Rights to Write: Task Five

Oct 27-Nov 03

[Description]

• Can you explain what this picture is showing about collaborative learning (or group learning)?
• What is your favorite part of this type of learning?
• What would be the part that usually bothers you when working with others?
• Give an example from your personal experience and elaborate on it.

[Source]
The Collaborative Research Model: Student Learning Teams in Undergraduate Research

http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/crmodel/index.html

http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/crmodel/images/no_highlights.png

[My Own Comments]

1. Can you explain what this picture is showing about collaborative learning (or group learning)?
Here is my own observation and explanation of this picture.

First of all, a good start is that every member is willing to discuss topics and solve problems, so as to form an atmosphere of openmindedness for communication, which is a light blue bubble that contains all aspects (invitational communicative climate). Second, every member keeps thinking. This factor, which is a white core in the picture, will contribute to other aspects like waves, pushing each other (learning through reflection). Third, an organization or a bond of these people (learning teams) and careful discussion on the group work (collaborative deliberation) are both established. Thus, both the members and the group work will move forward. Fourth, there are at least three important steps in their careful discussion: finding problems (posing the problem), to think about the problems from different angles (generating multiple perspectives), to decide the methods and announce them openly to make sure that every member understands them (making informed decisions). On the whole, this learning process or experience, just like the actual results, is also the learning achievements. Therefore, they are on the green plate (learning outcomes). At the end of the process, members should evaluate their learning outcomes to think of improvements (meaningful assessment). Not that this learning process should be recorded and presented in written and/or oral forms (written and/or oral deliverables).

2. What is your favorite part of this type of learning?
My favorite part is generating multiple perspectives. I’m not saying that I would accept all of the different views. It’s impossible. I mean, listening to different views alone is interesting. We can learn more from differences. We are teaching each other in this process.

3. What would be the part that usually bothers you when working with others?
I’m not always enjoying group learning, but I will try when I have to work with others. At least three parts bother me when working with others: an awful atmosphere (in contrast to invitational communicative climate), a reluctant or unfriendly attitude (in contrast to learning through reflection), and an unsatisfactory decision (in contrast to making informed decisions).

As we know, Chinese students, especially Taiwanese college students, tend to be silent in class, not to mention in group discussion. Although English majors are trained to speak more, silence is often inevitable. The psychology behind this phenomenon is that every member is waiting for someone to be responsible. No one wants to be noticed. No one wants to be in charge. No one wants to carefully think. Every member just wants to know what his or her own part of the job is and do it. The outcome is that no one is satisfied in mind. But since they choose not to really cooperate with each other, they don’ complain and regard this phenomenon as a common case. The other case is that everyone does talk but forgets to listen to others. A heated discussion should allow everyone has an opportunity to speak and to listen. Both of the two cases are annoying. No wonder more too often the learning outcomes are not really successful, for it is not the real group learning.

4. Give an example from your personal experience and elaborate on it.
Both of the cases are based on my personal negative experiences, but there are still a few pleasant experiences. Therefore, I think that it always people's attitude that affect the whole.

In my opinion, I consider that group learning is beneficial, and we’re supposed to know how to work with others; otherwise, it would be a little late to learn it after working in the society. However, above group learning, self-learning is a must. I’m not saying that everyone should learn only on one’s own. I mean, everyone should be independent enough, knowing how to learn and preparing for the assigned tasks before group learning, which is a bigger challenge.

[My Keypal's Comments and My Response]

Click "Week Five" to read them.