the iq team - tools for collaborative learning

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The IQ Team is designed for a student group and its teacher. The system offers tools for evaluating and developing the group work skills of the students. The IQ Team consists of self-evaluation tests, a tutoring package and a logbook.

The tests

The IQ Team offers the following self-evaluation tests:

     1. Group roles: How do I behave when working in a group?
     2. Together or alone? Am I individualistic, competitive or cooperative?
     3. How does a group work? How can a group develop to be better
        functioned?

The tests offer the student information about him/herself as a member of a group and about the functionality of the group. A student can also compare his/her estimates to the estimates of the other members of the group. A teacher can examine the group results and use them when planning and implementing his/her teaching.

The tutoring package

The IQ Team tutoring package consists of two parts: the texts that are closely related to each sub component of the tests and the part Guidebook for working together. The tutoring texts related to the tests give discriptions about manifestation of each tested characteristic and information about how these charasteristics influence the function of the group. They also give information about possibilities in collaboration and group dynamics. The hypertext structured parts have links to each other.

The aim of the tutoring package Guidebook for working together is:

     • to guide the students to interaction with others
     • to promote social navigation
     • to give points of reference which eases the orientation to
        collaboration
     • to guide to successful learning in a Web-based group.

Guidebook for working together is also published in the "Pedagogiga" series of the Faculty of Education at the University of Helsinki in English.

The logbook

The aim of the logbook is to guide the students to self-reflection and to joint reflection of the team members. It also motivates the students to share their experiences about learning in a Web-based group with the teacher of the group. The logbook functions as a support in peer tutoring and as a tool in collaborative knowledge creation towards which the students are guided by the system.