Collaborative Preferences for Learning Mathematics: A Scale Validation Study

<p dir="ltr">Undergraduate students are offered various opportunities to engage with mathematics, including a diverse range of pedagogical approaches, assessments, and resources. It is important to acknowledge that the backgrounds, experiences, and values students bring influence their preferences for how they engage with mathematics, particularly with their peers. Understanding and accounting for these preferences enables educators to tailor their teaching strategies, create more effective group dynamics, and foster inclusive environments that accommodate diverse learner needs. However, the extent to which students prefer collaboration or individual work, especially in the context of mathematics, remains underexplored, and there is a notable lack of systematic, quantitative tools to capture these preferences on a large scale. To address this gap, this study sought to develop and validate the Collaborative Preferences for Learning Mathematics (CPLM) scale, providing a robust measure to better understand these preferences. In the following sections, We review the literature on student perceptions of collaborative practices in mathematics, outline the study’s context, present the results, and discuss the implications.</p>