Collaborative Learning

Educators weigh in on solutions to the common pitfalls of group work.

On a mission to reimagine traditional schooling, a K–8 school in San Diego puts teachers and students at the center.

Too many university supervisors and administrators criticize the absence of lesson closure, the activity that ends a lesson and creates a lasting impression. Like contracting your bicep at the top of a dumbbell curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson. Find 22 closure strategies in this article by Todd Finley.

In small-town Wisconsin, four schools cluster on one campus, fostering a culture of experimentation and self-directed learning for both students and teachers.

When we think of student engagement in learning activities, it is often convenient to understand engagement with an activity as being represented by good behavior (i.e. behavioral engagement), positive feelings (i.e. emotional engagement), and, above all, student thinking (i.e. cognitive engagement) (Fredricks, 2014). This is because students may be behaviorally and/or emotionally invested in a given activity without actually exerting the necessary mental effort to understand and master the knowledge, craft, or skill that the activity promotes.

Breaking up rows of desks fosters collaboration and empowers kids to think about how they work best.