Collaborative Active Learning: Practical Activity-Based Approaches to Learning, Assessment and Feedback

376 Pages·2022·6.747 MB·English

by  Chan Chang-Tik, Gillian Kidman, Meng Yew Tee

Collaborative
Active Learning
Practical Activity-Based
Approaches to Learning,
Assessment and Feedback
Edited by
Chan Chang-Tik
Gillian Kidman
Meng Yew Tee
Collaborative Active Learning
· ·
Chan Chang-Tik Gillian Kidman
Meng Yew Tee
Editors
Collaborative Active
Learning
Practical Activity-Based Approaches to Learning,
Assessment and Feedback
Editors
Chan Chang-Tik Gillian Kidman
Monash University Malaysia Monash University
Subang Jaya, Malaysia Clayton, VIC, Australia
Meng Yew Tee
Universiti Malaya
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
ISBN 978-981-19-4382-9 ISBN 978-981-19-4383-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4383-6
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Foreword
The book in front of you takes learning seriously. It puts learning at the
centre. Only if we grasp how learning happens, we can start to create
environments that nurture this learning. Key to this is acknowledging
thatlearningisfundamentallysocial.Learningisparticipatingincommu-
nities, learning is engaging in collaboration and trying to make sense of
the multiple perspectives confronted with, learning is receiving feedback,
learning is seeking help, learning is providing help, learning is looking to
the models you encounter.
This understanding fuels the design of powerful learning environ-
ments.Howtodesignanenvironmentthattriggersandsupportslearning
processes,harvestingthelearningopportunitiesthatarecreatedbycoop-
eration and collaboration? This book presents a range of concepts and
practices that may guide your thoughts and trigger new approaches. The
learning philosophy in this book encourages us (students, lecturers, staff
developers, managers) to rethink the way we organise learning. Impor-
tantly,thisbookstandsoutinprovidingacomprehensiveaccountofwhat
it takes. It deals with didactics, assignments, assessment, facilities, tech-
nology, management, …. To build success stories we need to align all
those elements.
Iwanttotouchupontwoaspects,tackledinthisbook,thatexhibitthe
profoundperspectivethatistaken.First,increatingcollaborativelearning
environments, we too easily assume that students are proficient in navi-
gating this sometimes complex social situation. Or that they will learn it
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vi FOREWORD
by doing. There is increasingly evidence that we cannot rely on that. We
need to explicitly make time to develop these collaborative competencies
and provide guidance through feedback and opportunities for reflection.
This will only set an accelerator to collaborative learning, and help to
grow the team-players that our programs increasingly set as an important
goal.Second,thebookdoesnotforgetthelearningthatneedstohappen
at the side of all those involved in organising. Think about lecturers,
assistants, staff developers, program chairs and managers. In changing
and continuously innovating their courses and programs, they all need
to engage in a learning journey. And also this one is surely active and
necessarily collaborative. This book supports this by providing a platform
for a diverse group of lecturers and researchers, with both a sensitivity
for disciplinary and cultural differences, giving insight into their practices
andthinking.Assuch,itisvaluableforallthosewhoarecurious,whoare
implementing,orwhoarelookingtoinnovatetheireducationalpractices.
This book provides a range of ingredients and offers food for thought
to a community developing these practices. I applaud the editors and all
the contributors, and encourage the reader to find inspiration.
Prof. Dr. Piet Van den Bossche
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Antwerp
Antwerp, Belgium
School of Business & Economics
Maastricht University
Maastricht, The Netherlands
Preface
Higher education is facing a paradigm shift from teaching to learning.
Thisbookwilladdressthequestionofhowlecturers,studentsanduniver-
sityadministratorsneedtoconceptualiseandrethinktheuseofformaland
informal learning spaces, learning technologies and activities to facilitate
learning for students in the twenty first century. In other words, using
activelearningclassrooms(ALCs)enhancedwithtechnologieswouldnot
necessarily lead to a positive learning process. To achieve effective results
ineducationalprocessesthatincludeALCswithtechnologiesandlearning
activities, interaction among all elements (lecturers, students and univer-
sity administrators) should be structured effectively and a structured
mechanism should be implemented. Therefore, in this book hospitable
learning space (HLS) is employed with the aim of developing an effec-
tive learning community to ensure and support student learning. In
this context, HLS is able to offer the three elements mentioned in five
dimensions in a learning space: institutional, physical, cultural, social and
psychological. In relation to that, it is our belief that this book will
serve the purpose of assisting lecturers in the transformation from direct
teaching to facilitating learning.
To make the transition from teaching to learning, richer definitions of
assessment and feedback are required. In this respect and in line with the
paradigmshift,inthis book assessmenttakes upa newroleof supporting
learning. Specifically, while students interact with the learning activities
theyarebeingassessed.Likewise,duringtheassessmentprocesstheylearn
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viii PREFACE
through peer participation. As such this new role is known as assessment
for learning. In what follows, feedback is not solely to correct mistakes
and to provide correct answers. It is used to assist students to close the
learning gaps identified from the learning evidence observed during the
peerinteractions.Thepowerofpeerlearningandpeerinstructionaswell
as socio-constructivist feedback provided by the lecturers are all tailored
to assist learning. Therefore, the new role of feedback is more appropri-
ately known as feedforward or feedback for learning. According to these
perspectives, assessment and feedback for learning have great potential
to facilitate learning experiences, and that potential should be utilised
within the context of HLS. Since assessment and feedback are already—
andwillcontinuetobe—usedinuniversities,lecturersshouldadopttheir
new roles into education with a pedagogical basis. This book will offer
lecturersusefulinformationregardingtheuseofassessmentandfeedback
for learning.
It is noteworthy that the term active learning is confusing and it is
loosely used by lectures to indicate anything that students perform to be
active learning. To illustrate, students sharing ideas with friends, taking
notes, answering questions in class, participating in forums and even
listening to talk are all considered active learning. Literally, it is taken to
include anything which is directly opposite of passive learning. In this
book, active learning and for that matter collaborative active learning
(CAL), involves self-reflection, social interaction and cognitive conflicts
happening in HLS with technologies that serve an intentional functional
means in student learning. Further, students are more inclined to accept
CAL if they are equipped with the necessary collaborative skills and are
better informed about the attributes, challenges, strengths and opportu-
nitiesofCALaswellaspossibleresistance.Itisforthesereasonsthisbook
iswrittentoavoidthenegativeteachingandlearningexperiencesinCAL
which may be the consequences of the failure to comprehend its true
nature.Moreover,thisbookwillprovideinsightsandsupportlecturersin
the design and implementation of CAL in both STEM and non-STEM
disciplines.
The book is divided into three parts: Part I: Theoretical Perspec-
tives of Collaborative Active Learning; Part II: Practical Activity-based
Approaches in Different Disciplines; Part III: Conceptual Framework
and Pedagogical Perspectives. The target audience of this book will be
composed of professionals and researchers working in the field of higher
education(e.g.,universityacademicstaff,educationaldesigners,academic
PREFACE ix
developers, teaching and learning centre staff, online teachers, depart-
ment heads, faculty deans and university senior management staff). To
thisend,forreaderswhowishtojumpstraightintothedesignandimple-
mentation of the CAL strategies, they can refer to Part II and choose
from a wide range of disciplines such as gender studies, finance, engi-
neering, psychology, audit, information technology, statistics, education
and medical sciences. Moreover, readers who want to be convinced that
CAL works and it is substantiated by research findings and tested prac-
tical ideas, they are encouraged to read Part I. In this section, there are
three chapters that provide conceptual understanding of CAL from the
perspectives of the strategies, assessment and feedback. Additionally, it
also touches on a systematic review of CAL for the past two decades and
finally student collaboration through peer instruction. Lastly, to obtain a
conceptual framework of the different disciplinary CAL approaches used
in this book, readers can refer to Part III. Furthermore, in this section
there is a chapter on the technologies and learning spaces for CAL.
Subang Jaya, Malaysia Chan Chang-Tik
Clayton, Australia Gillian Kidman
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Meng Yew Tee
About This Book
Collaborative active learning (CAL) or, by and large, students’ active
engagementinlearningappearstobeacommonpracticeinhighereduca-
tion. Numerous studies on CAL have increased in recent years, but focus
primarily on the Western context. Very little attention is given to the
CALmethodologies,issuesandproblemsintheAsianenvironments.This
editedbookisrootedinthepracticalactivity-basedapproachescarriedout
bylecturersfromtheSTEMandnon-STEMdisciplines.Thecontributing
authorssharedtheirexperiencesandthestudents’reactions,thephysical-
virtual and formal-informal learning spaces together with technologies
utilised in the approaches, as well as problems and issues in the method-
ologies. This book demonstrates how theories and research findings are
appliedintheCALstrategies,assessmentandfeedback,whichwouldlead
to more informed understanding of the practices. Accordingly, it would
be beneficial to provide a conceptual framework of all those method-
ological approaches from the lecturers, thus providing us with more
evidence-based and richer insights into the future application of the CAL
strategies.Moreover,asabooktofacilitateactivelearningamongstudents
and between the lecturers and students, it is crucial a chapter is dedi-
cated to students in order to get them ready for CAL, which may allow
themtounderstandandinternalisetheconceptsofcollaborationinactive
learning.
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