“That’s going to be the hardest thing for me”: tensions experienced by quiet students during collaborative learning situations

ABSTRACT

Collaborative learning (CL) has become increasingly prevalent throughout all disciplines in higher education, but these types of situations may prove challenging for quiet students who may prefer more independent learning. This study used a series of interviews with and reflections from 10 quiet students while they were undergoing CL to better understand their thoughts, feelings and perceptions in regard to their own learning. This study found four themes: (1) experiencing negative emotions, (2) performing sociality, (3) feeling reluctant to share and (4) situations and structures for successful learning. This study found that quiet students experienced several communication tensions during CL situations, including tensions between speaking and silence, engaging and disengaging and belonging and isolation. This study suggests that managing the tensions underlying group communication may be particularly challenging for quiet students, an area which may require further attention from educators wishing to use CL techniques in the higher education classroom.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaborative learning
• group work
• quiet students
• higher education
• engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ann Medaille

Ann Medaille is Director of Research and Instructional Services at the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries in the United States. Her research interests include student learning at the college level, assessment strategies, and information, visual and media literacies.

Janet Usinger

Janet Usinger is an Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno in the United States. She has an outreach teaching responsibility, working with K-12 and higher education institutions in the areas of P-16 articulation and leadership.  Her research interests include perceptions and relationships that individuals hold regarding the educational institutions with which they are affiliated.