“Therefore, one logical direction for improving student learning outcomes is to establish policies which encourage and enhance many types of student involvement, including academic involvement; involvement with faculty, student peers, and mentors; and involvement in work, both on and off campus.” Assessment, accountability, and student learning outcomes. Richard Frye. Western Washington University. Link
“Unlike a more traditional approach to instruction, learning communities foster the social construction of knowledge, cooperative learning, active learning, an emphasis on integration and synthesis of diverse student perspectives, as well as student-student, student-staff, and staff-staff collaboration.” Stefanou, C. & Salisbury-Glennon, J. 2002,
Developing motivation and cognitive learning strategies through an undergraduate learning community, Learning Environments Research, vol. 5, no. 171-97.
“Collaborative learning” is an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students and teachers together. Usually, students are working in groups of two or more, mutually searching for understanding, solutions, or meanings, or creating a product. Collaborative learning activities vary widely, but most center on students’ exploration or application of the course material, not simply the teacher’s presentation or explication of it.” Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education. Barbara Leigh Smith & Jean MacGregor.
Online Resources
What is Collaborative Learning? Barbara Leigh Smith & Jean MacGregor. Pennsylvania State University. link
Tools for Teaching: Encouraging Student Participation in Discussion. Barbara Gross Davis. University of California, Berkeley link
Strategies to Build a Community of Learners, RMIT. link
Using the web to create a community of learners in cooperative education: An example from Architecture, Susan Savage. link
