There has been an increasing interest in the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in problem-based learning. One line of research has been to introduce synchronous, or simultaneous, communication attempting to create text-based digital real-time interaction. Compared with face-to-face (F2F) communication, CMC may be a poorer medium…

Medical education is undergoing one of its most intense reassessments in a quarter of a century. The current reassessments often have focused on reevaluation of the manner in which basic science and clinical education are provided. This paper aims to identify and illustrate the processes by which members of "MWCOM" (a pseudonym), a…

This study investigated the effect of well- vs. ill-structured problem types on: (a) group interactional activity, (b) evolution of group participation inequities, (c) group discussion quality, and (d) group performance in a synchronous, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. Participants were 60 11th-grade science students…

Presents one of a set of five analyses that all examine the same data; the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine. Offers an overview of the five analyses, including how they differ. Includes a transcription of the six-minute data segment featuring a group of second-year medical students and a faculty tutor/coach discussing a…

Examines the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine. Identifies ethnomethodological conversation analysis to analyze a segment of interaction in a problem-based learning (PBL) meeting. Observes that the presentation of a theory makes relevant a variety of sequential activities through which participants in this instructional…

Examines the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine. Uses a conceptual distinction between linguistic (and other semiotic) resources for making typological (or categorical) versus topological (or continuous variation) meanings as part of a multimedia semiotic analysis of the data episode. (SR)

Examines the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine. Finds evidence of similarity in the way that medical students and family members converse. Finds a paradox arising when activities of technoscience and ordinary conversation are rendered in ways that make them indistinguishable without extrinsic reference to who people are or to…

Examines the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine. Finds evidence of a differential diagnosis frame to organize the group's diagnostic inquiry procedures; coconstruction of explanatory case models linking causes to clinical symptoms through interactive discussion; processes of collaborative reasoning in evaluating alternative…

Examines the discourse of a problem-based learning group in medicine. Offers a sociocultural analysis of the data segment, focusing on the complex agendas pursued by the medical students. Explores the multiple agendas confronting a "transition community," the intra-space and inter-personal issues, and the role of the coach in transition…

A study explored some of the ways that the members of a medical educational institution make sense out of the radical pedagogical innovation taking place in their school. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with members at "MWCOM" (a pseudonym), then data were analyzed according to three primary themes which revolve around how…