Knowledge integration through collaborative problem solving in high school students: Others as partners in co-constructing knowledge

Abstract

The present study examined how peer collaboration facilitates high school students' individual knowledge integration, focusing on the process of co-constructing knowledge. Knowledge integration was measured by the qualitative change from a problem-solving strategy that refers to each of various ideas to a strategy that integrates those ideas comprehensively. Tenth graders (N = 70 in Experiment 1; N = 75 in Experiment 2) solved mathematical problems in 3 sessions: pre-test, intervention (2 conditions: Pair or Single), and post-test. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that (a) the Pairs tended to change their strategies more often than the Singles, and (b) those students who had linked multiple elements during the Pair intervention often used the strategy of comprehensive explanation in the post-test. Experiment 2 examined the effect of stepped instruction in the intervention (compared to the general instruction used in Experiment 1) on the students' strategy changes. The results showed that (a) the Pairs who were given the stepped instruction changed their strategies more often than the Pairs who had been given the general instruction, and also more often than the Singles; and (b) the Pairs who changed their strategies had co-constructed knowledge during the intervention.