Student groups as learning entities: The effect of group diversity and teamwork quality on groups' cognitive complexity

Abstract

Collaborative learning has important group-level benefits, yet most studies in higher education only focus on individual benefits of collaborative learning experiences. This study extends these insights by testing a model in which teamwork quality mediates the impact of several compositional differences (gender, nationality and teamwork expertise diversity, as well as need for cognition disparity) on groups’ cognitive complexity in a sample of 159 student groups. The results support the mediating role of teamwork quality, and have important practical implications for the design of student groups in higher education.

Keywords:

• group cognitive complexity
• collaborative learning
• team composition
• teamwork quality
• group cognition