| In response to the perceived needs of industry for persons capable of functioning in the modern global world in which most products are collaboratively created and implemented by teams, educators continue to develop learning environments believed to support learning that empowers students to be adaptable to the real world. Constructivist environments are chosen by many educators to meet this need. As educators seek to improve these environments, most agree that exploring student experiences cannot be done through quantitative statistical analysis or standard program evaluation techniques like ones appropriate in a more traditional objectivist environment.;This case study examined the students' perceptions of their experiences as they participated in a two-semester course on the collaborative design and development of multimedia instructional materials. The interviews for this study were transcribed from audio recordings to electronic media. The data analysis was done using both conventional coding and the method of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) to determine the emergent themes. Details of students' experiences yielded information about their understanding of their experiences of collaborative teamwork.;The emergent themes analyzed were the participant's concept of a team, team leadership, team process including assignments and decisions, peer evaluations, and project authenticity. The results yielded recommendations for the hierarchical structure of Instructional Technology program, courses, instructor, and student. Several of these recommendations may be used on constructivist collaborative projects in other disciplines.;In an effort to further the research on improving these environments, this study explored students' experiences in a technology-rich, constructivist environment. The particular views used in working with the data were those articulated by Jonassen. They defined a set of attributes and techniques for collecting data for analysis. |
