Anastasia Kitsantas and Erin Peters-Burton
This study examines collaboration in International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) science classrooms, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study involved two phases. In phase one, researchers aimed to identify classroom practices and instructional design elements that may support the development of student collaboration skills. This phase involved: analysing MYP curriculum documents, observing two MYP science classrooms in one school, interviewing the two teachers, and holding a focus group with seven of the students. In the second phase, 210 students from the same school responded to a survey about their perceptions of collaborative learning in their science classrooms. This included their perceived responsibility for learning, self-reported teamwork behaviours, and level of engagement in school. Overall, researchers found that the MYP curricular framework provides the foundation for fostering collaborative settings in science education by creating the opportunity for students to learn from their peers through discussion and peer teaching.
