Cell division dialogues: Qualitative case studies of collaborative learning in an undergraduate biology teaching laboratory

In the present climate of uncertainty over the effectiveness of introductory biology laboratory teaching, a central and timely question is, “What is the nature of the undergraduate biology laboratory learning process and how does it affect the learning of bioscience concepts?” This qualitative multiple case-study described and explained the nature of the laboratory learning process among small groups of undergraduates at work in introductory biology teaching laboratories through categorical and interpretive analysis of small group discourse, staff interviews and student lab work products. During this project, a Learning Hypercycle Model for interpreting conceptual change was developed. Through the Learning Hypercycle Model, interactive small group learning could be understood as a multidimensional, multinodal phenomenon. Instances of learning in the epistemological, social/affective, and ontological dimension were documented as question/answer loops. Each loop was routed through one of the following four nodal pathways: the student-peer, student/teaching assistant, student/text, and student/laboratory object routes. The ontological dimension was of particular interest and has implications for curricular reform. The findings of this study also have implications for further research on collaborative group laboratory science learning processes, as well as for introductory biology laboratory learning research