Addressing engineering educators’ concerns: Collaborative learning and achievement

Recent calls for engineering education reform have included collaborative learning as a means to prepare students for future careers in engineering. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of collaboration and self-efficacy on undergraduate engineering students’ achievement. The results indicated significant positive correlations between collaborative learning and course grade (r = .29) and self-efficacy and course grade (r = .44). The linear combination of collaboration and self-efficacy accounted for 22% of the variance in course grade. Collaborative learning remained a significant predictor of course grade over and above self-efficacy. The results showed that students engaging in collaboration with peers achieved at higher levels than those who did not. In a field where individual work and competition has traditionally been valued, opportunities for collaboration may be beneficial to students’ academic achievement.