Factors impacting college students' collaborative learning intention: a social cognitive theory perspective

Understanding students' intentions towards collaborative learning (CL) is crucial for efficiently using related learning activities inside and outside the classroom. Based on social cognitive theory (SCT), we propose a framework to explore the impact of contextual and individual factors on students' intent to engage in CL. We performed structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the relationships among three environmental factors (fairness, innovation, and social relationships), two intrinsic motivational factors (self-efficacy, outcome expectations), and students' intent to engage in CL. The findings indicate that building a collaborative climate where students perceive fairness, innovation, and warm social relationships in the classroom facilitates their intention to engage in CL. In addition, students' intent is influenced by their belief in their ability to engage in CL activities (self-efficacy) and their outcome expectations. The findings have several implications for developing the theory of CL and educational policymaking.