Collaborative approaches are participatory and characterized by active teacher and learner roles, community building, created rather than transferred knowledge, and knowledge located in the community¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 design), q1 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The handbook defines collaborative approaches to adult learning as participatory in nature, premised on the belief that learning is social, and characterized by six features attributed to Whipple (1987). These include that "Collaboration involves both the learner and the teacheras active participants in the educational process", that collaboration bridges the teacher-student gap, creates a sense of community, means knowledge is created not transferred, makes teaching and research boundaries less distinct, and locates knowledge in the community rather than the individual, yielding knowledge greater than the sum of individual participants' knowledge.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A collaborative approach must come from the premise that all individuals can offer something to the group

Constraints¶

• The handbook notes management personnel spend 60 to 80 percent of their time in group activities, most of it wasted due to employees' lack of collaborative skills, motivating the need for these approaches

Target Learners¶

• Adult learners in literacy, ABE, ESL, and GED programs

Target Goals¶

• Common inquiry in learning
• Socially constructed knowledge
• Community building in the classroom

Claims¶

• Many practices in adult literacy programs violate principles of learning for adults, including short-timeframe funding, isolated individualized learning, ignored learner experience, and non-meaningful materials [+W]

Related Theories¶

• Collaborative learning in adult literacy is defined by nine interlocking characteristics
• Distinction between cooperative learning and collaborative learning as two approaches to students working in groups

Related Patterns¶

Examples¶

• Implement cooperative learning with real problems, slow growth, team building, a safe environment, teacher modeling, mixed academic levels, and a teacher shift from directing to facilitating
• Use named cooperative learning structures adapted to adult classrooms, including Student Team Learning, Think-Pair-Share, Jigsaw, Teaming Together, and Group Investigation
• Inclusive Innovation Process
• Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)
• Challenge Based Learning
• Fund collaborative participatory teams and broaden dissemination to bridge edtech design and research for MLLs

Key Sources¶

• You Can Be in a Group and Still Not Cooperate: Collaborative Approaches and Cooperative Learning Activities for Adult Learners. (1993). Parma City School District. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED361492