Affiliations: School of Information, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Anthony Bernier, 418D Clark Hall, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA. E-mail:Anthony.Bernier@SJSU.edu
Abstract: While instructors know the importance of successful small group
collaboration, and the value of the skills required to execute them,
students continue to prefer to work independently. The promise and
development of recent online tools, however, and streams of recent research
on small group collaboration, continue to produce less-than-satisfying or
sufficiently generalizable pedagogical interventions. This study examines a
more systematic attempt to direct students through specific tasks designed
to improve their experience and produce higher quality student learning
outcomes. Two groups of graduate students across four required online
classes were surveyed about their attitudes and the steps they take when
engaging assigned small group projects. The first group was offered a
pre-recorded lecture as a resource while the second group was offered the
same lecture plus additional specific ground rules to help avoid common
negative experiences. Both groups were asked to complete surveys about their
experiences. While many students continue to exhibit less-than-productive
behaviors and practices, even after engaging the guidelines, some
improvements did emerge. The study points out that more attention to
pedagogical intervention is indicated if instructors hope to improve
learning outcomes in valuable small group collaborations.
Keywords: Small group work, teams, collaborative work techniques, small group pedagogy, peer collaboration, collaborative learning, online pedagogy
