Gender diversity and motivation in collaborative learning groups: the mediating role of group discussion quality

• Published in: Social psychology of education Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 289 - 302
• Main Authors: Curşeu, Petru Lucian, Chappin, Maryse M. H., Jansen, Rob J. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Collaborative learning; College Students; Cooperative Learning; Cultural Awareness; Discussion groups; Education; Education, Higher; Females; Gender; Gender Differences; Group Discussion; Group work in education; Higher Education; Learning Processes; Mediation; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Personality and Social Psychology; Prediction; Quality; Schemata (Cognition); Self Evaluation (Groups); Sociology of Education; Student behavior; Student Motivation; Team learning approach in education; Teamwork; Collaborative learning groups; Group performance; Gender; Need for cognition; Group discussion quality; Core self-evaluations
• ISSN: 1381-2890; 1573-1928
• DOI: 10.1007/s11218-017-9419-5

Collaborative learning is often used in higher education to help students develop their teamwork skills and acquire curricular knowledge. In this paper we test a mediation model in which the quality of group discussions mediates the impact of gender diversity and group motivation on collaborative learning effectiveness. Our results show that the proportion of women in groups, and the group level need for cognition and core self-evaluations (within group average) positively predict discussion quality that in turn predicts group (academic) performance. Our results show that discussion quality fully mediates the effects of need for cognition and core self-evaluations on group performance. The effect for gender diversity on group performance is only partly mediated by discussion quality.