Individual Practice and Collaborative Inquiry: Instructional Configurations in a Simulation Environment

Simulation and visualization platforms present many new challenges to educators and students. The change in modality of the teaching/learning environment begs many questions in regard to effectiveness and efficiency teaching practices in term of student learning. A key focus area is when and how collaborative activity should be used and structured. This is an especially important issue as collaborative work is being currently heralded as a solution to time and distance restraints with eLearning. This study used a randomized control group design to investigate individual versus group configurations and work product requirements. When there were no individual work products, individuals who were not involved in actively creating the work product had lower assessment scores than other groups. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and classroom activity.