Assignment task: Analyze discussion post below:
When it comes to the benefits of having adult learners work collaboratively in the classroom, there is actually quite a bit of research to back this up. For instance, in reference to group discussions, Bolliger and Martin (2018) explain how "This type of interaction provides opportunities for students to learn from one another through the exchange of resources, discussion, sharing of experiences, and ideas" (p. 569). Even class debates are beneficial as according to Kalelioglu and Gülbahar (2014), "An inspired instructor and some energetic teaching assistants who use Socratic dialogues during small-group online discussions can successfully develop students' critical thinking skills in a large university class" (p. 250).
On the other hand, collaborative work can come with its own challenges as well. One challenge and an idea that we have been talking about a lot recently is that sometimes differentiated instruction is needed as different learners are at different levels. This means that a group that is randomly put together might not work the best due to its members having differing levels of knowledge or need things taught in a different way that goes with their particular learning style. However, this can be fixed by getting to know where all of the students are at and assigning groups based on these differences like: one group can be the advanced group, one can be intermediate, and the last can be based on students who need extra help or perhaps you can even split them up by those who learn better visually vs those who do best via audio.
Though it may sound like putting together collaborative assignments in an online setting is difficult, it can still be done. This can be done via breakout rooms in Zoom, meaning you assign students to a space where they only interact with their group members to discuss content and/or even put together a project, or maybe through a discussion forum where you allow students to communicate back and forth in order to share content and learn from each other.
References:
- Bolliger, D. U., & Martin, F. (2018). Instructor and student perceptions of online student engagement strategies. Distance Education, 39(4), 568-583.
- Kalelioglu, F., & Gülbahar, Y. (2014). The Effect of Instructional Techniques on Critical Thinking and Critical Thinking Dispositions in Online Discussion. Educational Technology & Society, 17(1), 248-258.