Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

by Thomas A. Angelo, K. Patricia Cross, Claire H. Major

Engaging students in active learning is a predominant theme in today's classrooms. To promote active learning, teachers across the disciplines and in all kinds of colleges are incorporating collaborative learning into their teaching. Collaborative Learning Techniques is a scholarly and well-written handbook that guides teachers through all aspects of group work, providing solid information on what to do, how to do it, and why it is important to student learning. Synthesizing the relevant research and good practice literature, the authors present detailed procedures for thirty collaborative learning techniques (CoLTs) and offer practical suggestions on a wide range of topics, including how to form groups, assign roles, build team spirit, solve problems, and evaluate and grade student participation.

Genres: Education, Teaching

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2004

Reviews

[Adam Wilsman]

Cooperative Learning -
1. Positive interdependence. Individuals succeed to the extent that the group succeeds. Thus students are motivated to help one another accomplish group goals.
2. Promotive interaction. Members share resources and support and encourage one another.
3. Individual and group accountability. Everyone needs to contribute their share.
4. Development of teamwork skills.
5. Group procession. Students should learn to evaluate their group productivity. Need to make decisions about what to continue to do or change.

Centrality of reenvisioning teacher's role as one of being a co-learner rather than a distributor of information.

Importance of icebreakers in establishing a collaborative environment. Day one: I'm the only one in the room who has..." Day two: do what Nancy did and have them find the person who said something.

On syllabus introduction day (which should include eight units), "Problem Posting Activity:" think/pair/share to ask students to identify topics that they think the course should address. As students report out in a follow-up whole-class discussion, use their responses to reinforce or clarify course goals and content." OR Future Employer, "Use Round Robin or Buzz groups and ask students to generate a list of skills they believe a future employer will be looking for. Use this as a basis for a discussion of the learning objectives and goals for the course."

"Form groups of four to six students, identify a recorder, and use CoLT 2: Round Robin to ask students to generate a list of questions about the course. Pass out the syllabus, and ask students to read the syllabus to determine which of their questions have been answered and which have not. Close with a whole-class discussion on the syllabus based on their unanswered questions and their discoveries about the course." OR "Create a quiz with common questions regarding the course, such as, 'How do I get an A? What is the first deadline? What is the homework make-up policy?' and distribute these questions to small groups along with the syllabus. Have student groups work together to find the answers to the questions in the syllabus."

"Before starting group work, prearrange a signal that lets students know that it is time to turn their attention to you. The signal should be something that students wil easily recognize even if they are actively involved in group work, such as flashing the lights or ringing a desktop bel. When they see or hear this signal, students should respond by stopping the conversation and making eye contact with you. By establishing the signal the first time the groups meet, students will likely observe it for the entire term."

Create shareable folders for when all students aren't writing on the Google Doc? Shareable folders for the "think" parts of the think-pair-share?

"Use a combination of Round Robin and Group Grid, asking students to take turns answering the following questions: What behaviors do you think will be most helpful for groups? What behaviors will be least productive in groups? The recorder writes student responses in the appropriate "Helpful" or "Not Helpful" column on the grid. Using their completed grids, groups may either develop a list of ground rules for group behavior or they may report out in a whole-class discussion and create a general list of ground rules."

Forming Groups: "Generally, collaborative learning advocates suggest that the group be small enough so that students can participate fully and build confidence in one another yet large enough to have sufficient diversity and the necessary resources to accomplish the learning task."..."When academic achievement is used to create a hetereogeneous group, there may be insufficient opportunities for low achievers to show leadership and not enough contact between high achievers."

Instead of always changing group composition, "most experienced teachers who use group work come down on the side of keeping groups intact for as long as possible." Group roles: facilitator, recorder, reporter, timekeeper, folder monitor (if the instructor has created group work folders, the monitor picks up the team folder distributes all material other than data sheets, and returns all papers, assignment notes to team members. Folder monitors ensure that all relevant class materials are in the folder at the end of the class session") - this might work for Google Drive (the person who makes sure it's submitted?), Wildcard (assumes the role of any missing member or fills in however they are needed).

Student self-evaluation questions:
What have you learned about yourself as a learner? As a team player?
How can you apply what you learned in this activity to new situations?
Describe your most successful (or least successful) interaction with your peers.
How did collaborative learning contribute to learning course content? What were the advantages and disadvantages?
What connections do you see between this experience and your other college courses?
How did this experience challenge your assumptions and stereotypes?
How would you do this differently next time?
What was the best/worst/most challenging thing that happened?

Think-Pair-Share: Make "think" before class sometime. Ensure questions are big enough to include a number of correct responses for best results. "Ask each pair to share and compare their 'paired' ideas with those of another pair before, or instead of, the whole-class discussion; this variation is called Think-Pair-Square." "If one student seems to be dominating the other in the pair, set time limits for each student response. The simplest reporting out strategy is to have each pair share their most important point with the whole class. Limit the number of responses, repetition, and time required in the report out by asking each pair after the first to share only ideas not yet mentioned. Following the reports, conclude with a synthesis to validate student responses by highlighting the good points that students brought out. Gently correct any responses that are incorrect, and add any points that weren't covered...To promote active listening during the report out phase, randomly call on students and ask them to summarize what the reporting student just said."

Round robin: 4-6 students. Each student contributes one word or idea, they must refrain from evaluating, questioning, or discussing the ideas. Generates ideas, helps brainstorm before discussion. Often have a recorder, then maybe round robin with each group having the recorder contribute one idea that I put on the board. "Crafting a prompt that can generate a sufficiently rich array of responses that can be expressed quickly and succinctly is particularly important." Avoid asking students to engage in complex thinking and reasoning tasks, use this technique for straightforward tasks such as helping students generate lists, review materials. Set a time limit for students who are stumped.

Buzz groups: groups of 4-6 get together to discuss a small group of questions, which tend toward the conceptual more than factual and that will stimulate an open-ended examination of ideas. Have students report out. They can be the same set of questions or different. Good prep for whole class discussion. Enforce a time frame to stop chit-chat.

Talking chips: They recommend this as a group exercise, though I prefer it as a class discussion exercise. Give each student a chip or chips and as they participate/answer a question/talk for one minute they hand in a chip.

Three-Step Interview: Student A interviews Student B, Student B interviews Student A, Students A and B each summarize their partner's responses for Students C and D, and vice versa. An effective strategy for drawing out students personal experiences and tying them to course content.

Critical Debate: Have students argue side of the debate contrary to their own views. "Select a controversial topic in the field with two identifiable, arguable, and opposing sides that are appropriate to debate. Carefully craft the debate proposition into a one-sentence statement, such as, 'universities should use affirmative action policies to determine student admission.' Proposition statement should avoid ambiguity, yet be general enough to offer students flexibility in building arguments." Assign necessary background info for homework. Three-way debate?

Fishbowl: Use the fishbowl as a way to encourage students who don't normally participate to do so. Select six students for the middle circle, the rest an outer circle. The inner circle has a debate or discussion then the outer circle discusses or critiques that conversation. You could also switch the inner and outer circles, asking each different questions. I like this idea to ensure that people are more likely to get involved. Seven people in first group, seven people in second group. "Allow students from the outer circle to join the inner circle by tapping a student on the shoulder and exchanging places with him or her. This is a fun strategy for creating enthusiasm, and it keeps more students active and engaged...or give an entry/exit token such as a slip of paper." You could also "have students perform a task, such as solving a problem or learning a new skill, instead of discussing an issue." Make sure students are prepared or this could be embarassing for them. Out of class reading assignment should relate. "Consider creating a handout with specific questions for observers to answer either during or after the Fishbowl activity. For example, ask student to track the order, type, and duration of student participation. Follow-up questions could ask students to contribute their own insights or to synthesize the discussion, pretending the "audience" is a student who was not able to attend class that day." Combine this with a role play activity.

Role Play: If you did a role play, "don't expect students to develop deep understanding of human situations after a limited exposure in a single role play. Help students relate the role play to their own lives...The real value of Role Play occurs when students form general opinions about course concepts that they developed and internalized as a consequence of assuming a new identity or acting in a new situation."

Jigsaw: "If students are to realize the advantages of the peer-teaching role, they must take the challenges of teaching seriously. Consider engaging students in a preliminary whole-class discussion about what good teaching entails...Take time to present the challenges of teaching explicitly so that students can come up with creative ideas for communicating effectively...It may be important to assign homework that prepares students for both roles: teachers and learners...Providing closure for this activity is essential...One possible closing activity is to give students a list of they key points to address. Hold a whole class discussion on how they fulfilled the assignment, where they fell short, and where they exceeded the learning requirements. An additional or alternative activity is to ask groups to reflect on, and then share, something that members did that helped the group to learn.

Send-a-Problem: Group A solves problem 1 and 2, Group B 2 and 3, Group C 3 and 1. Evaluate the one they don't do. Give groups specificied amount of time with question, pass it along, don't look at other groups answer. Evaluation stage the group goes to the front, announces the winning team and explains the winning answer. "Send-a-Problem" is most effective for developing several thoughtful solutions for more complex problems that do not have a single right answer." Primary source reading?

Case Study: Form student groups and distribute identical or different cases to each team. Allow time for students to ask questions about the process they are to use to clarify the problem presented in the case. Students work in groups to sort out factual data, apply analytic tools, articulate isssues, reflect on their relevant experience, draw conclusions, and recommend actions that resolve the dilemma or solve the problem in the case. Sometimes students prepare a written or oral statement describing their assessment. Class discussion. Perhaps for the Treaty of Versailles? Promote empathy with the cast of characters.

Analytic Teams: Form student groups of four or five, assigning each individual in the team a specific role and 'job assignment.' Present the lecture, show, the video, or assign the reading. Give teams class time for individual members to share their findings and to work together to prepare to present their analyses in oral or written presentations. Consider a closure strategy that emphasizes roles and component tasks.

Affinity Grouping: Distribute enough sticky notes so that each student can have several slips for brainstorming ideas. State the category and time limit. Organize the students into groups, but then ask each student to separately and silently brainstorm ideas, writing one idea per slip of paper. When time is up, ask one team member to collect the cards or sticky notes, mix them up, and spread them out (or stick them) on a flat surface. Instruct the teams to discuss and arrange the cards or sticky notes into related groups. Have students create a title or heading for each grouping that best describes the theme of each group of items. Help students learn to tease out themes.

Team Matrix: Form pairs and distribute the blank matrix as handout. Have partners come to consensus and complete the matrix. Move to whole-class discussion to compare group matricies with instructor matrix, or ask partners to submit completed matrices for evaluation. Use when students are having a hard time distinguishing two topics: maybe two leaders, two countries (Mughal and Ottoman?).Try to create categories whose interconnectedness is complex enough to require thought to identify. Simple, binary distinctions will feel like busy work. Go over the matrix afterwards.

Sequence Chains: Organize students into groups, set a time limit, and either provide students with a scrambled list of items, or have them generate their own list of items. Ask students to work together to arrange the items in a sequence. If students will do an additional activity with the sequence (such as explaining the relationship between items), give them directions and clarify your expectations. Close this activity with a group discussion, asking teams to use their Sequence Chain as the basis for helping you create a class-generated Sequence Chain. Have students connect historical events. What is the order? How are they related? Perfect prep for any chronology questions that you put on quests.

Word Webs: Describe and demonstrate the process to students. Form teams and distribute paper and markers. Present the central concept that students will graph. Ask student teams to brainstorm, writing a list of terms and phrases that express core concepts and supporting details. Have students sketch out a diagram with the central idea and adding primary, secondary, and even tertiary associations. Suggest that students determine the ways in which the items are related, drawing lines or arrows to show their connections. Ask student to add new ideas and relationships as they construct the web. Center theme: WWII’s Effects on the Continental United States (women, education, and the economy, perhaps). Martin Luther King (Peaceful, Selfless, Religious, Brave). Spider map a good option for students to provide details. This is a really good first step for the writing process. Search for other graphic organizer methods besides spider map.

Dyadic Essays: Students write essays questions, model answers, give to another student to answer. "Writing a good essay question is a difficult task, and one with which students are often unfamiliar. This CoLT will work best when you have spent some time teaching stuents how to write good essay questions and answers. Consider preparing a handout with guidelines and sample questions and responses that model the level of complexity and depth you expect.

Peer Editing: Have writing groups of 3-4. Students meet at the start of a paper to discuss their topics. Touch base once in awhile to update on progress. Could serve as a replacement for or supplement to workshopping as an entire group. Peer edit papers. Talk to students about what they should look for when peer editing, especially because students are afraid to criique their peers.
"To promote substantive and constructive feedback, make sure your estudents understand that peer editing consists of commentary on all aspects of writing, including a clear thesis, good support, well-constructed topic sentences, coherent transitions, a logical organization, plus surface corrections. A peer review form that includes a checklist with each aspect clearly identified will help guide student efforts."

Team Anthologies: The teacher organizes into base groups of four and guides groups as they determine an appropriate topic for research. The group spits apart, and individual students each research and identify five to ten of the most important resources on the topic. The team rejoins and compiles all four team members' bibliographies and makes initial decisions as to the relevancy and currency of each entry, eliminating sources they deem to be of low value and aiming for a composite anthology of about ten citations. The team subdivides into pairs and assigns half the bibliography to each pair. Pairs divide their part of the bibliography, with each student taking half. Individuals photocopy and write a brief reflective commentary on each source. Pairs re-form and exchange, read, and reflect upon each other's reviews, looking for divergent and convergent thinking and ideas, and together create a composite annotation for the sources in their half of the bibliography. Pairs rejoin the base quad and prepare their work for submission by adding a cover sheet, introduction (with a statement of purpose and the anthology's value to the intended audience), and a conclusion (with suggested applications of the anthology, unanswered questions, and suggestions for future research). This would be a valuable way to start TEAM PROJECTS.

[DWRL Library]

For instructors with little-to-no classroom experience or who simply have trouble breaking free of lecture-mode, Collaborative Learning Techniques might be worth checking out. It is a non-subject-specific, systematic guide that outlines how to set up group activities in the classroom (with online variations).

The book provides modules for 30 types of collaborative-learning activities, centered on general skills like reciprocal teaching and problem solving. A few of these activities intrigued me, but may be familiar to others—for example, breaking students into analytic teams, in which each member is assigned a role that corresponds to a specific skill you want them to practice in their reading. Another idea was the “fishbowl,” in which a handful of students “model” discussion while the rest of the students observe; lame title aside, this seems like an interesting way of talking through basic skills like critical reading.

Otherwise, this book tends toward the basic, and I’m not sure that it offers much that’s new for experienced instructors who regularly incorporate different types of collaborative learning into their classes.

[Indra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guide to using project and group-based learning techniques for students. I have used it in a number of my courses at Wits.