Abstract:
With an underlying concern for grounding pedagogical practice, this study uses
controversial methods to research a controversial issue: the dynamic between the social
nature of learning and the isolating nature of computer technology. The context chosen
for researching this concern comprises a case study of four groups that participated in
an undergraduate interdisciplinary group project as part of their second year studies in
business at the Auckland University of Technology, a programme marketed on the
basis of the development of authentic skills and capabilities using this particular
pedagogy. What is of interest is how the use of computer technology allowed the
participants to co-construct
meaning in this context.
This interest in the socially and culturally constructed aspects of human
functioning rests upon a Vygotskian perspective, which I review along with various
appropriations of this theory and other viewpoints in the literature review. Based upon
this analysis, I then present a model for Collective Mediation, which views the
computer as a mediational tool encompassed within the collaborative activity of the
groups involved in this study. At this point I also suggest a protocol, or framework, for
understanding this joint activity, which then guides the research methodology.
The primary source of data in the study consists of transcriptions of focus
group meetings with the participants over a four month
period of time, a method that is
justified by the requirements of the research to understand the multitude of
relationships among the group members and with computer technology. To support
triangulation, a questionnaire, log sheets, and member checks were also employed. The
results reveal not only a rich fabric of activities and meanings, but a complex social
dynamic guiding the events leading up to the construction of a joint project: one that
was constrained, as well as supported, by the use of computers. In key areas, the
pedagogy studied was shown to lack support.
This thesis adds material to the debate concerning the interface between the
computer, as an increasingly complex medium for educational activities, and the social
fabric created within an authentic group project at tertiary level. There are clear
practical implications. On a theoretical level, the study adds to an understanding of
how neo-Vygotskian
theory can, or cannot, be interpreted to understand such settings
and, in terms of methodology, the study introduces a new protocol for analysing the
rich data set that is needed to capture the dynamics involved.