Instructional Design Principles
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Overview
An Introduction to the Instructional Design Principle: Collaboration (4:41)
Description
Collaboration is an instructional design principle whereby groups of learners work together to complete specific tasks, solve problems, partake in discussion, and learn from one another’s thinking, views, and ideas. Individuals may work together in a traditional, face-to-face environment or computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment, either synchronously or asynchronously (Clark & Mayer, 2011; Kirschner, Paas, & Kirschner, 2009). The collaboration process involves discussion, argumentation, and reflection regarding the task at hand, which can lead to deeper processing of the information, resulting in more meaningful learning (Kirschner et al., 2009). In order for collaboration to be effective, group members must actively communicate and interact with one another and share similar intentions of establishing a common focus and achieving a desired goal (Beers, Boshuizen, Kirschner, & Gijselaers, 2006).
Guidelines for Use
Guideline 1 – Social Interdependence
In order to ensure that each team member is purposely contributing to the collaborative group, the learning and grade outcome of each learner in the group should be dependent, in part, on the learning and accomplishment of the individual’s teammates (Clark & Mayer, 2011). Educators must keep in mind the incentives for each learner to interact, participate, and support the learning of the rest of their group members. For example, an educator teaching a Science class may have students work in groups to complete a particular task. In order to ensure each student is participating and everyone is doing their fair share of work, the teacher may provide or allow students to take on a specific role within the group. The learning of the group and the mark given would be dependent on the completion of each part assigned to each individual. It is important, however, to make certain that the roles assigned to members of the group require collaboration rather than individual completion, as this would defeat the purpose of group work. Careful consideration and planning on the educators part is required.
Guideline 2 – Quality of Collaborative Dialogue
Collaborative learning activities must involve communication by all members of a group where each member builds upon the contributions of the other members, clarifies or challenges ideas, and asks and answers mutual questions (Clark & Mayer, 2011). Rather than regurgitating what they already know, learners must critically think and contribute ideas that may expand each other’s knowledge (Clark & Mayer, 2011). Therefore, educators must create instructional conditions that inspire and require in-depth, quality dialogue. Providing students with a model of how effective groups function may prompt meaningful discussion (TeachThought, 2020). This model may include initiating discussion, clarifying points, summarizing, chal