What+is+Collaborative+Learning.

In the article "What is Collaborative Learning", Smith and MacGregor define collaborative learning as a method of study, in which students primarly work in groups os teams and teach one another. The article points to how important it is for students learning in this way. It starts saying how this learning is applied, how it influences the student, how it's diverse and how the teacher can explore the students. Then it talks about work in group and how it helps the student, involving them with theirselves. All the time, the student will be reponsable for himself and for other students in his group. In collaborative work, the student may work in a team to resolve a problem, instead of just listening to the teacher explain the problem. Students interact more and they work through differences and diverse opinions. The text explain that work in this way is complex because it requires a lot from students: "This is a challenging process, one that requires students to read and listen to fellow students’ writing with insight, and to make useful suggestions for improvement" (pag. 5). However, this process makes students work harder and learn more. Students participate in the entire process of learning, and they see both sides of the process: as both a student and a teacher. Although it is a great way of learning, "how do we ensure students are learning and mastering key skills and ideas in the course, while at the same time addressing all the material of the course?" (pag. 8) Even if students follow all of steps to work in group and finish the work, its still difficult to say they are actually learning with this. Students must be motivated and encouraged to take part and to learn through the method and "everyone is welcome to join, participate and grow" (pag. 9).

Summary final version, by Ágatha Carolline.

==== **SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE** **"WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE LEARNING?" **====

//Thaís El Malih //

In “What is Collaborative Learning?” Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor define "Collaborative learning" as the term used for different educational approaches that require commitment and intellectual effort from the students. Most of the time, the students work in pairs or in small groups in order to help each other with questions and problems that might come along during the course. As opposed to the tradicional lectures that are focused on the teacher, collaborative learning focuses on students’ involvement with the course material. Even though this educational proposal breaks a lot of teaching traditions, there are some aspects that have to be observed in order for it to work properly. For instance, in order to improve one's learning it is important to be commited and active during the constructive process. Also, with collaborative work, instead of being only viewers when it comes to learning, students raise questions and work together in order to find the answers, improving their problem- solving abilities. It is important to keep in mind that every student has his/her own learning style and teachers can no longer assume a one-size-fits-all approach.

Collaborative activities vary between classroom discussions,short lectures, and group research that last a whole term or year.

The oldest collaborative form of work is peer editing. This is the term used to define the process of students teaching each other and correcting each other's' work.

Learning collaboratively takes a lot of effort but "the result can be a community of learners in which everyone is welcome to join, participate and grow" (p.9).

** What is collaborative learning? ** // Isabella Melano // According to the article //What is collaborative learning?// l earning is fundamentally influenced by the context you’re emerged in, therefore every learning experience integrates the new material to what is already known by the learner – which means that the ideas need to be reorganized in order to create something new with the information shared. All you take in from other are incorporated to you life encyclopedia, expanding your intelectual bagagge.

Based on the interaction between students and teachers in a cooperative environment, students are free to share their thoughts. In such environment collaborative learning contributes to a better understanding of a subject, and it promotes a larger educational agenda.

Collaborative learning encourages students to acquire an active voice, to become more sensitive when it comes to hearing others and to develop an active civic life – due to the fact that they learn to make more valid judgments. In order to develop all those skills some activities are proposed such as seminars, peer teaching, and using virtual tools.

**What is collaborative learing?** //**Gabriel Santos**//

Collaborative work is a new method that focus es on students helping each other, correcting each other's work and exchanging information. Different from the regular method of teaching, where the focus is on the professor, Collaborative Work focus es on the students, so they can share their opinions and knowledge naturally. Besides academic improvement, such as more knowledge, easier way to learn and write; Collaborative Work also helps with social and civic education, once it improves the sense of teamwork, problem-solving skills and commitment. Using this method allows the teacher to help his students to grow on their own, and becom e independent by using easily accessible materials such as their discussions, lectures, etc.

** Larissa's Summary **

In the article “What is Collaborative Learning?”, by Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor, collaborative learning is defined as “an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students and teachers together” (p. 1). Teachers, in general, choose this kind of group work in order to help the students learn more effectively. It builds knowledge through an active process. In collaborative learning situations, students create something new with the information and ideas that they are working with. These techniques immerse students in challenging tasks or questions. It is an independent way of working once students use the knowledge gained from a discussion with a friend, class lectures, and the course materials to learn, instead of depending only on the teachers' help. Differently from the traditional learning model, which is teacher/student-centered, classes in collaborative learning become a community of shared experiences, opinions and work from which learning is a natural outcome. Students are more involved with what is going on with the project and they have to find a way to solve the problems that appear. According to this article, “learning collaboratively demands responsibility, persistence and sensitivity, but the result can be a community of learners in which everyone is welcome to join, participate and grow” (p. 9). Collaborative learning can help students become better students because they have to deal with different people, different opinions, and different situations, which prepare them for jobs, to work in groups, and also to respect others.

_


 * What is Collaborative Learning?**


 * //Bruna Luiza//**

“What is Collaborative Learning?” is an article by Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor which explains Collaborative Learning, its benefits when used in classroom, and some strategies and challenges faced by teachers and students when working with.

Collaborative Learning proposes students work in groups to research a topic and trying to find solutions and create their own knowledge. In Collaborative Classrooms the teacher becomes a coach who will guide and train the students in the better way possible to construct their own product. Thus, the figure of the unique knowledge holder doesn’t fits in a collaborative classroom intention.

In the sense of clarify Collaborative Learning idea the authors presents some assumptions about learning. The first says that Learning is an active process, thus constructing meanings is crucial to learning. Learning also depends on rich contexts where the students will be encouraged to practice and develop reasoning and problem-solving skills. During this process different perspectives appear showing that learners are diverse and at the same time have their particularities. So, Through this diversity, students will learn how to interact with one another and will make the learning process more significant.

Collaborative Learning stimulates involvement, cooperation and teamwork as well as civic responsibility. Also it proposes an exercise of responding each other’s work as a form to construct your own meaning. The authors give examples of collaborative strategies that have worked and are now widely used in higher education including Writing Groups, Peer Teaching, Discussion Groups and Seminars.

Although Learning Collaboratively has many benefits, on other hand many challenges are also present because this proposal goes directly in our assumptions about learning and teaching. Our society cannot be totally ready to see teacher and students changing their roles. Collaborative Learning is an interesting proposal which present a different way of learning : construct the knowledge all together.

**SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE "WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE LEARNING?" **
//Marcela de Oliveira//

 In “What is Collaborative Learning?” Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor define collaborative learning as set of educational approaches and activities aimed at building knowledge through an active and bottom-up process that substitutes the traditional and old-fashioned methods. It is “the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning‍” (p. 3). Instead of being teacher-centered, classes become a community of shared experiences, opinions and work from which learning is a natural outcome.  Besides acquiring theory from practice, working in cooperative environments enhances students’ involvement in learning. It also builds a sense of teamwork, problem-solving skills, and a commitment to others that is essential to one’s social and civic education. According to the authors, “in collaborative endeavors, students inevitably encounter difference, and must grapple with recognizing and working with it” (p. 2). This experience students can take beyond classrooms' walls. Some of the cooperative activities are problem-centered instructions “which immerse students in complex problems that they (…) must work through together” (p. 4). Others include writing groups, peer teaching and discussions and seminars. Technology has brought facilities to cooperative learners and teachers, such as the possibility of working togeth er despite being far away. Moreover, communities have confronted “multiple problems plaguing undergraduate education” (p. 7). Still, there are challenges to overcome. One of the challenges is the opposition between process and content: “how do we ensure students are learning (…) ideas in the course, while at the same time addressing all the material?" (p. 8). Other problems to face are the resistance to new methodologies and models of education, as well as the institutional reward system focused on researching rather than on teaching. Despite these difficulties, collaborative learning presents itself as a stimulating process “in which everyone is welcome to join, participate and grow” (p. 9). ‍

Article: "What is Collaborative Learning?" Bárbara Stéfany

The article "What is a collaborative learning?" by Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T.MacGregor, presents the idea of students and teachers working as a group. This is a change in the traditional way of teaching, not just with the explanation of the professor (teacher-centered), the students will also apply others ways of learning.

With collaborative learning activities the students will not just receive the information but they will create something new, helping their intellectual processing of “constructing meaning”. Collaborative works, that means, a group working together, will improve the student's skills by using different methods, such as, writing groups, simulations and workshops, which give students the chance to be challenged.

___

"Collaborative l earning" is defined as new educational approaches having students and teachers work together in groups or teams, in which teachers are not seen as the center of knowledge, but as " intellectuals coaches". This way, knowledge, experiences, doubts, are shared in a more natural and friendly environment. Working in groups, students develop teamwork skills such as the ability to hear others, leadership, problem solving and responsibility. Collaborative work can vary between classroom discussions, writing groups, short lectures, group research, and peer teaching - one of the oldest forms of cooperative work in which advanced students teach other students. Learning collaboratively its not easy, it requires a lot of effort. But if a student have responsibility, persistence as well as sensitivity, the result will be a "community of learners in which everyone is welcome to join, participate and grow." By Giselle Reis

Marina's summary

In the article "What is Collaborative Learning?" written by Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor, the authors talk about the varieties of group work and how this kind of learning is improving and growing everyday. Collaborative working is a more independent way of working for students because they use more the course material and have more discussions with their colleagues to learn. Is filled with a lot of assumptions about learners and the learning process, such as when learners learn new things, they use them to create something new. In this way of learning students have the responsibility to solve problems instead of only watching them be solved, they also have to learn how to work with the others' differences and points of view. These differences also help teachers to re-think their way of teaching because of the diversity of their students and the different background that each one has. The collaborative approach works with class conversation that help students to develop learning based on their group colleagues' knowledge, this process creates closer connections between people and this bounds make the quality of the group work grow. In sum, collaborative work has more pros than cons It makes students grow by themselves and with the help of their peers, create a class that have students at the same level of learning. <span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; position: absolute; top: 783px; width: 1px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Collaborative work is a new method that focus <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">es <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> on students helping each other, correcting each other's work <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: line-through;">s <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> and exchanging information. Different from the regular method of teaching, where the focus is on the professor, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: line-through;">the <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> Collaborative Work focus <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">es <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> on the students, so they can share their opinions and knowledge naturally. Besides <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: line-through;">the <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> academic improvement, such as more knowledge, easier way to learn and write ; <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: line-through;">the <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> Collaborative Work also helps <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: line-through;">in the <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">with <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> social and civic education, once it improves the sense of teamwork, problem-solving skills and commitment. Using this method allows the teacher to help his students to grow <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: line-through;">n by <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">on <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> their own, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">and <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> becom <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">e <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: line-through;">ing <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> independent by using easily accessible materials such as their discussions, lectures, etc.