Effects of a heedful interrelating intervention on collaborative teams

Abstract

Working in collaborative groups has been shown to have beneficial outcomes; however, these benefits are linked to the quality of group member interactions. Heedful interrelating, which entails interacting with sensitivity to the task at hand while paying attention to how one’s actions affect overall team functioning, is theorized to be useful in assessing the quality of these interactions. This mixed-methods intervention study examined whether learning about heedful interrelating influenced students’ heedful interrelating, quiz performance, its perceived usefulness, and their perceptions of positive interdependence and metacognition. Quantitative outcomes were analyzed using analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlations, while the open-ended items were examined using open coding. No statistically significant difference in perceived heedful interrelating was found between the intervention and control conditions. However, significant positive relationships were found between heedful interrelating and quiz performance, positive interdependence, and metacognition. The majority of students in the intervention found the heedfulness training to be beneficial in prompting positive, effective collaborative experiences. Implications for practice are discussed.