Collaborative problem solving

Abstract

Students in Singapore score higher in collaborative problem solving than students in all other participating countries and economies, followed by students in Japan. On average across OECD countries, 28% of students are able to solve only straightforward collaborative problems, if any at all. By contrast, fewer than one in six students in Estonia, Hong Kong (China), Japan, Korea, Macao (China) and Singapore is a low achiever in collaborative problem solving. Across OECD countries, 8% of students are top performers in collaborative problem solving, meaning that they can maintain an awareness of group dynamics, ensure team members act in accordance with their agreed-upon roles, and resolve disagreements and conflicts while identifying efficient pathways and monitoring progress towards a solution. Collaborative problem-solving performance is positively related to performance in the core PISA subjects (science, reading and mathematics), but the relationship is weaker than that observed among those other domains. Students in Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the United States perform much better in collaborative problem solving than would be expected based on their scores in science, reading and mathematics.