Collaborative learning as constructivist practice: An exploratory qualitative descriptive study of faculty approaches to student group work

Abstract

Collaborative learning is a common teaching technique, posited to align with a constructivist approach to teaching and learning. This qualitative descriptive study explores how, if at all, faculty implementation and discussion of collaborative learning shows evidence of it as a constructivist practice. Nineteen faculty at a large public mid-Atlantic university in the United States, representing a variety of academic disciplines, were interviewed about the ways in which they use collaborative learning in their courses. Driscoll’s five constructivist conditions for learning guided qualitative analysis: complex and relevant learning environments, social negotiation, multiple perspectives and modes of learning, ownership in learning, and self-awareness of knowledge construction. Faculty descriptions of collaborative learning provided a rich picture of its use and revealed ample alignment with these conditions. Faculty most often highlighted the ways in which collaborative learning supported the creation of complex and relevant learning environments and allowed for students’ ownership in learning. They least often discussed the ways in which collaborative learning supported self-awareness of knowledge construction and occasionally expressed challenges with social negotiation.