On socio-cognitive processes that promote learning from peer collaboration and how immediate transfer tests cannot always detect their effects

Research into the benefits of collaborative work on learning have shifted from questions regarding whether it promotes learning, to research into the conditions that promote learning and the identification of processes that make collaborative group settings particularly effective. In this symposium we will present findings from recent research into a number of socio-cognitive processes that have been found to foster conceptual gains following group learning. The papers that will be presented as part of this symposium will focus on three different phenomena: argumentation, production feedback and the incubation effect of collaboration. In addition, these studies also show that the effects of collaborative learning may not be apparent immediately following interaction, but need some time to materialize. This finding emphasizes the need for multiple and delayed assessment, as well as alternative assessment tools, such as prospective (instead of retrospective) measures of learning.