Effects of Feeding Back the Motivation of a Collaboratively Learning Group

Introduction. Motivation is an important issue in both face-to-face and computer-supported collaborative learning. There are several approaches for enhancing motivation, including group awareness tools that provide feedback on the group’s motivation. However, this feedback was rarely unconfounded with other constructs. Additionally, it is only assumed and not investigated that the learners talk about their feedback and then remedy motivational prob-lems which leads to the observed motivation gain.
Method. In our experimental study, triads worked on a collaborative learning task either with (N = 33) or without (N = 18) a motivational feedback tool. Triads with a feedback tool were either prompted to discuss their results or not. We assessed motivation and knowledge before and after their work.
Results. We found no effect of the feedback tool on motivation or knowledge. Whether feed-back was discussed or not made no difference.
Discussion and Conclusion. These results indicate that a motivational feedback tool is only effective under specific circumstances which must be further researched.