Collaborative Learning Tutorial

Create assignments that fit the students’ skills and abilities. Early in the year, assign relatively easy tasks. As students become more knowledgeable, increase the difficulty level. For example, a teacher begins by having students recognize different forms of energy and compare them. Later, team members generate their own solutions to alternative energy. At the end of the year, each team prepares a proposal for an energy project and submits it to another team for evaluation.

Assign group tasks that allow for a fair division of labor. Try to structure the tasks so that each group member can make an equal contribution. For example, a teacher asks groups to create a presentation on alternative energy sources. Each member of the group is responsible to research one source, and then all the members work together to incorporate the individual contributions into the final report.

Set up “competitions” among groups. A science teacher can turn laboratory exercises into competitions. Students, working in groups, design and build a drinking straw tower They predict how their model will behave when loaded, and then each model is loaded to failure. Prizes are awarded to the groups in various categories: best predictions of behavior, most efficient structure, best aesthetics.

Consider offering group test taking. On a group test, either an in-class or take-home exam, each student receives the score of the group. Teachers who have used group tests report that groups consistently achieve higher scores than individuals and that students enjoy collaborative test taking.

Now that you have some strategies for designing collaborative learning activities, let’s take a look at how to set up the groups.