published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Information technology has played several important roles in group decision making, such as communication support and decision support. Little is known about how information technology can be used to persuade members of a group to reach a consensus. In this dissertation, I aim to address the issues that are related to the role of visual representation technology (VRT) for persuasion in a forecasting context. VRTs are not traditional graphical representation technologies. VRTs can select, transform, and present data in a rich visual format that facilitates exploration, comprehension, and sense-making. The first study investigates conditions under which teams are likely to increase the use of VRTs and how the use of VRTs affects teams' consensus development and decision performance. The second study evaluates the effects of influence types and information technology on a choice shift. A choice shift is the tendency of group members to shift their initial positions to a more extreme direction following discussion. A choice shift is also called group polarization. To complement my first two studies, I conduct a laboratory experiment in my third study. I explore the effect of VRTs and team composition on a choice shift in group confidence.

The current understanding of students’ group metacognition is limited. The research on metacognition has focused mainly on the individual student. The aim of this study was to address the void by developing a conceptual model to inform the use of scaffolds to facilitate group metacognition during mathematical problem solving in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments. An initial conceptual framework based on the literature from metacognition, cooperative learning, cooperative group metacognition, and computer supported collaborative learning was used to inform the study. In order to achieve the study aim, a design research methodology incorporating two cycles was used. The first cycle focused on the within-group metacognition for sixteen groups of primary school students working together around the computer; the second cycle included between-group metacognition for six groups of primary school students working together on the Knowledge Forum® CSCL environment. The study found that providing groups with group metacognitive scaffolds resulted in groups planning, monitoring, and evaluating the task and team aspects of their group work. The metacognitive scaffolds allowed students to focus on how their group was completing the problem-solving task and working together as a team. From these findings, a revised conceptual model to inform the use of scaffolds to facilitate group metacognition during mathematical problem solving in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments was generated.

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In order to enhance academic achievement it is necessary to implement a teaching strategy which provides students with tools needed to improve classroom performance. This study will produce data showing whether the implementation of "Indentifying Similarities and Differences" is an effective teaching strategy.

The purpose of this three-essay dissertation was to expand knowledge and theory regarding soft systems methodologies (SSMs) and data visualization approaches in business, engineering, and other social sciences. The first essay depicts a bibliometric analysis study of the historic impacts of SSM from 1980-2018 on business, engineering, and other social sciences fields. This study found 285 articles that described or employed SSM for research and included outcomes such as top SSM authors, author citation impacts, common dissemination outlets, time-bound distribution of publications, and other relevant findings. This study provided a picture of who, what, why, when, and where SSM has had the greatest impact on academic thought and practice. The second essay presents research on the academic impact of Systemigrams, an associated data visualization approach, finding examples of conceptual or research development that employed Systemigrams to depict complex problem situations. Recommendations for improvement of designing these data visualizations to increase their field use resulted from this study. The final essay leverages a selection of the articles as use cases to produce a grounded theory study to identify phenomena that arose from the use of SSM for operations and firm strategy research. This study identified two broad themes including (i) scope, structure, and process challenges and (ii) performance and evaluation limitations. These themes were explained by six patterns that emerged from the publications. Each produced change recommendations for SSM process, practice, and reporting to support its continued viability and adoption in business and operations research.

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This dissertation deals with the possibilities of using the teaching methods offered by the concept of teaching through problem solving in accounting education in business academies and economic lyceums. The main aim of this type of teaching should be above all the introduction of accounting as an important part of the students' economic thinking. The use of problem-based teaching is especially useful when explaining topics fundamental for the understanding of the basic principles of accounting. Accrual Basis Accounting being one of these topics, the thesis presents didactic material suited for problem-based teaching of this subject matter. It falls into the area of didactics of accounting, i.e. a scientific discipline deriving from the didactics of economic subjects.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

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