Feedforward- or Feedback-Based Group Regulation Guidance in Collaborative Groups

Background: Collaboration is a crucial concept in learning and has the potential to foster learning. However, the fact that collaborative groups act with a common understanding in a common task brings many difficulties. Therefore, there is a need for group regulation and guidance to support effective group regulation in collaborative learning. On the other hand, the focus should be on the effect of group regulation guidance intervention on the improvement of both individual and group performance, modes of motivational regulation strategies, and the progression of group metacognition. Objectives: In this study, group regulation guidance approaches were developed to support the collaborative learning of Computer Science university students. The developed group regulation guidance approach consists of feedback and a feedforward mechanism. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of these approaches on academic performance, group regulation performance perception, self-, co-, and socially shared regulation of intrinsic motivation, and group metacognition levels. Methods: The study was patterned with a quasi-experimental design. 65 students participated in the study, and various scales were used to collect data. Data were analysed using paired sample t-tests, analysis of covariance, and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results and Conclusion: According to the research results, academic achievement showed an increase in the experimental groups after the intervention compared with the pre-intervention. The group in which the feedforward-supported regulation guidance approach was used showed better learning success. In the group using the feedback-supported regulation guidance approach, better group regulation, motivational regulation strategies, and group metacognition scores were obtained. Modes of motivational regulation strategies and group metacognition scores differed according to the experimental groups. Implications: While the results provide important clues for teachers and instructional designers, the developed approaches can be used as a framework for different fields.