Collaborative Learning Strategies Research Articles

Writing to Learn History On-Line

n 1991, two members of the University of Michigan's English Composition Board (ECB) and an American history teacher at Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School mulled over the question, How can we better teach American history to basic skills students using and technology? Over a three-year period, Robin Wax, the Pioneer teacher, and my colleagues and I at the ECB developed what came to be known as the Pioneer-University of Michigan Connection (P-UM) in response to that question. Based on research literature suggesting that writing-to-learn practices could improve students' content knowledge as well as their skills (Beaman 1985; Bronson 1985; Marik 1985; Self 1987; Watson 1985), we wanted to add to the high curriculum more frequent and varied tasks, ones with less emphasis on such familiar school writing as essay tests and academic essays. Also, knowing from experience that basic skills students tend to rely on passive learning styles and to find staying on task difficult, we wanted to introduce collaborative learning techniques to encourage active learning (Bruffee 1986; Gere 1987; Slavin 1983). From our experiences with and literature reviews of local-area-network electronic conferencing (Barker and Kemp 1990; Bump 1990; Butler and Kinneavy 1991; Faigley 1990; Hawisher and Selfe 1991), we believed that computer-mediated collaborative learning and writing-tolearn strategies could offer high students an active, social learning environment as well as a way of using to share with peers their burgeoning knowledge about history. Moreover, because basic skills students often see merely as a testing task, one at which they usually fail, and because they often know and care little about postsecondary education and the roles that literacy plays beyond high walls, we wanted to provide the Pioneer students

Impediments to developing collaborative learning strategies: The input vs. output conflict

The brightest instructional ideas in higher education center around strategies emphasizing collaborative learning. Although the case for collaborative learning is strong, convincing faculty to change undergraduate education to include collaborative learning is proving to be difficult. The impediments to change in large public research universities are systemic and powerful. This essay uses an input/output perspective to analyze the nature of the hindrances that are characteristic of the systemic inertia found in academic cultures (Kuh and Whitt, 1988; Peterson and Spencer, 1990). In addition, suggestions are provided for overcoming inertia and facilitating appropriate change. Although the data and results presented here pertain most directly to science departments in large research universities, the belief system represented is widespread across the whole of academia (since most academics were trained in research universities). Large American research universities have contributed immeasurably to the intellectual, moral, and economic development of our country and of many other countries around the world. They should therefore continue both their research and teaching missions. However, a new priority for teaching and learning should be established, which recognizes that most of the larger culture has moved into the information age. Old concepts and modes of thought are no longer viable. Teaching should emphasize the education of students to be critical thinkers and productive citizens in the information age. Collaborative learning strategies are effective formats for developing the thinking skills necessary for the problems we face now. In addition, they are ideal formats for training students in teamwork and verbal communiation skills, both of which are highly valued in an information society (Reich, 1991). The traditional approach to teaching large enrollment science classes has followed the industrial

Teaching Alfalfa Harvest Timing Using Individual and Collaborative Learning Strategies

Teaching students to make appropriate decisions regarding harvest timing of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is not easy. Despite thorough discussions of harvest timing influence on alfalfa yield, quality, stand persistence and animal performance, students do not necessarily possess the critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities to make reasonable recommendations. In an attempt to resolve these challenges, normal lecture activities were supplemented with an alfalfa harvest-timing assignment. Students were asked to select a livestock enterprise of their choice (or cash hay operation) and individually develop a harvesting plan, noting approximate dates of harvesting during the growing season, predicted stages of alfalfa maturity, and justifications for their plan. During the following lecture session students were assigned to groups of four to five individuals, based on enterprise preference, and asked to review each other's individual plans and arrive at a consensus opinion. A student was randomly selected from each of several groups by the instructor for a follow-up report. Ninety-one percent of 140 students evaluating the assignment felt it was a worthwhile learning experience that should be repeated in future classes. Eighty-seven percent of student respondees believed that they learned more as a result of this technique than from a traditional lecture; 83% thought that repeated assignments such as this would enhance their problem-solving abilities.