Engineering undergraduates learning computer system modeling in a constructivist learning environment: multilevel analysis of collaborative and individual learning

Abstract

This study investigated how engineering undergraduates learned about computer system modeling in a collaborative inquiry-based learning environment. Participants included 124 students, consisting of 32 groups, working collaboratively on a group project in capacity sizing for a trading system. Data sources included students’ collaborative group progress reports (collaborative understanding) and individual learning based on students’ examination results. Students’ understanding of computer system modeling as complex system in collaborative work was analyzed using the framework of structure-behavior-function (SBF). Multi-level statistical analyses indicated that there are few effects of gender; there were no effects of structure, but students’ collaborative understanding of behavior and function significantly predicted students’ individual performance. Implications of examining students collaborative understanding with individual performance in complex learning are discussed.