A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South Africa
Collaborative learning has been recognised as a highly effective approach to enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving, and overall academic performance. However, rural university students face unique challenges that may hinder their participation and engagement in collaborative learning activiti...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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ERRCD Forum
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Interdisciplinary Journal of Rural and Community Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijrcs/article/view/971 |
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| _version_ | 1841554146903195648 |
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| author | Bunmi Isaiah Omodan Andy Mafunda Enathi Mbebe Somikazi Mdolota |
| author_facet | Bunmi Isaiah Omodan Andy Mafunda Enathi Mbebe Somikazi Mdolota |
| author_sort | Bunmi Isaiah Omodan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Collaborative learning has been recognised as a highly effective approach to enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving, and overall academic performance. However, rural university students face unique challenges that may hinder their participation and engagement in collaborative learning activities. This gap may subsequently affect their learning effectiveness, leading to poor academic performance. Therefore, this study explores the challenges faced by rurally located university students in collaborative learning and strategies to enhance their participation. The study is underpinned by social learning theory and framed within a transformative paradigm using a qualitative research approach. Participatory Research was employed as a research design to provide inclusive opportunities for participants to be actively involved in the process of finding solutions to their problems. Focus group discussions were conducted to elicit information from 10 randomly selected rural university students enrolled in a particular module at a selected university in the Eastern Cape province. Thematic analysis was utilised to analyse the data. The results indicate that the main challenges faced by rural university students in collaborative learning include limited access to resources and technology, conflicting time schedules, and the unavailability of students. In contrast, providing adequate access to resources and technology, along with social and institutional support, is essential for enhancing collaborative learning among students in rural universities. In conclusion, promoting collaborative learning among rural university students requires universities to invest in adequate resources, implement flexible learning schedules, and create supportive learning environments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9ef8a0c3dee841d69b9dabcd35de3b23 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2710-2572 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | ERRCD Forum |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Interdisciplinary Journal of Rural and Community Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-9ef8a0c3dee841d69b9dabcd35de3b232025-01-08T19:05:02ZengERRCD ForumInterdisciplinary Journal of Rural and Community Studies2710-25722024-10-01611410.38140/ijrcs-2024.vol6.19935A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South AfricaBunmi Isaiah Omodan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9093-3108Andy Mafunda1https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1322-5854Enathi Mbebe2https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5859-825XSomikazi Mdolota3https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7372-1529Walter Sisulu University, South AfricaWalter Sisulu University, South AfricaWalter Sisulu University, South AfricaWalter Sisulu University, South AfricaCollaborative learning has been recognised as a highly effective approach to enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving, and overall academic performance. However, rural university students face unique challenges that may hinder their participation and engagement in collaborative learning activities. This gap may subsequently affect their learning effectiveness, leading to poor academic performance. Therefore, this study explores the challenges faced by rurally located university students in collaborative learning and strategies to enhance their participation. The study is underpinned by social learning theory and framed within a transformative paradigm using a qualitative research approach. Participatory Research was employed as a research design to provide inclusive opportunities for participants to be actively involved in the process of finding solutions to their problems. Focus group discussions were conducted to elicit information from 10 randomly selected rural university students enrolled in a particular module at a selected university in the Eastern Cape province. Thematic analysis was utilised to analyse the data. The results indicate that the main challenges faced by rural university students in collaborative learning include limited access to resources and technology, conflicting time schedules, and the unavailability of students. In contrast, providing adequate access to resources and technology, along with social and institutional support, is essential for enhancing collaborative learning among students in rural universities. In conclusion, promoting collaborative learning among rural university students requires universities to invest in adequate resources, implement flexible learning schedules, and create supportive learning environments.https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijrcs/article/view/971participatory lenscollaborative learningrural university studentssocial learning theory |
| spellingShingle | Bunmi Isaiah Omodan Andy Mafunda Enathi Mbebe Somikazi Mdolota A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South Africa Interdisciplinary Journal of Rural and Community Studies participatory lens collaborative learning rural university students social learning theory |
| title | A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South Africa |
| title_full | A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South Africa |
| title_fullStr | A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South Africa |
| title_short | A participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural South Africa |
| title_sort | participatory lens to enhance collaborative learning among university students in rural south africa |
| topic | participatory lens collaborative learning rural university students social learning theory |
| url | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijrcs/article/view/971 |
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