Designing ThinkLets for Convergence

Abstract

Convergence is a critical activity in group work that lays the foundation for shared understanding and the overall advancement of the group’s task. However, convergence is time consuming and has been shown to be a slow and painful process for groups. The goal of this research is to derive a number of convergence performance criteria from field experiences with commonly used convergence thinkLets. Based on these insights, two new convergence thinkLets are proposed that were designed to overcome some of the limitations of existing thinkLets. To investigate the merits of these thinkLets, a program of study based on the design science paradigm is presented. Finally, the performance criteria are used to forward a selection guide for convergence thinkLets.