A Multivocal Analysis of the Emergence of Leadership in Chemistry Study Groups

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the three analysis chapters describing the PLTL Chemistry dataset in two different stages. The first stage focuses on the concept of leadership and contrasts the three quantitative analyses presented by Oshima, Rosé, and Strijbos at the workshop on Multivocality at ICLS 2010. Based on these reflections, a multifaceted image of ideal leadership emerges that would not be visible in any single one of the frameworks investigated. This chapter integrates the perspectives discussed within these three chapters, illustrating how this multivocal separation between different leadership constructs allows us to view how it is possible to present ones views as standing on their own without denying others the right to have their own voice. Following up on this integration, a second wave of reflection focuses on the subsequent, more detailed written analyses, including a new qualitative analysis by Sawyer and colleagues, that enable a more in-depth comparison across analytic approaches at both the individual level and the group level. Questions are raised related to assessment of collaborative problem solving that must be addressed in future work.