Team Learning for Underserved Students: Challenging Perceptions of which Psychological and Social Factors Predict Student Experiences with Group Work

Program Abstract: There are multiple gaps in our knowledge of how contextual factors impact students’ experiences in and perceptions of team learning environments, particularly for students not at four-year institutions and members of historically marginalized groups. We examined the relations between several cultural and individual psychosocial factors and students’ perceptions of group work and how these relations might differ for three groups of historically marginalized students at Highline College, a two-year MSI. We found that students’ independent self-construals, through the mediating influences of self-efficacy and belonging, impacted their willingness to engage in and perception of learning in group work. Additionally, we found that the relationship between psychosocial factors and group work outcomes were different for distinct student groups, such as recent immigrants. Together, this research suggests several opportunities for targeted interventions and highlights the importance of considering the unique experiences of students from historically marginalized groups to make group work more inclusive.