Visualizing Dominant Behaviours in Problem-Based Learning Environments: A Case Study Analysis of the HOWARD Platform

Abstract

Dominance is a problematic phenomenon describing that a student monopolizes discussion time or seeks to control or direct learning goals in the process of collaborative learning This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of visualizations (eg the pie chart, the social network) and the presentation tool (ie electronic white board) designed to visualize dominant students’ behaviours The study took place in HOWARD, an online asynchronous problem-based learning (PBL) platform Three instructors were invited to use HOWARD to monitor students’ communication in an assigned workshop Preliminary analysis of instructors’ think-aloud protocols revealed that the deployed visualizations were effective in supporting the diagnosis and identification of dominance in the PBL environments We concluded by discussing the pros and cons of the current design and implications for the possible redesigns in future work.