Examining Collaborative Clinical Reasoning within Synchronous Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Dutch and Finnish Medicine Students

Mastering Collaborative Clinical Reasoning (CCR) can be challenging for medical students as they are required reach collaborative treatment decisions through effective argumentation. Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) contexts are effective for facilitating CCR. Internationalization in higher education introduces additional challenges for CCR, such as communication barriers, process losses, and conflicts. To enhance CCR instruction via CSCL approaches, understanding cultural differences in argumentation differences is vital. This study examined CCR argumentation differences between Dutch and Finnish undergraduate medicine student groups. Despite both cultures being individualistic, Finnish students displayed more group-oriented, and data-supported arguments, while Dutch students were more pragmatic and assertive. Future research should focus on integrating scaffolding interventions in CSCL to explicitly teach clinical argumentation and intercultural competence.