Exploration of a method to analyze group interactions in problem-based learning

Many educational institutions use instructional approaches such as problem-based learning (PBL), in which collaborative learning plays an important role. There is little research, however, that describes which factors are responsible for the success of collaboration. The purpose of this study was twofold, i.e. to explore cognitive interactions taking place between students in tutorial groups and to examine whether the coding system of Van Boxtel (2000) is usable to analyze these interactions. The focus was on elaborations and co-constructions, which are indicators of individual and collaborative knowledge construction in a group. Videotapes of three PBL sessions were transcribed, in which tutorial groups of the Maastricht Medical School were discussing a problem. The results showed that cognitive interactions could be found in the tutorial groups and that it was possible to analyze them. Co-constructions seemed most easy to elicit from the transcripts.