Collaborative Learning Techniques Research Articles

Bridging the Expert-Novice Divide in the Political Science Classroom

This paper discusses the use of a collaborative learning technique called hevruta, which I have adapted for use in my introductory-level political science classroom. Hevruta, which originated in eastern European Jewish schools, helps students develop skills at weaving source materials together in order to understand complex issues within the field. Through a discussion of the literature on expert-novice studies, I explore how hevruta enables my students, who are new to political science, to move closer to the practices used by experts when exploring a range of source material. Through close observation of how the technique plays out in my classes, and analysis of a few examples of hevruta discussion by my students, I demonstrate the potential of this technique, and suggest ways it can best be employed in the classroom.

Proposal of the Learning Method for IT Personnel Resources Development by Using TVML

Using the animations made as learning materials is an effective learning method. However, we thought that the more effective learning method is to create them by the learner themselves. The learners themselves must learn the item and must understand it well to create and present to the others. The purpose of this study is to propose the collaborative learning technique by co-creating the animations made as learning materials. We used the T2V player to create and view an animations based on TVML a TV program description language. As a result, we could create the animations with the learning effect for National Examination for Information Processing Technicians, and there was the learning effect at the creation process.

Videojuegos educativos: Teorías y propuestas para el aprendizaje en grupo

<span>En este artículo se presenta el uso de video juegos multijugador que manejan actividades colaborativas como un instrumento educativo acorde con la era digital que vivimos, así como las bases que soportan dicha iniciativa. Este tipo de aplicaciones que se denomina Video Games¿Supported Collaborative Learning (vgscl), pretende obtener las ventajas que se derivan de los tres pilares sobre los cuales se apoya la utilización de estas aplicaciones: el uso de videojuegos como elemento atractivo y motivador para un amplio porcentaje de la población en edad escolar, el aprendizaje implícito de conceptos ocultos en los retos y actividades del propio videojuego, y la aplicación de técnicas de aprendizaje colaborativo que permiten a los estudiantes desarrollar sus habilidades sociales mientras aprenden y obtienen un aprendizaje más efectivo.</span>

The Proposed Model of Collaborative Virtual Learning Environment for Introductory Programming Course.

This paper discusses the proposed model of the collaborative virtual learning system for the introductory computer programming course which uses one of the collaborative learning techniques known as the “Think-Pair-Share”. The main objective of this study is to design a model for an online learning system that facilitates the collaborative learning activities in a virtual environment such as online communications and pair or small group discussions. In order to model the virtual learning environment, the RUP methodology has been used where it involves the data collection phase and the analysis and design phase. Fifty respondents have been randomly selected to participate in the data collection phase to investigate the students’ interest and learning styles as well as their learning preferences. The results have shown the needs for the development of online small group discussions that can be used as an alternative learning style for programming courses. The proposed design of the virtual learning system named as the Online Collaborative Learning System or OCLS is being depicted using the objectoriented models which are the use-case model and class diagram in order to show the concise processes of virtual “Think-Pair-Share” collaborative activities. The “Think-PairShare” collaborative learning technique that is being used in this model has been chosen because of its simplicity and relatively low-risk. This paper also presents the proposed model of the system’s architecture that will become the guidelines for the physical development of OCLS using the web-based applications.

The Effects of Learning Together Technique Which is based on Cooperative Learning on Students' Achieevement in Mathematics Class

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of cooperative learning methods and collaborative learning technique on 9th grade students’ achievement in mathematics lesson. Worksheet developed for this purpose were applied to 9th grade of students in a secondary school for 4 hours in the second semester. In this experimental study, a pre-test and a post-test were used with an experimental group and a control group. There were 25 students in the control group and 25 students in the experimental group. While the classes were conducted by learning together technique which is based on cooperative learning method in the experimental group, they were conducted by the traditional learning method in the control group. Achievement Test consisting of 10 questions was used as data collection tool. Achievement scores acquired from pre-test and post-test scores were analyzed by using independent t-test in SPSS package program. As a result of this research, it was seen in secondary school 9th grade mathematics class that there is a significant difference between the levels of achievement between the experimental group where learning together was applied and the control group where traditional methods of learning were applied.

DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ RETELLING STORY ABILITY THROUGH COLLABORATIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUES

The ability of speaking English has become very important in this global era. To facilitate junior high school students to gain the competence, English teachers employ various techniques to reach the goal with the curriculum as the guideline. The research was conducted by employing two Collaborative Learning (CL) techniques – Think Team Share and Chain Work . The objectives of this study are (1) to investigate to what extent CL can enhance the ability of the VIII A students of SMPN 2 Semarang to retell stories and (2) to investigate that CL can develop manner of the VIII A students of SMPN 2 Semarang to retell stories. The research was conducted through Action Research with two cycles. Each cycle consists of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. The results of the research can be concluded as follows: (1) CL techniques implemented during the research – Think Team Share and Chain Work – had successfully developed students’ retelling story ability. Before the research, students’ speaking average score is 72.26, and at the end of the research it is 82.30. The score has exceeded the speaking passing grade, 76. Before the research, 69% of the students gained the passing grade, while - at the end of the research- 88%. This proved that the two techniques had developed students’ retelling story ability to the extent of 19%. (2) Based on the second requirement of the research, the two CL techniques could not successfully develop students’ manner in retelling stories to 85%. Before the research there are 16 (62%) students who could retell stories in appropriate manners, while – at the end of the research – there are 20 (77%) who could do so.  Key Words : retelling story ability, collaborative learning techniques

A Delphi study on collaborative learning in distance education: The faculty perspective

This paper focuses on the factors that influence collaborative learning in distance education. Distance education has been around for many years and the use of collaborative learning techniques in distance education is becoming increasingly popular. Several studies have demonstrated the superiority of collaborative learning over traditional modes of learning and it has been identified as a potential solution to some of the weaknesses of traditional distance education courses. There are a rapidly growing number of technologies in use today and educators and practitioners face an increasingly difficult challenge to successfully implement collaborative learning in distance education; precipitated not only from technical advances but also from wider social and organisational concerns. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the factors that influence collaborative learning in distance education, by eliciting the opinions of an expert panel using a Delphi survey. The aim was to produce an integrated list of the most important implementation factors and to investigate the role that technology is perceived to contribute. The findings identified 17 of the most important factors; these factors cover a range of themes including course rationale and design, instructor characteristics, training, group dynamics, the development of a learning community and technology. The potential of technology, however, does not seem to be fully realised and newer technologies such as multi-user environments would seem to be of limited use in practice according to the expert panel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Getting to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Professional Development in University Faculty

Getting to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Professional Development in University Faculty

Team-Based Learning

The practice of management continues to be important in leisure service delivery and in the academic preparation of future practitioners. As leisure and business research direct a conscious eye to leadership and management, similarly pedagogical research should direct attention to effective course content and teaching design. Team-based learning (TBL) is a promising approach to teaching that yields increased discussion, learning, and preparation of future managers on the intricacies of management and the importance of leadership. Also, TBL is a conscious use of cooperative and collaborative learning techniques in a permanent group structure. Support of this approach is based on the initial feedback and information collected from a redesigned course that emphasized semester-long group work and a group final exam. The findings supported previous research on team-based learning where students' perceptions of the learning environment and experience was remarkably higher while their performance on course content was also higher than in previous incarnations of the course, and learning of group skills was identified.

Fostering collaborative learning in Second Life: Metaphors and affordances

In this paper we examine the transferability of the Jigsaw and Fishbowl collaborative learning techniques to the Second Life platform. Our aim is to assess the applicability of Second Life for collaborative learning by developing virtual tools and metaphors and exploiting the representational richness of this novel medium. In order to enhance the existing metaphors and affordances of SL, our research team implemented educational spaces, avatar clothing, and tools for non-verbal communication and visualisation. By implementing a blended learning evaluation approach we attempted to answer three research questions focusing on student collaboration, avatar representation and learning space awareness. We can conclude that SL can supplement and/or augment face to face interactions, improving upon previous approaches in distance collaboration and communication. Furthermore, although our team augmented SL’s ability to support collaborative learning, avatar representation does not seem to scale well. Finally, the majority of the implemented affordances and metaphors seem to have enhanced collaboration and learning space awareness.

Creating wiki communities in blended learning environment and the creation of the Moodle new Wiki

The Wiki is one of the basic tools for collaborating online, gathering, sharing and organising knowledge. Wikipedia is an overwhelming proof of that. Introducing the wiki as a learning tool is, however, not an easy task. This paper explains a case of introduction of wikis into a course that succeeded and that helped to contribute to improve one of the tools more used in education worldwide: Moodle. The teachers of the subject 'Computer science history and ethics' of the UPC have been applying collaborative learning techniques since 1994. On 2004, inspired by the social constructionist paradigm, they started using Wiki and Moodle to create learning communities during the last five semesters. This article will discuss which strategies where adopted and the quantitative and qualitative results obtained. To accomplish their objectives, the teachers of ASAI have developed a new Wiki module (nWiki) for Moodle; this module implements an innovative grading feature. The nWiki has been accepted by the Moodle FOSS community as the new Wiki official module in Moodle 2.0 upcoming version. This article is about pedagogical principles, the use of Wiki as a collaborative tool and how fulfilling specific needs can benefit a whole community through the open source paradigm.

Design of educational multiplayer videogames: A vision from collaborative learning

Videogames and their specific devices can be used to improve learning process since they are very attractive for children. In this way, pupils increase their cognitive skills, the time dedicated to learn, their motivation for learning, their concentration and their attention while they are working/playing. The subject of ''learning by play'' is behind the introduction of recreational educational techniques in the classroom. If we also consider the increasing presence of new technologies in society in general and in classrooms in particular, we encounter a new way of teaching/learning. Moreover, several studies in the area of computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) have proved that learning in a group environment (both actively and interactively) is much more productive for pupils than traditional education. Our main objective is to reduce the complexity of introducing the collaborative learning techniques into development of educational videogames. So, in this paper we analyze the use of videogames as a particular case of new technologies in the classroom and we present a set of design guidelines to enable us to incorporate the features of collaborative learning in the videogame development process. We also explore how these guidelines affect the videogame architecture and how they can be applied when designing a videogame. As a practical example of using our proposal we have designed an educational videogame with group activities which aim is to learn the vowels.

Collaborative Learning

Learning is considered as one of the essential tool to empower a community. Over the past three decades, technology mediated learning has been recognized as an alternate channel strengthening the traditional forms of education. However, the organizational learning at the peripheries and capacity development at the grass roots remain almost unattended, despite recognized global efforts under many bottom-up empowerment sequences. Social components at large within the transitional and developing economies remain outside the enclosure of universal access to information and thus access to knowledge has always been constricted to equitably compete with the global knowledge economy. Despite challenges in designing and implementing collaborative learning techniques and technologies, this article would like to emphasize on introducing collaborative learning at community level and improve the knowledge capacity at the grass roots for their empowerment. The article, further, investigates the relationship of collaborative learning towards improved e-governance.

Applying Organ Clearance Concepts in a Clinical Setting

To teach doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students how to apply organ clearance concepts in a clinical setting in order to optimize dose management, select the right drug product, and promote better patient-centered care practices. A student-focused 5-hour topic entitled "Organ Clearance Concepts: Modeling and Clinical Applications" was developed and delivered to second-year PharmD students. Active-learning techniques, such as reading assignments and thought-provoking questions, and collaborative learning techniques, such as small groups, were used. Student learning was assessed using application cards and a minute paper. Overall student responses to topic presentation were overwhelmingly positive. The teaching strategies here discussed allowed students to play an active role in their own learning process and provided the necessary connection to keep them motivated, as mentioned in the application cards and minute paper assessments. Students scored an average of 88% on the examination given at the end of the course. By incorporating active-learning and collaborative-learning techniques in presenting material on organ clearance concept, students gained a more thorough knowledge of dose management and drug-drug interactions than if the concepts had been presented using a traditional lecture format. This knowledge will help students in solving critical patient situations in a real-world context.

Utilizing Web Tools for Computer-Mediated Communication to Enhance Team-Based Learning

Team-based learning is an active learning instructional strategy used in the traditional face-to-face classroom. Web-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools complement the face-to-face classroom and enable active learning between face-to-face class times. This arti-cle presents the results from pilot assessments of computer-supported team-based learning. The authors utilized pedagogical approaches grounded in collaborative learning techniques, such as team-based learning, and extended these techniques to a Web-based environment through the use of computer-mediated communications tools (discussion Web-boards). This approach was examined through field studies in the course of two semesters at a US public technological university. The findings indicate that the perceptions of team learning experience such as per-ceived motivation, enjoyment, and learning in such a Web-based CMC environment are higher than in traditional face-to-face courses. In addition, our results show that perceived team mem-bers’ contributions impact individual learning experiences. Overall, Web-based CMC tools are found to effectively facilitate team interactions and achieve higher-level learning.

Program Evaluation: The Board Game

The field of program evaluation lacks interactive teaching tools. To address this pedagogical issue, the authors developed a collaborative learning technique called Program Evaluation: The Board Game. The authors present the game and its development in this practitioner-oriented article. The evaluation board game is an adaptable teaching tool designed to familiarize players with basic history, theories, approaches, and tasks associated with conducting program evaluations. The basis of the game design came from an evaluation skills taxonomy and a review of popular texts in the evaluation field. The authors piloted the game and administered a postgame survey to assess its effectiveness. Results of the survey provided specific information about how the game contributed to learning and led to significant modifications and improvements in the game. The authors’ experience demonstrates that the board game can generate useful discussion about evaluation issues and teach foundational knowledge in the program evaluation field.

Online or face‐to‐face? Experimenting with different techniques in teacher training

Abstract This paper illustrates a 5‐year case study (from 2001 to 2005) regarding a course in educational technology that involved from 100 to 150 student teachers per year for a total of more than 500 trainees. Since the first version of the course, which was entirely based on a face‐to‐face approach, computer mediated collaborative learning techniques have gradually been introduced into the training program. The paper outlines the main problems faced in the various versions of the course, where different combinations were experimented with, and discusses the solutions adopted. The difficulties concern the demands of a large, diversified population and the methodological problems related to the non‐neutrality of the introduction of online learning in the socio‐cultural and organizational context of the study. The solutions include a highly flexible course design and a good balance and strict integration between traditional and online training techniques in the delivery of the course and in the assessment of trainees. Finally, we suggest possible directions for further research aimed at facilitating the infusion of online techniques in initial teacher training.

Progressing toward co-management through collaborative learning: forestry and reindeer husbandry in dialogue

With complex common pool resources, it is important to balance the multitude of interests in order to generate a sustainable management regime. This is not the case in the northern parts of Sweden, where forest resources are used for different extractive purposes by forest companies and the reindeer herding industry. In many respects, the present situation represents a classic collective-action problem with a number of reasons why no cooperative behaviour might be expected. This article illuminates the relationship between the two industries in an historical, ecological and institutional perspective in order to explain the limited scope of coordinated action between the two actors. It also, through the use of collaborative learning techniques and scenario methods, explores the possibilities for the two industries to consider each other's needs and to identify strategies for co-existence and co-management. The testing of a broad range of scenarios among a selected group of stakeholders leads to the identification of possibilities for improving the management of the forest and lichen resource by changing institutional arrangements and improving coordination between the stakeholders.

An Investigation of Epistemological and Social Dimensions of Teaching in Online Learning Environments

We examine the relationship between teaching approaches and online learning outcomes using a sample of 40 MBA-level courses. We develop and test a conceptual framework of teaching approaches based upon epistemological (objectivist vs. constructivist) and social (use of individual- vs. group-oriented activities) dimensions. The results of this study indicate that students reported significantly higher scores for perceived learning and delivery medium satisfaction in courses where objectivist teaching approaches were supported by the use of collaborative learning techniques. These findings empirically suggest that the collaborative learning model should be the foundation upon which online courses are designed and delivered.

Book Review: Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

Book Review: Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty