Essay On Collaborative Learning

According to Coon (2006), learning occurs when there is a somewhat lasting change in our behaviour due to what we experience. However, certain people say that by practicing something many times, it can lead to us learning. In my opinion, practicing something many times does not lead to learning. For example, if we were to give a child a math sum of 1 + 1. The child may practice the sum 1 + 1, but at the end of the day, if we were to give the child a different sum, he may not be able to solve it. Thus, Reinforcement is another key aspect for a child to learn and it is the act of strengthening or encouraging something. As stated by Weinstein and Mayer (1986), learning strategies are “behaviours and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning”

In a way, group work is a form of collaborative learning. I believe that in order for the collaborative learning process to occur smoothly and efficiently, all participants need to cooperate in order to accomplish the activity. If one person was to ‘relax’ during the process and not contribute to the group, the group will not be able to move forward with the activity. In the end, that one person can bring everyone down. Thus it is important for every member to play a part and to contribute to the activity. Another important factor is the communication between the team members. Team members need to communicate with each other effectively, to allow the activity to happen smoothly, without any hiccups in between. Examples of effective communication between team members include: being open-minded to everyone’s opinion, listening attentively whenever a member is talking and to try and find a middle ground should a dispute occur, etc. To sum up, in order for the collaborative learning process to be a success, individuals need to work together as a team and have effective communication