Socially Challenged Collaborative Learning of Secondary School Students in Singapore

Abstract

Using a grounded theory research design, this paper examined the collaborative learning experiences of secondary school students in Singapore. The core phenomenon that emerged was the need for social interactions in collaborative learning, both in classroom and online settings. Educators often take for granted that effective collaborative learning will occur naturally once students are assigned to work in groups. In examining students' dissatisfaction when working in groups, this study highlighted the importance of surfacing these hidden assumptions for careful scrutiny. The key factors identified were centered on the need to address social challenges within collaborative learning. These included a pragmatic, results-oriented approach with limited interpersonal engagement used by students that can compromise collaborative learning outcomes. Having a deeper understanding of the challenges that resulted from limited social interactions provides educators with insights when designing classroom and online learning activities. This paper contributes to the understanding of groups' active learning to inform pedagogical practices for educators engaged in designing better collaborative learning experiences. Educators and curriculum designers need to be aware of the social drawbacks in collaborative learning in order to design a more socially engaging learning environment.

Developing digital multimedia of human anatomy and physiology material based on STEM education

“…Furthermore, the results of interviews with lecturers show that students tend not to communicate and collaborate during the learning process. This limitation causes students to not be able to build the concepts learned (Pang, Lau, Seah, Cheong, & Low, 2018;Rufii, 2015).…”

Tokkatsu: Initiating students’ collaborative activities in lesson study piloting school

“…The results showed that the implementation of the second challenge had a positive value in psychological atmosphere among students shows that the teacher does not only focus on cognitive achievement efforts but also other things that contribute to student achievement. This positive situation is able to inspire students to want and try to change their way of learning, albeit slowly, from individual learning to collaborative (Pang et al, 2018).…”

“…The success of learning in the 21 st Centuryis not only determined by how much and how deep students understand the subject matter provided (Larsson, 2017), but also on other things that are not as important as students' collaborative abilities (Bower & Richards, 2006;Cajkler, Wood, Norton, & Pedder, 2013;Pang, Lau, Seah, Cheong, & Low, 2018). In this case, learning in the classroom is directed not to always and always focus on the material but also in other domains such as how to learn students (Hayati, 2014).…”

Implementing of subject jigsaw learning model and its impact on students’ achievement in Embryology course

“…The principles of cooperative learning that are applied in small groups (Bellanca et al, 2010;Slavin, 2014), provide more space for students to take on the role and work together as a learner (Cetindamar & Hopkins, 2008;Jasti et al, 2014). Social interactions that occur in learning activities affect how students master the material (Pang, Lau, Seah, Cheong, & Low, 2018;Shin, Lee, & Ha, 2017). Some researchers believe that cooperative attitudes can grow with a pattern of habituation in the learning process (Scott, 2015;Triyanto, 2018).…”

“…In other words, students learn independently and there is no significant interaction between students. This learning design has an impact not only on social skills but also on student learning outcomes (Domopolii & Rahman, 2019;Pang et al, 2018). Students in CG classes are not accustomed to learning that involves holistic activities.…”