Peer interaction facilitates co-construction of knowledge in quantum mechanics

Collaborative learning with peers can lead to students learning from each other and solving physics problems correctly not only in situations in which one student knows how to solve the problems but also when none of the students can solve the problems alone. We define the rate of construction as the percentage of groups collaborating on problem solving that solve the problem correctly out of all groups having at least one member who answered correctly and one incorrectly while solving the same problem individually first. We define the rate of co-construction on each problem as the percentage of collaborating groups that answered it correctly if no student in the group individually answered it correctly before the collaborative work. In this study, we investigated student learning measured by student performance on a validated quantum mechanics survey and rates of construction and co-construction of knowledge when students first worked individually after lecture-based instruction in relevant concepts and then worked with peers during class without receiving any feedback from the course instructor. We find that construction of knowledge consistently occurred at a high rate during peer collaboration. However, rates of co-construction were more varied. High rates of co-construction were generally achieved when approximately half of the students knew the correct answers initially. We also conducted an analysis of some of the survey questions that correlate with high rates of co-construction to gain some insight into what students converged on after peer interaction and what types of difficulties were reduced. Our findings can be valuable for instructors who want to provide in-class and out-of-class opportunities for peer collaboration in their physics courses.