Team-skills training and real-time facilitation as a means for developing student teachers’ learning of collaboration

Abstract

This mixed-methods study investigates whether and how team-skills training and real-time facilitation can enhance students' learning of collaboration. Two hundred and fifty-seven student teachers carried out a group task at two different levels of intervention. The findings show that the intervention had a positive impact on the students’ perceived learning outcomes and on stimulating group reflection. We also identified four enabling structures of the task design. The study contributes to literature on how collaborative learning activities in higher education can be facilitated and argues that cultivating a language around the subject of collaboration is a prerequisite for developing transferrable collaborative skills.