Small human complex systems, here called co-present groups, are found across all fields of human social life. Complexity thinking suggests why this is so: that these groups, irrespective of formal content, have a meta-function of providing maximum complexity to manage the "indeterminacy" or "uncertainty" that characterises the…

School improvement depends, fundamentally, upon collective agency--a group capability to work productively together and solve problems. Unfortunately, many schools operate in contexts of adversity that can pose considerable challenges with developing collective agency. Schools serving high-poverty communities of color often face chronic resource…

Cultural responsiveness, or building on the strengths of the learning histories and social contingencies of students, is an important feature of instruction to engage students and ensure they feel represented in their classrooms. This systematic literature review examined which single-case designs have been used to study culturally responsive…

Supporting student interest in science is critical for broadening participation in the field because interest, even more than achievement, is associated with pursuing future science education and careers. In this study, we explore the conjecture that equitable classroom cultures can support interest in science. Specifically, we examine the idea…

The learning and social development benefits associated with pupils collaborating in small groups have been well documented over recent decades; however, research exploring personality as a mediating factor in small group learning is sparse. In this study we identified pupils who self-reported low levels of extraversion and/or high levels of…

Early research on online PBL explored student satisfaction, effectiveness, and design. The temporal aspect of online PBL has rarely been addressed. Thus, a gap exists in our knowledge regarding how online PBL unfolds: when and for how long a group engages in collaborative discussions. Similarly, little is known about whether and what sequence of…

The purpose of this study was to explore how group leader affect impacted facilitation of a career education program. Through a case study design, data were gathered via focus groups and blog posts from 16 program staff members. Five major themes were derived, highlighting group leader affect and experience: Emotions During Intervention,…

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…

Some collegiate anti-hazing programs are employing anti-hazing messaging that consists of exaggerated, misleading, or dubious claims. These claims are typically phrased in a way that is either a poor representation of the overall state of the research literature on hazing or oversells the findings from a single study. The failure to prioritize…

Engagement is critical in learning, including computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Previous studies have mainly measured engagement using students' self-reports which usually do not capture the learning process or the interactions between group members. Therefore, researchers advocated developing new and innovative engagement…

Group status hierarchies can affect individuals' experiences (e.g., sense of belonging) and the group's outcomes (e.g., cohesion) in group-based outdoor adventure education programs. The study aimed to explore how specific interpersonal status processes, which we also call the "relational status game," within an expedition group, affect…

Research on procrastination covers a variety of individual factors (e.g., conscientiousness) and this focus is reflected in interventions against procrastination. Less emphasis is put on situational and social factors that may help students reduce procrastination, such as social interdependence. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship…

Previous research has established that the successful transfer of training content into daily work life depends both on the trainees' individual characteristics and the characteristics of their work team. Specifically, multiple meta-analyses and reviews have confirmed that individuals' openness to experience, agreeableness, and neuroticism, as…

Background: Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments are hypothesised to offer a learning environment that satisfies basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence, subsequently improving learning and motivational outcomes. However, the underlying mechanism of how basic psychological needs are fulfilled…

This mixed methods study explores the work and perspectives of curriculum developers, a subset of educational developers who support the development, revision, and/or renewal of academic degree programs and similar sequences, beyond an individual course. Thirty-five developers in the United States and Canada completed a survey addressing…