COLLABORATIVE LEARNING PROJECT
VCE Unit 3 Creating and Presenting
As part of our PLT focus ‘that all people can learn’ I decided to trial some collaborative activities in Year 12 English. This was a challenge as I had to ensure that the time frame for covering course content and outcomes was not compromised and students felt that the activities were valid learning activities. As we were reading The Secret River, this became the context. Using an idea suggested by Kamala, students were organised to work in groups of up to 5 people for 5 lessons to prepare a lesson on one section of the text. They were given quite specific instructions as to length of presentation and the organisation of the task. However, the organisation and role allocation within the group was their own responsibility. The students were then asked to evaluate the activity both as a learning task and as a cooperative group activity. I was very interested to observe the initial reaction to and discussion about the proposed task. Some students (the natural leaders/personalities) leapt at the chance to be involved, some were non-committal and others were obviously reluctant. Some had difficulty with the idea of planning and organising a lesson, wanting more teacher direction; worried that they would miss ‘something important’. However, we persisted, as part of the rationale for the activity was for students to make their own learning decisions and share their knowledge, skills and resources.
Teacher Observations:
I was pleasantly surprised at the level of engagement demonstrated by most students. Once groups were formed it was clear that most were taking the task seriously and were actively involved in the process. Students soon realised that success in this task required the cooperation and input of all group members and pressure was applied to the few who were not ‘pulling their weight’ (with varying degrees of success). Generally, students used their time well and were able to complete the task in the specified time period. The activity culminated in group presentations.
A problem that emerged was the absence of students. This could and did create issues for a couple of groups as they had to re-allocate tasks and ‘cover’ for the absentee. The other main issue was the few students who did not want to participate or felt inhibited by the group process.
Overall, I thought this was a valuable learning activity. Once used to the idea and persuaded that it wouldn’t be ‘a waste of time’, most students organised themselves efficiently and engaged with the task productively. I aim to introduce more activities based on collaborative learning in years 10, 11 and 12.
For student evaluation and feedback CLICK HERE.
VCE Unit 3 Creating and Presenting
As part of our PLT focus ‘that all people can learn’ I decided to trial some collaborative activities in Year 12 English. This was a challenge as I had to ensure that the time frame for covering course content and outcomes was not compromised and students felt that the activities were valid learning activities. As we were reading The Secret River, this became the context. Using an idea suggested by Kamala, students were organised to work in groups of up to 5 people for 5 lessons to prepare a lesson on one section of the text. They were given quite specific instructions as to length of presentation and the organisation of the task. However, the organisation and role allocation within the group was their own responsibility. The students were then asked to evaluate the activity both as a learning task and as a cooperative group activity. I was very interested to observe the initial reaction to and discussion about the proposed task. Some students (the natural leaders/personalities) leapt at the chance to be involved, some were non-committal and others were obviously reluctant. Some had difficulty with the idea of planning and organising a lesson, wanting more teacher direction; worried that they would miss ‘something important’. However, we persisted, as part of the rationale for the activity was for students to make their own learning decisions and share their knowledge, skills and resources.
Teacher Observations:
I was pleasantly surprised at the level of engagement demonstrated by most students. Once groups were formed it was clear that most were taking the task seriously and were actively involved in the process. Students soon realised that success in this task required the cooperation and input of all group members and pressure was applied to the few who were not ‘pulling their weight’ (with varying degrees of success). Generally, students used their time well and were able to complete the task in the specified time period. The activity culminated in group presentations.
A problem that emerged was the absence of students. This could and did create issues for a couple of groups as they had to re-allocate tasks and ‘cover’ for the absentee. The other main issue was the few students who did not want to participate or felt inhibited by the group process.
Overall, I thought this was a valuable learning activity. Once used to the idea and persuaded that it wouldn’t be ‘a waste of time’, most students organised themselves efficiently and engaged with the task productively. I aim to introduce more activities based on collaborative learning in years 10, 11 and 12.
For student evaluation and feedback CLICK HERE.
