Collaborative Learning SkillsAngela Haslam - Higher Education Academic

Leader Robin Trangmar – Head of Education &

Training

Aims and OutcomesAims:

To consider the benefits and issues associated with collaborative learning tasks, and

To effectively manage collaborative assessmentOutcomes:

To identify the reasons to get students to undertake assessed work in groups

To identify ways to plan and manage group assessment tasks effectively

To be aware of the obligations placed on teachers managing collaborative assessment

Three aspectsSession has three parts:

The benefits to employers (P1)The academic benefits and underpinning models

(P2)The management of academic process (P3)

Part 1The benefits to employers (P1)

Q1: What skills does an employer want?

Education and employmentFuture Skills Wales 1998, 2003 & 2005

Generic skills surveysMoser Report 1999

A Fresh Start: Improving literacy and numeracyLeitch Review of Skills 2006

Prosperity in the Global EconomyNational Employers Skills Survey 2005 (2006)

Improving skills and learning opportunities

What are the top skills employers want?FSW 1998 FSW 2003 FSW 2005

Communication Skills (28%)

IT skills (23%) Problem solving skills (68%)

IT Skills (18%) Communication Skills (21%)

Customer Handling skills (67%)

Job-specific skills (18%)

Showing initiative (12%)

Other technical and practical skills (62%)

Showing initiative (17%)

Problem solving skills (11%)

Communication Skills (48%)

Product knowledge (14%)

Ability to learn (10%) Team working skills (48%)

Source: Future Skills Wales (1998, 2003, 2005)

Employment Issues:The UK’s historic skills deficit (Leitch 2006; 10)“... the UK’s skills base lags behind that of many

advanced countries, the product of historic failures in the education and training system ... The impact of this was seen in: too little responsibility taken by individuals for their

own learning;a qualification system divorced from the needs of the

modern workplace ...”Adam Smith’s ‘The Wealth of Nations’ (1776)

suggested that ‘the greater part of what is taught in schools and universities … does not seem to be the proper preparation for that of business’.

Changing demand (Leitch 2006, 33)1.26: These lower level service sector jobs

require different types of skills to the more traditional low skill jobs, such as basic manufacturing, which they are replacing.

In particular, they place greater emphasis oncustomer handling, team working and communication skills ...

... which are essential in a service economy.

Impact on business (Leitch 2006; 41)2.9: Employers in the NESS 2005 survey [suggested]

soft skills were lacking (particularly team working and customer handling skills, each of which were mentioned as lacking in ½ of all workers lacking proficiency).

Technical, practical or job-specific skills were seen to be lacking in over 2/5 of employees with a skills gap.

Other generic, soft skills such as oral communication, problem-solving and written communication skills were the next most commonly reported skills gaps.

A lack of literacy and numeracy skills were each present in 1/5 of reported skill gaps.

Measuring basic skillsMoser Report (DfEE 1999) identified Level 1 literacy and

Entry Level 3 numeracy as the standards necessary to function at work and society in general.

E3 numeracy skill: add or subtract money using decimal notation, or being able to work with fractions.

Skills for Life Survey (2003) assessed people’s basic skill levels using a variety of literacy and numeracy problems16 per cent of the working age population in England

(over 5 million people) lacked Level 1 literacy skills and 21 per cent (6.8 million) lacked E3 numeracy skills. More than 15 million people in England lacked Level 1

numeracy skills, equivalent to a GCSE Maths at grades D–G.

A fresh start: Improving literacy and numeracy, DfEE, 1999.

Q2: What skills does your course develop?

Part 2The academic benefits and underpinning models (P2)

Theory BaseBruner (1985)

Cooperative learning methods improve problem-solving strategies because the students are confronted with different interpretations of the given situation.

The peer support system makes it possible for the learner to internalize both external knowledge and critical thinking skills and to convert them into tools for intellectual functioning.

Theory BasePiaget (1926)

Learning occurs more effectively through interpersonal interactions in a cooperative rather than competitive context.

Socio-cognitive approachVygotsky (1978),

Students are capable of performing at higher intellectual levels when asked to work in collaborative situations “with more capable peers” than when asked to work individually.

Group diversity in terms of knowledge and experience contributes positively to the learning process.

Zone of Proximal DevelopmentSocio-constructivist approach

Research BaseTerenzini et al (2001)Study compared undergraduate engineering

courses taught using active and collaborative learning methods with traditional lecture and discussion courses in their ability to promote the development of students’ engineering design, problem-solving, communication, and group participation skills.

Results indicated that active or collaborative methods produce both statistically significant and substantially greater gains in student learning than those associated with more traditional instructional methods.

Research BaseJohnson and Johnson (1986)

‘Persuasive’ evidence that cooperative teams achieve at higher levels of thought and retain information longer than students who work quietly as individuals.

Totten, Sills, Digby, & Russ (1991)The shared learning gives students an

opportunity to engage in discussion, take responsibility for their own learning, and thus become critical thinkers

Gokhale, (1995; 22-31)Collaborative learning fosters the development of

critical thinking through discussion, clarification of ideas, and evaluation of others’ ideas.

Gokhale, A., (1995; 29)FindingsA: Benefits Focusing on the Process of

Collaborative Learning : Comments (# of responses):Helped understanding (21)Pooled knowledge and experience (17)Got helpful feedback (14)Stimulated thinking (12)Got new perspectives (9)

Gokhale, A., (1995; 29)FindingsB: Benefits Focusing on Social and Emotional

Aspects : Comments (# of responses)More relaxed atmosphere makes problem-solving

easy (15)It was fun (12)Greater responsibility-for myself and the group

(4)Made new friends (3)

Gokhale, A., (1995; 29)FindingsC: Negative Aspects of Collaborative Learning :

Comments (# of responses)Wasted time explaining the material to others (2)

Q3: The Teacher’s Response ...Based on your experiences,

What are the challenges associated with setting up collaborative activities?

In pairs discuss each of the following aspectsa. Practical projects (not assessed)b. Assessed work

Part 3The management of academic

process (P3)

Q3 designing learning and assessment “... the teacher's job is to create a learning

environment that supports the learning activities appropriate to achieving the desired learning outcomes” (Biggs, 1999)

How can we measure a learning outcome that is designed to capture Team working skills(improved) critical thinkingProblem solving skills

Is this a outcome or a process measurement?How do we do this where the collaborative

activity of individuals is to be measured?

Subject Benchmark StatementsEducation Studies: Honours Degree5.7 Transferable skills: Courses should be

designed so that, by the end of their degree programme, students should be able to demonstrate ability to:work with others, as a result of the development

of interpersonal skills, to demonstrate the capacity to plan, to share goals, and work as a member of a team

improve their own learning and performance, including the development of study and research skills, information retrieval, and a capacity to plan and manage learning, and to reflect on their own learning

analyse, synthesise, evaluate, and identify problems and solutions.

Collaborative assessment1. How should you set up the process?

a) What group size should be considered?b) Should you allocate groups or allow free choice?c) What role should the teacher take? Teacher,

facilitator, coach ...

2. How should you manage the process?a) What can go wrong?b) What level of intervention should be considered?c) How do you deal with ‘Billy No-Mates’?d) What is technology’s role in the process?

Q4. What are your responsibilities?As a module leader, or an academic subject

leader?

What’s the difference?Individual

assessmentFocuses only on

TASK work

Collaborative assessmentFocuses on TASK work

and TEAM work

Individual AssessmentIndividual assessment focuses on the TASK

workload (Prichard et al 2010)Individual workload has been defined as

the amount of attentional resources required to complete a task

Central to this definition is the premise that an individual has a finite pool of attentional resources. If task demands exceed an individual’s capacity,

task performance will suffer.

Collaborative AssessmentCollaborative assessment focuses on the TASK

workload and the TEAM workload (Prichard et al 2010)

Group or Team workload can be defined asthe level of attentional resources required to

perform task work and team work, as well as time-sharing between the two workloads.

These demands may be moderated by the efficiency with which the available resources are administered, which in turn may be influenced by expertise and training in the skills required for each of the above activities, and by external support from other team members

Prichard et al’s (2010) findingsStrong support for the use of team-skills

training to prepare students to work in collaborative learning groups

Training will be more critical whereworkload demands are high and the individual

team member is operating at the limits of their capacity.

Demands are likely to be particularly high in relation to group learning tasks where it is not enough just to complete the task but also to demonstrate learning from that task at the same time.

Q5: Surviving collaborative assignmentsWorking in small groups, consider one of the

following questions:

Q5a: What skills do students need to succeed?Q5b: What skills do tutors need to succeed?Q5c: What process would you put in place to

ensure a successful outcome?

Review of Aims and OutcomesAims:

To consider the benefits and issues associated with collaborative learning tasks, and

To effectively manage collaborative assessmentOutcomes:

To identify the reasons to get students to undertake assessed work in groups

To identify ways to plan and manage group assessment tasks effectively

To be aware of the obligations placed on teachers managing collaborative assessment

References (P1)Welsh Assembly Government (2007) Future

Skills Wales: Additional Analysis 2006. Objective C: Areas of significant change in skills needs and issues. Available at http://www.learningobservatory.com/uploads/publications/494.pdf

Leitch Review of Skills (2006). Prosperity for all in the global economy - world class skills. HMSO London

National Employer Skills Survey (NESS), Learning and Skills Council, 2005. Available at http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/2006/research/commissioned/nat-nationalemployersskillssurvey2005keyfindings-re-june2006.pdf

References (P1)Department for Education & Employment

(DfEE) 1999 A Fresh Start: Improving literacy and numeracy. The report of the Working Group chaired by Sir Claus Moser. London: DfEE

References (P2)Bruner, J. (1985). Vygotsky: An historical and

conceptual perspective. Culture, communication, and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives, 21-34. London: Cambridge University Press.

Gokhale, A., (1995) Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking, Journal of Technology Education Vol. 7 No. 1, Fall 1995

Johnson, R. T., & Johnson, D. W. (1986). Action research: Cooperative learning in the science classroom. Science and Children, 24, 31-32.

References (P2)Piaget, J. (1926) The Language and Thought of

a Child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Terenzini, P.T., Cabrera, A.F., Colbeck, C.L.,

Parente, J.M., Bjorklund, S.A. (2001). Collaborative Learning vs. Lecture/Discussion: Students' Reported Learning Gains. Journal of Engineering Education, 90:1, 123-130

Totten, S., Sills, T., Digby, A., & Russ, P. (1991). Cooperative learning: A guide to research. New York: Garland.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

References (P2)Hargreaves, E., The validity of collaborative

assessment for learning. Assessment in Education Vol. 14, No. 2, July 2007

Subject Benchmark Statements – Honours Degree Education (2007) available at http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/Education07.pdf

References (P3)Biggs, J., (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning

at University, Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press

Prichard, J., Bizo, L., & Stratford, R., (2011) Evaluating the effects of team-skills training on subjective workload Learning and Instruction 21 (2011) 429-440