Biology Students' Collaboration Skills in the Pandemic Era

Abstract

Collaboration skills are critical for students to develop as they enter the workplace. However, there is a shortage of data on student collaboration skills in the post-pandemic era. This study aimed to ascertain the collaboration skills of Biology students during the pandemic era. This study involved 172 Biology students from several universities throughout Indonesia. They were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of nine statements and six questions about indicators of contribution, responsibility, and respect for others' opinions. The results indicated that Biology students' collaboration skills were excellent on all three indicators, namely contribution (83%), responsibility (87%), and respect for other people's opinions (80%). However, these findings contradict qualitative data indicating that students made a negligible contribution to group task completion. Only a tiny percentage of the students (10%) contributed to group work by looking for references and completing assignments collaboratively. In comparison, others finished the assignments according to their share (61%), contributed ideas and opinions (16%), contributed nothing at all (13%), and were hesitant to assist their teammates who were experiencing difficulties (67%). Their tardiness demonstrated students' lack of responsibility and disregard for the opinions of others in collecting group tasks (48%), and by the fact that almost half of the students clashed with their group-mates when they had divergent opinions (49%). Collaboration skills, it appears, must still be emphasized in the classroom, even if learning is conducted online. The development of students' collaboration skills can be facilitated by implementing various learning strategies in the classroom, such as cooperative learning strategies.