Abstract
The purpose of this research was to study the perceived readiness of higher education students for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Moreover, the role of important demographic variables, such as gender, major of study, and computer ownership, was examined in students’ perceived readiness and its sub-scales. The data was collected from 326 higher education students of four study groups from a state university in Iran. MANOVA analysis was conducted to explore the possible role of the demographic variables in students’ perceived readiness for CSCL. Most of the participants showed high readiness for CSCL. The male participants demonstrated more online learning aptitude compared to females. A statistically significant difference was found in the online learning aptitude of the respondents majoring in engineering and basic sciences with the rest of the participants. Furthermore, the students with a personal computer, laptop, or tablet demonstrated higher levels of readiness for CSCL and online learning aptitude.
Highlights
The rapidly increasing use of computers in education, and especially the migration of many university courses to web-based delivery, has triggered a resurgence of interest among educators in non-traditional methods design and delivery [1]
The instrument includes 39 items divided into three sub-scales, i.e., motivation for collaborative learning, prospective behaviors for collaborative learning, and online learning aptitude (See Table 1)
Higher education students were evaluated based on three scales, i.e., motivation for collaborative learning, prospective behaviors for collaborative learning, and online learning aptitude
Summary
The rapidly increasing use of computers in education, and especially the migration of many university courses to web-based delivery, has triggered a resurgence of interest among educators in non-traditional methods design and delivery [1]. Over the past two decades, computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments have received attention in various educational settings, especially in higher education [2,3]. CSCL is built on the premise that collaborative learning and knowledge construction can effectively be supported by technology [4,5,6]. In contrast to the positive findings, there is a vast body of research literature reporting mixed or negative findings [18,19]. Scholars assert that given the nature of CSCL (i.e., technological and collaborative dependence, high level of agency, and autonomy), an inadequate level of students’ readiness for CSCL is one of the important reasons for such discrepancy in terms of mixed positive and negative findings [20,21]
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