Date of Award

1-2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department/Program

Psychology

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Valerie Sessa

Committee Member

Meredyth Krych-Appelbaum

Committee Member

Manuel London

Abstract

This study examined the effects of triggers for learning and factors that lead to a group’s readiness to learn and group learning processes. A longitudinal study was conducted over a two year period with a new set of cohorts participating each year for a total of 129 participants. There were 40 male and 76 female participants with 13 not identifying their gender. These participants represented a total of 30 e-boards and residence hall councils’. The participants completed individual self report surveys which were aggregated into group level data. A regression analysis was conducted. The results suggest that triggers for learning and learning factors are positively related to group readiness to learn. Furthermore, it suggests that group readiness to learn is positively associated to group learning processes. Consistent with current theory, group learning readiness was positively associated with group learning processes supporting hypothesis one. Factors that lead to a group’s readiness to learn, however, were not found to be positively associated to group learning processes thus not supporting hypothesis two. Finally, boundary permeability was the only learning factor that was associated with learning readiness thus partially supporting hypothesis three. This thesis helps set the foundation for future research on group readiness to learn and builds upon the group learning literature.

File Format

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