Examining the Impact of Tutorial Activity Engagement on Undergraduate Students' Collaborative Preferences

TL;DR

This study investigates how tutorial engagement influences undergraduate students' preferences for collaborative learning in mathematics, revealing that increased collaboration correlates with stronger preferences, which remain stable over time.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the stable relationship between tutorial engagement and collaborative preferences in a tertiary mathematics context.

Findings

Higher collaborative engagement leads to stronger CPLM.

CPLM preferences remain stable over a semester.

Familiar tutorial modes reinforce existing collaboration preferences.

Abstract

This study examines the impact of tutorial engagement on Collaborative Preferences for Learning Mathematics (CPLM) in a tertiary context. A two-way mixed ANOVA analysed these preferences over a semester in a sample of undergraduate students. As expected, collaborative engagement had a significant main effect, with students who collaborated more reporting stronger preferences for working with their peers (higher CPLM). The absence of an interaction effect between the nature of tutorial engagement and time suggests CPLM differences remain stable. This may indicate that familiar modes of tutorial engagement may reinforce existing collaboration preferences.