Peer Collaboration in Virtual Learning and Its Impact on High School Students’ Mathematical Understanding

Abstract

The transition from face-to-face instruction to online learning requires students to collaborate effectively with peers, particularly in understanding abstract mathematical concepts. Peer collaboration plays an important role in maintaining academic interaction, social support, and communication effectiveness in virtual learning environments. This study aims to describe the level of peer collaboration in online learning based on four indicators of interaction, individual responsibility, social support, and communication effectiveness and to analyze students’ mathematical understanding in terms of problem solving, communication, connections, representation, and reasoning. This study employed a mixed methods approach with an embedded concurrent design. The participants consisted of 32 students who completed a peer collaboration questionnaire, 5 students who took a mathematical understanding test, and 3 students who participated in semi-structured interviews. Research instruments included a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire, open-ended mathematical understanding test items, and an interview guideline. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, while qualitative data were examined using thematic analysis to support and deepen the quantitative findings. The results indicate that peer collaboration in virtual learning is at a moderate-to-high level, with social support as the strongest aspect, whereas online interaction is the weakest. Students’ mathematical understanding is categorized as moderate, showing high performance in problem solving, communication, and connections, but low performance in representation and reasoning. Interview findings reveal that low responsiveness among group members is a major obstacle to effective online collaboration. These findings suggest the need for more interactive collaborative designs and enhanced representational support to optimize students’ mathematical understanding in virtual learning contexts.