COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AND TEACHING IN PRACTICE
Keywords:
collaborative and cooperative learning, classroom-lab, coteaching, critical thinking, based-project learning, outcomes learning,Abstract
Emphasizing on many other collaborative learning or co-labouring
(Latin-based term) and co-teaching approaches nowadays is wellknown
as an essential 21st century skill that brings educational and
social benefits identified on educational research studies. In order to
establish a common approach, we can use the definition of Smith and
MacGregor (1992) in which it’s acknowledged that “collaborative
learning“ is an umbrella term for a variety of educational
approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students
and teachers together. In most collaborative learning situations
students are working in groups of two or more, collaboratively
searching for understanding, solutions, or meanings, or creating a
product.â€(p. 11).The difficulties regarding the implementation of
activities in collaborative learning are of different nature, but
frequently relate to the inability of the teacher to organize
cooperative groups effectively and to transfer the findings of the
investigation in this area of knowledge and its practical use in the
classroom (Gillies, Ashman, & Terwel, 2008, p. 2). Despite the
difficulty of transferring theory to practice, we can also highlight that
“many teachers noted that constraints to moving beyond pedagogy
included lack of time and the need to cover the curriculum†(Cohen,
Brody, & Sapon-Shevin, 2004, p. 63).So the main question remains
how to improve children`s learning quality and teaching
effectiveness. The advantages of collaborative learning on engaging
students in active learning are obvious when related to traditional
methods and strategies co-labouring brings to large group activities.
The benefits include the importance of sharing ideas, resources,
outcomes, peers and blended features, facilitated learning by a
flexible, interactive classroom, project-based learning, collective and
reflective learning and leadership forming competences.
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