A comparative content analysis of face-to-face vs. ALN-mediated teamwork

This paper presents the content analysis results of a field experiment comparing manual groups with groups using an asynchronous learning network (ALN) to discuss and solve a case study. Findings show that ALN-mediated groups had broader discussions and submitted more complete reports than their manual counterparts. There was no difference in the ability to transfer information from the discussion to the report, in both conditions about 15% of issues mentioned in the discussion were omitted from the final group report. In terms of coordination, face-to-face teams covered the case study questions sequentially and efficiently, like items on a meeting agenda. Asynchronous groups were more focused on solving their general disagreements than on the worksheet questions and adopted parallel and pooled coordination strategies to put together the report.