Online assignment
- 1. ASSIGNMENT PREPARED BY: SARANYA.V.S MATHEMATICS REGISTER NO:13386005 STTC,MUCKOLAKKAL
- 2. AN ASSIGNMENT ON CO-OPERATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
- 3. CO-OPERATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Learning is the act of acquiring new,or modifying and reinforcing,exciting knowledge,behavior,skill,values or preferences and may involve synthesizing ifferent types of information.Learning is not compulsory.It is contextual.It does not happen all at once.But builds upon and is shaped by what we already know.Learning produces changes in the organisms and the changes produced are relatively permanent. Cooperative and collaborative learning are two learning styles recommended for sound learning as well as the development of the cognitive structure and /or construction of knowledge.But it is found that most teachers are confused about their styles of action.Manypeople,including educators and practitioners consider these are synonyms. At the sametime certain other theorists conceive them as different learning strategies though the basic nature is the same.Under these circumstances a detailed discussion is warranted. In olden days,in most of the classes the students remained as passive recepients of what was exposed by the teachers.then also efficient teachers used to arouse curiosity of the learners by asking questions so that they were motivated to think. Gradually subsequent on theories of several educationists including Dewey the learner’s role was changed to that of an active participant.Take for example,the project method based on Dewey;s pragmatic philosophy.In that scheme all the learners have to actively participate in a goal oriented task and get it completed. Meanwhile Armstrong highlighted the need for maintaining heuristic spirit of discovery ,he said should be made familiar to students through heuristic questions.The idea fascinated the mathematics teacher more,as it being a logical since provided more opportunity to create curiosity in the learners if problems were posed through challenging heuristic questions.This spirit of discovery resulted in increasing the strength of the participatory approach in learning by which children started co-operating in the generation of the knowledge being transmitted. Bruner was the strongest exponent of discovery approach.He declared that learning should be “learn to learn” and the duty of the teacher is to facilitate ‘a shared environment’ where pupils actively participate by raising doubts,sharing experience and
- 4. thus become active participants in the generation of knowledge which in turn enriched the cognitive structure of the learner. The result of such efforts was the popularization of the idea of the idea of “participatory learning”.Different educationists suggested different styles of action but the participatory nature of the role of the learner was stressed in all those strategies.Whatever be the size of the class all the students in a class were expected to participate. A review of all that had happened was made here purposefully. Now the new strategies of co-operative and collaborative learning are highlighted in curriculum transaction and some people claim that this is something new and original.But these are really the result of a gradual change in the outlook of educators and practitioners.Hence these techniques of instruction can be well appreciated only if the history of the development is traced. During the 1960’s Johnson and Johnson highlighted the need for planning learning by forming small groups where the learners co-operate and learn for themselves. All these have resulted in collaborative learning and co-operative learning within small groups for performing a given task.Thiis movement gained strength during the 1980’s anmd 1990’s.Also many expert theorists and practitioners tried out the strategies in groups of various sizes and have come to valid conclusions regarding the desirability of including small number of participants in study groups.They have also suggested strategies to be followed.RobertsH.S.Smith B.L and Mac Gregor are only a few among them. Thus the general idea of participatory learning posed by the predicessors have attained more scienfic temper and acceptability. CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING This is a tehniue in which small groups work together to reach an already fixed target. Five essential qualities have been pointed out in co-operative learning .These are 1. Positive interdependence. 2. Face to face interaction
- 5. 3. Individual accountability 4. Structured activity. 5. Team work skills and group processes. In tune with these qualities the member of a group get designated roles and structured tasks to perform. The completion of the tasks assigned to a group warrants interdependence among the members. Each member is accountable for the satisfactory completion of the task.Thegroup together also will be accountable. To cite an example,suppose a small project is taken up for collecting the data required for graphical representation of certain phenomena.say,one set of graphs may be to represent the distribution marks among the learners of a class,in the tests given for continuous and comprehensive evaluation.Another graph may be for the comparison of students belonging assigned to a small group. Each group is held responsible for making the data collection,deciding upon the most appropriate graph suited for the type of data collected,for drawing the graph,interpreting it etc.Each group is entrusted with the responsibility for completing the task satisfactorily with in the time limit allowed.The group is made to self evaluate the social skills exhibited by each memember,the level of responsibility shown etc. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING The five essential qualities required for successful co-operative learning are relevant in collaborative learning also. But in the style of working tere are some differences 1. The interference of the tacher in collaborative learning will be less. 2. Social interaction is given is given more stress. 3. Individual performance is de_emphasised while team work is insisted upon. 4. Groups plan learning activities together and divide tasks among themselves.They together carry out their action plansm which result in the constructin of new knowledge.
- 6. Then the completed project or a detailed report on that is displayed before the class grading is basedon their work as a team.They are encouraged to review their projects by presenting these to the teacher.Work can be individual or in groups. The main aim is knowledge construction.in tune with the philosophy of social constructivism. It may be noted that collaboration is the term popularly used by the Social constructivists. SPECIAL ADVANTAGES OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING i. Provision for diversity Students learn to work with all types of people.Mutual questioning and clarifications promote reflective thinking among them.Such diverse discussions will help students to build up better understanding of other cultures. ii. Acknowledgement of individual differences When questions are raised different students find answers in different ways depending on their social and cultural background.so they learn to accept different perspectives of the same iisue. iii. Development of inter-personal relations Sincerely mingling with colleaeus develop social skills which will be beneficial especially to those one who have poor social skills. iv. Feeling of ownership of the project They get a feeling of ownership of the project executed and will try to contribute for its successful completion through critical thinking. v. Opportunity for personal feedback It provides more opportunity for personal feedback.since the group is small every student can exchange idea’s and get feedback.
- 7. COMMON FEATURES OR SIMILARITIES OF CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Inspite of the difference in terminology there are traits common to the two learning strategies 1.Both aim at active participation of the learners in the learning process.That is both reflect the message of participatory learning in which the learners are given the role of active participants instead of remaining as passive receipents of knowledge transmitted by some expert. 2.Another similarity is that both aim at active student participated in small groups.This is done because if the group is large,all the students will not get opportunity to actively participante in the process of learning. 3.Both the techniques require a specific task to be executed andcompleted. 4.The two techniques support the spirit of discovery oriented learning.If co-operative learning aims at development of the cognitive structure,collaborative learning aims at constructing new knowledge to enrich the cognitive structure. 5.Both the techniques assign various duties to be played by each member. 6.Both aim at development of social skills to establish healthy relation with the other members of the group.This anticipate healthy social living in future life. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
- 8. Cooper and Mac Greger have pointed out certainsignificant differences in some traits. 1.Based on the theories concerning cognitive development. 1.Based on the social constructivist theory. 2.A comparatively large number of tasks are assigned to the members of a group. 2.The number of roles assigned to members is less. 3.The instructor has to play a major role,he acts as the centre of authority. 3.The instructor adopts a laissez_faireapproach.He limits his authority and allows members to act freely. 4.The teacher closely watches the group work and provides guidance wherever needed and monitors the progress towards the final goal. 4.Teacher leaves the members to their style of work gives guidance only if they request him to do so. 5.Development of social skills is taken up as an instructional goal. 5.Social skills for working in groups is taken for granted 6.Group tasks will not be open because the teacher regulates and assigns tasks. 6.Group tasks will be open and left the discretion of the learners.They plan learning activities together and divide tasks among themselves. 7.The framework for regulating group activities is highly structured and defined. 7.The framework is not structurally defined and thir exists no rigidly. 8.Co-operative learning gives stress to foundation knowledge. 8.collaborative learning considers knowledge as a social construct.foundation knowledge is not seriously considered 9.Takes up only simpler and specific types of group work. 9.Has wider scope and includes a variety of small group projects.
- 9. 10.Will be more effective for fundamental courses especially at the lower levels 10.More suited to higher levels where foundational knowledge will be comparatively less. 11.The final product is determined in advance and all activities are geared towards that. 11.The final product is not fixed in advance,what the members produce is accepted as the product. CONCLUSION studies on the two techniques of learning empirical as well as theoretical are going on in various parts of the world.one such study was regarding the number of members in a small group that would give maximum result.According to slavin two three members per group can produce better achievement than groups of four or five.Until all have concluded that most teachers pairs and small group of three or four. Because of the revolution incommunication facilities like internet,E-mail,etc.we can now establish collaborative with teachers of other countries even. Anyhow,there is no doubt in that all teachers should study these techniques in detail and practice the two strategies according to the learning students involved. REFERENCE K.soman,K.sivarajan “Mathematics Education”.(2008).calicut:Calicut university.