2025 Volume 33 Pages 66-77
The field of data science education is expanding, paralleled by a growing interest in decision science and a corresponding demand for education in this area. Decision science, grounded in data collection and idea generation, entails utilizing computer-supported technology for scientific decision-making. Various methods, such as brainstorming, have been explored extensively to foster creative thinking for decision-making. Brainstorming, a common ideation technique, typically involves groups of around 10 individuals. However, limitations in computer capacity and network speed often restrict the participation to only two to three people in system-supported ideation methods. Furthermore, there has been a lack of familiarity with screen sharing. Recently, with the widespread use of platforms like Zoom, screen sharing has become more familiar to the general public, enabling even larger groups of up to 10 people to hold virtual meetings regularly. In this study, the KJ method, a form of brainstorming, was applied to multiple groups of individuals (with 10 participants per group located remotely) using information and communication technology combined with GUNGEN-Web II, a distributed and collaborative support system for the KJ method, and Zoom. The study analyzed several metrics, including the number of idea labels, number of results from group organization, number of graphical symbols indicating relationships between results from group organization, number of characters in the sentences, and evaluation of sentences based on synthetic satisfaction using the analytical hierarchy process. The results indicated that sentences resulting from the ideation method received higher ratings when 10 people were involved. This increase in rating can be attributed to the enhanced fluency (i.e., the number of ideas generated) and flexibility (i.e., diverse viewpoints) resulting from the larger group size, leading to more thoughtful evaluations. Additionally, it is hypothesized that as the number of graphical symbols increases, the overall structure and comprehensibility of the diagram improve, allowing for a more holistic understanding of the content. This, in turn, may result in higher synthetic satisfaction levels as the diagram becomes more structured, facilitating the addition of new ideas in concluding sentences.
