Engaging collaborative learning to develop students’ skills of the 21st century

Abstract

Collaborative approaches to teaching and assessing students have been long practised by educators in a variety of educational settings. Collaborative learning is useful in developing students’ ability to learn to work as a team while getting them engaged in the learning activities. This study investigates the impact of collaboration in the learning of secondary school Statistics in three government secondary schools in Brunei Darussalam. In total, 71 Year 7 students participated in this study. A series of lessons and group-based activities on Statistics were conducted that consisted of hands-on activities and application of mathematical concept to real-life problems and worksheet-based instruction. Data were collected using pre- and post-tests on secondary school Statistics; a readily available 4-point student work rubrics was used as reference on collaboration that focused specifically on the level of collaboration skills acquired; and a questionnaire on students’ attitudes on collaborative learning. The results from the pre- and post-tests revealed an 11.8% increase in the test scores, and 47.9% of the students worked collaboratively within their groups and shared the responsibility towards the given tasks. The responses from the questionnaire indicated that 96% of the students found working collaboratively as a group assisted them in enhancing their learning of Statistics. Majority of the students also believed that they gained more knowledge and learnt specific skills and processes when they work in groups. This study has shown that collaborative learning helped to improve students’ performance academically as well as to develop the necessary skills of the 21st Century.