Learning to reason through discourse in a problem‐based learning group

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Abstract
Techniques of propositional analysis, analysis of conceptual structure and inferences, and frame analysis were applied to the discourse of a problem‐based learning group in medicine. The results provide evidence of (a) the coach's use of a differential diagnosis frame to organize the group's diagnostic inquiry procedures, (b) the coconstruction of explanatory case models linking causes to clinical symptoms through interactive discussion of the case, (c) processes of collaborative reasoning in evaluating alternative causal hypotheses for clinical evidence, and (d) a participation structure in which speakers made different contributions to the collaborative problem solving through their contributions to the conversation. The results show how the content of task‐oriented dialogue can be analyzed to reveal how participants in an interactive discussion of a clinical case use diagnostic inquiry procedures to coconstruct models of a case and reason to evaluate alternative causal hypotheses. The analysis provides insights about how this discourse supports students’ development of biomedical knowledge and diagnostic expertise.