Latino Undergraduate Perspectives on Traditional and Collaborative Culminating Presentations

The importance of the research related to the existence of collaborative learning in higher education for Latinos, specifically pre-service teachers, has been substantiated. It has been defined that while teacher retention rates for Latinos are lower than for whites, using teamwork in the classroom might make Latinos teaching more rewarding. Most participants in the present study preferred collaborative learning as teachers. Using cognitive- and social-constructivist frameworks, the authors provide trends expressed by 371 undergraduate pre-service teachers about traditional tests and cooperative culminating experiences. Since archival data from regular collaborative pedagogies over a 10-year period have been used, the authors did not include identifying information. However, about 96 % of undergraduates are first-generation Latino/college students. Students’ responses to end-of-course surveys have been analyzed. The two major qualitative themes emerging from grounded theory analysis were social interaction and the cognitive domain. Quantitatively, most preferred group presentations over traditional exams. Statistically significant correlations between Variables 1 (perceived retention of material) and 2 (preferred culminating experience as future teachers), Variables 1 (perceived retention of material) and 3 (culminating experience for an easy A), and Variables 2 (preferred culminating experience as future teachers) and 3 (culminating experience for an easy A) have been found. Implications relate to designing more collaborative activities for nondominant college students. As the result of the conducted research it has been determined that collaborative learning needs to be well planned, students need to be prepared to work in groups, and teachers’ expectations need to be stated explicitly if the benefits attributed to collaborative learning are to be realized.