Methodological Issues in Measuring Group Learning

This article examines current empirical approaches to group learning. It focuses on two central questions: Are these approaches really measuring group learning, and what critical issues should be resolved in future group-learning research? The rationale for this examination is threefold. First, the last 10 years have seen a substantial increase in research on group learning. As this literature accumulates, it is useful to do a critical review of the connection between the concept of group learning and its operational form. Second, there is a lack of clarity in how learning is operationalized-how researchers capture whether learning has occurred. The third rationale is to make explicit some of the features of group learning to serve as a guide for future research.