Disadvantages Of Collaborative Learning

I believe collaborative work is a useful strategy to help students develop understanding of concepts and become independent thinkers. It allows teachers to build a learning community in which students are able to work together to support each other’s learning. When using collaborative work, students become active participants of each lesson and the teacher becomes a guide that supports students throughout the learning process. I use collaborative work in my classroom because it allows me to meet the needs of my Special Education and English Language Learners. When my students work together they are able to put their strengths together to solve academic problems and complete different tasks. They are able to get along and work together to apply

I have never been in a group project that everyone did an equal amount of work and did it right. I tend to always be the group leader, doing everyone’s work. I know if you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Another probably important and frustrating thing is that I don't have Microsoft Word, I have a new Apple Computer, so I have whats called “Pages” instead of “Word” documents. I am still working out how to use it properly and to its full extent. Another fault of mine is trying to make everyone happy to the extent that when i can't i feel pretty bad about

The beginning of the chapter two included a section that discussed the dilemma of trying to introduce what is learned in the classroom in the work place. I recently just experience the difficultly of trying to utilize material I am currently learning in my EDPH 502 Individual Learning Differences course, at my fieldwork site. I tried to give feedback to my supervisor of how to improve the Puente program and was given a practical response of the program lacking the resources and a full time staff to monitor sections of the program can be improved at the moment. Collaboration was another topic in Chapter two that connected to me at my current employment as a Student Program Advisor for the USC Trio Educational Talent Search (ETS) Program. Ardoin (2014) mentions how an individual has to be patient when searching for a collaborative project. At the moment I am working on assignments that were given to me, but it was only a few months ago that I was asked to collaborate with other colleagues of mine on a project. The inclusion of being asked to assist with a group project allowed my opinion matter and

People can motivate you to get started or keep you motivated to write. It can be an effective tool when writing because you can get frustrated with yourself or not know where to go with an idea. Not only does it help create ideas, collaborative learning teaches you real world skills. These skills include how to properly communicate with others and teach you how to work with people you don’t necessarily get along with. Most likely your future will involve working with others in some form or another. Ms. Olson agrees, saying, “Yes, every student needs to be able to work well together with others and I think working together in a classroom is the closest experience to the real world job collaboration you will get while in school.” Researchers have looked at the benefits of collaboration and the ways it can help you. In the study the researchers discovered or identified two important benefits of collaborative learning. Xiao Han T. Zeng, the research scientist, shares with us that “Collaboration plays an increasingly important role in promoting research productivity and impact” (Zeng par. 1). These are just two of the identified benefits of collaborative learning.

Kenneth R. Bruffee discusses several claims about the nature of education in the essay Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind. The author discusses about collaborative education and the influence it has on students. Bruffee talks about how the university is a place to teach collaborative learning to college students who are seeking to work in the real world. Most students pursue higher education as preparation for work in the “real world.” (398)

In Case Study 5.1, Mrs. James not only effectively started her class with sharing her own experiences and building relationship with her students but also emphasized the importance of group work, which is in helping and learning from each other. She illustrated the following strategies and routines that supported cooperative learning: room arrangement, talk and movement procedures and individual accountability by building students’ social, explanation and sharing skills.

Collaboration can help the professionals learn from one another’s skills and help them to identify their own useful skills. This can motivate professionals on diving deeper with specific topics and furthering their knowledge and education in order to benefit not only themselves, but everyone that they work with.

A reflective essay on the skills acquired from collaborative learning and how they may be applied in practice.

With the heterogeneous groups the level of discussion and cooperative work is increased, providing benefits for every student partaking. According to Paul Burden and David Byrd (2012), “Having students work in groups generally has a positive effect on their achievement when compared to their work as individuals.” Small-group work and discussions allows for students to improve their communication skill, cooperation skills, and gain new insight and understanding from their peers in a way that could not be achieved working alone.

By and large, it is of little debate in today's sophisticated world that education is of great importance. This is inasmuch as education is the basic necessity of life and brings self-confidence. With this in mind, it is quite expected to notice some of its aspects are somewhat controversial due to its prominent standing; many people wonder which way helps students to learn more. One idea of prominence in this regard is that students learn more when they work together on a project. I personally concur with it. The rationale behind this thesis will be elaborated upon and exemplified in the ensuing paragraphs by giving two outstanding reasons.

In Scenario 2, Mr. Collet’s homework policy promotes best practices with positive social interaction because he permits his students to develop the homework assignments during class which encourages collaboration and peer-sharing among the students. According to research collaboration promotes a deeper understanding of homework content and inspires a higher motivation to remain on task (Wnet Education, 2004). Students have an opportunity to connect with their teacher and colleagues by asking questions, providing input, or requesting clarification. This policy would also prove beneficial to students who struggle with interpersonal communication because they may benefit from the controlled and structured environment that collaboration provides.

2. Cooperative learning directed towards focusing on students’ team work while doing their project assignments.

Collaborating made me realize that sometimes a discussion can have too much structure. Plans inevitably change. My discussion did not go as I originally planned. Through leading the class, I realized that one concrete direction solely based upon what one person thinks should be discussed can be limiting. Although coming prepared and well versed in the subject matter is important, giving space for people to talk about what they deem relevant can produce a more powerful discussion than forcing people to construct their thoughts according to a prompt or specific question. I found that allowing people to speak, and posing questions that naturally flowed off of what they brought up was more effective in provoking the sharing of ideas than harshly transitioning to wholly new topics or questions.

Collaborative learning stems from the theory of Vygotsky’s conception of Zone of proximal development. The thought is that children learn best with “help and guidance” (Ormrod, 2012). In transitioning this zone to a collaborative learning experience, children work with their peers in broadening their learning experience, allowing small groups of students to work together to share knowledge, exchange ideas, problem solve, and more. These classroom environments help to create durable abilities in students and aid in producing a “smoother integration into adult society when the activities resemble real-world tasks” (Ormrod, 2012). As students work with peers and adults, they adopt some of the learning strategies demonstrated and develop more skills in problem solving. This scaffolding creates a trickle-down effect of knowledge construction. In collaborative learning, students are afforded a myriad of enriching opportunities to explore perspectives that may differ from their own. These activities serve to create a self-awareness in the student of their responsibilities to a group, requiring them to self-monitor their activity (Lee, Tsai, Chai, & Koh, 2014).

My vision of collaborative learning is a learning strategy that affords the students enormous opportunities and advantages not available through traditional learning processes. I believe that students in a collaborative team tend to attain