Is Collaborative Learning Effective in Internet Courses ?

1. Is Collaborative Learning Effective in Internet Courses? Elizabeth Chapman, Ed.D. echapman@nhmccd.edu Debra Rockefeller, Ph.D. drockefeller@nhmccd.edu

2. Top Ten Reasons Professors Avoid Collaborative Learning • It takes too much time • 2. It is too hard to organize • 3. It is unfair as one student may do all the work • 4. It is hard to assess fairly • 5. Team Management is often difficult • 6. Covering the content is more important • 7. It is not my job to focus on “soft” skills • 8. Collaboration is not valued • 9. Group work reduces outcomes to mediocrity • 10. It would change my role in the class

3. Introduction Changing World • Information obsolescence • Virtual collaboration • Workforce needs creativity communication skills distributed work environment • Collaboration must be taught • Online courses shortcomings • Text based lectures • Little interaction • Adult learning theory- Knowles • Experience based • Problem solving based • Collaborative mode

4. Creating Significant Learning Experiences • “We won’t meet the needs for more and better higher education until professors become designers of learning experiences and not teachers.” Spence (2001)

5. Content Centered Vs. Learning Centered Learning Centered paradigm pushes teaching and learning in this direction into multiple dimensions of learning Content Centered paradigm pushes teaching and learning in this direction along one dimension of learning

6. Changing Paradigm Industrial Age Information Age

7. Collaboration and Interactivity Benefits: • better academic achievement • higher self-esteem • perception of social support Important traits of teachers: • communication, effective facilitator, team leader • Correlation –dependent learning style and CL Adult Learners: • Constructivism and adult learners- • self directed, experience driven, • student centered, • experiential processes

8. Distance Learning Higher Education

9. Research Area: initial interest • Proliferation of DL in higher education • NHMCCD DL growth: 24%-31% per year • Information age: significance for education • Higher order thinking skills • Lack of Instructional Design • Knowles – teaching adults • “Ecology of collaboration”

10. Instructional Design Critical Thinking Skills Real world projects Adult Students Life-long Learning

11. DL population: Fall 2004 (336 responses- 144 collaborative and 192 non-collaborative

12. Demographics – C and NC groups

13. Grade Distribution

14. Success Rate Collaborative Group – 61.3% Non- Collaborative Group – 55.3%

15. 81.1% 76.4% Persistence

16. Survey: Students’ Perceptions • Collaborative Process • communication and communication technologies • Instructional Design Process • course assignments, instructional design, and course material • Learning Team Process • team membership, team members, group work and part of a team

17. Collaborative Vs. Non-collaborative Online Learning Academic Achievement Perceptions of: • Instructional Design • Learning Team Process Statistically Significant Statistically Insignificant Persistence Perceptions of: • Collaborative Process

18. Implications for the future • Collaborative online learning- academic performance • Time on task • Critical thinking • Improved Perception • Increased communication • Higher ability not penalized

19. Collaborative Learning & Persistence

20. Implications for Practice • Instructional Design Training • Ecology of Collaboration

21. Online classes Examples of Collaborative on-line Learning • WebCT Collaborative Classes • BMGT 1309 • HRPO 1311 • POFT 2331 • BIOL 1407

22. What do learners Need to lead? • Instructor “permission” • Clear guidelines • Base outcomes • Ideas for activities • Few restrictions • Adequate planning time • Checkpoints • Supportive Peers • Consequences • Evaluation process • Modeling Activities by instructor • Reasons to do it • Applications • Relevance to lives

23. Phases of Engagement Social – ice breaker Small groups – critical thinking, sharing Group collaborations- solve problems – eg. debates Learner designed/led – eg. presentations

24. Future Research • Attitudes of Faculty • Andragogical Approach- • Teacher facilitator • Project based—real world problems • Higher order thinking skills

25. 3rd Generation Kryczka and Hughes (2002) “it is time for the development of a third generation of online classes that do not try to replicate traditional instruction but rather embrace the unique and powerful aspects of online learning.”

26. The Engaged Learner “Content is the clay of knowledge construction: learning takes place when it is fashioned into something meaningful.” Weigel, (2002) In the online environment, collaborative activities are what allow the clay to form and have meaning for the learner. Conrad and Donaldson (2004)

27. NHMCCD’s Response