2 Qs for collaboration and cooperation

1. Curtis Collaboration
Dillenbourg and Schneider (1995) make a distinction between cooperative and collaborative learning. They indicate that cooperative learning is “… a protocol in which the task is in advance split into subtasks that the partners solve independently”. Collaborative learning describes situations “… in which two or more subjects build synchronously and interactively a joint solution to some problem”. This distinction places greater emphasis on the extent and quality of the exchanges that occur within groups of students in collaborative environments.

Social constructivism extends constructivism into social settings, wherein groups construct knowledge for one another, collaboratively creating a small culture of shared artifacts with shared meanings. Therefore, to what extent and in which social organization their concept of this distinction has been accepted?

2. Roger and David’s cooperative learning
“The joint success experienced in working together to get the job done enhances social competencies, self-esteem, and general psychological health.” I like it and believe it too. When I was EDCI 270 teaching assistant last semester, Professor Newby did ask the students’ team work experiences before team project. However, what I witnessed are there were much more students who claimed they did not like team work because of past bad experiences. Are our researchers over optimistic about team work in real school settings? Is “publish or perish” a main factor to result in the isolation of fruitful research and many educators and students’ true perception?

I like the notion that cooperation is for efficiency while collaboration is for effectiveness.
What's the purpose for students to work cooperatively? First, the teacher requires that. Second, workload is so heavy that needs to be split up. Last but not least, teachers get used to work cooperatively. Teachers teach in the way they were taught.

The power of working collaboratively: The ability to work collaboratively is recognized as a core competency of a learning organization.
Establish trust is fundamental to the successful formation and growth of team work. Collaborative learning, as the basis for effective organizational team building, requires a level of personal familiarity, intimacy and trust, allowing team members to listen to one another with respect and understanding (Comstock and Fox, 1995).