IRC Course

1. IRC Course Chapter 3 : Collaborative Learning Bhushan, Deepti & Rajat

2. Introduction • In 1970s research projects on cooperative and collaborative learning started in foreign countries • In those days, enthusiasm for cooperative arrangements in educational setting was limited to those who did research on cooperative learning • At present, collaborative learning has earned a high priority on the institutional agendas in educational policies and educational support

3. Introduction • The initial enthusiasm has been toned down by the growing awareness of the complexity of the interacting variables which mark the effect of collaborative learning.

4. Overview of Lecture • Reasons why at present so many people are attracted to collaborative learning as a leading concept in education • Working definition of Collaborative Learning • Research on collaborative learning ( Dutch Research) • Factors from the research important for the explanation of the collaborative learning • Main challenges for the near future

5. Collaborative Learning in the Air • Popularity of the collaborative learning as a teaching method • Change in ideology • Collaborative learning fits in perfectly with the changing views on learning and the nature of knowledge

6. Collaborative Learning in the Air : Change in Ideology • In the period starting from mid 1970s to mid 1980s, there was a tendency to attach more importance to the individual and mutual competition and it was considered to be the driving force behind change • Key words were : • Reassertion of conservative values • Seeking effectiveness • Belief in market functioning • Individualization

7. Collaborative Learning in the Air : Change in Ideology • In the period Mid 1980s to mid 1990s, there was a strong belief in the power of broad partnerships, the power of globalization and new social formations e.g. unification of Europe can be discerned. • The fact that in daily practice outside schools people are often required to cooperate with each other can be seen as an important motive for introducing cooperative learning situations in education and training.

8. Collaborative Learning in the Air : Change in Ideology • In short, it’s believed that the importance attached to collaborative learning as a teaching method partly mirrors the importance attached to forms of cooperation in society at large.

9. Collaborative learning in the Air : Perfect fit with the changing views on learning & nature of knowledge • It’s considered wise to give the learner a more active and more constructive role • Knowledge constructing process is not merely looked upon as an individual affair but rather as process of interaction and negotiations with others in the learning environment such as teacher, fellow pupils and the learning environment • Knowledge no longer thought to be absolute, tied to a single person but rather as relative to community and subject to change

10. Working Definition of Collaborative Learning “ Learning in cooperation with others offers the opportunities for an active learning process; it entails that one has to come to a mutual agreement as to the interpretation of what is to be learned and how to go about it. The aim is to work towards the shared meaning as a result of the negotiation process and towards a common learning result, a result that also serves as the basis for individual understanding, a personal viewpoint and identity”

11. Research on Collaborative Learning • Research into collaborative learning is divisible into two kinds : • Effect Oriented Research • Process Oriented Research

12. Effect Oriented Research • Effect Oriented research is concerned with the effects of collaborative learning in comparison with the effects of other didactic teaching methods or learning situations, methods in which task planning, learning context and composition of groups are organized differently • Learning seems to be more productive when learning tasks and assignments are solved together rather than individual and or teacher – pupil relationship

13. Effect Oriented Research • The results are not unequivocal & sometimes even contradictory • Different views on the interpretation of collaboration • How cooperative learning situations are to be organized • Results of the research into the effects of cooperative learning • Cooperative vs. individual or competitive learning • Heterogeneous vs. homogenous groups • Common goal and shared responsibility • Complementarity in tasks and roles • Cooperative climate in schools

14. Conclusions • Factors that determine the effects of collaborative learning • Type of task • Composition of the group, • the goal that is commonly agreed upon, complementarity of expertise( in tasks and roles) • Climate in which cooperative learning takes place • The results with regard to the effect on cognitive achievements in cooperative learning are not unequivocal and negative effects are also reported • The same holds for social and motivational levels

15. Process Oriented Research • Process Oriented research analyses the collaborative process as such and looks at factors that can explain the effects of collaborative learning. • Factors that can explain why and under what conditions cooperation facilitates or hinders the realization of intended learning outcomes: • Maintaining common ground • Co-responsibility, equality and mutuality

16. Process Oriented Research • Mutual Support and criticism • Verbalization and co- constructions • Elaboration • Tune in cognitively and socially

17. Conclusions • Central elements of cooperation : having a common goal, sharing responsibility, being mutual dependent and needed to reach agreement through open interaction • These appear to enhance task orientation and task concentration ( necessary conditions for cooperation) • Factors that enhance the learning effect : verbalization, co-construction and elaboration. • Collaborative learning environment is more suited to conceptual leaning than to the accomplishment of routine tasks

18. Collaborative Learning : Challenges for the near future

19. Collaborative Learning Challenges : Changing our understanding of knowledge • In collaborative learning situation, anyone involved can take the initiative • It’s no longer the exclusive right of the teacher • Teachers are think of as agents of cultural change • Assumptions about the nature and authority of knowledge and about classroom authority should be revised • Knowledge is not grounded on reality and fact, it’s something that gets shifted from one head to another • Knowledge is a social construct

20. Collaborative Learning Challenges : Awareness of research preoccupation • Following 3 research preoccupations hamper progress • Definition of collaborative learning rarely goes beyond the operational interpretation “ putting into small groups”. The research shows that this interpretation is absolutely inadequate i.e. no guarantee that expected interaction will actually occur • Researchers use global categories to observe collaborative learning • Significance of collaborative learning is almost exclusively measured in terms of the impact upon individual cognition. This does insufficient justice to the different meaning of concept “ social learning” and the way in which individual and social learning relate to each other

21. Collaborative Learning Challenges : Reflection of legitimation • Peers do not learn since they are 2 or more. They learn because they perform some activities that trigger some specific learning processes. • Are there learning processes that would be very specific to collaborative interactions??? • One could be that collaboration optimizes the students accessibility to knowledge construction. • Example : The cooperative situation forces participants to make a beginning and thus brings about a task- oriented working process, while in individual settings the resistance to start must be overcome by exercise of the will.

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