I have observed an interesting phenomenon regarding how students react to collaborative learning techniques. Initially they are pretty enthusiastic about working with partners and being able to discuss their concerns about content in class and ask their peers questions which they might not wish to ask publicly. The social aspect of learning is new to many students and generates a special interest, especially in an algebra class where students have previously experienced the lecture as the primary delivery method.
As the semester continues the collaborative activities focus their attention on the their responsibilities for learning the content of the course. It becomes very clear that they are expected to play a very active role in the class process and thus in the learning process. This is when resistance begins to build. Most students are used to a passive role in class where they receive required information from a teacher. The collaborative structure requires more energy in class and more preparation out of class. Students cannot hide during a collaborative exercise if come to class unprepared. I find that at this point I need to increase my efforts at selling collaborative learning to the students. I attempt to convince them bt sharing articles which explain and extol the benefits of collaboration, by having them analyse their performance within their groups and suggest improvements, and sometimes by using group assessments as part of the grading to serve as a carrot.
I find that I need to become much more of a cheerleader for this approach during the middle of the semester. I continue to work throughout the semester on advocating and highlighting the benefits of working together. It seems to work as the students become more comfortable with the processes, they relax again and begin to really enjoy doing algebra.
I would love to hear about your experiences with collaborative learning. In particular:
How do your students react to collaborative learning activities over time during a semester?
What do you do to orient your students to the collaborative learning environment?
Do you find that you need to "sell" the idea of using collaborative learning to your students? If so, how do you do it?
I am attaching an interesting post I received a little while ago from Meghan McFerran regarding establishing a collaborative classroom. I hope it will be helpful in addressing questions of a more practical nature regarding collaborative learning or perhaps in raising additional questions for us to discuss.
Please send your responses to the list. I will compile them and send them out as a file (instead of sending the entire compilation as a message) in a future posting. I have entered the old millenium finally and am becoming somewhat more computer literate and savy about sending large amounts of information over the internet.
Regards,
Ted tpanitz@cape.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Cooperative Learning Guidelines
"Meghan K. McFerran" <mcferram@ROSNET.STROSE.EDU>
> I stumbled upon a list of guidelines for cooperative learning that I thought might interest those of you who are interested in implementing it within your classroom. This list was composed by >David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson, in "Learning Together and Alone".
> 1. Arrange the classroom to promote cooperative goals. Students >will need to work in clusters, and seating arrangements should >reflect this need. Provide sufficient space and study areas for >students to share.
> 2. Present the objectives as group objectives. The group and not >the individual is the focus. Gear reward structure to achieving .group objectives.
> 3. Communicate intentions and expectations. Students need to >understand what is being attempted. They should know what to >expect from the teacher and from each student in the group and >what the teacher expects them to accomplish.
> 4. Encourage a division of labor where appropriate. Students >should understand their roles and responsibilites. This will take >time and practice.
> 5. Encourage students to share ideas materials and resources. >Students should look to each other and not the teacher. The teacher >may act as a catalyst in making suggestions, but not be the major >source of ideas.
> 6. Supply a variety of materials. Since the sharing of materials is
> essential to the group, sufficient quantities and variety are needed.
> 7. Encourage students to communicate their ideas clearly. Verbal >messages should be clear and concise. Verbal and nonverbal >messages should be congruent with each other.
> 8. Encourage supportive behavior and point out rejecting or hostile
> behavior. Behaviors such as silence, ridicule, personal criticism,
> oneupmanship, and superficial acceptance of an idea should be >discussed and stopped since they hinder cooperation and productive >group behavior.
> 9. Provide appropriate cues and signals. Point out when the noise >level is too high. Direct the group's attention to individual problems >and encourage students to use the group.
> 10. Monitor the group. Check the progress of individuals in a group >and of the group as a whole. Explain and discuss problems, assist, >and give praise as appropriate.
> 11. Evaluate the individual and group. In evaluation focus on the >group and its progress. Evaluate the individual in the context of the >group's effort and achievement. Provide prompt feedback.
> 12. Reward the group for successful completion of its task. After
> evaluation, recognition and rewards should be given on a group >basis so that individuals come to realize that they benefit from each >other's work and will help each other succeed.
> I hope this will be a helpful guide to those
of you who are >interested in learning more about cooperative learning!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 From: "Brian Taylor" <btaylor@inreach.com>
To: aednet <aednet@pulsar.acast.nova.edu>
I do not find generational issues to be as important in collaboration as a couple of other things:
1. Empowerment....
2. Enablement....
3. Flexible evaluative measures....
4. Tolerance (on the part of all) for a degree of uncertainty and chaos.
Empowerment, of course, means that the participant
is freed from the fear
of failure and imbued with a sense of the importance
of his/her
contribution. This means clearly explaining a
different milieu from the
traditional noncollaborative one with which most
are familiar.
Enablement means taking time to give students
the tools to do real research.
For most, this means a substantial investment
in helping them to learn
skills which were not taught or learned at lower
levels of education.
Flexible evaluative measures arises from the "controlled
chaos" which
collaboration so often produces. I cannot ask
for the kind of
narrowly-defined regurgitation of dished-out
facts which I could ask for,
for example, if I said "Here are the six phases
of scientific development"
in class, and then asked on a test "What are
the six phases of scientific
development?" If we are learning about scientific
development in society,
one student will bring in one construct having
four phases and another will
bring in another construct having ten. Since
there are relatively few
absolutes - especially at the edges of knowledge
- I must be able to look
for something beyond the rote memorization of
"fact". I must also be able
to recognize and evaluate meaning from free-form
communications from
students.
Naturally, none of this is as neat and cozy as
"Today my lecture will tell
you how human beings learn, and tomorrow my test
will be about how human
beings learn. Be there or be square". Hence,
the need for tolerance of
chaos, and the need perhaps to face the fact
that for some instructors and
for some students such chaos is frightening,
bewildering and
counterproductive. Collaborative milieus may
not be for everyone.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 From: "H. Guy Bensusan"
<Guy.Bensusan@NAU.EDU>
To: aednet <aednet@pulsar.acast.nova.edu>
This past year, Northern Arizona University acquired
a virtual conferencing
system called CAUCUS, and under the direction
of former DEOS-L moderator
and current Research Associate to the NAU Provost,
Mauri Collins, it was
made available to professors teaching on NAUNet.
The system allows the posting of writings by members
of a course, allows all
members to read each other's writings, and to
comment on them. Coupled
with the fact that I use a series of twelve steps
(questions) in order to
help learners self-pace/teach themselves through
my Regional Arts and Culture
courses, it became very clear that the system
fostered collaboration to a far
greater degree that the previous system of exchanging
essays.
It also allows me as professor to read and comment,
or read and then ask
questions, either on that specific writing or
in another place calculated
for all to read, think about and then write on.
Meanwhile, in class (over multisite interactive
TV statewide), we had the
opportunity to discuss the ideas which are being
written on, thought about,
and further developed.
Thus a retro-synchronicity is emerging in which
the synchronous and
immediate verbal response is preceded and followed
by the asynchronous
written and reflected response. Last semester,
I noticed that we were
getting farther faster than ever before --- I
asked the learners about it,
and they suggested that the constancy of thinking
about the topics and
talking about them, writing about them, and arguing
over interpretations in
class, gave them deeper and more solid bases
for understanding, while the
collaboration both helped to encourage the learning
and willingness to help
each other as a result of the increased contact.
We will continue the approach again this semester
with two different
regional studies --- and it pleases me greatly
that some twenty learners
from last semester have signed up again, saying
that they found the
experience so valuable to their study methods
that they wished to continue.
They will also serve to help the "newbies" by
being "alums" or
"big-brothers/sisters" who can be peer guides.
As for "reluctances" --- both the older and the
younger learners said they
went through traumas; worried about something
new, about cyber-anxiety,
about a different system. Ten percent dropped;
many got snagged along
the way by procrastination (one essay is due
each week), but most evaluated the course
in a very positive way, suggesting that CAUCUS
was the biggest aid to the
cooperation/collaboration, while the Escalator
questions provided an
alternative structure that made sense and was
achievable even if a lot of
work.
Guy Bensusan, Professor of Humanities and Religious
Studies
Senior Faculty Associate for Interactive Instructional
Television
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5676
Voice: 520.523.9146 --- Fax: 520.523.9988
URL: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~hgb/drguy.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 From: SVernon294 <SVernon294@aol.com>
To: aednet <aednet@pulsar.acast.nova.edu>
I have been following the discussion about collaborative
learning and have some comments. I have taught students at the community
college, undergraduate and graduate level. My experience has resulted in
the belief that adult learners are more easily engaged in collaborative
and learner centered educational experiences. More "traditional students"
require more
facilitation and education regarding the practice
of and benefits of student directed and collaborative learning. I'm sure
that they are closer to the teacher directed methods and are more frightened
that the adult student about their ability to participate effectively.
Once they do become engaged, they are equally participative and enthusiastic
about the process.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sat, 10 Jan 1998 Marc Sheffner <sheffner@tezukayama-u.ac.jp>
cl@jaring.my
WIth regard to the "interesting phenomenon", I
suspect it is not limited to CL, and therefore its occurrence may not be
due to the CL techniques used. Last year I tried a number of methods for
getting students more involved in their own learning, and I discovered
exactly the same response as Ted Panitz describes. In learning anything
is htere not a period of initial interest because everything is new and
fresh, followed by a waning of enthusiasm as the freshness wears off and
the necessity of regular
application becomes apparent?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 From: "H. K. Morris Baskett"
<basketth@fcae.acast.nova.edu>
To: aednet@pulsar.acast.nova.edu
Ted asks about collaborative learning, and student's
reaction to our
attempts to encourage them to take responsibility
for their own learning
and to work together. It seems to me that two
variables which affect "resistance"
are age and experience. I have mostly taught
adult students and graduate students,
but when I have taught undergraduates, thereseems
to be a much greater reluctance
to participate whole-heartedly in collaborative
learning. Most graduates(usually in "mid-life") I have
taught , as well as "non-credit" adult students,
embrace collaboration,
and are disappointed if there is not a large
amount of collaboration in
their learning endeavors.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wed, 7 Jan 1998 "Ron Rosebrook" <rosebruk@mail.wsu.edu>
>How do your students react to collaborative learning activities over time during a semester?
Our GED preparation program is only 5 to 6 weeks
in duration, so they really
do not have time to get "tired" of anything.
We not only use collaborative
learning activities, but we also teach collaboratively.
So the "we" I use
is not a royal "we."
>What do you do to orient your students to the collaborative learning environment?
We focus on what we want the students to produce,
rather than on roles. For
example our students design and build model houses
and bridges out of
various materials, do various kinds of presentations
on various subjects in
science and social studies, and they do two to
three dramas. We try tobe
very clear about what we want them to produce
and when we want it to be
done. We keep samples to show later groups what
we expect. We sometimes
assign groups, at other times we allow the students
to form their own teams.
The students usually have such a short time in
which to produce something
that they don't have much time for "messing"
around.
>Do you find that you need to "sell" the idea of using collaborative learning to your students? If so, how do you do it?
No matter what one teaches, everything goes much
better if the students are
"sold" on what they are doing. One of my former
colleagues and I, myself,
have been professional sales people. We have
had quite a lot of sales
training and we decided that we needed to apply
it in the class room. So we
developed some techniques for doing that based
on the principles of good
salesmanship. The very best sales technique is
to get people to sell
themselves on the idea, product, or service.
The way to do that is to ask
the prospect leading questions. So that is what
we do. We present an
assignment and then ask the students, "Why do
you think we want you to do
this? What will you gain by doing the assignment?"
Then we lead a
brainstorming session and write their responses
on the board. Then we do it
again after the students have completed the assignment.
It takes a little
longer than telling students why you want them
to do something, but it is
far more effective. The students sell not only
themselves but each other on
the value of the activity.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tue, 6 Jan 1998 "Christopher E. Hartmann" <cehartma@STUDENTS.WISC.EDU>
I offer the following anectdote about the social aspects of learning:
A few years ago in a Pre-Calculus course which I was teaching the class completed a number of group projects which required extensive collaboration. During one of the projects, six weeks in duration with 40% of the class time allocated to group work, one of the groups collectively decided that rather than working twice per week for 45 minutes in class they would agree to get together on the weekend and spend a couple of hours working together on the project. They decided to propose to me a trade of free time in class for their commitment to work together on the weekend. One of the students in the group, a very persuasive young person, presented the following argument to support their proposal: (1) forty-five minutes is not a particularly useful block of time for our group since we are all vocal, (2) the school day has so much pressure that two free periods during the day will be more productive during the long run, (3) if you want us to take responsibility for doing our best work it is important that you trust us to allocate our time in ways which we feel best allows us to do so. [Obviously I am paraphrasing from memory]
My teacher's dilemma in this situation resulted from several factors. First, the structure of the school schedule. No short term solution to this problem. Second, the competitive academic environment experienced by college-intending students. Again, I am stuck. Third, the existing classroom environment where I had intentionally promoted student independence and personal initiative. On this point, I should be rewarding the students for their group decision-making and plan of action. My decision was to allow this group to use their time as they felt they could be most productive, as long as they did not interfere with any of the other groups.
There were a couple of interesting results: (1) this group produced excellent work on time which demonstrated their intellectual capacity, interest, and capability; and (2) none of the other groups in the class expressed any interest in copying this plan, and in fact, one other group was amused, but I stress not angry or bitter, by how this group "wasted time"; (3) the extent to which the students in the group appeared to have learned the mathematical ideas behind the work was impressive, and indeed, they obviously had taken the initiative to make sure that each member of the group learned the material.
Frequently, I think back to this experience in the classroom, and to what it means for schools as organizations and for group collaboration as a method of learning in the classroom. In response to Ted's initial offering, I am interested in what other teachers and/or scholars interested in cooperative group work think about this situation.
Christopher E. Hartmann
University of Wisconsin-Madison
cehartma@students.wisc.edu
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thu, 8 Jan 1998 Tim Touzel <touzel@COASTAL.EDU>
I first of all applaud your students and you for
trying this. I have
let students try various ways of completing assignments.
My first
concern is how I can construct the task so that
I'm relatively sure
it is truly each person's work. Of course, we
can never be sure when
work is done outside of class, so I always rely
on testing for a part
of the grade in the class.
My question to this dialogue is, should we as
teachers let students
be on their honor to complete assignments? Or,
should we not even be
concerned about this? Should we just ask, is
the assignment correct?
Does it matter how students get their answers
as long as they get it?
These are questions I've asked myself more than
once.
Dr. Tim Touzel Professor of Education KH 202
Coastal Carolina University
Conway SC 29526 803-349-2608, FAX:803-349-3940,
Email:TOUZEL@coastal.edu
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thu, 8 Jan 1998 "Lawrence M. Kenney" <kenneyl@UWWVAX.UWW.EDU>
I enjoyed your question about "correct assignments"
so much that I am
prompted to reply. If no constraints are put
on how the students complete
the assignment (individually or collaboratively),
then assessment/testing
should ask these questions: 1) How did you arrive
at the correct answer
for the assignment? and 2) What did you learn?
or 3) How will you apply
what you learned tomorrow? In this way, one can
avoid the problem of
"correctness without understanding." Thus, collaboration
has its rewards
and individual accountability is maintained.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 From: "A. Nadine Burke"
<anburke@alpha.delta.edu>
To: tcc-l@hawaii.edu http://www.delta.edu/~anburke
I read Ted's post with great interest. I have
been using collaborative
learning for about a year and half now in my
traditional writing and
literature classes. I began using it in my on-line
courses to encourage
retention a bit earlier.
Some random thoughts about using it in traditional
classes:
I find some students resistant to the process
at the beginning. The
"better" students come to me privately, worrying
they won't "get" the
information they need to earn their A. They also
are concerned that they
will do all the work in the group even though
the grade for group work is
mainly for participation. At this point, I have
to sell them on the idea.
I do find, however, students who are usually
in the mid-range seem to excel
in the course. Of course my evidence is anecdotal,
but these students say
at the end of the course that they never earned
such a high grade in lit or
writing before--a student's measure of success,
not mine.
I find some students do stop coming to a collaborative
class. Some think
that they can just show up the days that something
is due, not
understanding that what they turn in is missing
vital elements created or
discussed during collaboration. Others just disappear.
I am not sure if
it is because the class causes more active involvement.
I assume that is so.
I had student call me once to say that she wouldn't
be in class because she
was really sick. She said she'd drop off her
work because she was going to
a lecture class. In that class, she could just
sit there whereas mine made
her tired. I considered that a compliment!
Thoughts about using it on-line:
I never hear a lot of resistance from on-line
students. I think they are
more motivated students to begin with which might
explain part of it. I
occasionally get a phone call or e-mail message
from one or two worried
about how it may affect their grade.
I rarely, especially in the lit class on-line,
find students
dropping--maybe one or two from a section. The
social aspect of
collaborative learning keeps people involved.
I also found out that some
of them are meeting in chat rooms to discuss
the lit or writing aside from
the required e-mail discussion. While I used
to use a chat element in my
on-line classes extensively, I've put less emphasis
there now because I
found my students wanted to and only could meet
after 10 PM at night. Late
night chats and early mornings for my traditional
teaching (and my role of
getting my children to school) took a terrible
toll on my health. Hearing
that students are gravitating to chat with just
a little prompting is
gratifying since I can't be involved as much.
I see a gender difference in collaborative learning.
I never let a group
comprise of all males if I can at all help it.
Those groups seems to die
on-line (not as much in a traditional classroom).
I try to balance
male/female. If I do end up with an all female
group--they flood my inbox
with all sorts of messages. Mostly, they are
on topic.
Does anyone find that in on-line communication
females tend to put more
"chatty" type info in their responses than males?
At first, I thought my
females on-line wrote more--they do, but not
about the subject. It's the
social cues that keep a mixed gender group together.
Females ask where
someone has been if they haven't heard from them
in a while. They tend to
use phrases like, "Do you know what I mean?"
or "Am I making sense?" It's
funny because the males respond to these questions
as much as the females.
Also, males in a group with females put more
social cues in their work.
The social cue may be an introductory paragraph,
but it's there. In an all
female group, so much chatter ensues. It drives
me nuts--I guess because I
have so much mail I want students to get to the
point.
Okay--I know I am guilty of a few social cues
in my post. Hey, I'm female.
But look beyond them and see if anything I've
said sounds familiar.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
7 Jan 1998 "Tom Little" <tom_little@macgate.csuchico.edu>
I really enjoyed your post.I showed it to my colleague
who teaches with me
and he started laughing.It is what we have been
finding out and doing.Our
call on it is that the students do not know how
to learn! I think one should
be patient.The students will tell other students
whatÕs going on and the
students will be prepared for the style that
you are using to teach. It will
get better each semester. The example that I
use for an explanation to other
professors is: when the student enrolls in a
class that the faculty memeber
is known to be very tough, they are prepared
to work harder. When a faculty
members class is fairly easy they are not prepared
to work hard and when that
faculty memeber tries to increase the rigor of
a class. It takes the students
a while(semesters) to adjust.We have been attempting
to use collaborative and
distance learning tools in my sports medicine
class for the last two years. We
are still not there yet, but getting closer.I
found out that part of the
problem was not the students but with me the
faculty person on not knowing
the techniques well enough.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 1998 ) From: "Mike Clarke" <Clarkems@akerley.nscc.ns.ca>
To: aednet <aednet@pulsar.acast.nova.edu>
There are a few difficulties and interesting developments
that I have had with
collaberative learning this year. My class sizes
in Systems analysis
and Programming increased from 20 to 30 this
year. When starting
collaberative and group activities more problems
came up than last
year and it was more expressed more vocally.
The problem stemmed
from people who were doing most of the work being
frustrated by
"coasters". Work ground to a halt on many occasions
because of this.
It seemed that, even though there was individual
and peer
evaluation, the coasters were not motivated to
work in that
environment. Perhaps personality and learning
styles were in effect
there.
On the other hand, non-structured collaberative
learning took place
when coaches in the classroom ( subject matter
"expert" students) were
recruited by other students to help with problems.
When "Support
Review Forms" were used to monitor and evaluate
coaching by peers the
motivation and feedback was there.
Some working groups formed among similarly motivated
students to
help each other. These groups tended to be the
highest performers.
This seemed to naturally evolve, whereas the
structured activities
floundered.
This has been a very "informative" year so far....
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 From: Hilary LaMonte <hlamonte@nsba.org>
To: aednet <aednet@pulsar.acast.nova.edu>
I am currently a student in an online Ph.D. program
in which we work
entirely collaboratively in all of the first
two years of required
coursework. We do this as a cohort, the same
group of students working
together for all of the first two years. The
focus is "Learning and Change
in Human Systems" and the goal is to develop
a learning community as we
learn about and practice research techniques
and philosophical underpinnings
for understanding learning communities.
What Mike describes above is very familiar to
our group. Almost from the
get-go, we have had some people in the group
who are online often and do
alot of the facilitating and other group work
needed to keep us focused. We
have also had a group of folks who are online
less, focusing instead on
reading and applying our work to their daily
jobs and communities. We hav
been naming this a "participation issue" and
it is one that does not seem to
go away or shift much in terms of group membership.
We are now 1 1/2 years
into our work and this issue has been with us
since about the third month.
In August, we made the conscious decision as a
group to adopt an emergent
systems group, forming small groups around mutual
interest areas in each of
the three academic courses. In these groups,
our work blossomed as people
with similar online/offline styles naturally
gravitated together.
We are now at the point where we need to begin
preparing for our group
comprehensive demonstration of competency. It
accounts for 1/2 of our
pre-dissertation evaluation and we all either
pass or fail together. It
will be interesting to see what happens to our
collaboration and emergent
systems as this community requirement draws near.
Hilary La Monte Manager, NSF Project National
School Boards Association
1680 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Tel: (703)
838-6153
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mon, 5 Jan 1998 Tasha Greer <tjlloyd@ACS.UCALGARY.CA>
EDSTYLE@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
I've had the pleasure of using collaborative learning with pre-service education students. On more of the practical side, I've found that restricting the group sizes to 3 students can be benefitial. Larger than 3 and the groups have
logistical difficulties meeting outside of class; smaller than 3 and there isn't enough "heads" to get the benefits of group work.
I find the students vary in their enthusiasm for group work. Some seem to take to it immediately, while others are reluctant participants. In general, their enthusiasm varies according to how well the group dynamics work. In the groups where everyone contributes equally, it seems to work out much better than in the groups where one member doesnt' contribute, attend group meetings or fulfull their obligations. I usually hear about it when one member isn't contributing and then attempt to find out the source of the problem. Some groups seem better able to negotiate the give and take of collaborative work and can work out the inevitable frictions. The indiviuals who are better negotiators and have the best interpersonal skills seem to appreciate group work the most.
Has anyone done a workshop on group processes
with their students prior to starting group work? I've contemplated doing
something like this, but haven't as of yet. I think it might orient them
at the beginning of the class about how
productive groups function.
Tasha Greer, MSc. Student email: tjlloyd@acs.ucalgary.ca
Faculty of Educational Psychology phone: (403)
220-4269 University of Calgary
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mon, 5 Jan 1998 Ddeliberto <Ddeliberto@aol.com>
AERA-C@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU, AERA-K@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU
I have enjoyed reading your posts, and found the
one on learning styles to be
particularly relevant to my work. In that post
you stated that your next
newsletter would focus on strategies for helping
Kinestetic learners develop
their Visual learming styles. I never received
that newsletter and was
wondering when I might receive it.
I am an assessment specialist and have experienced
much of what you described
in that post. Classroom instruction foucses very
much on Visual and Auditory
styles as do most of our testing methods and
assessment models. Of particular
interest was your research of the type of jobs
in which a child/adult with a
particular preference style might achieve the
greatest success.
Perhpas you are already familiar with these instruments
but I would suggest
the following instruments might assist teachers
in determining learning styles
for their students.
LSI (Learning Style Inventory) is a uselful instrument
for determing learning
styles of students. There are two versions, one
for students in grades 3-4
and one for students in grades 5-12. These are
relatively cheap and can
assist teachers as well as those responsible
for student prgramming.
PEPS (Productivity Environmental Preference Survey)
is for adults. It
measures preferred learning styles and environments
for adults which will
enable them to be most productive.
When LSI and PEPS are used in educational settings,
students and teachers can
be matched according to their learning styles
and productivity preferences.
Hopefully, the above info will be helpful to
you and other readers.
I am now working with an adult client who has
strong preferences for
Kinestetic learning. In addition, he has low
motivation and works best in the
late afternoon - early evening. He is a computer
programmer and has
experienced considerable difficulty in mathematical
problem-solving and
reasoning, especially if he is not permitted
to write down each step. This is
despite his high math scores on every mathematics
test administered. There
are no signs of any neuropsychological damage
and we are convinced that had he
been instructed in the ways that Ted suggests,
he would not be experiencing so
much difficulty. We are working to help him overcome
these difficulties and
thought that Ted or other members of this list
might be able to assist us.
Thanks in advance,
Deanna M. De'Liberto D SQUARED ASSESSMENTS, INC.
9 Bedle Road, Suite 250
Hazlet, NJ 07730-1209 phone: (732) 888-9339 email:
Ddeliberto@aol.com
http://www.quikpage.com/D/dsquared
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mon, 5 Jan 1998 Mary Anne Soboleski <maryan@hgea.org>
Aloha Ted, I will be teaching an undergraduate
course in two weeks and
plan to use collaborative learning strategies.
I have use CL in Grades
3-6 and graduate courses as well as workshops
for adult ed teachers. I
have never tried it withundergraduates and am
looking forward to it. I am
also planning to use portfolios as the main means
of grading BUT I have
to give letter grades and a final exam)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mon, 5 Jan 1998 "Courtney, Sean" <courtney@unlinfo.unl.edu>
Ted, thanks for mailing. Coincidentally, I will begin teaching a course on adult learning theory this semester and plan to use collaborative learning approach in having students help me design the course, select topics, determine methods and assessment, etc. Will keep you posted as to how it transpires. And again thanks for this very useful information.
Sean Courtney, Ed.D Associate Professor Dept.
of Vocational and Adult Education
University of Nebraska 526B Nebrasaka Hall Lincoln,
NE. 68588-0515
Tel: 402-472-5727
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ruth Collins" <LV2FLY@nni.com> cl@jaring.my
Ted,
I have always tried to incorporate cl into the
classroom,
but this semseter I incorporated ten projects
into a
precalculus class... a challenge for me, if not
everyone
else.... the reviews at the end of the course
were
interesting... I am still trying to get a handle
on the
input. The best students thought the cl amusing
I guess...
they knew most of the math before they got to
me and I was
just a grade to them. Most of the other students
said
positive things like "I talked in this class
and have never
volunteered an answer in a math class before.."etc.
Almost
all said theythought they had learned a lot more
than in
previous math classes but given achoice between
taking
their next class cl or lecture, a lot (more than
half)
picked lecture.... If the atmosphere was so great
and they
learned more, why go back to lecture ....security,
less
work, less focus on them.....can you give me
guidance here?
Mathematics Department , Room 329 Delaware Technical
and Community College
Wilmington, De 19801 (302) 571-5335
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PAStoll <PAStoll@aol.com>
Good discussion of collaboration techniques in
class! I have not used
collaboration much because students resist up
front. They recall
"collaboration" in high school where one or two
people did all the work and
the others were invisible. Also I am not good
at collaboration myself (like to
work alone) so I'm not too helpful. I do agree
these skills are important and
necessary and will work on these this semester
in my research paper class.
Pat Stoll
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Wolfcarl <Wolfcarl@aol.com>
ALTLEARN@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (Alternative Approaches
to Learning Discussion)
Thought I'd add my two cents also...
Most schools think that they can assign students
to any teacher, and, conversely, they also think that any teacher can teach
any student. First, remove any fear from the environment. Second, have
Professional development days to include all teachers and administrators
in regard to Teaching & Learning Styles. It's much easier to accomplish
innovative techniques, when you stop working alone. To have a truely a
collaborative classroom, you must have a collaobrative school.
Beekman-Fraser Consulting, Inc. Carl Beekman,
Ph.D. Vice President
2239 "B" Simpson Ridge Circle Kissimmee, FL 34744
Phone: (407) 518-9552
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Patrick Boylan <boylan@uniroma3.it>
Hi,
I teach English (language, culture) at the Universities
of Rome and
Perugia. Bob Aiken, a visiting professor here,
forwarded your questions
sent 5 Jan 1998. Since I try to foster cooperative
learning, I thought I'd
share my views.
You ask to share experiences with cooperative
learning and ask three
specific questions. The first is:
>I would love to hear about your experiences with
collaborative
>learning. In particular: How do your students
react to collaborative
>learning activities over time during a semester?
Very well. Right to the end -- so there's no need
to "sell" them on
participating. They're Italian and so sociable,
of course. But the real
answer is they have chosen languages because
they want to travel, interact
with people, understand factual and literary
works in English first hand
and, most of all, "feel" what it means to live
another culture. So I help
them form research/study/practice groups that
let them attain these goals
or at least acquire the skills they see as relevant
in order to attain
these goals. I don't have to motivate them. They
study because they find
that they actually learn what they had come to
the University to learn in
the first place.
>What do you do to orient your students to the
collaborative learning
>environment?
The first two weeks are spent weaning students
from the idea that I've got
all the answers. In fact, they are amazed to
find out that not only do I
not have all the answers, I don't even have all
the questions. THEY do,
since they're the ones who enrolled in the class
to learn something they
must have thought answered needs or curiosities
THEY had (not me).
The following two weeks are used to simulate
group work in class -- a group
of 5 goes through some activity in front of the
others: learning a role
from a recorded play, trying to transcribe a
sound track from a film seen
in class, formulating explanations for the "grammatical
anomalies"
encountered in the English of the singers whose
CD's they have brought to
class and then comparing their folk-linguistic
explanations with what
standard English grammars say... As I was saying,
THEY are the ones who
came to learn something so, although I have a
vast potential program of
learning objectives and materials, what I actually
do depends on what the
students feel they need to know. (Some things
are required for curriculum
continuity reasons, but they can be slipped into
the overall program which
we decide on together).
As the students work in groups I intervene, mostly
trying to get the group
leader to do her job. Leaders are understandably
hesitant (at first) to
correct peers, especially with 60 other peers
listening in. (That's right:
65 students in all -- now you see why collaborative
learning and group work
is necessary; one teacher cannot possibly interact
with that many learners.)
The group leader's job is to act as a monitor:
making sure the task gets
done, encouraging participation from everyone,
making sure each
participant's contributions are clear and appropriate.
The student monitor
follows the "technical guidelines" learned the
first two weeks and dealing
with methodology: how to guess the mumbled words
you hear in a song (and
thus what "phoneme assimilation" is), how to
maintain eye contact in
playacting (and thus what "pragmatic intent"
means in practice), how to use
"descriptive" instead of "normative" phraseology
(and thus scientific
terminology) in commenting marginal speech forms,
etc., besides the obvious
rules for good group dynamics.
After doing a homework project as collaborative
learning (mostly at the
students' homes -- that's why groups are formed
with students who live
close to each other), students come to class
to show what they've learned.
There's a lesson on Wednesday, then collaborative
learning at someone's
home or in an empty classroom on Wednesday afternoon
and Thursday, then
lesson on Friday, then collaborative learning
lasting until the following
Wednesday. After a couple of weeks at this pace
we go back to teacher-led
teaching with individual homework assignments:
that's where students learn
more "technical guidelines", etc. Then it's back
to two or three weeks of
lessons plus collaborative work in groups. Sometimes
groups meet and begin
the projects in class, 13 groups of 5 students
each scattered around the
main lecture hall: it gets noisy but it permits
group leaders to call me
over to solve problems they can't handle on their
own.
In your last question you ask:
>Do you find that you need to "sell" the idea
of using collaborative
>learning to your students? If so, how do you
do it?
This, I surmise from the introduction to your
questions, is the real
burning issue. "If collaborative learning is
so great," you seem to say,
"why don't kids take to it? Why do I have to
'sell' it? Why do they
prefer being so passive? Is it the fault of TV?"
I would guess that the basic problem is not your
teaching style --
collaborative or whatever -- but the very curriculum
you set out to teach.
To be honest, I don't think you can use ANY technique
(except whips and
bribes) to get students to like studying a subject
that just doesn't
interest them, however important and interesting
it may be (for the
teacher, for educational authorities...).
That is to say, you can get positive response
only if you manage to "sell"
the curriculum, i.e. the subject. It's not enough
to sell the method
(collaborative learning). And to "sell" the subject
doesn't mean trying to
be entertaining in presenting it or playing little
games or whatever. You
can't be a better entertainer than a TV set so
if you bet on entertaining,
you've lost the contest before you begin. To
guarantee motivation, you
have to offer instruction (in algebra or whatever)
that REALLY SATISFIES A
GENUINE NEED TO KNOW. Collaborative learning
techniques will not suffice:
can you imagine using collaborative techniques
to get kids to eat spinach,
if they don't like it and if it isn't really
what they need?
This opens the hotly debated question of motivation,
I know. But it's a
question that I think needs to be faced head-on
by discussing the real
value of what we propose as knowledge. We can't
resolve motivation by
asking what technology can give us.
So let's talk about spinach for a moment. Now,
let's suppose for the sake
of argument that spinach is really good for students
but happens to taste
bad. Well, the first question to ask is: "Why
doesn't the school cafeteria
offer food with the same value but that tastes
good?" In other words, I
think that our job is to alter what we teach
so that we can come up with
the same overall educational value while actually
teaching something else.
If we were in the middle ages, we might be hired
as alchemy (not chemistry)
teachers; and as good alchemists, we might be
convinced that there is no
other way to be curious about how substances
can be transformed, no other
kind of questions to ask about nature. Would
we be right? Most people
today would probably say "no".
Actually, there IS a sense in which we would be
right: to the extent that
alchemy represents part of our medieval culture
and to the extent that we
want students to know what one is supposed to
know in the middle ages in
order not to be "out of place" (and to get a
good job), then we could
consider teaching alchemy a good and important
thing. But only for that
reason. Surely we would not be right in claiming
that "it's good for the
kids" to know alchemy or that "there isn't any
other way" to address
nature's mysteries.
To come back to today, in a nutshell, we should
have the humility to admit
that we may be foisting a lot of information
on students simply to
acculturate them to our present day society and
what it considers knowledge
to be, in order to help them pursue studies and
get jobs -- but not
necessarily because that information really counts.
When I say these
things to colleagues, they usually answer: "Oh,
but of course it's not the
mere information that students must learn, it's
the development of their
mental faculties that one gets in acquiring certain
information, like math
formulas." And I usually answer: "Oh, well, in
that case, teachers should
be free to change the subject if they want, let
the math formulas go, just
so they deal with reasoning quantitatively."
"Oh, no," the colleagues say,
"there's the PROGRAM to respect, and besides,
students will need all those
math formulas if they go on to do other subjects."
In other words, Catch 22.
So in conclusion, if you have to teach algebra
and a hundred formulas, do
so, but just don't take it so seriously. It's
what we consider knowledge
today, given the things we hold to be important
-- it has no intrinsic
value.
Why cultivate an attitude like that? Well, for
one thing, it becomes much
easier to concentrate on the permanent educational
value of inquiring into
a domain and not the codified results of domain
inquiry that we call a
"subject". In other words, it becomes much easier
to look at the "subject"
with fresh eyes, like those of our students (who
have no vested interest in
keeping alive this or that discipline, simply
because that's what society
claims is important). If we lived in the middle
ages and had this
perspective, we wouldn't have to invent chemistry,
which would be an
impossible task; we could simply stick to teaching
alchemy, but doing so in
a way that would interest even those students
who consider alchemy a waste
of time. For example, we could teach alchemy
as the transformation of
oneself together with the transformation of nature
(which was in fact the
real agenda of alchemists).
But what if there is no way to see our "subject"
in a different way, to
correspond to the kinds of questions our students
would be interested in
answering? What if a given subject is just hard
work that must be done and
that's all there is to it? Well, let's go back
to spinach; it's easier to
deal with. What if ONLY spinach, although it
tastes bad, will give the
vitamins or whatever students need at lunch?
What if there's nothing else
the cafeteria can serve in its place? My reply
is: in that case, I think
we should ask WHY spinach seems to taste bad.
"It just does" is not an
answer.
Sure, some things are so horrible no one could
ever find them pleasant.
But that isn't the case of spinach: many people
DO like it, just as many
people do like algebra. In fact, as you travel,
you see that in various
cultures, there are things American taste buds
would find horrible but that
local kids simply love. Food tastes, then, are
largely cultural products.
The same for studies. In other words, if spinach
or algebra are really
necessary but seem disgusting, something is amiss
in the social system (and
in school curriculums as a reflection of that
system), not in the kids.
You don't have to encourage German kids to study
musical instruments. You
don't have to encourage French children to read
books. You don't have to
encourage children in Bali to memorize enormously
long lists of obscure
gods and what they do in nature. But you might
have a hard time getting a
French kid to do her piano lessons and a hard
time getting a child in Bali
to read a book and a hard time getting a German
child to memorize lists of
ancient Greek gods and all they did. How is that?
These kids are not dumb
or without interests: they DO learn certain things.
It's just that what
they take to learning is what people around them
(their family and friends
and neighbors) seem to value, but not the other
stuff, however great it may
be.
So the real problem in Bali is not why kids don't
want to learn to read,
but why their elders claim that reading is important
but don't spend much
time reading books and making kids SEE how important
it is. In France one
would have to ask why French families don't play
music together (as so many
German families do) but do honor those who read
a lot. In Germany we would
have to ask why, in their conversations, German
parents never refer to the
doings of the ancient Greek gods (as many of
them used to do up to the
beginning of the 1900's) and yet claim it's important
to know ancient
folklore and want their children to learn what
THEY haven't bothered to
learn (or have promptly forgotten).
Psychologists talk about the mental stress caused
by parents who send
contradictory signals -- for example when parents
disapprove of but then
joke about sex, or proclaim optimism while showing
signs of depression,
etc. We may have a double-bind problem with education
as well, simply
because we don't like to admit the way we really
are, what we really like,
and what we really are trying to do to our kids.
So the unpleasant conclusion is that there must
be something in American
culture (and not only in American culture) that
makes learning algebra seem
not so desirable -- and that makes the taste
of spinach not so desirable
either (isn't spinach something many people joke
about?)... And maybe this
phenomenon is general. Maybe we should ask ourselves
seriously what
messages we DO send our children. When some women
claim they "naturally"
can't handle technological devices and leave
that task to men "who are so
good at it", what conditioning do they confer
on their daughters who may be
listening in? And yet these women may very well
want their daughters to
learn to use computers. Might it be that society
CLAIMS it wants everyone
to know algebra, eat spinach, and use computers
but in reality sends
signals to certain social/gender classes to discourage
liking certain things?
Which brings us to collaborative learning. If
all these considerations
hold true, I think we have to conclude that,
before beginning a
collaborative learning project, a teacher has
to embark on a course of
cultural re-education: "Hey kids, what are we
doing here and why? What is
really important for us?" -- asked sincerely
although obviously not in that
way. Sincerely means accepting the possibility
of ending up not doing
algebra because it is not really relevant to
a particular group of kids
with their particular needs, and doing something
else that IS relevant.
Hopefully something to do with math, of course,
since it is math class.
Something that is centered on a young person's
curiosity about the domain
of quantity, but not necessarily that codified
stuff in text books, except
as needed. Of course, curiosity about the domain
of quantity will probably
lead to reinventing math, i.e. coming up with
the same codification. But
the discovery will be in different ways -- ways
relevant to those
particular students.
But what if students have no curiosity about anything
whatsoever and, in
the cafeteria, refuse ANY kind of vegetable?
What if they are all just
blind, stupid, lazy, self-centered junk food
addicts? Well, if THAT is the
case, then we've got a REAL social problem in
the country at large. A
society that indirectly encourages easy gratification
in eating (or in
learning) and loves entertainment but not knowledge,
can only use whips or
bribes to get kids to eat or study what happens
to be considered at the
time as important. If THIS is the case (I hope
it isn't), if the whole
society outside of school is working at cross-purposes,
then maybe it would
be better for you to get out of school and into
politics. How can one
combat in an hour of algebra what parents, neighbors
and friends (let alone
TV) contradict by the values they preach in their
daily conduct?
Hopefully, I was saying, you won't have to go
so far. It will probably be
enough to stop the "efficiency" bandwagon ("we
must finish the PROGRAM at
all costs", etc.). You could go back a few steps
and do elementary math
but in a different way, whetting the natural
curiosity kids have about the
domain of quantity -- although for a while you
may end up calculating
basketball arcs from videos of games, or (who
knows?) doing sex education,
seriously at last. Once a foothold is made in
LEARNING something,
ANYTHING, instead of just blabbering and bitching,
you can work your way up
to The Program. Collaborative learning permits
differentiation of pacing,
to handle classes with mixed interests and abilities.
Then I'll bet that
you won't have to "sell" collaborative teaching
to them. In fact, you may
have a problem stopping the kids when the "collaborative
hour" is up.
Sure, this kind of teaching takes more time so
you won't "finish the
PROGRAM". Whips and bribes get immediate results
and make sure the program
is covered. But what remains when they are used?
The answer is easy to
see: the kind of results educators complain about
today. Wouldn't it be
better to aim for helping students acquire the
capacity to be self-learners
in math (using, among other resources, collaborative
learning)?
That's my answer to your question. Any feedback
will be appreciated.
(As you can guess, a failure in math at school
-- although that didn't stop
me in life.)
Patrick Boylan
Department of Linguistics
University of Rome III
via del Castro Pretorio 20
00185 Rome, Italy
e-mail: boylan@uniroma3.it
tel.: (+39) (6) 491973* / 4463004 ext. 226
Fax: (+39) (6) 4957333 / 4940417
Department Secretary: (+39) (6) 4959354