Cooperative and Collaborating Learning

A community is identified in biological terms to be a group of interacting organism sharing an environment, and in sociology by the mid-1950s there were 94 definitions. All definitions, concluded to the main idea that a “community” is a group of interacting people living in a common place. Schools are no differing. It is important for the student to succeed at being part of a community. Knowledge should be attained by student’s understandings of searchable truths, surrounded by other members of their community. Students should have a guide, which teaches them how to be a responsible citizen through learning to collaborate with their community and be an active member in contributing to society. With cooperative and collaborating learning, students are encouraged to work together in small groups on a clear objective. It is imperative for the teacher to watch for signs of student’s abilities and weaknesses and decide how to pair small groups. Some of the critics of cooperative and collaborating learning find this teaching to cause problems for students who are more advance, as they may be held back by students with a lower-level of thinking. But there is evidence of students with a higher-level of thinking to actually excel and to enjoy from this experience; for these students, form different ways of thinking. They define or learn to explain their knowledge in different forms when this knowledge is being passed on to others. But nevertheless, it is the teacher’s responsibility to mold the group that fits and works together for the purpose of elevating a higher-level of thinking of each groups’ member. It is also known for students to come across with other’s student’s ego. When conflicts arise, the teacher who chooses to use this form of learning in their classroom is expected to resolve it as soon as it occurs and show to their students how to deal with one another. The Teacher provides students with keys to use for eliminating future negative outbursts. The teacher is also encouraged to be as specified with the details of the lesson plan. The teacher breaks down the objective for the students to use their in group exploration in finding the meaning, and provides to the students all of the necessary tools to come to the final work. For example, the teacher should create rubrics at the beginning of any assignment. Students also need to be indulged in feedback by the teacher on a regular basis, reassuring their progress. When students participate in cooperative learning, a student develops interpersonal skills, nourishes weaknesses, and acquires other ways of thinking. The student also applies principals of constructivism when working in groups. They create new ideas based on personal and shared foundations of past experiences and understanding. Students integrate inquiry-based learning when working in smaller groups; asking deeper questions to any subject given. Our society lives in an interdependent universe; therefore we must learn to work with one another, walking together while we develop higher-levels of thinking for the benefit of our community.

Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning, its a method capable of reaching into the depths of the mind. It questions what is it that "I" know and how do "I" know what "I" know. Inquiry-based learning is a form of teaching knowledge. It is a free format used by teachers and students to form their own views using the questioning technique to be applied to everything that it is being taught. The technique of inquiring what we know and the technique to think further to what we want to find out. This type of thinking can lead us into unlocking hidden treasures of our universe. Several fundamentals should be applied, they are known as the "ten rational powers": recalling and imagining; classifying and generalizing; comparing and evaluating; analyzing and synthesizing; and deducing and inferring when studying the path of self-questioning.
Students are encourage to apply their critical thinking skills to question what is the meaning of what it is being learned. It is known that self-initiated questioning, should begin to be taught in schools from the lower grades. In 1961 inquiry-based learning was implemented to all grades after the Educational Policies Commission suggested the need for it. They stated that American Education must develop its education by applying the fundamentals called the"ten rational powers". These "ten rational powers" were implemented in the fifties, when the United States government was in a race with Russia's technological and military advancements. The educational board promoted students to think creatively in the search of how to solve problems. Later, in the sixties, the so-called alphabet soup curricula were pushed in the schools (BSCS, CHEM, SCIS, ESS, PSSC). This was an interesting period to use inquiry-based learning, nevertheless it was a very good time for inquiry-based learning to be introduced in the schools for the availability to be used by the masses that were exposed to other way of thinking and it brought the experience for the students to explore their consciousness. Today's education system, is based on a report that was made by President Ronald Reagan called "A Nation At Risk" in 1983 after the American education was viewed to rank below the rest of the world. Currently, our schools priority is to apply reasoning instead of promoting critical thinking and creative process. We can only hope to brake these walls of reasoning and allow our mind to explore into the abyss of discovery.

Constructivist Lesson Plan

A constructivist lesson plan consists of awakening the student’s mind. A teacher uses this platform in order to help the student form its own conclusion to a situation established. When the constructivist format is set in motion, the teacher presents a situation or a matter for the students to acknowledge and discuss. The teacher points out different elements needed for the student to pick up from and gives them the preliminary tools to have them begin to break down the lesson. The teacher requires the student to apply their critical thinking skills. The teacher builds a bridge for the students to connect the dots to the intended objective. In the constructivist lesson plan, the students are usually placed among other classmates by grouping or they may be in an open format classroom where the individual can speak up in front of their peers; which indeed, this is essential in this type of a lesson plan. It makes the student listen to its own thoughts and attentively hear others perspectives of the situation. I personally enjoy thinking critically. I like to select a topic and start to carefully tear it apart. I like the engagement it exists when two minds or more come together to share their found knowledge. I enjoy when someone questions my findings; for this action alone makes me want to think deeper into the subject and pushes me further to find and adopt a fully understanding view of the factual information gathered. This alone will be the key to support any of my findings. I love not to be limited by forms of guidance. I do need guidance, at the same time I want to be able to explore the full potential of my mind. I believe that the constructivist lesson plan is a great format that accentuates the human being’s capabilities to explore and find. Giving free reign for students to search on their own and come up with their own findings. I believe this can be very exhilarating for a teacher to be part of. For the teacher will not only become the impulse of the student’s driven energy but he/she will help excel human being’s consciousness.

Behaviorist and Constructivist Lesson Plan Differences

The difference between a behaviorist lesson plan and a constructivist lesson plan format is that one is delivered and received in a structured process of thinking and the other is taught and learned by providing the students wider latitude to process the given information and freedom to come up with their own conclusion. The behaviorist lesson plan was designed by Madeline Cheeks Hunter who took it upon herself to come up with a plan in order to raise American education after seeing how public education was being criticized for dropout rates, falling test scores and discipline problems. Madeline Hunter required for teachers to be educated and to fully understand the three realms that she defines as teaching before implementing Hunter’s eight steps design lesson plant. These three realms include: content, learning behaviors of students, and teacher’s behaviors. Hunter’s behaviorist lesson plan consists of students understanding the purpose of the lesson; build a bridge to the activity by either providing a handout or asking a question for the student to begin to see the link between the purpose and what is he/she is to figure out; the teacher exposes the material to be used in order to achieve purpose; then the teacher shows them what is there to be done and how to; checks their understanding and gives a summary of what the intention is and what will be the outcome.

A constructivist lesson plan format will include and not limited to by the teacher’s guidance. The student is presented with a situation then follows with the teacher designing how are the students going to learn the objective, e.g. grouping. In the constructivist format, the students will build a bridge but instead of being the teacher directing the way, the students are given the chance to attempt to explain what the situation is and how are they going to resolve it. The teacher measures the student’s knowledge by their explanations, and he/she states the new guided questions in order to spark the student’s awareness, leading them to a better understanding of the process and how to solve the problem. After, the students exhibit their findings to their classmates and they reflect upon the overall classroom responses.

Instead of soaking up the sun; I will envelop in her dreams..

Toni Dalton All rights reserved, no use authorized without permission.