Collaborative Learning
Much of the work we do in life is done in groups or
teams, thus assessment may include appropriate evaluation
of group work or of individual contributions to group
products.
Cooperative group instruction is used for a number of
different reasons:
- to develop collaborative behaviors,
- to improve content understanding through peer interactions,
- to create a product that is large in scale and requires
teams working simultaneously on different components,
and
- to capitalize on the natural social tendencies of
our students.
If teachers are trying to develop positive collaborative
behaviors in their students, then their assessment tools
should address those behaviors and provide constructive
feedback to the students about these behaviors. If the
group work is designed to improve individual content knowledge
through peer interactions, then the assessment should
focus on individual performance (although it may include
a degree of peer accountability for the individual results).
If the goal of the group work is a large-scale final product,
then the assessment should address individual contributions
and provide feedback to the group on the quality of the
product.
Considerations:
- Provide a balance of individual and group accountability.
Some students may become frustrated with too much emphasis
on one or the other.
- One way to combine individual and group accountability
is to ask students to learn a skill or content through
a group process, assess each student individually, but
continue to hold the group responsible for the success
of all of the students in their group. This provides
an incentive for peer tutoring.
Cohen, E. Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the
Heterogeneous Classroom. Williston, NY: Teacher's
College Press, 1994. Provides step-by-step approaches
to successful planning, implementation, and evaluation
of group work activities.
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