Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32633/eb.11.1.2
The effect of research collaborative learning on fifth graders' content, procedural, and epistemic knowledge
Marina Balažinec
; 3rd primary school Varaždin
*
Ines Radanović
orcid.org/0000-0003-3239-0536
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Hrvatska
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of collaborative learning, research learning, and traditional learning through experiments on the conceptual, procedural, and epistemic knowledge of 11-year-old students in a Science class. The research was conducted with a sample of 1340 fifth-grade students from across Croatia. The experimental group comprised students who learned through research collaborative learning, and their learning was compared with that of students who learned through standard research learning and those taught traditionally with experiments. A teacher's manual, seven worksheets and a knowledge assessment were developed for the study. This study found that all three groups had a solid grasp of content-based theoretical knowledge, where the connections among the concepts were weak. However, differences emerged when students tackled tasks that required procedural and epistemic knowledge. Regarding procedural knowledge, all three groups showed an equal level of knowledge. According to the curriculum results, students acquire procedural practical knowledge—which demands a lower level of connection—equally well, regardless of the teaching method, provided that teachers effectively guide them during practical work. In contrast, higher-level procedural and epistemic knowledge, in addition to practical skills, necessitates a more extensive theoretical foundation and a greater ability to connect different pieces of knowledge to formulate reasoned answers. The results showed that research collaborative learning had the strongest effect on epistemic and conceptual knowledge. Students in the collaborative research group demonstrated a better understanding of epistemic knowledge while working on worksheet tasks compared to those who researched without collaboration. The results suggest that argumentative discussion with minimal teacher guidance, as practised by students in collaborative inquiry learning, promotes the acquisition of epistemic knowledge.
Keywords
scientific literacy; group learning; types of knowledge
Hrčak ID:
342986
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2025.
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