Ideas for Implementation:

Cooperative Learning

 

According to two of its major proponents (Johnson and Johnson), cooperative learning is “a relationship in a group of students that requires positive interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together), individual accountability (each of us has to contribute and learn), interpersonal skills (communication, trust, leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution), face-to-face promotive interaction, and processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even better).” It therefore brings together a variety of key concepts from contemporary theories about how people learn best. As used by these authors, “cooperative learning” is a structured process that goes beyond merely requiring students to work in groups.

 

• California's Department of Education discusses what cooperative learning is and the key elements that make it successful.
• In an ERIC document, Robert Stahl discusses the essential elements of cooperative learning.
• The University of Minnesota has an extensive Cooperative Learning Center with a variety of resources to help us get started.
• The Harvard Education Letter describes four key models of cooperative learning , with links to more information about implementing them
• The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has a faculty development site on how to implement cooperative learning, including several specific teaching strategies
• An excellent site at the University of Texas describes a variety of basic and advanced strategies for implementing cooperative learning
• The University of Virginia presents a comprehensive look at cooperative learning

 

Collaborative Learning

 

Collaborative learning, as discussed here, is very similar to the definition of cooperative learning cited above. Other authors make a distinction between cooperation and collaboration, such that cooperation is seen as embodying a “divide and conquer” strategy in which students each work individually on parts of a project. This is in contrast to collaboration which involves students working together on all parts of the project. Note that the definition of cooperation used by the Johnsons is more similar to that of collaboration.Few authors advocate “divide and conquer” as an effective teaching/learning strategy. (Hathorn, L. G. & Ingram, A. L., 2002). Cooperation and Collaboration Using Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Educational Computing Research, 26(3), 325-247.) notes that collaboration requires, at a minimum, roughly equal participation among group members, genuine interaction, and a synthesis of ideas.

• A comprehensive site from the University of Wisconsin tells us important things about collaborative learning.
• Central Queensland University in Australia presents a comprehensive site on collaborative learning. (See also the book edited by Tim Roberts, who runs this site. It is described below.)
• Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis; Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco , 1993, is an essential resource for college teachers. Here's Davis' chapter on collaborative learning.
• The University of Maryland describes some specific examples of collaborative learning in different fields.
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• Penn State provides excellent guidelines and answers to common questions about collaborative learning.
• From ERIC we receive specific examples of collaborative learning in community colleges.
• An excellent comprehensive site from Australia includes links to specific examples.

 

For your leisure reading, how about an excellent and up-to-date book on online collaborative learning: Roberts, T. S. (2004). Online collaborative learning: Theory and practice . Hershey , PA : Information Science Publishing.

 

For a short and focused article on how to make collaboration work better online, try this one: Hathorn, L. G. & Ingram, A. L. (January-February, 2002). Online collaboration: Making it work. Educational Technology. 42 (1), 33-40.

 

Problem Based Learning (PBL)

 

Problem Based Learning (PBL) originated in the medical field as an alternative to traditional ways of teaching new doctors. It has spread far beyond that arena and consists of several key elements: group problem-solving, real-world problems, trained facilitators to guide the groups, and others. As a teaching/learning technique, it has been researched better than many others and shown to be effective in a variety of situations.

 

• The University of Delaware is one of the leaders in using Problem Based Learning at the university level. This site includes a great deal of information, practical guidelines, and a clearinghouse of articles.
• Do you think that your classes are too large for PBL? McMaster University suggests otherwise.
• Maricopa Community College District shows how they use PBL, including some examples.
• Australia 's Queen's University has a downloadable handbook for using PBL.
• Specific directions for using PBL (for both instructors and students) along with twenty problems from Biology can be foiund here.
• The Classroom of the Future site, run by NASA, provides guidelines for teachers to use PBL.
• For a very useful (and short!) book on PBL in higher education, try this one: Knowlton, D. S. and Sharp, D. C. (2003). Problem-based learning in the information age. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 

 

Other Applications

 

The American Society for Training and Development runs an online journal called Learning Circuits. One ASTD article discusses building learning communities.

 

Starr Roxanne Hiltz is one of the early leaders in using CMC for education. Here, Hiltz discusses building learning communities online.

The Ohio Learning Network would like to thank Content Specialist Albert "Chip" Ingram for thoughtfully gathering and organizing the content about this Principle.