The examination of interaction patterns in collaboraton-based critical thinking processes in social studies: A case study

Collaborative group work is a pedagogical practice widely accepted in educational systems around the world. The effectiveness or sustainability of such small group-based practices depends on understanding the social and cognitive mechanisms of peer interactions within the groups. Designed as a qualitative case study, this research aims to deeply explore the social and cognitive interaction processes and related experiences of 28 fifth-grade middle school students assigned to seven collaborative groups and directed to work cooperatively on cognitive tasks oriented towards critical thinking according to a specific procedure. In this process, an 8-step data collection procedure was followed, and participants' experiences were assessed using their own statements (cognitive task/activity forms, peer evaluations, interviews, and self-assessments) and the researcher's observation reports. The research data were analyzed in six stages using the MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2024 (version 24.0.0) software package. The findings reveal the examined case in two categories with a total of five themes (super codes), 14 sub-themes, and various codes. Accordingly, it was found that the most important interaction structures, socially characterized, include the structure of collaborative understandings, sharing of responsibilities, dialogues, efficiency of communication processes, social well-being, internalization of being a group, and group commitment while working cooperatively on cognitive tasks oriented towards critical thinking. The most important interaction structures, cognitively characterized, were found to be related to goal orientation, thought control processes (group metacognition), and information processing and decision-making processes. The results are discussed through the reflections of social and cognitive interactions in collaboration-based critical thinking processes in classroom environments. In this context, various suggestions are made for teachers, researchers or practitioners to effectively manage the interaction environments in collaborative groups and to guide students appropriately, such as administering reading and comprehension tests and making sociometric measurements before such practices.