Collaboration skill is one of the most critical skill sets for engineers-to-be while university engineering students have challenges engaging in productive collaborative learning practices. This study examined the effect of individual preparation before collaboration on students' collaborative learning outcomes and processes. A total of 82 engineering undergraduates (41 pairs) participated in the study and collaborated under two conditions: immediate collaboration and individual preparation before collaboration. A mixed-method approach was applied in this study. Students' online-design solutions and verbal discussions were collected for both collaborative learning outcomes and process analyses. Students produced higher quality design solutions with individual preparation before collaboration than immediate collaboration. There were different engineering design behavioral patterns under the two conditions, indicating different ways to define the design problem, generate solutions, and analyze and evaluate solutions. The findings and discussion provide insights for innovating pedagogical design to promote collaborative learning efficiency in real-world university classrooms.

协作技能是未来工程师最关键的技能之一，而大学工程专业的学生在进行富有成效的协作学习实践时面临着挑战。这项研究考察了合作前的个人准备对学生合作学习成果和过程的影响。共有82名工科本科生（41对）参与研究，并在两种条件下进行合作：即刻合作和合作前的个人准备。本研究采用了混合方法。收集学生的在线设计解决方案和口头讨论，用于协作学习成果和过程分析。与立即合作相比，学生在合作前通过单独准备制作出了更高质量的设计解决方案。两种条件下存在不同的工程设计行为模式，表明定义设计问题、生成解决方案以及分析和评估解决方案的方式不同。研究结果和讨论为创新教学设计提供了见解，以提高现实世界大学课堂中的协作学习效率。