| This thesis reports findings from a two-year investigation of online collaboration by interprofessional teams of health care students. As part of the 2003 and 2004 University of Toronto Interfaculty Pain Curriculum (IPC) students collaborated both face-to-face and online in small interprofessional teams to discuss a case study and prepare a care management plan. A preliminary investigation of student responses to the 2003 curriculum focused the research on interactivity.; Of the 700 students who completed the IPC in 2004, 323 (46%) completed a questionnaire about the mixed-mode case-study experience. The answers to this survey were analyzed on a team basis. Nine of the 81 teams were selected for detailed review based on the attitudes expressed on the survey about the value of collaborating online for enhancing their appreciation of other health care professions. Five of the teams selected were "positive" and four were "negative." The responses to other survey items by respondents from these teams were then compared, as well as the teams' message posting patterns and content of their online discussions during the four-day curriculum.; Differences between the two sets were situated within a theoretical framework merging elements of the contact hypothesis, social interdependence theory and the Community of Inquiry model. Institutional support (especially in the form of facilitator involvement), individual predispositions to online and group learning, the group composition, the learning materials, task and assignment, and technical factors all affected the levels of participation online. Two categories of techniques were associated with higher interactivity within the online discussions. The first category were discourse techniques: "seeking to reach a consensus", Social Interactive utterances (i.e., complimenting) and the Promotive Interactive characteristics of "giving and receiving help", "advocating increased efforts", and "engaging in group processing". The second category involved organizational structures, especially the use of advance planning and topic leaders. Understanding the factors that contributed to the different participation rates, interaction patterns and ultimately to the contrasting opinions between these two sets increases our understanding of the complicated dynamics involved in promoting the interactivity required for a successful interprofessional mixed-mode case experience and will help curriculum designers plan future interprofessional education modules. |
