Computer coding and choreography: Contrasting experiences of learning about collaboration in engineering and creative arts

Abstract

This article argues that how collaboration is taught can have a significant impact on the ways in which collaboration is experienced, understood and valued. In doing so, the study draws attention to performing arts studio-pedagogies, and their potential relevance to enhancing creativity within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Through a mixed-methods study of teachers’ and students’ experiences of group work, this article compares two disciplines that maintain distinct discourses on teaching collaboration: Software design and choreography. The quantitative data reveals that despite significant demographic differences, students from the two disciplines maintain a common enthusiasm for group learning. There are significant distinctions however, on student perceptions of the teaching and learning of collaboration, their learning achievements about group work, and the relevance of group work in their discipline. Qualitative commentaries from students and teachers extend the arguments across both the distinctions and the similarities, emphasizing the impact of particular teaching practices and establishing standpoints for further research into the pedagogy of collaboration in higher education.