University Students’ Conceptions and Practice of Collaborative Work on Writing

A number of studies attest to the relevance and benefits of group work and collaboration in various learning processes. However, in terms of higher education teaching and learning, the question often remains of what kind of group work or what type of collaboration is amenable to student learning. Building on three research-based conceptualizations of collaboration in student writing, the present study aims to explore how students in a Rwandan university context plan, organize and carry out group work while writing. The study involved 16 second year undergraduate students divided in four writing groups. The data were collected by means of open-ended interviews conducted with the four groups of students after they had handed in their written essays and obtained the feedback and the marks. The findings show that students mostly relied on the co-publishing form of collaboration in their groups, which was probably dictated by their lack of sufficient information on the meaning and relevance of collaboration. Some suggestions are made on what can be done so that university students benefit fully from group-based learning and collaboration.