From some definitions above, it can be said that collaborative learning is an approach emphasizing the importance of small group learning activity to promote
students social skill, to increase students motivation and to develop students’ academic achievement. Collaborative learning offers instruction that involves
students working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that include the following principles. Thus, in a collaborative learning setting, learners
have the opportunity to converse with peers, present and defend ideas, exchange diverse beliefs, question other conceptual frameworks, and be actively engaged.
2. The Principles of Collaborative Learning
There are some basic principles that should be noticed for successful collaborative learning. They are
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:
a. Positive interdependence. Team members are obliged to rely on one another
to achieve the goal. If any team members fail to do their part, everyone suffers consequences.
b. Individual accountability. All students in a group are held accountable for
doing their share of the work and for mastery all of the materials to be learned.
c. Face-to-face promotive interaction. Although some of the group work may
be parceled out and done individually, some must be done interactively, with group members providing one another with feedback, challenging one anothers
conclusions and reasoning, and perhaps most importantly, teaching and encouraging one another.
d. Appropriate use of collaborative skills. Students are encouraged and helped
to develop
and practice
trust-building, leadership,
decision-making, communication, and conflicts management skills.
e. Group processing. Team members set group goals, periodically assess what
they are doing well as a team, and identify changes they will make to function more effectively in the future.
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Johnson, D.W., R.T. Johnson and K.A. Smith, Cooperative Learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity,
ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4, George Washington University, 1991.
Meanwhile, the principles of collaborative learning as Teresa Walter quoted from Mary Mayers as below
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: a.
Collaborative tasks are structured so that no one individual can complete the learning task alone.
b. Positive interdependence is fostered and developed. Students are evaluated
individually and as a group. c.
Students work in different teams. Teams can be of three types: interest group, random selection, or heterogeneous teams. The team configuration depends on
the complexity, duration, and purpose of the task. Students are given opportunities to participate in a variety of groups.
d. Students learn both social and language skills necessary for cooperation at the
same time as they learn contentconcepts. The principle of collaborative learning above, it can be seen that collaborative
learning emphasize on group work. This small group of students collaborative to share their ideas and information to accomplish a task.
Group work is a popular technique of teaching in-service training and short courses, particularly useful in the transaction of knowledge, is also effective for
developing foreign language competence.
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3. Techniques of Collaborative Learning
