ONLINE ASSIGNMENT

BY JYOTHISH.U.S PHYSICAL SCIENCE BNVCTEC

Topic :

‘Cooperative and collaborative learning ’

INTRODUCTION

Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. A group of students discussing a lecture or students from different schools working together over the Internet on a shared assignment are both examples of collaborative learning.

Cooperative learning, which will be the primary focus of this workshop, is a specific kind of collaborative learning. In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups on a structured activity. They are individually accountable for their work, and the work of the group as a whole is also assessed. Cooperative groups work face-to-face and learn to work as a team.

In small groups, students can share strengths and also develop their weaker skills. They develop their interpersonal skills. They learn to deal with conflict. When cooperative groups are guided by clear objectives, students engage in numerous activities that improve their understanding of subjects explored.

In order to create an environment in which cooperative learning can take place, three things are necessary. First, students need to feel safe, but also challenged. Second, groups need to be small enough that everyone can contribute. Third, the task students work together on must be clearly defined. The cooperative and collaborative learning techniques presented here should help make this possible for teachers

Cooperative LearningWorking together in a group can be a great experience for some people and a terrible one for others. You've probably realized by now that working in a group is pretty common in education. However, every group is not created equal and some groups function better than others. That's part of the reason why many teachers promote cooperative learning, instead.

In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups to complete a structured task or goal. It is more than just working in a group, as group work alone does not guarantee cooperative learning. As you may have experienced, when students are simply required to work together, they are usually rewarded based on the success of the entire group. It is all too often the case that only some members of the group do all of the work. It cannot be said that all of the members are actually learning. On the other hand, in cooperative learning, members of the group are not only rewarded based on the success of the entire group but are also individually accountable for their own work. The task or activity is structured in a way that requires the input and participation of every group member. As a result, all of the group members learn from each other. Cooperative learning is often confused with collaborative learning, but they are not the same thing. We'll discuss collaborative learning later in this lesson.

JigsawAn example of a very popular cooperative learning activity that teachers use is jigsaw, where each student is required to research one section of the material and then teach it to the other members of the group. Just like a jigsaw puzzle, each piece or section is put together at the end, and only then does the entire picture make sense.

For example, imagine you've been placed in a group that has been tasked with researching the life of Dr. Seuss. In jigsaw, you and the members of your group would each be responsible for researching certain periods of his life. Let's say there are four members of your group. You are responsible for researching his childhood, and the other members of your group are responsible for other periods of his life. When you are finished with your individual research, you

report what you've learned to the other members of your group. Once everyone is finished with their reports, you have a complete picture of his entire life.

In this way, jigsaw activities are specifically structured so that the only access any member has to all of the information is through the work of other members. So, if you don't listen to someone in your group, you won't know the information and won't do well on the test that follows.

As a cooperative learning activity, jigsaw provides a very efficient way for students to learn. Cooperative learning also has a number of other advantages. For example, as they work together, students learn how to socialize, solve problems, and handle conflict. Additionally, learning to cooperate with others is vital for success later in life. Almost every company that a student will work for is likely to require them to work in a group at some point.

Elements of Cooperative Learning

As we discussed before, simply working in a group does not guarantee cooperative learning. There are five elements that define true cooperative learning in groups:

1. Face-to-face interaction

2. Positive interdependence

3. Individual accountability

4. Collaborative skills

5. Group processing

Face-to-face interaction is a bit counter-intuitive because it doesn't necessarily mean face-to-face as in 'in-person'. It actually just refers to direct interaction. So, it can be literally face-to-face, or it could be over the phone, on chat, via Skype, through email, etc. It's just referring to the fact that group members have to actually interact in order to cooperate.

The second element is positive interdependence, which means that the group members rely on each other and can only succeed together. This goes hand-in-hand with the third element, which is individual accountability. As an

interdependent group, each individual is responsible for his or her own work and can be held accountable for that work.

The fourth element of cooperative learning is collaborative skills. The group members must be able to work together, but the ability to do so doesn't always come naturally; sometimes these skills need to be taught. And the final element is group processing, which refers to the fact that the group needs to monitor itself to ensure that the group, as a whole, is working together effectively.

There are five fundamental elements involved in cooperative learning. In fact, these five elements distinguish cooperative learning from other forms of group learning. These elements can be thought of as pieces in a puzzle. When all of these elements are present in a learning situation, the result is a cooperative learning group. The five basic elements of cooperative learning are:

Positive interdependence Individual and group accountability Interpersonal and small group skills Face-to-face promotive interaction Group processing

 

Positive Interdependence

 

 

This means the group has a clear task or goal so everyone knows they sink or swim together. The efforts of each person benefit not only the individual, but also everyone else in the group. The key to positive interdependence is committing to personal success as well as the success of every member of the group.

 

 

 

 

Individual and Group Accountability

 

 

 

 

The group is accountable for achieving its goals, and each member must be accountable for contributing a fair share of the work toward the group goal. No one can "hitchhike" on the work of others. The performance of each individual must be assessed and the results given back to the group.

 

 

 

Interpersonal and Small Group Skills

Interpersonal and small group skills are required to function as part of a group. These are basic teamwork skills. Group members must know how to - and be motivated to - provide effective leadership, make decisions, build trust, communicate, and manage conflict.

 

Completing tasks Communicating Decision making Managing conflict Appreciating group members

  

Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

This means that students promote each other's success by sharing resources. They help, support, encourage, and praise each other's efforts to learn. Both academic and personal support are part of this mutual goal. 

 

  

Group Processing

 

 

 

Group members need to feel free to communicate openly with each other to express concerns as well as to celebrate accomplishments. They should discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships.

 

 

 

 

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

Collaborative Learning is an approach appropriate for natural resource, environmental, and community decision-making situations with the following features: multiple parties, deeply held values, cultural differences, multiple issues, scientific and technical uncertainty, and legal and jurisdictional constraints.  It emphasizes activities that encourage systems thinking, joint learning, open communication, constructive conflict management, and a focus on appropriate change.

Collaborative Learning is a hybrid of soft systems methodology (SSM), experiential and adult learning theories,  and the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) areas of conflict resolution, mediation and negotiation.   Key notions of Collaborative Learning include:

Re-defining the task away from solving a problem to one of improving a situation.

Viewing the situation as a set of interrelated systems. Defining improvement as desirable and feasible change. Recognition that considerable learning--about science, issues, and value

differences--will have to occur before implementable improvements are possible.

From ADR, Collaborative Learning incorporates communication methods designed to promote collaborative, mutual gains negotiation.  While SSM is not well suited for dealing with differences in deeply held values, collaborative negotiation is.  Collaborative Learning respects value differences and provides an opportunity for transforming value disputes into interest disputes.  By incorporating features of SSM and ADR, Collaborative Learning promotes working through the issues and perspectives of a situation.

How does Collaborative Learning work? Collaborative Learning operates on three levels:

        1.    As a philosophy or orientation         2.    As a framework         3.    As a set of techniques

As a public participation or planning team approach, Collaborative Learning encourages people to learn actively, to think systemically, and to learn from one another about a particular problem situation.  The first stages of CL workshop project, for example, emphasize common understanding.  Activities might include information exchange, imagining best and worst possible futures, and visual representations of the situation, perhaps through the use of "situation maps."  In middle stages, CL participants focus on concerns and interests regarding the specific situation, and how those concerns relate to other concerns.  Out of these concerns, CL parties identify possible changes that could be made; "situation improvements."  In latter stages, the participants debate these improvements, addressing whether or not they represent desirable and feasible changes in the present situation.

Throughout the CL process, participants talk with and learn from one another in groups of various sizes.  For example, a CL process may use a "1-2-6" approach to discussing situation improvements.  After each CL participant has developed an improvement, she or he discusses that improvement with one other person.  Those two join four others and talk about each person's improvements.  Within these discussions, active listening, questioning, and argument are respected.  People clarify and refine their improvements through dialogue.  Collaborative Learning emphasizes "talking with" rather than "talking at."

What is the role of the sponsoring agency? Collaborative Learning asks the sponsoring agency (e.g., USDA-Forest Service, State Department of Natural Resources, City of Corvallis) to participate, not as the facilitator or intermediary, but as a major player.  The agency may be the decision-maker in the problem situation, but, within a CL process, does not function simply as an arbitrator.  Agency personnel participate in CL activities as citizens and as representatives of the agency.  Agency participants, just like others in the CL process, share their knowledge and expertise about the situation, ask questions, listen, and debate.  Doing so does not compromise the agency's decision authority, but does allow agency personnel to speak from their values and beliefs both as employees and as citizens.

An agency may use Collaborative Learning processes within its organization.  It may convene and sponsor Collaborative Learning activities for partnership development or public involvement.  When using CL with the public, facilitators must not also be players.  CL typically works best when those who direct the process are impartial about the concerns expressed and the improvements proposed.

What does Collaborative Learning produce? Collaborative Learning presumes that situations are dynamic, systemic, and changing.  CL is a framework that can be adapted to a particular situation to generate:

  Dialogue between diverse communities: scientific, public, administrative.   Improved understanding of the specific problem situation.   Integration of scientific and traditional knowledge about the problem

situation.   Increased rapport, respect, and trust among participants.   Clearly articulated systems-based concerns about the problem situation.   Tangible improvements in the problem situation.

How does Collaborative Learning relate to ecosystem-based management? Collaborative Learning is both philosophically and practically compatible with the basic tenets of ecosystem-based management (ESBM).  First, ESBM's commitment to ecological analysis and methods is consistent with CL's emphasis on a "human activity system" view of situations.  Second, CL needs the best science and technologies that ESBM features to be a part of CL's learning activities.  CL provides a venue for scientific and technical knowledge to be part of the civic discourse.  Third, the CL framework adapts well to public participation.  CL accommodates open participation, values local knowledge, and respects citizen interest and commitment.  Fourth, CL provides the opportunity for the development of shared visions and goals upon which partnerships may be based.  Collaborative Learning encourages a holistic, systemic view of a situation.  It respects the complexity of a situation in a manner similar to ecosystem-based management.   What Collaborative Learning is not. Collaborative Learning, while beneficial within an complex and controversial policy situation, is no panacea or "silver bullet."  It is one of possibly many frameworks that can involve people in meaningful learning and discussion about challenging management and decision situations.  It does not stress or demand consensus.  It does stress learning, understanding, and the development of improvements in the situation.  CL does not foster the development of a group "mentality" or "recommendations."  Rather, CL encourages parties to make progress on improving the situation as they work through issues, values, and concerns.

There has been much written to help teachers differentiate between cooperative learning and collaborative learning. Deciding which approach suits the purpose and the final goal of a lesson is not always obvious. First, defining collaborative learning and cooperative learning and how they both contribute to pivotal knowledge building and critical thinking skills can be confusing. The purpose of both approaches is the same; to provide students opportunities to engage with each other in thoughtful learning. The underlying premise of these techniques is that learning is enhanced by peer interaction. The differences in cooperative learning & collaborative learning are outlined below:

CONCLUSIONCelebration of diversity. Students learn to work with all types of people. During small-group interactions, they find many opportunities to reflect upon and reply to the diverse responses fellow learners bring to the questions raised. Small groups also allow students to add their perspectives to an issue based on their cultural differences. This exchange inevitably helps students to better understand other cultures and points of view.Acknowledgment of individual differences. When questions are raised, different students will have a variety of responses. Each of these can help the group create a product that reflects a wide range of perspectives and is thus more complete and comprehensive.Interpersonal development. Students learn to relate to their peers and other learners as they work together in group enterprises. This can be especially helpful for students who have difficulty with social skills. They can benefit from structured interactions with others.Actively involving students in learning. Each member has opportunities to contribute in small groups. Students are apt to take more ownership of their material and to think critically about related issues when they work as a team. More opportunities for personal feedback. Because there are more exchanges among students in small groups, your students receive more personal feedback about their ideas and responses. This feedback is often not possible in large-group instruction, in which one or two students exchange ideas and the rest of the class listens. In my opinion, there is a lot to be said about the power of cooperative learning in the classroom. Kids just seem to engage more intensely with the task at hand when it's placed in a mutually supportive social context. Beneficial, cooperative-learning situations are not easy to set up. In many situations, particularly those in which people must work together on a problem, conflicts prevent learning. As a result, cooperative learning requires teaching kids to work well with others by resolving these inevitable conflicts. In the next section, we will present specific techniques for dealing with group conflicts.

REFERENCE

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/coopcollab/index_sub3.html ]

http://study.com/academy/lesson/cooperative-and-collaborative-learning-in-the- classroom.html

http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Collaborative_Learning_vs._Cooperative_Learning.HTML

www.uleth.ca/teachingcentre/blog/ cooperative-and-collaborative - learning