Collaborative Learning Groups Research Articles

A case study on English writing classes for college students applying collaborative learning

The purpose of this case study was to explore the effects on the students English writing ability and affective attitudes when applying collaborative learning to English writing classes for college students. Sixty-three university students (30 in an experimental group and 33 in a control group) participated in the case study. During the ten-week period of the case study, the control group students participated in the individual writing activities, while the experimental group students participated in a collaborative learning group of five students. Writing tests were conducted before and after the experiment to examine the effect of collaborative learning activities on writing ability, and independent sample t-tests and paired sample t-tests were performed for statistical verification. In addition, to examine the change of affective attitude, the online survey was conducted only on the experimental group, and a paired sample t-test was performed. Results of the study showed a significant improvement in the English writing ability of the experimental group that applied collaborative learning. There was also a positive change in affective attitude of the experimental group that performed collaborative learning. Based on the results of this case study, educational implications for collaborative learning on English writing for further studies are suggested.

해결된 예제를 활용한 수학 협력학습이 중학생의 인지부하와 학습동기에 미치는 영향

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effect of mathematics collaborative learning using worked examples on students' mathematics achievement and cognitive load, and to examine the influence of collaborative and individual learning environment on students' self-efficacy and interest. In addition, we wanted to analyze the differences between students' self-efficacy and interest according to their achievement level. To this end, we divided 282 middle school students into 4 groups (collaboration-example-example, collaboration–example-problem, individual-example- example, individual-example-problem), and provided them with the tasks about the use of quadratic function. The results of this study are as follows. First, when using the worked examples, there was no difference in mathematics achievement according to the environment of collaborative learning and individual learning. Second, albeit on the same condition of being given the worked examples, the external cognitive load of the collaborative learning group was lower than that of the individual learning. Particularly, when the students at the upper level do collaborative learning by using example-examples, they felt external cognitive load less compared to those in the individual learning environment. Lastly, the strategy using the worked examples had a positive effect on the self-efficacy and interest of lower-level students in the individual learning environment rather than that of collaborative learning.

A Method to Introduce Building Performance Simulation to Beginners

Competence in performing Building Performance Simulations (BPS) is a fundamental asset for an energy specialist. However, teaching BPS to new students can be challenging, often due to the overwhelming capabilities of the software. The consequences for students are frustration and lack of confidence using the software, dividing group work based on previous expertise and, most importantly, the inability to predict and critically analyse results due to the superficial understanding of simulations. This paper presents and evaluates a simple method named ‘control method’ which is intended to introduce BPS in classes where students have a limited experience working with BPS, significantly different educational backgrounds, and where the time to teach BPS in class is limited. The method is built around the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes taxonomy. It aims to provide the students with a basic understanding of the input-output relationship between parameters, prompting the use of BPS independently during their individual study time. The application of the method is evaluated with two survey-based studies. The findings suggest that the method prompts higher level thinking in BPS and collaborative learning in groups. Further investigation is needed to verify if students’ ability to predict results is also increased.

The Role of Classroom Design in Facilitating Student Engagement in Recreation and Leisure Education

Success in the field of recreation management requires a variety of 21st-century skills including the abilities to solve complex problems, think creatively, and collaborate with peers. Research suggests that instructor contribution through active learning pedagogy, incorporation of technology, and maximization of classroom design can foster effective student collaboration. Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) classrooms represent the intersection of these three factors and should be ideal for eliciting student engagement, especially with regard to collaborative work. This quasi-experimental design study (n = 86) examined three factors of student engagement (Instructor Contribution, Personal Effort, and Value of Group Work) among students enrolled in two sections of a recreation programing course- one occurring in a TEAL classroom and the other in a traditional classroom. When controlling for GPA, student perceptions of the Value of Group Work were significantly higher among TEAL students. Moreover, when examining factors that explain TEAL student perceptions of the Value of Group Work, Personal Effort, Instructor Contribution, and physical position of the instructor in the modular room explained 70% of the variance in Value of Group Work. Our findings suggest that when used for their intended purpose of active learning, TEAL classrooms are viewed favorably by students and are a valuable tool for recreation education, especially for group collaboration and project-based learning.

Collaborative Learning Group Investigation Type Based on Lesson Study in MI Al-Ikhsan Kota Jambi

The lesson study has been done with the collaborative learning model group investigation type for 2 cycles. Each cycle consists of 3 stages like plan, did and see. Each cycle is carried out with the same learning model but different using learning media. There were several items for reviewed and preserved in the implementation of the lesson study like relates students’ skills with the ability of students to answer questions, the interaction of students with teachers, and the interaction of students with students. In addition, the results of this study indicate an increase in learning outcomes for each cycle.

Identified and engaged: A multi-level dynamic model of identification with the group and performance in collaborative learning

Our study takes a dynamic and multi-level perspective on identification with the group and explores the extent to which, at the individual level, core self-evaluations, study engagement, group development, and relationship conflict influence identification with the group. At the group level, we test the extent to which group identification influences academic performance via group study engagement. Data were collected at four-time lags, and we use a combination of multi-level analyses and structural equation modeling to test these relationships in a sample of 212 students organized in 61 collaborative learning groups. Our results show that core self-evaluations and interpersonal familiarity have a positive influence on the identification with the group. Moreover, weekly variations in study engagement have a positive influence, while variations in relationship conflict have a negative influence on fluctuations of identification with the group. Finally, we show that group study engagement mediates the influence of group identification on group academic performance.

Scripts and mastery goal orientation in face-to-face versus computer-mediated collaborative learning: Influence on performance, affective and motivational outcomes, and social ability

This experimental study systematically investigates the separate and interactive effects of mastery goal orientation (low versus high), collaboration-script use (with versus without) and computer mediation (face-to-face versus computer-mediated) on performance outcomes (i.e., report grades and lengths), affective outcomes (i.e., process satisfaction and solution satisfaction), motivational outcomes (i.e., collaborative learning self-efficacy, group efficacy, and task value), and social ability. Specifically, 99 undergraduate students identified as having either high or low mastery goal orientations were randomly assigned to use either face-to-face or computer-mediated interaction to complete two group assignments, one with scripted instruction and one with unscripted instruction. Statistical analysis revealed that those using collaboration scripts wrote significantly longer reports, and those participating in face-to-face collaboration had significantly lower grades and co-presence. Computer-mediated collaboration was found to have two significant interactive effects, (1) with collaboration scripts, on satisfaction with the discussion process, and (2) with mastery goal orientation, on report length. Additionally, the study identified a significant three-way interactive effect of collaboration scripts, computer mediation, and mastery goal orientation on group efficacy.

Examining the effects of different teaching strategies on metacognition and academic performance.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different metacognitive interventions on knowledge and regulation of cognition, as well as academic performance (i.e., exam and final grades) in three sections of an undergraduate human anatomy and physiology course. All targeted classes were randomly assigned to one of three groups (reflection practice, passive acquisition of knowledge, and collaborative learning), and the interventions were implemented after exam 1. A pre- and posttest survey was administered during the semester (during week 2 and after exam 2), and exam and final course grades were collected at the end of the semester. The final sample included 129 students. A significant interaction of group and time was observed for knowledge of cognition: it increased in the reflection practice group, did not change in the collaborative learning group, and it decreased in the passive acquisition of knowledge. The interventions did not produce any significant interactions or main effects on regulation of cognition, exam scores, or final grades. Along with more research on metacognition in physiology education contexts, it is recommended to further examine the ways in which such data can be collected, as self-report measures only tell part of the story.

Rivals When We Work Together: Team Rivalry Effects on Performance in Collaborative Learning Groups

Team rivalry has been mostly studied in competition settings, between competing individuals or teams, and has been linked to positive performance outcomes due to its impact on increasing motivation. However, rivalry is not limited to such contexts, it can also occur in collaborative settings, among team members working on a collaborative task. We argue that in such settings rivalry in teams has a negative impact on team performance, due to its negative impact on team learning behaviors. We employed a time-lagged, survey-based design with a sample of 176 students (55 teams) to investigate the relationship between rivalry and team performance through team learning behaviors. Our results based on simple mediation analyses show that, for our sample, rivalry in teams was not in fact negatively correlated to learning behaviors. Furthermore, we did not find support for the hypothesized positive relationship between learning behaviors and team performance, nor for the partial mediation model we proposed. We show how a series of team and task characteristics could explain our results and discuss potential future directions in the study of rivalry in collaborative settings.

Collaboration in students’ learning: the student experience

Recognising that traditional approaches to education, and in turn a teaching and learning pedagogy which focus on the triumvirate of predefined knowledge, situationally applied understanding and domain specific skills were no longer appropriate, in 2009 I embarked upon an exploration of the myriad effects of an engagement with a pedagogy designed to facilitate Collaborative Group Learning (CGL) within a History classroom in a North London Secondary School. Following an identification of the recorded benefits of collaborative learning, I sought to isolate the principles of collaborative group learning, apply these principles to classroom practices of both the educator and learner and over a period of twenty‐four weeks capture and narrate the benefits of actively engaging in CGL. Central to the narrative were the experiences and perceptions of the thirty Year 8 boys (aged 12‐13 years) who experienced CGL over a period of twenty‐four weeks. The study identified a range of benefits of engaging in and with this form of inclusive pedagogy including, effective self‐directed and autonomous learning, interdependence, enhanced verbal communication skills and social‐cohesion. An unintended outcome has also been academic success measured through progress and attainment.

Collaborative Group Learning in a Swiss introductory physics class

We report on the implementation of the SCALE-UP collaborative pedagogical approach in a first-year undergraduate physics class at ETH Zürich. The performance of the students on various assessments was compared with identical assessments in a parallel lecture class in order to gauge the effectiveness of this approach. Surveys were also given to get feedback on how students were reacting to this innovative style of pedagogy.

A Structural Relations among Socially Shared Meaning, Group Synergy and Group Creativity in Group Collaborative Learning

A Structural Relations among Socially Shared Meaning, Group Synergy and Group Creativity in Group Collaborative Learning

Science and Language Integration in Elementary Classrooms: Instructional Enactments and Student Learning Outcomes

While some students will pursue careers in science, all will engage with multimodal science-based texts. The effective use of language skills is essential to support sense making in science. The purpose of this study was to examine how elementary teachers integrated language within their science instruction, and how their instructional enactments impacted students’ science and language outcomes. Our study utilized a mixed-methods research design based on a design-based research approach. Our findings draw upon a collaborative professional learning group involving (n=5) grade 5 teachers. Analyzing qualitative data produced instructional profiles documenting teachers’ salient views and instructional practices regarding science and language integration. Furthermore, outcomes from science content, vocabulary, and language comprehension assessments demonstrated that effective science and literacy intervention significantly (p < 0.05) impacted student achievement. While integrated approaches were successful, the teachers varied in their enactment of the integrated curriculum unit, and thus impacted student achievement. We identified gaps in certain teachers’ pedagogical views related to science and language integration. Our study recommends future research of integrated science and language instruction using design-based research as an innovative and pragmatic approach.

Data-informed design parameters for adaptive collaborative scripting in across-spaces learning situations

This study presents how predictive analytics can be used to inform the formulation of adaptive collaborative learning groups in the context of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning considering across-spaces learning situations. During the study we have collected data from different learning spaces which depicted both individual and collaborative learning activity engagement of students in two different learning contexts (namely the classroom learning and distance learning context) and attempted to predict individual student’s future collaborative learning activity participation in a pyramid-based collaborative learning activity using supervised machine learning techniques. We conducted experimental case studies in the classroom and in distance learning settings, in which real-time predictions of student’s future collaborative learning activity participation were used to formulate adaptive collaborative learner groups. Findings of the case studies showed that the data collected from across-spaces learning scenarios is informative when predicting future collaborative learning activity participation of students hence facilitating the formulation of adaptive collaborative group configurations that adapt to the activity participation differences of students in real-time. Limitations of the proposed approach and future research direction are illustrated.

Project-based learning in a collaborative group can enhance student skill and ability in the biochemical laboratory: a case study

ABSTRACT Experimental courses for undergraduate students majoring in biochemistry or related subjects often do not provide students with systematic and research-based experiences. To help students develop abilities related to laboratory techniques, data analysis, and systematic thought in biology, we performed an exploratory program that employs project-based learning in collaborative groups. The participants (total of 18 students) organized themselves into groups of 2–4 students, and each group researched an enzyme that had not been described previously. The program began with a literature survey of enzyme and bioinformatics analysis. The students cloned the gene encoding the enzyme, purified the enzyme, and, finally, analyzed the enzyme’s catalytic characteristics. The students explained the catalytic mechanism, integrating their experimental data and other knowledge. An instructor provided support and training during the process to support effective teamwork and to cultivate a habit of independence that is believed to be useful for the students’ future careers. The assessment showed that the pilot program yielded an improvement in the participant’ laboratory skills, scientific presentation ability, and experimental design ability. These analyses indicated that the small-scale practice in this study provided benefits to the students and the methods may be popularized to a large extent.

Measuring the Importance of Collaborative Learning for the Effectiveness of ALN: A Multi-Measure, Multi-Method Approach

Are there any differences in outcomes between traditional classroom-based university courses and courses delivered via ALN, which feature extensive on-line interaction among students? Under what conditions are ALN courses most effective? What can be done to improve the publishability of ALN evaluations, and counter the attacks of critics?After providing background on the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Virtual Classroom (VC) projects, this paper describes three studies that address the issue of the importance of collaborative learning strategies to the success of ALN for students. A three-year longitudinal field study of 26 courses that are part of an undergraduate degree in Information Systems compared the process and outcomes of learning using an on-line anytime/anywhere environment to those for comparison sections taught in the traditional classroom. An embedded field experiment looked at the separate and joint effects of working on-line versus in the classroom and of working individually versus in groups. Semi-structured interviews with experienced ALN faculty probed their pedagogy and their perceptions of whether or not students learned, on the average, more, less, or about the same as in their traditional sections. The results support the premise that when students are actively involved in collaborative (group) learning on-line, the outcomes can be as good as or better than those for traditional classes, but when individuals are simply receiving posted material and sending back individual work, the results are poorer than in traditionalclassrooms.

Examining shared monitoring in collaborative learning: A case of a recurrence quantification analysis approach

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between shared monitoring of collaborative learning processes and physiological synchrony between the collaborating group members. Shared monitoring fuels collaborative learning in groups. Video and electrodermal activity data were collected from a group of high school students (two male, one female) during two sessions of collaborative learning. Shared monitoring of learning progress among the group members, in terms of frequency and duration, were coded and calculated in video data. Physiological synchrony in electrodermal activity among the collaborating students was calculated with Multidimensional Recurrence Quantification Analysis (MdRQA). Results revealed that the relationship between physiological synchrony and shared monitoring might be dependent on task type. That is, a significant relationship was observed between MdRQA indices and shared monitoring in one session, whereas no significant relationship was observed in the other session. The current study contributes to the literature on computer-supported collaborative learning through demonstrating the utility of MdRQA to investigate the temporal dynamicity of collaborative learning processes. In conclusion, the chosen methods contribute to research on collaborative learning, as capturing invisible physiological signals and matching them with visible instances of monitoring processes facilitates identification of critical moments in collaboration.

Collaboration and modelling – tools for integration in the Motueka catchment, New Zealand

A conceptual model of integrated catchment management (ICM) is presented in which ICM is defined as a process to achieve both ecosystem resilience and community resilience. It requires not only biophysical knowledge developed by hydrologists and other environmental scientists, but an active partnership with catchment communities and stakeholders to break the 'paradigm lock' described by the UNESCO-HELP programme. This paper reports observations from ICM research in the Motueka HELP demonstration basin in the upper South Island of New Zealand. The Motueka occupies 2 170 km2 of land yet the river effects are felt on the seabed more than 50 km2 off- shore, so the true 'catchment' is larger. A hydrologically temperate mountainous catchment with horticultural, agricultural, plantation forestry and conservation land uses, the Motueka also hosts an internationally recognised brown trout fishery. Land and water management issues driving ICM research include water allocation conflicts between instream and irrigation water uses, impacts on water quality of runoff from intensifying land uses, catchment impacts on coastal productivity and aquacul- ture, and how to manage catchment processes in an integrated way that addresses cumulative effects of development. Collaboration with catchment stakeholders can be viewed as having two primary purposes: • Building knowledge and commitment of resource users towards sustainable resource management (collaborative learning) • Stakeholder involvement in resource management itself (governance). Examples are presented of a Collaborative Learning Group on Sediment learning of their differing perspectives on fine sedi - ment impacts, and a Catchment Landcare Group working with scientists to improve water quality in their river. Success fac- tors for water user committees making decisions about water resource management include creating opportunities to commu- nicate and build trust, share scientific knowledge on the issue, and willingness to compromise. Functioning catchment groups have potential to take on delegated governance responsibility for meeting agreed water quality and other community goals. Finally a scenario modelling framework IDEAS (Integrated Dynamic Environmental Assessment System) is presented, in which environmental indicators such as nutrient fluxes are simulated alongside socio-economic indicators such as job num - bers and catchment GDP for a range of land and marine use options.

PENERAPAN MODEL PEMBELAJARAN KOLABORATIF TEKNIK BUZZ GROUP UNTUK MENINGKATKAN SIKAP DISIPLIN DAN PRESTASI BELAJAR PENDIDIKAN KEWARGANEGARAAN MATERI GLOBALISASI

Students’ discipline attitude and learning achievement of civic education in the fourth grade of SD Negeri Ledug was considered low and several students were slow in doing the assignment given by the teachers because they could not optimize the given time well. Their civic education learning achievement often did not reach minimum requirement mastery set by school especially in the topic of globalization. Therefore, this research aimed to develop discipline and civic education learning achievement on materials of globalization through Buzz Group collaborative technique learning model. The subject of this research was Classroom Action Research conducted in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of two meeting and the procedures covering planning, action, observation, and reflection. Data of students discipline development were obtained from students discipline attitude scale and learning achievement data were obtained from the evaluation test given in each meeting. Based on the result, the result of students discipline development in cycle I obtained an average score of 76,61% and improved in cycle II to 83,89%. The obtained average score of learning achievement in cycle I was 63,33% and improved in cycle II to 80%. Therefore it could be concluded that Buzz Group collaborative technique learning model could improve discipline and civic education learning achievement of the fourth graders of SD Negeri Ledug.

Creating Effective Collaborative Learning Groups in an Online Health Promotion Course

In this paper, an undergraduate-level online health promotion course is used to illustrate how to incorporate group learning experiences into courses that create productive, engaging, and skill-building environments for learners.