Teamwork Makes the Dream Work, or, Best Practices in Collaborative Learning
Co-facilitators: Louis Epstein (Music) and Peter Gittins (Chemistry)
Description: We’ve all assigned or participated in collaborative projects. But how intentionally did we design and assess those projects? In this working group, we’ll work together (see what we did there?) to develop some best practices around collaborative learning in a variety of teaching contexts (low-tech, high-tech, and hybrid). We’ll examine collaborative learning through lenses of equity, inclusive pedagogies, and universal design for learning. Our work will be motivated by the following questions:
— What is collaborative learning good for? How do collaborative activities support effective learning?
— What are the key attributes of “good” collaborative activities?
— How do we effectively implement collaborative learning in online or hybrid learning environments?
By the end of our time together, we will:
— Identify and share interdisciplinary and discipline-specific resources to support collaborative learning pedagogies in their classes.
— Generate materials (syllabi modules, assignment templates, tutorials and other documentation) to facilitate the adoption of collaborative learning practices by faculty at St. Olaf.