The Role of Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) in Interpersonal Communication and Cognitive Performance

Abstract

Collaborative learning encourages students to collaborate among students; it is one of the four 21st-century skills suggested by UNESCO. Cognitive Performance (CP) and Interpersonal Communication (IC) are the themes in the research carried out in the Business English class at the Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES), which implements Online Collaborative Learning (OCL). This research is a quantitative study with a population of FE UNNES students participating in Business English. The 680 population and 252 students were sampled and calculated using the Slovin formula with a margin of error of 5%. Data will be collected using questionnaires and analyzed with SEM-PLS. The study analyzed ten hypotheses, and the results were accepted. The results showed that all these hypotheses were accepted. Behavior in OCL as an independent variable had a direct positive and significant effect on IC by 65.8%, and the effect of behavior in OCL on CP was 74.7%. It means that OCL can be alternative learning to increase CP and IC. Educators can employ OCL in the classroom to improve students' CP and IC.