Evaluating problem-solving teams in K–12 schools: Do they work?

PurposeVoice role identification and the psychosocial voice barriers represented by implicit voice theories (IVTs) affect lean team members' prosocial voice behavior and thereby lean team performance. This paper investigates how role definition and IVTs influence individual lean team-members' prosocial voice behavior during lean implementation.Design/methodology/approachThis research was conducted in four case readymade garment (RMG) factories in Bangladesh following a mixed-method research approach dominated by a qualitative research methodology. Under the mixed-method design, this research followed multiple research strategies, including intervention-based action research and case studies.FindingsThe findings suggest that voice role perception affects the voice behavior of the individual lean team members. The findings also demonstrate that voice role definition significantly influences individually held implicit voice beliefs in lean teams.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was conducted in four sewing lines in four RMG factories in Bangladesh. There is a need for a cross-sector and cross-country large-scale study that follows the quantitative research methods in different contexts.Practical implicationsThis research contributes to the operations management literature, especially in lean manufacturing, by presenting the difficulties of mobilizing employee voice in lean problem-solving teams. This work provides new knowledge to managers to address challenges and opportunities to ensure decent work and to improve productivity.Originality/valueThis research raises a key issue of employee voice and its influence on lean performance which addresses two critical areas of employee voice behavior in lean teams: team-members' voice role perception and implicit voice beliefs that influence their voice behavior in the workplace, thereby influencing team performance.

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Developing a Web Application for the Integration of Real-World, Scientific, Problem-Solving into the Secondary Classroom

K-12 Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-4502-8.ch025 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 422-432

Author(s):

Susan E. Gill ◽

Nanette I. Marcum-Dietrich ◽

John Fraser

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Real World ◽

Web Application ◽

Physical World ◽

Scientific Problem Solving ◽

Secondary Classroom ◽

The World ◽

Interdisciplinary Framework ◽

K 12

In the 21st century, digital natives, born into a world of omnipresent technology, spend much of their lives online. However, many teachers still see the use of educational technologies as a challenge (e.g., Ertmer, 2005; Li, 2007). The authors propose that the familiarity and ubiquity of these media offer a valuable way to engage students in meaningful learning. In the last decade, the National Science Foundation has invested heavily in bringing technology into the K-12 classroom by funding an array of cyberlearning applications to investigate how they can transform student learning. Model My Watershed is one of those experimental platforms that integrates online learning with an understanding of the physical world within an interdisciplinary framework. This case study documents the development of this application from concept through implementation and beyond. It provides insights into the challenges of application design and deployment for those entering the world of cyberlearning design.

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Developing Digital Literacy Skills with WebQuests and Web Inquiry Projects

Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-120-9.ch026 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 403-418

Author(s):

Susan Gibson

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Problem Solving ◽

New Media ◽

Instructional Strategies ◽

Media Literacy ◽

Digital Literacy ◽

Literacy Skills ◽

Web Based ◽

21St Century Learning Skills ◽

K 12

This article identifies digital literacy as an important aspect of new media literacy at the K-12 level. Digital literacy includes developing the skills of information location and application as well understanding how to use available evidence to assist in problem solving and decision making about important questions and issues that have no clear answers. Two web-based examples of instructional strategies – WebQuests and Web Inquiry Projects—are suggested as ways to develop these and other important 21st century learning skills.

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Implementing Collaborative Problem-Based Learning with Web 2.0

Handbook of Research on New Media Literacy at the K-12 Level ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-120-9.ch024 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 372-388

Author(s):

Steven C. Mills

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Web 2.0 ◽

Learning Experiences ◽

Web 2.0 Technologies ◽

Communication Tools ◽

Student Centered ◽

Student Centered Learning ◽

Instructional Methodologies ◽

Collaborative Problem ◽

K 12

Educators face the challenge of keeping classroom learning relevant for a generation of students who have never known life without computers, cell phones, and email. With Web 2.0 technologies educators can easily mediate student-centered learning experiences that engage students collaboratively in problem-solving and critical thinking. This chapter describes how Web 2.0 technologies can supply communication tools and information resources that facilitate the application of a robust set of instructional methodologies in the K-12 classroom. When the pedagogical features of Web 2.0 technologies are used with problem-solving methodologies, teachers can create powerful student-centered learning experiences for educating students for the 21st century.

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