Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Education

Advisor

Donna B. Gee

Abstract

The skill of collaboration is fundamental for every student as a future participant of a global society. Students with learning disabilities feel excluded amongst peers in a traditional classroom setting, specifically elementary students with learning disabilities in the area of collaboration. The overall purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary teacher perceptions of how students in mixed-ability classrooms collaborate using technology in a project-based learning (PBL) environment. Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory informed this study by providing a framework for learning in social groups, specifically collaborative learning practices in a PBL environment. The research question in this study explored elementary teacher perceptions of using technology-based discussions to promote collaboration amongst students in mixed-ability classrooms in a PBL environment. Purposeful, snowball sampling was used to select nine teachers for interviews following a standardized, open-ended interview protocol. The resulting data were analyzed using inductive means to explore recurring patterns and emerging themes. The four major themes that emerged from the research were student preparation for collaboration, benefits and difficulties with collaboration, technology can increase student collaboration, and virtual collaboration has consequences and problems. Participants perceived technology as belonging in the elementary classroom when used to help students of mixed abilities collaborate in a PBL environment. The findings of this study could lead to positive social change by providing information to potentially help teachers meet the collaborative learning needs of all students in their inclusive classrooms, ultimately increasing all students’ abilities to work collaboratively.

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