Culturally diverse student perceptions of collaborative learning in tertiary education towards attaining workplace esoteric skills

Collaborative learning – learning in small groups under formal and informal interactions with lecturers – is generally considered an effective learning approach with benefits including learning gains and personal enhancement. Successful group activities can help students acquire esoteric skills that can better prepare them for workplace employment. The contemporary student body in many developed countries is becoming increasingly diverse. This empirical article seeks to identify whether culturally diverse tertiary students have different perceptions of the relative importance of collaborative learning. A review of 238 responses intends to identify the learning skills that students consider most important and to analyse whether students from culturally diverse background hold the same perceptions. This study also highlights the implications and benefits of preparing students for the workplace using collaborative learning methods.