Introduction

Students’ abilities to collaborate cannot be taught or improved by simply placing them in a group. We have all been assigned a group project that involves dividing the work into smaller pieces, completing them independently, and then putting it all together. It is better to describe this type of group work as parallel work since it does not require collaboration.

Teachers play a vital role in setting up the conditions for collaborative learning. To cultivate better student learning, teachers should pay attention to group formation, their role in scaffolding and modeling collaborative skills, task/project structure and design, as well as providing feedback.

→ Do not forget: Educators are role models: Collaboration among teachers is the key to improving student achievement.

No matter where your students work if you can help them improve their collaboration, they will benefit in the future. The following techniques can help you achieve that goal and overcome the barriers to collaborative working.