This week's topic on collaborative learning was very interesting and has led me to dig deeper into the topic including research on the internet and the optional reading by Dillenbourg.  I had learned about social interdependence theory when I was an undergrad but I don't think I've come across it since. I think that it makes a lot of sense and, more specifically, Johnson and Johnson's application of the theory to collaborative learning.  I view collaboration and competition in a different way now than I did before. I grew up competing with my 3 siblings in everything we did - whether it was playing board games or getting good grades.  That drive to compete and win controlled much of my youth and the decisions I made.

Having lived with such a focus on competition, I can appreciate the Johnsons posit that collaborating with peers correlates to greater psychological health than competing with peers. A focus on winning is mentally taxing because everything from happiness to self esteem is riding on whether you attain your goal, which is to win. And since you can't always win, this way of thinking makes for plenty of frustration and unhappy moments. I agree that its critical that we take the focus off competition in education and put more focus on collaboration. Although the authors point to widespread use and success of collaborative learning in classrooms around the world, there's still quite a bit of emphasis on competition with standardized tests, grades, and programs that reward top performers. While I don't think you can or should eliminate competition from education, I think there's too much focus on it still. Too many kids are more concerned with getting good grades than trying to learn. They leads them to memorize information and to try to figure out the strategy to do well on a test, rather than engage in meaningful learning.

In our project we don't have the opportunity to employ collaborative learning in the module itself because of the context. However, the topic of collaborative learning aptly describes our group processes. Our group has been working very effectively as a team since last semester and I think the reason that we work so well together is the because we have that teamwork mindset which is, more or less, a focus on collaboration.  We have a foundation of positive interdependence in which we're working toward a shared goal with an attitude and willingness to support each other so that we can do the best that we can, collectively. I've worked in a lot of different groups but this one stands out as being more effective because of the level of collaboration that we attained within the group. I think we engage in more promotive interaction than most of the other groups I've been a part of and this is important for our sense of being supported and valued by the other members in the team.

Although we are not using collaborative learning strategies in our training, I really like the PBL approach to learning and cooperative strategies like jigsaw and peer teaching. Not only do most people learn more effectively by doing rather than listening to a lecture but when we work with others we get a deeper understanding.

John