Db 6 psych
- 1. THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNINGJ A N E S H A C H A N D L E R
- 2. MY HYPOTHESIS.. •I believe students in classrooms where the teacher does not use collaboration are better self- regulated learners.
- 3. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING PROS • Team work is a quality highly valued by employers • Interpersonal skills are sharpened • Students working in small groups have a tendency to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same material is presented in other instructional formats. CONS • Relying on others to pick up the slack • Dominant classmate may take too much control over the assignment. • Pressure to conform to the group’s opinion instead of one’s own.
- 4. BENEFITS OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING • The people in teams will get to know each other and extend their activities outside of class. Students will contact each other to get help with questions or problems they are having, and they will often continue their communications in later terms (Bean, J., 1996).” (Laal and Ghodsi, 2012)
- 5. BENEFITS OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING (CONT.) • “Collaborative work also can help students develop skills in cooperation. Furthermore, it helps create a community of learners who have responsibility for each other’s learning, rather than a competitive environment, which is alienating to many students, particularly those who do not perform as well as their classmates.” • Collaboration can help eliminate the feeling of a student not wanting to speak up and sound like they do not understand the lesson when all the others kids do. When students know that their peers are struggling with the same things they are, they’re more willing to work together to problem solve.
- 6. CONTINUED.. • “Groups have more information than a single individual. Groups have a greater well of resources to tap and more information available because of the variety of backgrounds and experiences” (Burke, 2011). Students will gain more knowledge from people of different backgrounds and will be able to create interpersonal skills to carry with them throughout life.
- 7. CONCLUSION • My hypothesis that students in classrooms where the teacher does not use collaboration are better self-regulated learners was proven false. While collaborative learning does have it’s disadvantages, like intimidation or unfair participation, it is still one of the best ways to create interpersonal, problem solving, and cognitive skills in the classroom. Although many students feel as though they can accomplish assignments better by themselves rather than in a group, instructors find that group work helps the students apply knowledge
- 8. SOURCES • Burke, A. (2011) ‘The journal of effective teaching group work: How to use groups effectively’, The Journal of Effective Teaching, 11(2), pp. 87–95. • Laal, M. and Ghodsi, S.M. (2012) ‘Benefits of collaborative learning’, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, pp. 486–490. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.091. • Woolfolk, A. and Hoy, A.W. (2013) Educational psychology: Active learning edition. 12th edn. Boston: Pearson.