Collaborative Learning in Mathematics
Navigation Link: Alix Zipperman's Portfolio Page
Overview
Collaboration is the ability to work in groups to achieve a common goal, and knowledge building is the ability to build upon, and revise what students already known about a concept. Therefore, collaborative knowledge building is the idea that students need to work collaboratively to understand, build upon and revise their thinking on basic concepts relating to any given subject.
Teacher centered classrooms offer the more traditional learning and teaching experience of rote memorization, prioritization of independent work, less student discourse and infrequent participation among struggling students. This can lead to frustration, student burn out, and lack of student agency. In teacher centered classrooms, teacher talk takes center stage, students performing at grade level respond to the bulk of the questions the teacher asks, and passive learning is the norm.
If this sounds like your classroom, you are not doomed. Each of the units in this mini course are designed to gradually shift the center of focus from the teacher to the students, and create a classroom that is student centered. Student centered classrooms offer learning environments of deep engagement, critical thinking, and collaborative knowledge building among all students, no matter what they bring to the table academically. This shift also see the teacher becoming a facilitator of student learning, instead of the all knowing deliverer of information. This shift is meant to empower both teacher and student into new roles, with new expectations, in which both parties will find exciting and refreshing. While it can be difficult at first to release some of that control to the students, it is within that shift that students, and the teacher, gain and learn the most, especially from each other.
Needs Assessment
- The Educational Problem or Opportunity
Engaging students in a diverse collaborative learning environment has a profound impact on the way students interact and understand mathematical concepts at the elementary level. However, in many classrooms, there can be a stand and deliver approach within a teacher centered classroom. Students passively receive information through excessive "teacher talk", and consideration for different solving strategies are are often deemed incorrect. These combined leave little room for students to make and learn from their mistakes and be the center of their own learning. There is an opportunity to shift the role of the teacher from the "content courier" to "facilitator of discovery".
- The Learners/Participants Involved
This mini course is intended for elementary school teachers, specifically teaching math. The skills and strategies addressed in this mini course can be used and modified to suit middle or high school as well.
- Analysis of Gaps
Current Reality: There is a certain pressure among teachers to teach everything on the pacing guide, and to do this, sometime we have to develop songs, mnemonics, rhymes, memorization, and standing and delivering content. In doing so, students are in the position of not having to truly dive deeper into ideas. And if this skill taught is a prerequisite that requires deep understanding, the student may struggle to apply what they were taught to the new skill. When students struggle, they feel negatively towards the work, or give up all together.
Ideal State: A slower approach is taken where discovery is at the forefront of every lesson. Students are given an anchor concept that they may know little to nothing about. They are given the time to notice and wonder about what they are seeing, and make connections to things they have already learned. Students are given the opportunity to use their own strategies that make sense to them, share their reasoning, and discuss to determine meaning from each other's work. Every successful strategy a student uses is valid, and because of this, students are more willing to productively struggling through problems. The teacher's role is to facilitate struggle and discovery, and to guide whole group, small group, and partnership discussions in the right direction. This includes being the narrator of the students' ideas and confirming or debunking their theories through supported mathematical reasoning.
Prerequisites
Before taking this course, the learner should the basic understandings of:
- Lesson planning in mathematics within designated grade level.
- Grade level state standards required by your district
- Small group instruction
Collaborative Learning in Mathematics Units
Unit 1: Classrooms (Teacher Centered vs. Student Centered)
By the end of this unit, learners will be able to:
- Identify the characteristics of a teacher-center classroom environment.
- Identify the characteristics of a student-centered classroom environment.
- Determine the type of classroom centered characteristics of the learner's current classroom.
By the end of this unit, learners will be able to:
- Understand the importance of collaboration in a classroom environment.
- Shift teaching approach from teacher-centered to student-centered by fostering a classroom culture of collaboration and productive struggle within mathematics.
- Identify the difference between struggle and productive struggle within students.
Unit 3: Collaboration Strategies
By the end of this unit, learners will be able to:
- Learn different collaborative strategies that create high level student engagement.
- Design a lesson plan that implements collaborative learning strategies in a student-centered classroom environment.
Unit 4: Implementation and Beyond
By the end of this unit, learners will be able to:
- Assess the effectiveness of different collaborative strategies that enhanced student learning.
- Plan for other collaborative strategies to implement in future lessons.