Adaptive Support for Collaborative Learning: A Meta-Analysis

Collaborative learning is widely recognized in educational research as an effective pedagogical approach for facilitating the development of a broad range of skills. However, this approach also faces several challenges in ensuring optimal learning outcomes. Adaptive instructional support has emerged as a promising solution for addressing these problems by enhancing both individual- and group-level learning. This meta-analysis of 83 empirical studies builds on an integrated theoretical framework to examine the effects of adaptive instructional support on different learning dimensions as well as the moderating role of design features, learner characteristics, and contextual conditions in collaborative learning. Overall, adaptive instructional support exhibited a positive medium effect ( g = .73, 95% CI [.56, .90], p < .001) on collaborative learning with varying effects across learning dimensions. Design features proved the most influential moderator: Adaptations based on cognitive variables, implemented through cognitive models or data-science approaches, targeted at collaborative activities, and applied over short-term durations yielded the strongest effects; however, the role of teacher and learner involvement in decision-making around adaptivity requires more careful consideration. Learners’ prior knowledge, domains, and learning context also significantly moderated the effectiveness of adaptive support.