Collaborative Learning

Collaborative Learning Sullivan University Faculty Advance 2007 Dr. Marion H. Larson

Collaborative Learning and “Pedagogies of Engagement” • “Learning ‘about’ things does not enable students to acquire the abilities and understanding they will need for the twenty-first century. We need new pedagogies of engagement that will turn out the kind of resourceful, engaged workers and citizens that America now requires.” (Russell Edgerton)

“Pedagogies of Engagement” Examples: • Active Learning • Problem-Based Learning • Collaborative Learning • Service Learning

Collaborative Learning defined • Joint intellectual efforts • Groups of two or more • “Mutually searching for understanding, solutions, or meanings, or creating a product.” • “Laboring together and sharing the workload equitably as they progress toward intended learning outcomes.” • “Collaborative” and “cooperative” usually synonymous in the literature

Assumptions about learning • Active, constructive process • Depends on rich contexts • Diverse learners • Inherently social

CL prepares for workplace “Learning a practice involves becoming a member of a ‘community of practice’ and understanding its work and its talk from the inside” (Brown and Duguid)

CL promotes individual achievement “Cooperative student-student interaction and student-faculty interaction are the two major influences on college effectiveness.” --Astin, What Matters in College?

CL promotes positive relationships “College students learning cooperatively perceive greater social support (both academically and personally) from peers and instructors.” --Johnson, Johnson, and Smith (1998) Sense of support increases retention and overall positive experience --Tinto, et al. (1994)

CL promotes positive attitudes toward the college experience “The evidence is strong and quite consistent across a broad array of educational research studies that students who study under various forms of peer interaction…have more positive attitudes toward the subject matter, increased motivation to learn more about the subject, and are better satisfied with their experience than students who have less opportunity to interact with fellow students and teachers.” --Barkley, Cross, and Major(2005)

College impact research supports CL • Pascarella and Terenzini (1991, 2005) • Kuh, NSSE • Astin (1993) • Light (2001) • Chickering and Gamson (1987)

Research consistently supports CL In the past 90 years… • Over 600 experimental studies • Over 100 correlational studies • In a range of disciplines

These positive results are interconnected and build on each other, thus increasing the impact of Collaborative Learning Techniques.

Best practices in CL • Promote positive interdependence • Help ensure individual accountability • Help ensure positive, face-to-face interaction • Help students develop and practice teamwork skills

Collaboration in action: The Deep Dive • In 2006, IDEO was identified by BusinessWeek as one of the world’s most innovative companies. • The Deep Dive aired on ABC’s “Nightline” in July of 1999.

As you watch The Deep Dive Look for evidence of the “best practices” in collaborative learning: • Positive interdependence • Individual accountability • Positive face-to-face interaction • Teamwork skills

Dewey Six-Step Problem Solving • Identify the problem • Generate possible solutions • Evaluate and test various solutions • Decide on a mutually acceptable solution • Implement the solution • Evaluate the solution

Dewey Six-Step and Deep Dive • Mixture of individual and collaborative work on various steps • Not linear--a recursive process • Info from own experience and knowledge, library research, observation, interviews, brainstorming, rapid prototyping • Room for play (“deep dive”) and forced focus by facilitators (“adults”)

Getting started with CL • Start small • Build an atmosphere of collaboration • Focus on course goals • Many ideas in Collaborative Learning Techniques book • And ideas coming up tomorrow!

Collaborative Learning