Collaborative learning

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Collaborative learning is an educational approach that promotes interaction among students, as well as between students and teachers.

Examples of Collaborative Learning

Who: Lage, Platt, and Tregalia

What: A study showing the effects of incorporating various activities into the economics classroom which do not typically occur there.

How: Incorporated economic experiments, promoted group work, and integrated student presentations on economic topics in an introductory microeconomics course.

Evidence: The study conducted by Lage, Platt and Tregalia can be found here


Robert L. Moore, a professor of economics at Occidental College, incorporated a collaborative learning lab (CLL) into his introductory economics course. The lab was recieved positively

How to Incorporate Collaborative Learning

- Conduct economic experiments in class. Lage, Platt, and Treglia incorporated one economic experiment which consisted of the following: "For instance, a simple experiment consisted of holding an auction for a can of cola. Bidding began at five cents and increased in five-cent increments; count was taken of how many people wanted to buy the can at each price (33)."

- Promote group work. Encourage students to work in groups both inside and outside of the classroom.

- Integrate student presentations. Allocate a portion of class time to student presentations either concerning assigned material, such as worksheets and problem sets, or to specific economic topics related to the material taught in class.

Evidence

The study conducted by Lage, Platt, and Tregalia produced positive results.

The students' feedback comments included the following statements:

"I really liked the demonstrations and the group work - they helped me to really see the concepts, much better than a lecture would, and I could better visualize something I'd seen rather than heard-that was a big plus for tests (35).

"As for the class itself, I loved the way it was run! The groups were very effective-it helped to have your peers explain things to you in a different way that sometimes made more sense. Also, it was easier to get to know your classmates and made for a very comfortable environment. I liked the "hands on" approach (35)."

Instructors also provided positive feedback after the study:'

"Both instructors also noted that students generally enjoyed working together and seemed to learn from having other students explain concepts in different ways...In general, students were more comfortable asking questions in class, probably because of the many opportunities for one-on-one interaction with the instructor...From the instructors' perspective, the course was considerably more stimulating to teach...(37).


The study conducted by Robert L. Moore also produced positive results

Conclusion

Collaborative learning A key aspect of this study was the difference in results between male and female students. "For female students, the mean scores on the statements "I believe I learned more in this format," and "The experiments illustrated basic economic concepts" were higher than for men in our sample. In addition, on the average, female students self-reported greater satisfaction with the worksheets and in-class experiments. Both instructors also noted that women were clearly more active participants in class than in the traditional classroom (37)."

Sources

Inverting the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment Maureen J. Lage, Glenn J. Platt and Michael Treglia The Journal of Economic Education Vol. 31, No. 1 (Winter, 2000), pp. 30-43 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1183338


Teaching Introductory Economics with a Collaborative Learning Lab Component Robert L. Moore The Journal of Economic Education Vol. 29, No. 4 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 321-329 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1182922


Active and Cooperative Learning Using Web-Based Simulations Stephen J. Schmidt The Journal of Economic Education Vol. 34, No. 2 (Spring, 2003), pp. 151-167 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30042535