Collaborative learning refers to an instruction method which requires students to work together in small groups toward a common goal. In this issue of CDTL Brief, glean from the authors’ experience with Collaborative Learning and discover how it can be used to promote meaningful learning among university students.
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| Using
Online Forums as a Replacement for Face-to-Face Discussion Groups |
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| The development of technology introduces the possibility of using online discussion forums as part of the formal structure of modules. Traditionally at NUS, lectures for a module have been supplemented with face-to-face discussion groups, which over the years have increased dramatically in size. Continue reading | ||
| Weekly Review and Integration of Ideas and Abilities | ||
| Tara W Mohanan | ||
| Associate Professor Department of English Language and Literature |
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| Students are constantly bombarded in classrooms, textbooks and on the Web, with fragments of information, conclusions, beliefs and opinions. An important ingredient of becoming educated is the ability to figure out for oneself which of these assertions to accept as true or credible, and which ones to reject. Continue reading | ||
| Collaborative Learning: Some Issues and Recommendations | ||
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| Collaborative learning has a long history in Educational Psychology and is increasingly being employed in a variety of contexts at NUS. Given this rising interest, we have decided to explore a few selected, central issues involved in such approaches. Continue reading | ||
| The Impact of Teaching Assistants on Students’ Learning Experience: A Study on Teaching and Learning in an NUS Chemistry Laboratory | ||
| Lau Wan Yung & Dr Alan K. Szeto | ||
| Department of Chemistry | ||
| It is no secret that effective teachers can make a significant impact on the students’ learning experience. The Department of Chemistry in NUS deploys postgraduate students as Teaching Assistants (TAs). These TAs are largely ‘laboratory demonstrators’, who assist the academic staff in demonstrating laboratory techniques to undergraduate students during practical (laboratory) classes. Continue reading | ||
| A Model of Collaborative Learning Project for Japanese University Students | ||
| Judith A. Johnson, Ed.D. | ||
| Yamaguchi University, Japan | ||
| In Japan, the growing awareness that collaborative learning promotes critical thinking and helps students develop social skills (Johnson & Johnson, 1986) plus the reduction in class size due to Japan’s declining birth-rate have spurred a handful of instructors at tertiary-level institutions to use the collaborative approach to learning. Continue reading | ||