Group Participation and Satisfaction: Results from a PBL Computer-Supported Module

摘要

Special education policy requires schools to make disciplinary decisions concerning students with disabilities within a multidisciplinary team. In order to respond to this mandate, teacher educators must ensure that teachers have group collaboration and decision making skills. This article describes a multimedia problem-based learning module designed to develop group collaboration skills through a simulated activity of a student with disabilities found in possession of drugs in school. The study explored the group decision-making process and measured individuals' satisfaction and participation using a modified version of Olaniran's satisfaction questionnaire. Results indicated (a) that the group decision was more strongly influenced by one or a minority of individuals instead of the majority and (b) while satisfaction ratings and contribution during group work score results were high, videotaped observations showed unequal contributions by individuals. A discussion is provided about the impact of individual group membets on the group and the disparity between satisfaction ratings and actual participation during the group decision-making process and recommendations for future research noted.