Collaborative Learning

44 Benefits of Collaborative Learning
  1. Develops higher level thinking skills
  2. Promotes student-faculty interaction and familiarity
  3. Increases student retention
  4. Builds self esteem in students
  5. Enhances student satisfaction with the learning experience
  6. Promotes a positive attitude toward the subject matter
  7. Develops oral communication skills
  8. Develops social interaction skills
  9. Promotes positive race relations
  10. Creates an environment of active, involved, exploratory learning
  11. Uses a team approach to problem solving while maintaining individual accountability
  12. Encourages diversity understanding
  13. Encourages student responsibility for learning
  14. Involves students in developing curriculum and class procedures
  15. Students explore alternate problem solutions in a safe environment
  16. Stimulates critical thinking and helps students clarify ideas through discussion and debate
  17. Enhances self management skills
  18. Fits in well with the constructivist approach
  19. Establishs an atmosphere of cooperation and helping schoolwide
  20. Students develop responsibility for each other
  21. Builds more positive heterogeneous relationships
  22. Encourages alternate student assessment techniques
  23. Fosters and develops interpersonal relationships
  24. Modelling problem solving techniques by students' peers
  25. Students are taught how to criticize ideas, not people
  26. Sets high expectations for students and teachers
  27. Promotes higher achievement and class attendance .
  28. Students stay on task more and are less disruptive
  29. Greater ability of students to view situations from others' perspectives (development of empathy)
  30. Creates a stronger social support system
  31. Creates a more positive attitude toward teachers, principals and other school personnel by students and creates a more positive attitude by teachers toward their students
  32. Addresses learning style differences among students
  33. Promotes innovation in teaching and classroom techniques
  34. Classroom anxiety is significantly reduced
  35. Test anxiety is significantly reduced
  36. Classroom resembles real life social and employment situations
  37. Students practice modeling societal and work related roles
  38. CL is synergystic with writing across the curriculum
  39. CL activities can be used to personalize large lecture classes
  40. Skill building and practice can be enhanced and made less tedious through CL activities in and out of class.
  41. CL activities promote social and academic relationships well beyond the classroom and individual course
  42. CL processes create environments where students can practice building leadership skills.
  43. CL increases leadership skills of female students
  44. In colleges where students commute to school and do not remain on campus to participate in campus life activities, CL creates a community environment within the classroom.

Source: Posted on Co-Learn mailing list by Ted Panitz TPANITZ@mecn.mass.edu
 Hari Srinivas - hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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