In Why Students Can’t Work on Their Own, Chronicle of Higher Education author Beckie Supiano details college student struggles working independently. And ponders if this is a long-term consequence of the pandemic.
Collaborative learning is one of the most important factors in student success. In fact, collaborative learning it the third most important factor in first-year retention. For non-statisticians, green is good for student success and grey is moderate. The black dots play a smaller role.
Collaborate learning was steadily decreasing at ISU for 7 years. And accelerated after 2020. The three graphs below show how collaboration with other students has been decreasing for several years at ISU.
Despite the trends, ISU students are still more collaborative than students at other institutions. That’s the good news. Another piece of good news is that student-faculty interactions are high.
Collaboration is a strength to build on. Savvy institutions will stay on top of the trends and figure out how to work in this new environment. Because of the significant role collaboration plays in retention, it’s important to stay on top of the trends.
I would look to programs, courses, and student affairs programs that are good at facilitating collaboration. And apply their principles across the campus.
The article’s final line captured one potential path forward:
If colleges can’t change the pre-college lives of their students, or the many directions they’re being pulled in once they arrive, perhaps what needs to change is when, where, and how they’re expected to learn.
Beckie Supiano, Why Students Can’t Work on Their Own
Read the collaborative learning charts
The percent of first-year students who frequently asked another student to help them with coursework fell by 17% since 2016.
The percent of first-year students who explained course material to other students nose dived after the pandemic, falling by 13% between 2020 and 2023.
The percent of first-year students who prepared for exams by working with the material with other students decreased by 14% since 2016.
