Collaborative learning: Effects of student expectations and communication apprehension on student motivation

Abstract

This study examines the effects of students' communication expectations and communication apprehension on the development of student motivation in collaborative learning (CL) group activities. The central question addressed here concerns the ways in which such communication predispositions promote or detract from individual students' motivation relative to their groups. Upper‐division undergraduates (N = 96) worked in small groups on three CL tasks in sessions which featured different communication modalities (group discussion, writing/peer commentary, and interactive computer conferencing). Measures of pre‐session expectancies and channel‐specific apprehension were combined to classify students into four categories of optimal challenge predispositions. Post‐session measures of emergent motivation or intrinsic rewards included: (a) expectancy fulfillment; (b) state anxiety; (c) communicative activity; and (d) satisfaction with the CL interaction. Results showed distinctive patterns of emergent motivation for students in each of the four optimal challenge categories for each of the CL learning modalities. Instructional implications for the use of collaborative learning are discussed.