Collaborative Inquiry Learning Research Articles

Research-Oriented Collaborative Inquiry Learning (REORCILEA) Model: Improvement of Students' Critical Thinking Ability and Collaborative Skills in Thermochemistry of Materials

This quantitative quasi-experimental study with a posttest-only control group design aimed to analyze differences in critical thinking ability and collaborative skills between students using a research-oriented collaborative inquiry learning model and those using a scientific approach in thermochemistry materials. Conducted with four classes XI MIA students in Pekanbaru, divided into experimental and control groups, the study used essay tests and observation sheets as instruments, with data analyzed via MANOVA. The research findings indicate that: (1) there are differences in critical thinking ability and collaborative skills between students using the research-oriented collaborative inquiry learning model and students using the scientific approach in thermodynamics material; (2) there is a difference in critical thinking ability between students who followed the research-oriented collaborative inquiry learning model and students who followed the scientific approach in thermodynamics material; (3) there is a difference in collaborative skills between students who followed the research-oriented collaborative inquiry learning model and students who followed the scientific approach in thermochemistry material.

Managers’ sociocognitive conflicts in collaborative learning

ABSTRACT Despite extensive research on collaborative learning and sociocognitive conflict, its impact on executive education and managers’ learning is less understood. This study addresses this gap by identifying the manifestations and topics of verbalised sociocognitive conflicts and reflective collaborative discussions in managers’ collaborative small-group learning settings. The research material comprises approximately 40.5 hours of video recordings from three separate small groups. This video material was analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis, guided by prior collaborative learning research, focusing on the role of sociocognitive conflict. Various forms of challenging as manifestations of verbalised sociocognitive conflicts were identified in the small-group setting at both the group and structural and individual and peer levels. The study demonstrates how managers’ discussions evolve from sociocognitive conflict to reflective conversations fostering collaborative learning, highlighting the crucial role of these conflicts in managers’ learning. Theoretical implications provide insights into how sociocognitive conflict evolves into collaborative learning in managers’ education, suggesting insights for further research. This study has practical implications for developing collaborative learning and executive education for managers by leveraging sociocognitive conflicts.

Knowledge creation through maker practices and the role of teacher and peer support in collaborative invention projects

This study analyzed collaborative invention projects by teams of lower-secondary (13–14-year-old) Finnish students. In invention projects, student teams design and make materially embodied collaborative inventions using traditional and digital fabrication technologies. This investigation focused on the student teams’ knowledge creation processes by examining how they applied maker practices (i.e., design process, computer engineering, product design, and science practices) in their co-invention projects and the effects of teacher and peer support. In our investigations, we relied on video data and on-site observations, utilizing and further developing visual data analysis methods. Our findings assist in expanding the scope of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research toward sociomaterially mediated knowledge creation, revealing the open-ended, nonlinear, and self-organized flow of the co-invention projects that take place around digital devices. Our findings demonstrate the practice-based, knowledge-creating nature of these processes, where computer engineering, product design, and science are deeply entangled with design practices. Furthermore, embodied design practices of sketching, practical experimenting, and working with concrete materials were found to be of the essence to inspire and deepen knowledge creation and advancement of epistemic objects. Our findings also reveal how teachers and peer tutor students can support knowledge creation through co-invention.

Game-based collaborative scientific inquiry learning using realistic context and inquiry process-based multidimensional scaffolding

ABSTRACT Integrating multidimensional scaffolding into digital game-based learning is expected to address scientific inquiry teaching challenges, simulating real-world complexities to ignite learner interest. This study stands out by using realistic scenarios and multidimensional scaffolding to develop an online collaborative scientific inquiry game, designed based on the scientific inquiry process to create corresponding game mechanics and processes. It leverages cloud technology integration as scaffolding, accompanied by a train maintenance scenario with non-player characters (NPC) to enhance electromagnetism learning for learners. This study involved 90 college students divided into three groups: game scaffolding group (remote gaming teaching activities with NPC-based scaffolding), document scaffolding group (remote case study activities with document-based scaffolding), and no scaffolding group (remote case study activities without scaffolding). The results indicate that providing scaffolding in remote scientific inquiry teaching enhances learning outcomes compared to activities without scaffolding. Learners in the game scaffolding group reported a high level of flow experience, perceived that remote gaming teaching was helpful for scientific inquiry learning, and experienced lower anxiety. Furthermore, learners provided highly positive feedback on the usefulness of multidimensional scaffolding in the game. There were no significant differences among the three instructional activities in terms of flow state, activity anxiety, and the usefulness of scientific inquiry.

Analysis and Suggestions on the Challenges Faced by Kindergarten Teachers in Cooperative Learning Models from a Sociocultural Theory Perspective

The purpose of this empirical study is to identify and address the challenges faced by kindergarten teachers in guiding and implementing collaborative inquiry learning in early childhood group settings from a socio-cultural theoretical perspective. The research was conducted in kindergartens located in Chengxiang, Putian. This study employed interviews to explore teachers' understanding and perception of collaborative learning in groups, as well as the specific issues encountered during its implementation. The research methodology utilized semi-structured interviews with a small sample size of 9 participants, following qualitative research techniques. The main findings of this study offer solutions to the practical problems encountered by kindergarten teachers in organizing and implementing collaborative learning in early childhood groups in third-tier cities, based on Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory. It is important to note that the findings are derived from a limited sample size. Finally, this study concludes by providing practical educational recommendations from the perspective of Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory.

A learning analytics‐based collaborative conversational agent to foster productive dialogue in inquiry learning

AbstractBackgroundSustaining productive student–student dialogue in online collaborative inquiry learning is challenging, and teacher support is limited when needed in multiple groups simultaneously. Collaborative conversational agents (CCAs) have been used in the past to support student dialogue. Yet, research is needed to reveal the characteristics and effectiveness of such agents.ObjectivesTo investigate the extent to which our analytics‐based Collaborative Learning Agent for Interactive Reasoning (Clair) can improve the productivity of student dialogue, we assessed both the levels at which students shared thoughts, listened to each other, deepened reasoning, and engaged with peer's reasoning, as well as their perceived productivity in terms of their learning community, accurate knowledge, and rigorous thinking.MethodIn two separate studies, 19 and 27 dyads of secondary school students from Brazil and the Netherlands, respectively, participated in digital inquiry‐based science lessons. The dyads were assigned to two conditions: with Clair present (treatment) or absent (control) in the chat. Sequential pattern mining of chat logs and the student's responses to a questionnaire were used to evaluate Clair's impact.ResultsAnalysis revealed that in both studies, Clair's presence resulted in dyads sharing their thoughts at a higher frequency compared to dyads that did not have Clair. Additionally, in the Netherlands' study, Clair's presence led to a higher frequency of students engaging with each other's reasoning. No differences were observed in students' perceived productivity.ConclusionThis work deepens our understanding of how CCAs impact student dialogue and illustrates the importance of a multidimensional perspective in analysing the role of CCAs in guiding student dialogue.

Dialogues across time and space in a video-based collaborative learning environment

In this study, we investigate how pre-service teachers’ group dialogues emerged and intersected across time and space as students collaboratively constructed a video-based mind map to prepare for oral exams in a pedagogy course. The study was conducted as part of a design-based research project investigating the ways that video-based mind maps can support learning as both a collaborative activity and a classroom resource. We applied interaction analysis methods to recordings taken during the production of the mind map as well as the videos made by students within the mind map itself to analyze synchronous and asynchronous dialogues among group members as they viewed, recorded, and uploaded videos. The findings offer an in-depth understanding of how collaboration occurs in different space-time configurations within and across groups as mediated by video resources. We discuss how these findings contribute to computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research on the ways collaboration can emerge across different levels of activity as well as the pedagogical implications for introducing video-based dialogues into the classroom.

Enhancing Scientific Argumentation Skills Through Electronic Worksheets Based on Research Oriented Collaborative Inquiry Learning

This study aimed to develop and determine the feasibility of an electronic worksheet based on Research Oriented Collaborative Inquiry Learning in a course on chemical equilibrium. The development model of this research was Research and Development. It follows the 4D model by Thiagarajan. The 4D development model consists of four research and development steps: define, design, develop and disseminate. The instruments in this study were questionnaires used to obtain input data for products and quantitative scores as the value of media feasibility. The results showed that the components of the e-worksheet on the aspects of the materials, learning, visual display, and software engineering were suitable for use by students. The percentage of assessment by chemistry teachers was 92.50%, peer reviewers were 90%, and students’ rating was 87%. Therefore, the electronic worksheet based on Research Oriented Collaborative Inquiry Learning (REORCILEA) is worthy of being used as a learning medium in the course on chemical equilibrium to improve scientific argumentation skills. The electronic worksheet has the advantage of being more practical and effective in learning.
 Keywords: electronic worksheet, collaborative inquiry learning, chemical equilibrium

국내 초⋅중등 수학교육에서 협력학습 연구에 관한 체계적 문헌 고찰

This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review on collaborative learning research in elementary and secondary mathematics education in Korea, explore various characteristics related to the research, and discuss areas for improvement. To achieve this, this study presents a protocol for analyzing research in mathematics education with a focus on collaboration and cooperation, following a systematic literature review methodology. Then analyze the selected studies based on the themes derived from the protocol. As a result of the systematic literature review, research characteristics on collaborative learning were categorized into eight main themes: keywords, small group composition methods, sampling methods, sample size, analysis methods, analytical frameworks, domains of educational goal, and collaborative mathematical competencies in collaborative learning. The research findings revealed several key points: First, many studies conducted at the various school grades and methodologies, help to understand various classroom environments that implement collaborative learning. Second, it was found that the researcher's subjective characteristics were largely reflected in the selection of the sample extraction method and sample size. Third, as the cognitive domain of collaborative learning mainly presents changes as results through pre- and post-academic achievement, in relation to mathematics subject competency, there have been many studies that have derived results in relation to collaborative mathematical problem solving.

Investigating Linguistic Alignment in Collaborative Dialogue: A Study of Syntactic and Lexical Patterns in Middle School Students.

Linguistic alignment, the tendency of speakers to share common linguistic features during conversations, has emerged as a key area of research in computer-supported collaborative learning. While previous studies have shown that linguistic alignment can have a significant impact on collaborative outcomes, there is limited research exploring its role in K-12 learning contexts. This study investigates syntactic and lexical linguistic alignments in a collaborative computer science-learning corpus from 24 pairs (48 individuals) of middle school students (aged 11-13). The results show stronger effects of self-alignment than partner alignment on both syntactic and lexical levels, with students often diverging from their partners on task-relevant words. Furthermore, student self-alignment on the syntactic level is negatively correlated with partner satisfaction ratings, while self-alignment on lexical level is positively correlated with their partner's satisfaction.

Learning within fiber-crafted algorithms: Posthumanist perspectives for capturing human-material collaboration

AbstractA key commitment of computer-supported collaborative learning research is to study how people learn in collaborative settings to guide development of methods for capture and design for learning. Computer-supported collaborative learning research has a tradition of studying how the physical world plays a part in collaborative learning. Within the field, a material turn is emerging that considers how digital and tangible technologies actively contribute to collaborative learning processes. Studying how tangible materials produce collaborative learning visibly and algorithmically is particularly important at a time when advanced algorithms are integrated into educational contexts in ways that are not always transparent. However, the needed methodologies for capturing how non-human agents take part in collaborative learning remains underdeveloped. The present study builds on current CSCL research that investigates materials in collaborative learning and introduces posthumanist perspectives with the aim to decenter humans methodologically and to probe empirically whether and how these perspectives contribute to empirical understanding of collaborative learning processes. Taking fiber crafts (e.g., weaving and fabric manipulation) as a context for computational learning, the present study conducted a posthumanist analysis of differences among human and non-human participants in collaboration using video data to investigate how middle school youths and fiber craft components performed algorithms over time. The findings show how both youths and craft materials actively contributed to the performance of algorithms. In weaving, algorithms became repeated youth-material movements one dimension at a time. In fabric manipulation, algorithms became a repeated confluence of component parts. Decentering humans through an analysis of differences among human and non-human introduced human-material collaboration as a productive unit of analysis for understanding how materials and people together contribute to producing what can be recognized as computational performance. The findings of this research contribute to ongoing conversations in CSCL research on how computational materials can be considered in collaborative learning and present a new approach to capture collaborative learning as physical expansion over time. The study has implications for future research on capturing collaborative computational learning and designing physical computational learning opportunities that show technology as evolving.

The implementation of peer assessment as a scaffold during computer-supported collaborative inquiry learning in secondary STEM education

BackgroundComputer-supported collaborative inquiry learning (CSCiL) has been proposed as a successful learning method to foster scientific literacy. This research aims to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding the role of peers as scaffolding sources in CSCiL environments. The primary objective is to explicitly implement peer assessment as a scaffolding tool to enhance students' inquiry output in terms of research question, data, and conclusion. Additionally, students’ perceptions of peer assessment within CSCiL are explored.ResultsThe study involved 9th and 10th-grade students from 12 schools (N = 382), exploring the effects of peer assessment with and without peer dialogue. The results highlight that while adjustments were more frequently made to the research question and data, adjustments to the conclusion showed significantly greater improvement. Furthermore, students’ perceptions of peer assessment during CSCiL were examined, revealing that students generally perceive peer assessment as fair and useful, and they accept it while being willing to make improvements based on the feedback. While students did not report experiencing negative feelings, they also did not report positive emotions from the process. Additionally, the study found that including a peer dialogue in the peer assessment process did not significantly impact the abovementioned findings.ConclusionsThis study enriches our understanding of peer assessment as a scaffolding tool in CSCiL, highlighting its potential to improve inquiry outputs and providing valuable insights for instructional design and implementation.

Effects of ability grouping on students’ collaborative problem solving patterns: Evidence from lag sequence analysis and epistemic network analysis

Grouping students according to their abilities and maximizing each member's role is a key issue in collaborative learning research. Although some studies have investigated the effects of homogeneous or heterogeneous grouping on collaborative learning performance, the differences between two approaches remains largely unexplored. During the course of an eight-week term, 42 student teachers participated in a multitasking collaborative problem solving activity. This study employed content analysis, Lag Sequence Analysis, and Epistemic Network Analysis to examine the effects of ability grouping on the behavioral patterns and cognitive networks of the student teachers. The coding results show that, compared with the homogenous groups, the heterogeneous groups had more socially oriented communication, and they were also more inclined to propose questions concerning learning task. Students with similar ability were more successful in establishing common representations of problem solving in peer interactions. In addition, the statistical analysis showed that heterogeneous groups had significantly higher learning performance than homogeneous groups. Revealing and comparing the behavioral patterns, heterogeneous groups had more behavioral sequences that were significantly associated with learning performance, which partly explained the significantly higher performance of the heterogeneous group than the homogeneous group. Compared with the homogeneous groups, the most striking difference of the heterogeneous groups was in how they proceeded negotiation. Furthermore, Epistemic Network Analysis detailed how they developed cognitive networks of multitasking collaborative learning from different levels. At the group level, more closely connected CPS skills were observed in the heterogeneous group. At the individual level, three learners in the heterogeneous groups had a distributed discussion focus and trajectory change due to the emerging of student-teacher relationships. In the homogeneous groups, three learners were very close in their discussion focus at beginning and the changes in the trajectories are also very close. Finally, we stated the implications and limitations and pointed out future research directions.

Virtual Programming Laboratory in Collaborative Inquiry Learning to Improve Higher Order Thinking Skills for Work Readiness in the Industrial World

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of using Virtual programming Lab software as a practicum tool in inquiry learning, collaboration, and increasing the ability of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) students who take programming courses. Pseudo-experimental studies are designed with experimental and control groups. This research was attended by 35 first-semester students from the Pelita Indonesia Informatics Engineering Study Program. Quantitative methods are used to determine students' HOTS levels and their acceptance of the use of virtual programming labs as computer practicum tools. The data analysis technique used is the Kolmogrof Smirnov technique. For inquiry-based collaborative learning using 7 stages of learning. The effectiveness of virtual programming with collaborative inquiry learning through HOTS questions is tested with the N-gain test. Based on the findings, it is stated that virtual programming applications with collaborative inquiry learning in programming courses are quite effective in improving students' higher-order thinking skills with an average N Gain of 60%. The ability of students to do HOTS questions in C4, C5, and C6 has increased after post-tests in experimental classes.

Middle school students’ reflections on process oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL®)1

This study aims to better understand Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) in middle school science teaching by revealing the perceptions of sixth-grade students in a public school in Turkey about POGIL. In the research conducted as a case study, the data were collected through interviews with 12 students who were taught the Particle Nature of Matter Unit using POGIL in the science course. The results indicated that the students generally made positive evaluations of POGIL. They emphasized doing experiments, teamwork/cooperation, making inferences, activity worksheets, discussions and teacher guidance as the features of POGIL they thought enhanced their learning. They also identified aspects that they found challenging. The challenges were largely connected to the cooperative learning component of POGIL. Some students believed that lecturing should also be part of the lesson. Yet, they realized the POGIL teacher’s role as the facilitator. Overall, students appreciated participating in this collaborative inquiry learning environment.

Collaborative Retrieval Practice Reduces Mind-Wandering During Learning.

Research has shown engaging in retrieval practice can reduce the frequency of mind-wandering. However, no prior research has examined how engaging in collaborative (as compared to individual) retrieval practice impacts mind-wandering during learning. In the current experiment, participants were asked to study a list of words, followed by retrieval practice that either occurred collaboratively (as a dyad) or individually. During retrieval practice, participants provided self-reports as to whether they were on task or off task. Following retrieval practice, all participants completed an individual final test. Of greatest interest, the results showed that engaging in collaborative retrieval practice decreased the frequency of mind-wandering during learning. In addition, and consistent with prior collaborative learning research, collaborative inhibition during practice and postcollaborative benefits on the final test were observed. The current results provide the first demonstration of an additional benefit to using collaborative retrieval practice: This technique reduces the frequency of mind-wandering.

Collaborative Approaches in Online Nurse Education: A Systematic Literature Review

According to the socio-constructivist theories of learning, collaborative learning allows negotiation of shared meanings and co-construction of new knowledge among peers. This approach fits particularly well with healthcare professional education needs, as these professionals often face challenging issues that require the ability to fully understand the complexity of the patients’ health conditions through working with others. However, while collaborative learning approaches are widely used in face-to-face nurse education contexts, their online equivalent still seem to be understudied, in spite of their great potential for the field. This systematic literature review investigates: (1) to what extent are online collaborative learning activities being adopted and investigated in formal nurse education, (2) What kind of online collaborative learning activities/techniques are proposed and what team structures are employed, (3) what technologies are used to run these learning activities, and (4) what methods are used to evaluate the impact of these activities. Studies were included if they presented online collaborative learning activities proposed by Universities or VET (Vocational Education and Training) providers. Articles published in 2015 or later were collected in November 2022 from Scopus, Web of Science and Medline. A total of 1059 records were retrieved, selected and analysed by four coders, resulting in a final dataset of 75 papers that were coded for type of collaborative approach, study characteristics, research methodology used, strength of evidence, and relevance to the research questions. Most of them described the use of activities like Discussions, Case Studies and Peer Reviews, sometimes in association with Role Play. In terms of technologies, Learning Managements Systems, forums and social media were already common pre-pandemic, but during the lockdown synchronous communication tools – often used to support simulations – took over. Data collection was carried out quantitatively, qualitatively or using mixed methods, but in many cases data reporting is weak or absent at all. The majority of the retrieved papers illustrate activities where collaboration was not structured in any way and there was no joint assignment or common objective/artefact that learners needed to reach/produce. In case of blended interventions, often collaboration is limited to the f2f sessions, while the digital setting is used for individual work. In terms of social structure, most of the time small groups or plenaries are used. In summary, the review reveals that studies on online collaborative learning for nurses are limited, especially in Europe, and the design of online collaborative activities often clashes with the principles put forward by the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) research community. Based on the results of the review we put forth some key recommendations, such as ensuring that online collaboration involves the creation of a shared artefact and striving to make virtual simulations actually collaborative, rather than limited to envisage student interactions in the debriefing phase. The paper also proposes a number of research areas seldom investigated and that would deserve further attention in the future.

Working Collaboratively in Second/Foreign Language Learning [Review

[First paragraph] The last two decades have witnessed a noticeable development in collaborative learning research. Informed by both cognitive-interactionist theory (Long 1983, 1996) and sociocultural theory (Vygotsky 1978), a large body of literature (e.g., Loewen & Sato, 2018; Sato & Ballinger, 2016; Swain & Lapkin, 2001) has demonstrated a robust connection between collaborative work and second language acquisition. In particular, peer collaboration is believed to serve as a facilitator of language production, and therefore it creates more opportunities for language learning. Based on this notion, researchers are branching out in new directions to investigate various aspects of collaboration in diverse learning contexts. The volume Working Collaboratively in Second/Foreign Language Learning edited by María del Pilar García Mayo, is a collection of studies documenting those explorations into collaborative work in second and foreign language learning.

The Good, the Bad, and the Pandemic: An Intra-Group Approach to Exploring Students’ Experiences with Collaborative Learning During COVID-19

Collaborative learning is increasingly common in higher education, with several studies pointing to its effectiveness. However, it also poses some social and cognitive challenges for students, resulting in students’ mixed attitudes toward collaborative learning. COVID-19 has added to these challenges by, for example, introducing barriers to face-to-face communication. Existing studies exploring the impact of COVID-19 on students’ experiences with collaborative learning focus on individual students, missing potential intra-group trends that could be useful to instructors. Using both Likert-style and open-ended questions, this study explored 38 college students’ experiences engaging in collaborative learning during COVID-19 both individually and at the intra-group level. Overall, students’ experiences were positive both academically and socially, though some experienced challenges such as freeloading and online connection issues. For most groups, there were one or two students who had negative experiences, but these issues seemed to be individual and not indicative of a group-level problem. The study introduces an intra-group approach to collaborative learning research. Its findings suggest that instructors should apply collaborative learning pedagogies to enhance students’ learning and social connectedness. Instructors could further improve students’ experiences by identifying and solving common issues (e.g., freeloading, technical difficulties) by surveying students or encouraging them to share these difficulties with the instructor.

How is student scientific attitude profile toward chemistry learning with research-oriented collaborative inquiry learning?

This study aims to describe the profile of scientific attitudes of XI grade high school students in Sleman who learned with the Research-Oriented Collaborative Inquiry Learning REORCILEA. The sample in this research was 30 high school students who were selected using a purposive sampling technique. REORCILEA is an integrated learning model between research-based, inquiry, and collaborative learning. The research was descriptive qualitative designed, and the results of the descriptive analysis revealed that high school students who taught with REORCILEA had a 10% good, 86, 67 % enough, and 3.33 % low scientific attitude profile. Scientific attitude toward chemistry learning profile assessed with a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Students' scientific attitudes are described by seven aspects of scientific attitude, specifically curiosity, rational thinking, openmindedness, concern with evidence, and honest acting according to the rules.