Aphra Sutherland

Science 511
Feb 5, 2020
Word count: 692
The Art of Collaborative Learning Reading Summary

Kenneth Bruffee introduces his article on collaborative learning through an anecdotal

recounting of his own experiences with collaboration to seemingly convince the reader of the
importance of the established, but perhaps underappreciated, concept of collaboration in
learning. His introduction builds on this, placing the formalized concept of collaboration in
context with historical modes of learning and presenting his argument that collaborative learning
has long been unofficially incorporated into professional industries due to its advantages and
post-secondary education would do well to adopt a more purposeful mindset in formally
implementing collaborative learning.
Bruffee’s clearest abstract definition of collaborative learning establishes the concept as
a process between people rather than between people and objects. He rounds out this theoretical
statement with a number of successful examples of collaborative learning that illuminate more
specific aspects of the pedagogical strategy. For example, his discussion of a previous scholar’s
work, studying how medical students develop diagnostical judgement (more successfully in
groups), underlines his key concept of judgement being an integral part of full learning. He
continues into a consideration of students at Harvard, who worked with another scholar, who’s
work clarified specific ideas about the importance of knowledge being collected and used in
groups in what Bruffee calls “social maturity”. Whether these groups are organized and
designed, as opposed to opportunistic, becomes another line of thought for Bruffee, who aligns
himself with the advantages of the prior camp. However, he underlines the degree of non-
independence inherent in groups that are organized by a professor, or other figure of authority,
stating that there must be some degree of choice in the collaboration for its full benefit to be
realized, namely that authority is traded back and forth between participating students with a
good nature. That this can be hard to foster in classroom situations is an issue Bruffee admits to
freely but concludes hopefully with the thought that continuing to encourage a hands-off
approach will allow students to find this type of collaborative relationship, which will then allow
them to learn more deeply and be better prepared for the future.
Zoology 401 has an already well considered preference for a degree of collaboration
between the students in the lab work, to the extent of reorganizing benches so that students never
sit alone on one side but sit in pairs or threes at all times. I have observed the fruition of this
strategy in action throughout the first weeks of labs, as students often help each other by teaching
each other how to use scale bars or sharing observations on live specimens. Other times, they
share slides to help each other see structures that they might not see based on the natural
variation in the specimens. Based on the natural fit of collaboration in the labs, in some ways, my
role is not primarily to initiate this kind of facilitation but rather to encourage and foster a
community where this can happen. I can build on this promising start in collaboration by
applying this prioritization to other parts of the course such as my lab facilitation questions. It
could be rewarding to ensure that these questions are asked to two or three students at a time,
instead of individually, so that they can discuss and learn from each other. It also could be
interesting to ask the group a question and then come back to them after leaving them some time
to discuss it as a group. Similarly, over the next week we will be developing a midterm review.
I’d like to develop at least one of the questions to be based on collaborating with a few people
around them in the review, for instance, using taking a few minutes to label structure on a
diagram, then a few minutes to compare their answers with the people next to them, before
sharing the answers as a full group. This type of question focusses on the development of
judgement discussed by Bruffee that he found was solidified by working in groups and will
potentially be a helpful skill to practice before they have to use it on the bell ringer style midterm
where they have to make independent judgements, quickly.