Abstract
During one school year, data were collected for vocational education students while they worked collaboratively on open-ended mathematics problems. In collaboration with participating teachers, instructional activities were designed with a twofold goal of modelling the process of problem solving and improving collaboration. Instructional activities were based on ‘scaffolding instruction’ and included modelling problem solving, stimulating reflection, and giving feedback on the process of collaboration. These activities were gradually developed and implemented in collaboration with teachers who participated in the study. The main research question in this study was whether student collaboration while working in small groups creates a learning context where students work on open-ended problems and where instructional activities are aimed at stimulating collaborative problem solving in mathematics.
To answer the research question, an experiment was undertaken in two classes in different schools. Two groups of students were videotaped while they tried to solve mathematics problems collaboratively. Observational data were analysed with a schema that was developed as part of this research. Analyses of the data showed that, in both groups, collaboration-oriented patterns increased during the school year. It is argued that the approach of gradual implementation of instructional activities that are designed in cooperation with participating teachers is effective in stimulating collaborative problem solving.
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Hoek, D.J., Seegers, G. Effects of Instruction on Verbal Interactions During Collaborative Problem Solving. Learning Environ Res 8, 19–39 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-005-7949-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-005-7949-9