University of New Mexico - Valencia Campus
Teaching & Learning Center
Active, Cooperative and Collaborative Learning
Building Blocks for Teams will show you how to effectively incorporate teamwork into your courses, to avoid common pitfalls, and turn it into a valuable learning experience both you and your students will appreciate-Penn State University site
http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/teams/
University of California, Berkley: Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html
University of Alabama Curriculum Development and Management-Small Group Teaching-Site discusses goals and guidelines of small group teaching and techniques to enhance small group discussions.
http://www.uab.edu/uasomume/cdm/small.htm
Some of the most commonly used structures in higher education are discussed in this section. These structures need to be carefully planned and executed, but they don't require the presence of permanently formed groups in your class. http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/research/projects/hewlett/cooperative.php
Assigning Group Roles. There are defined roles that work well in college and university classrooms.
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/backup/clhef_xrpt.htm
Such teacher-centered instructional methods have repeatedly been found inferior to instruction that involves active learning, in which students solve problems, answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, or brainstorm during class, and cooperative learning, in which students work in teams on problems and projects under conditions that assure both positive interdependence and individual accountability.
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Cooperative_Learning.html
The objectives of the report are to offer some ideas for using cooperative learning effectively in technical courses, to give advance warning of the problems that might arise when CL is implemented, and to provide assurances that the eventual benefits to both instructors and students amply justify the perseverance required to confront and overcome the problems.
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Coopreport.html
After making every mistake in the book, he recognized that there must be more to getting students to work together effectively than simply putting them in groups and asking them to do something, but he wasn't sure what it was.
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/CLStrategies(JCCCT).pdf
In traditional instruction, the teacher's primary functions are lecturing, designing assignments and tests, and grading; in SCI, the teacher still has these functions but also provides students with opportunities to learn independently and from one another and coaches them in the skills they need to do so effectively. http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Resist.html
Our findings suggest that professors can facilitate student group interactions by introducing students to the two mode of teaching interaction so group members can effectively manage exchanges of knowledge in their work, and also by helping students distribute tasks in a way that minimizes role imbalances. http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Hallerpap.pdf
Most cooperative learning experts agree that the approach works best if team grades are adjusted for individual performance. If this adjustment is not made, students who do little or no work may receive the same credit as those who do a great deal of work, which is unfair and works against the principle of individual accountability.
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Kaufmanpap.pdf
Researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats.
http://ctl.stanford.edu/teach/speak/stwin99.pdf
This article, also by Prof. Larry Michaelsen, summarizes the important things to remember when using learning groups.
http://www.ou.edu/idp/tips/ideas/3keys.html
Playing Card Activity (to get students into groups)
http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Misc_Tips/Card_Activity.htm
We've all had the experience, probably both as teachers and learners, of drifting off part way through a presentation. This article addresses the empirical literature on attention span and then suggests practical ways to counteract the all-too-natural human tendency toward cerebral entropy.
http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Fall_1997/TC_Fall_1997_Change-Up.htm
You can have each student then submit a position paper stating current thinking and an explanation of how and why it changed after the readings and the cooperative controversy.http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Fall_1991/TC_Fall_1991_Teaching_Idea.htm
There are the descriptions of three common cooperative learning structures.
http://www.dal.ca/~clt/taguide/ThreeCoopLear.html
For more complex projects, where many heads are better than one or two, you may want to have students work in groups of three or more. As the term "cooperative learning" suggests, students working in groups will help each other to learn.
http://www.calstatela.edu/dept/chem/chem2/Active/index.htm
Thinking Together focuses on a group of professors in scientific disciplines who have come to question traditional teaching methods that all too often breed passivity in students.
http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Fall_1997/TC_Fall_1997_Thinking_Together.htm
Learning with understanding is a process in which a person tries to make sense out of new information by connecting it to prior knowledge and establishing relationships among ideas
http://crossroads.georgetown.edu/vkp/resources/glossary/understanding.htm
Around the nation teachers are talking about cooperative learning--that is, students working together to teach each other. Research on cooperative learning is producing positive reports. http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Spring_1992/TC_Spring_1992_Lindner.htm
A longitudinal study at North Carolina State University, a cohort of students took five chemical engineering courses taught by the same instructor in five consecutive semesters. The course instruction made extensive use of active and cooperative learning and a variety of other techniques designed to address a broad spectrum of learning styles.
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/long5.html
H.L. Mencken once observed, "There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong." The field of education seems to be particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon. Going back to biblical times, people have bemoaned the terrible quality of the current generation of students, most of whom they find to be lazy, ignorant, and totally lacking in the critical thinking skills, moral fiber, and intrinsic motivation to learn that previous generations—especially their generation—had in abundance.
http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Interface_Response_Letter.html
The following outline of how to write a group paper is just that--an outline. In the course of many hours of group work, I and my groups in various classes have found that this is the best way to write a group paper.....
http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Spring_1993/TC_Spring_1993_Young.htm
Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI2A.htm
Studies indicate that positive results in student achievement are observed in college level courses (Johnson, et al., 1998; Johnson, et al., 1991). In science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) college-level courses' fewer studies have been performed.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI2B.htm
There are theories on how collaborative learning improves the educational and psychological outcomes for students. These can be broadly described as cognitive, social constructivism, and motivational.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI2C.htm
Successful collaborative learning requires effective and appropriate implementation of student groups. Depending on the purpose and longevity of the group, the instructor needs to consider the size and composition of the group and the amount of direction or guidance given.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3A.htm
Many types of groups can be used. Three examples (informal, formal, and base) are described below.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3B.htm
Those experienced in successful small group work have found five essential components (i.e., the "glue") that are necessaryhttp://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3C.htm
Positive interdependence means that team members need each other to succeed. A childhood example is the three-legged race. Though smaller than the typical learning groups, it illustrates clearly the dependence each teammate has with the other individual.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3D.htm
Face-to-face promotive interactions & Individual accountability and personal responsibility.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3E.htm
The ease with which students talk in groups in the minutes prior to the start of class does not indicate how well they will work in a small group on an academic task where they must rely on one another. ...Group processing provides feedback to group members regarding their participation, provides an opportunity to enhance the members collaborative learning skills, helps to maintain a good working relationship between members, and provides a means of celebrating the group's successes.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3F.htm
It seems prudent to keep groups as small as possible to promote positive interdependence, yet as large as necessary to provide sufficient diversity of opinions and backgrounds as well as resources to get the job done. http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3G.htm
This research suggests that isolating students of color from other students of color, or women from other women can in fact be detrimental to the academic success of these individuals because they can become isolated, marginalized, or placed in stereotypical roles and not permitted to flourish. http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3I.htm
These researchers surveyed several upper-division speech communication and business classes, and from the response of 155 students, generalized some group structures and assignments that may create a more positive experience for students.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3J.htm
Students' comments about advantages of collaborative learning
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI4B.htm
Students' comments about disadvantages of collaborative learning
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI4C.htm
The concept of collaborative learning, the grouping and pairing of students for the purpose of achieving an academic goal, has been widely researched and advocated throughout the professional literature. The term "collaborative learning" refers to an instruction method in which students at various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal. The students are responsible for one another's learning as well as their own. Thus, the success of one student helps other students to be successful.
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/jte-v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html
The suggestions below are designed to help you set up formal learning groups and study teams. If you have never done group work in your classes, you might want to experiment first with informal learning groups. Two other tools, "Leading a Discussion" and "Supplements and Alternatives to Lecturing: Encouraging Student Participation," describe a variety of easy ways to incorporate informal learning groups into your courses. "Helping Students Write Better in All Courses" discusses informal collaborative writing activities. http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html
We then discuss the impact of various types of activities and assignments on learning and group cohesiveness. Finally, we present a checklist that has been designed to evaluate the effectiveness of group assignments in a wide variety of instructional settings and subject areas. http://www.ou.edu/idp/tips/ideas/groupact.html
Here is a classroom strategy that I use in class with On Course. Each semester I have student groups present an On Course chapter. I present the first two chapters to model for them. Below you will find the guidelines for group presentations. The feedback has always been positive. The students love the challenge of working together, being creative, presenting to the class, etc. Some of the more creative presentations have included skits, videotaping, and chapter presentations. It's fun for all of us, students and instructors and, well, isn't that what it's all about? Enjoy!!!
http://www.oncourseworkshop.com/Interdependence004.htm
Some reasons to ask students to work in groups: Asking students to work in small groups is one of many approaches allowing students to learn interactively. Small groups are good for: …. Some benefits of working in groups (even for short periods of time in class).http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/docs/wigfaculty.html
Common sense, as well as educational research and students' testimonials, tell us that students who get involved with what they study learn more than those who receive information only passively. One of the most successful methods of helping students learn actively is cooperative (or collaborative) learning. http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Fall_1992/TC_Fall_1992_Cooperative_Collaborative.htm
The general consensus is for the instructor to form the collaborative learning groups (Cooper, et al., 1990; Nurrenbern, 1995; Fiechtner and Davis, 1992).
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/moreinfo/MI3H.htm
The goal of this section is to provide the instructor with some starting ideas: Things to consider as you contemplate incorporating collaborative learning structures into your course. This section does not seek to be a complete treatise on collaborative learning.
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/cl/doingcl/DCL1.asp
In many courses, particularly in the sciences or engineering where you may work with a laboratory team or on a group project, some of the work is done in collaboration with fellow students. In such courses, some of your grade may be based on joint efforts with other students, and some of your grade may be based on independent work on papers and examinations.
http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/collab.html
Paper on the issues surrounding successful computer supported collaborative learning.
http://www.ul.ie/~idc/library/papersreports/LiamBannon/12/LBMarat.html
An Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) is a people network for learning that is largely asynchronous. It combines self-study with substantial, rapid, asynchronous interactivity with others. In ALNs learners use computer and communications technologies to work with remote learning resources, including coaches and other learners, but without the requirement to be online at the same time.
http://www.aln.org/publications/magazine/v4n2/index.asp
Concept mapping, Online learning, Databases, Taxonomy
http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_3_2000/b01.html
Looks at a learner-centered evaluation of a change from face-to-face to online lectures in an Organizational Behavior course at RMIT University. http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_3_2002/creese.html