Collaborative Learning
Faculty used role play, fishbowl, facilitated dialogues, or other collaborative learning techniques.
About
Collaborative learning is popular for its student-centered nature, particularly for how it encourages and develops peer-to-peer learning. Faculty have noted a high level of energy when students are in groups, which drives engagement, discussion, and learning. Exercises like role-playing and fishbowl also help students see (and adopt) new perspectives on difficult topics, and allow people to be heard differently, and to share their own experiences in an interesting, and perhaps fictionally removed, setting. In addition to listening, skills that are developed include general communication skills, negotiation, democratic decision making, and hypothesizing. Though groups have some inherent problems, such as unequal work rates, freeloading, and supervising, with the ongoing research into the benefits of active and collaborative learning, it is likely that this activity will increase in use.
The original study's data and analysis for "Collaborative Learning" can be found on this link.
What Faculty Have To Say
Strengths (13)
- Drives high student engagement
- Students understand material better when they are actively involved
- Students can get help from each other
- Groups can solve more complex problems
- Groups can work outside of class
- Students develop new skills
- Encourages trial and error learning
- Concretizes concepts
- Makes a wide range of material accessible
- Models the reading/learning process
- It is hands-on, so they learn by doing
- Maintains student focus longer
- Easier to prepare than a lecture or a problem set
Weaknesses (11)
- Student learning variable
- Requires maturity - student must “buy-in” to the activity
- Students may not think it is “real” learning
- Unprepared students can’t participate as well
- Students too intent on trying to get it “right”
- Students don’t think that faculty are “working”
- Hard to plan, manage, and grade
- Hard to keep within time-constraints
- Group formation can be challenging
- Hard to construct effective activities
- Can become boring if done too often
Pedagogy Usage
Bucknell faculty was asked their best estimate for how often in the semester they used Collaborative Learning and the average class time it took.
Average Duration: 36 min (mode=30)
Remote Suggestions
Most collaborative learning exercises already require written instructions and preparation so students understand their roles (notetaker, presenter, timekeeper, etc.) and tasks (prepare a slide presentation, write a GDoc study guide, generate talking points for a debate, etc.). As such, you may already have your instructions written out, and just need to consider how to modify the mechanisms you are using to fit a Zoom or hybrid model. For example, students could be moved into breakout rooms to complete a small task, or asked to work on a larger task over a period of time.
Resources for Additional Learning
Articles & Books
- Collaborative Learning Techniques (CoLT) by Elizabeth Barkley.
- Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) Project. Research-Based Reform of University Physics.
- Working in Groups and Facilitating Discussions by Jane Fried with Peter Troiano. (2016)
- Making Cooperative Learning Work in the College Classroom: An Application of the ‘Five Pillars’ of Cooperative Learning to Post-Secondary Instruction: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1055588.pdf
Websites
- Cornell University Center for Teaching Excellence
- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Walker Center for Teaching and Learning