The cognitive and performance benefits of group work in undergraduate courses depend on understanding how to structure groups to promote communication and comfort while also promoting diversity and reducing conflict. The current study utilized social network analysis combined with self-reported survey data from 555 students in 155 groups to…

Effective communication and coordination supported by well-established patterns of interactions are vital to collaborative learning. The quality of social relationships among group members can affect group dynamics and communication, as well as further influence students' learning experiences and perceived learning outcomes. In this study, we…

In crafting the active learning approach for this study, we leverage on the definition of active learning as a methodology that requires students' active collaborative engagement and involvement in their own learning and they are held accountable for learning with peers. Building from social interaction, we extend the notion of active learning to…

With the rise of online instruction, a better understanding of the factors that contribute to belonging and motivation in these contexts is essential to creating optimal learning environments. Although group work is known to be beneficial to student success, few studies have investigated its role in the context of asynchronous online courses. The…

Past research has shown the benefit of cooperative learning in organizing instruction to promote students' engagement and achievement. However, it remains unclear whether students gain more from peers at relatively higher or similar levels of prior knowledge. Relatedly, it is important to distinguish collective performance from individual…

This study analyzed individual peer-review assessment data to understand the contributions of individual team members to in-class permanent-team outcomes, social loafing and loss of social interdependence among team members, and the achievement of team-lecture hybrid (TLH) instructional strategy learning outcomes in a team learning environment. A…

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) presents postsecondary educators with a conundrum: how to design and support small-group activities without stifling deep and meaningful learning. The literature indicates that students are not consistently practicing higher-order cognitive activities, educators are not reliably designing or…

The purpose of this study was to examine how small groups of students in an introductory undergraduate chemistry course construct CERs and the influence of race, gender, and perceived status during this construction. The small groups of students engaged in three chemistry activities that required them to generate a claim, evidence, and reasoning…

Student belongingness is important for successful study paths, and group work forms an important part of modern university physics education. To study the group dynamics of introductory physics students at the University of Helsinki, we collected network data from seven laboratory course sections of approximately 20 students each for seven…

Team-based learning (TBL) is a form of small-group learning that assumes stable teams promote accountability. Teamwork promotes communication among members; application exercises promote active learning. Students must prepare for each class; failure to do so harms their team's performance. Therefore, TBL promotes accountability. As part of the…

The construction of multi-link causal reasoning chains was investigated in 24 collaborative discussions involving 160 underserved fifth-grade children. The effects of group features and individual characteristics on seven causal chain models were tracked in the discussions. Children's basic English proficiency, talkativeness, and perceived…

Group research projects frequently are used to teach undergraduate research methods. This study uses multivariate analyses to examine the characteristics of higher-achieving groups (those that earn higher grades on group research projects) and to estimate the effects of participating in higher-achieving groups on subsequent individual learning…

Although a growing literature has documented the effectiveness of informal group work during class sessions, virtually no data exist on which students are collaborating. As a result, instructors rarely know whether students are self-sorting in ways that maximize learning. This article explores which undergraduate students worked together on each…

Learners are becoming increasingly divers. They may have much personal, social, cultural, psychological, and cognitive diversity. Forming suitable learning groups represents, therefore, a hard and time-consuming task. In Mobile Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (MCSCL) environments, this task is more difficult. Instructors need to consider…

The ability to work in groups is fundamental to education and professional environments. Today's classrooms are predominately filled with Millennials who have been working in teams their whole lives. Millennials enjoy group work because it is perceived as more fun and gives them a sense of unity and collaboration; unfortunately, it also gives them…