Effects of the group‐regulation promotion approach on students’ individual and collaborative learning performance, perceptions of regulation and regulation behaviours in project‐based tasks

Abstract Group regulation has been recognised as an important factor affecting students' performances in project‐based learning. However, students often experience unsuccessful project outcomes due to several factors, such as unfocused negotiation and lack of project monitoring. In this study, a group regulation promotion approach was developed. The proposed approach consisted of a group‐regulated learning module that allows students to set learning goals, divide work and adjust their learning progress. There is also a platform for students to share their learning goals, observe others’ work and discuss with their peers. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a 6‐month experiment was conducted in a higher education context. A total of 50 undergraduate students aged 19–20 years old participated in this research. One class assigned as the experimental group learned with the proposed approach, whereas the other class assigned as the control group learned with the collaborative project‐based learning approach. The results revealed that the proposed approach benefited the students’ group learning performance, individual learning performance and their perception of group regulation. In addition, students who learned through the promotion mechanism showed more active learning behaviours. In sum, the integration of the group regulation promotion approach can be an effective means of enhancing students’ learning performance. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Collaborative project‐based learning has been regarded as a comprehensive approach for teaching and learning. Technologies benefit students by facilitating online and offline collaborative project‐based learning. Group regulation has been recognized as an important and challenging factor affecting students' performances in project‐based learning. What this paper adds A group regulation promotion approach was developed to encourage students to engage in continuous group regulation with their peers. A group‐regulated learning module was provided to help students set learning goals, divide work, and adjust their learning progress. A sharing platform was developed to assist student in sharing their learning goals, observing others' work, and discussing with their peers. The proposed approach promoted the students’ group learning performance, their individual learning performance, and active regulated learning behaviors. Implications for practice and/or policy The group regulation promotion approach is a potential strategy for implementing collaborative learning activities, especially for improving students’ active regulated learning behaviors. It is worth deeply investigating students’ regulated learning behaviors in collaborative learning activities.