Current theorizing in the field of cognitive science embraces the concept that cognitive activity is not centered in the brain alone but is dependent on embodiment and the environment in which it is functioning. A key component of that environment is the presence of others. This article examines the social nature of cognitive activity from a 4E…

Leadership is an elusive and widely debated concept across disciplinary boundaries and is often contested in scholarship of learning and teaching. This article troubles models and conceptualisations of leadership in Students as Change Agents (SACHA), an interdisciplinary challenge-based course offered at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.…

The relationship between learning and group work is often treated as self-evident, but the finer workings of this relationship require further study into the social organisation of group work. The aim of the research that forms the basis for the current article is to locate, describe, and gain new understanding of how peers organise their group…

Collaboration skills have been identified as an important educational outcome, not just as a means to enable learning mechanisms to be enacted, but also as a demonstrable skill of interest to assessment practitioners. In recent years, there has been an ambition to develop models of assessment that are underpinned by the collaborative process, and…

The identification of conflict and development of common ground, important steps in the interdisciplinary research process, become challenging when applied to solving complex real-world problems that involve opposing interest groups, especially those whose members do not possess academic or interdisciplinary training. This article examines…

This paper presents a new theoretical model which conceptualizes inter-professional and multi-agency collaborative working, at the level of the individual within a group. This arises from a review of the literature around joint working, and is based on social psychological theories which refer to shared goals. The model assumes that collective…

We use a concept of framing to explain 3 cases in which participants initially lacked mutual understanding but then achieved significant mutual understanding. The cases were all consistent with a pattern of "positional framing" that includes a human participant who is inquiring, which we call a "listener", and a "source", which may be another…

This article provides an account of self-managed action learning (SMAL), where it came from and how it has been implemented in practice. Self-managed action learning offers a way of realising action learning without the continuing presence of a set advisor in set meetings to facilitate the process. It enables participants to manage and facilitate…

We describe findings from a research partnership involving a global airline manufacturing company (The Boeing Company), and learning scientists and aeronautical engineers from the University of Washington. Our starting point for the partnership focused on an 8-hour introductory composites course that was designed for company employees. In phase…

Computer-supported collaboration by spatially distributed group members still involves interaction problems within the group. This article presents an empirical study investigating the question of whether computer-supported collaborative problem solving by spatially distributed group members can be fostered by evoking knowledge and information…

This article makes a number of interconnected arguments. First, spatially and temporally distributed project teams constitute a new form of interprofessional work and, as a corollary, a new site for interprofessional learning. Second, researchers in cultural-historical activity theory have generated some concepts and methods, for example,…

Collaborative learning is being used extensively by educators at all levels. Peer-led team learning in a version of collaborative learning that has shown consistent success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Using a multi-phase research study we describe the development of an observation instrument that can be used to…

Due to the increased importance and usage of self-managed virtual teams, many recent studies have examined factors that affect their success. One such factor that merits examination is the configuration or composition of virtual teams. This article tackles this point by (1) empirically testing trait-configuration effects on virtual team…

This paper presents a framework for understanding the various roles and structures for computer graphics in group communication, and discusses three basic types of design decisions that need to be addressed in using such graphics systems: (1) How are the systems to be intergrated in the group communication activity? (2) How are the systems to be…

The principal's job is to encourage and facilitate cooperation and problem solving. The team concept can be used to improve education by developing consistent processes that involve many people and ensure group development of solutions to problems. (MD)