Student Collaboration in Student Active Learning

Abstract

Student active learning refers to instructional approaches that actively engage students in the learning process through collaboration and discussion. However, the role and benefits of collaboration are described in different ways in the literature. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of collaboration in student active learning by exploring how students experience collaboration. The findings are based on reflection notes from a total of 54 students attending a course at the Master’s degree level. They wrote reflection notes on their individual learning outcomes and on how group collaboration supported their learning. Their experiences of collaboration in active learning were also collected through semi-structured grou interviews. The data material was analyzed through a pragmatic approach inspired by both thematic analysis and constant comparative analysis. The students report that the active learning brought them into close and binding collaboration with fellow students and their teachers. Categories such as COntract, COntextualization, COnstruction, and COnnection describe in detail how the students experienced collaboration in student active learning, and how they described the role and benefits of collaboration. To communicate to educators how such knowledge may support them when planning and implementing student active learning, we also present a conceptual framework that can guide educators and students through the phases of planning, implementing, and assessing student active learning. The framework shows how student active learning may open for student engagement, student reflection, and student influence.