Zooming in

Exploring student perspectives on collaborative group assignments in virtual breakout rooms

Bibliographic Data

ID21632732
AuthorsDorin Levi (Holon Institute of Technology), Hagit Meishar-Tal (0000-0001-5951-6595, Holon Institute of Technology, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume33
Issue8
Pages4966-4975
Publication date2025-09-14
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInteractive Learning Environments (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-4820 • E-ISSN: 1744-5191
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10494820.2025.2476713
OpenAlexW4408576421
LanguageEN
References cited24

This study aims to understand students’ learning experiences in breakout rooms and gather insights to enhance their utilization for group assignments. The study, conducted at an Israeli academic institution, comprised 10 semi-structured interviews with female undergraduate students. Thematic analysis, based on the Community of Inquiry theory, was applied to code and analyze the interviews. Findings indicate that students generally view breakout room activities as unfavorable learning experiences that contribute minimally to their learning. Issues with teaching and social presence, such as unclearly defined assignments, inadequate time, lack of lecturer presence, division into random and large groups and lack of cooperation, underlie this perception. However, when all three presence types (instructional presence, social presence, cognitive presence) are optimized, students find breakout rooms beneficial to their learning experience. Thus, the study emphasizes the efficacy of the Community of Inquiry model and highlights the necessity of optimal presence in breakout rooms for successful learning experiences in group activities

Breakout · Human–computer interaction · Mathematics education · Multimedia · Zoom · Chemistry · Computer Science · Engineering · Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods · Online and Blended Learning · Online Learning and Analytics · Psychology

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