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Background <p>Policy documents call for supporting STEM students in developing collaborative abilities for working in multidisciplinary teams. Courses with intra- and inter-group collaboration are therefore essential to prepare STEM students to participate in modern multidisciplinary professional environments. To analyze those courses, this paper develops a novel theoretical framework of the levels of functioning (individual, within team, across team, and whole group) that may occur. Using the novel framework as well as Communities of Practice theory and Social Interaction Theory, we analyzed a graduate engineering course that communicated through the Slack platform, using a case study design to examine students’ interaction. Social Network Analysis of 5969 Slack messages exchanged through the semester on channels for individual teams, sets of teams, and the entire class was complemented with qualitative analysis of interviews, class materials, observations, and the content of Slack messages.</p> Results <p>Findings reveal distinct patterns of intra- and inter-group participation. This study highlights how groups interacted through brokers, boundary objects, and tools. Moreover, subsets of teams displayed extensive interaction concerning related tasks, exemplifying “overlap” connections. Diverse patterns of brokerage were characterized.</p> Conclusions <p>This paper concludes with a general approach for evaluating courses with multi-group collaboration. This approach can be used to diagnose complex multi-team classes, especially in hybrid or online courses where communication occurs through online platforms. This methodology holds promise for promoting effective collaboration and fostering teamwork skills among students in STEM fields.</p>

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Analyzing the functioning of a graduate engineering class with multiple collaborating groups using Slack: An embedded mixed methods case study

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年10月1日

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  • Brayan Diaz,
  • Cesar Delgado,
  • John Bacher,
  • Collin Lynch,
  • Kevin Han

摘要

Background

Policy documents call for supporting STEM students in developing collaborative abilities for working in multidisciplinary teams. Courses with intra- and inter-group collaboration are therefore essential to prepare STEM students to participate in modern multidisciplinary professional environments. To analyze those courses, this paper develops a novel theoretical framework of the levels of functioning (individual, within team, across team, and whole group) that may occur. Using the novel framework as well as Communities of Practice theory and Social Interaction Theory, we analyzed a graduate engineering course that communicated through the Slack platform, using a case study design to examine students’ interaction. Social Network Analysis of 5969 Slack messages exchanged through the semester on channels for individual teams, sets of teams, and the entire class was complemented with qualitative analysis of interviews, class materials, observations, and the content of Slack messages.

Results

Findings reveal distinct patterns of intra- and inter-group participation. This study highlights how groups interacted through brokers, boundary objects, and tools. Moreover, subsets of teams displayed extensive interaction concerning related tasks, exemplifying “overlap” connections. Diverse patterns of brokerage were characterized.

Conclusions

This paper concludes with a general approach for evaluating courses with multi-group collaboration. This approach can be used to diagnose complex multi-team classes, especially in hybrid or online courses where communication occurs through online platforms. This methodology holds promise for promoting effective collaboration and fostering teamwork skills among students in STEM fields.