How sure are you? impact of the degree of certainty shared display in collaborative computer-based decision making task

Abstract

The Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process is affected by the individual traits of the group members but also by the interaction process they develop. The group members involved in the CDM could have varying levels of expertise affecting the quality of their contribution to the CDM. The evaluation of the own knowledge and the other team-mates' knowledge are essential for an effective CDM. The challenge of evaluating the team-mates' knowledge appears when the group members doesn't know each others' knowledge and should perform together the task. Aiming to facilitate the process of developing an awareness of the team-mates' knowledge, we designed a Computer-Aided Collaborative Decision Making (CA-CDM) where the students declare their knowledge in terms of the Degree of Certainty (DC) they have before submitting their answer. The effect of the DC elicitation is analysed in a quasi-experimental situation, where 19 dyads uses the CA-CDM based in the DC elicitation and 16 dyads are considered as control groups. The dyads are required to reach a consensus in a three phase activity, including a first phase where the students' answer individually, a second phase where the learners' should evaluate their peers' knowledge and a third phase where the CMD is produced by the dyad. Results show a significant effect of the CA-CDM in the peers' evaluation phase of the CDM, but there are not differences observed in the quality of the CDM. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.