in a hidden profile business simulation acting as the top management team of a fictional Hollywood movie studio. Information was distributed so that there was common and unique information for each group. Groups given the intervention made significantly better decisions, shared more unique information, and performed significantly better than individuals. Unique information sharing was positively related to performance and the unique information given to one group member mediated the relationship between the condition and performance. In addition, this study revealed that within the inventory of unique information, different types of information may be more critical in reaching the best possible decision than others. Future research aims and implications are discussed.

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No description available.