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Students' thoughts during problem-based small-group discussions

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Abstract

Small-group discussions are a cornerstone of problem-based learning. Usually, when one student speaks, the others are silent. Silent students may think about various topics. The question is how far these thoughts are pertinent to the subjects under discussion. This ‘covert behavior’ is directly tapped by means of the ‘thought-sampling’ method (using a beeper to signal the students to report). The reproduced thoughts were classified and the percentage of relevant thoughts calculated. At the end of the last group session the students completed a questionnaire. Approximately three-quarters of the thoughts reported were task-relevant. Students showed proper self-knowledge about their own level of attention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Development and Research, University ofLimburg, P. O. Box 616, 6200, MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Titus Geerligs

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  1. Titus Geerligs
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Geerligs, T. Students' thoughts during problem-based small-group discussions. Instr Sci 22, 269–278 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00891780

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00891780

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