Collaborative Learning

[Page 262]Collaborative learning refers to a range of instructional practices that feature intellectual efforts by students working in groups and that are underpinned by divergent theoretical perspectives. This approach to learning was catalyzed by the use of peer support in teaching beginning around the 1970s to address increasing cultural differences among students, and since has become a prominent teaching method in higher education. In the late 1990s, governments, education authorities, and world organizations began recommending collaborative learning for its potential for achieving a wider educational agenda in a globalized century. This entry describes collaborative learning, its benefits, and its theoretical basis. It then discusses variants of collaborative learning and considerations in designing collaborative learning strategies.

Collaborative learning is consensually defined as a collaborative construction of knowledge ...