Collaborative Learning – video and online guide

Working together in small groups
a teaching and learning video

Executive Producers: Judy MacCallum and Jim Macbeth
Script Consultant: Lorraine Marshall

About the video

Collaborative Learning uses drama and documentary to explore key aspects of working together in groups, of accomplishing learning tasks collaboratively.

You will meet Jessica, Tan, Helen and Dean and their tutor Diane. The students form a group to tackle an assignment on ecotourism. Each joins for different reasons and each brings different skills and knowledge to the task they face. While initially working at cross purposes, they eventually develop into an effective team.

It is fundamental to the accomplishment of learning tasks that groups understand the process and the dynamics operating as they set about reaching the group's objectives. This video and booklet provide a useful four part model for developing that understanding.

The video can be used by teachers as a discussion starter to encourage students to develop this awareness of group processes but can also be viewed by individuals or groups as part of their own development.

An online guide

An online guide to collaborative learning complements this video and is available:

A Guide for Students working in Collaborative Learning Groups
Jim Macbeth and Sarah Veitch

'The aim of this Guide is to provide you with some knowledge of group processes, some conceptual tools for helping to understand what is going on in your work group and some simple aids to use as tools for reflecting on and understanding your group.'

Sample QuickTime video clips

To illustrate the video and to give some idea of the content and design, several short clips are given below.

To view these QuickTime video clips, you will need to have QuickTime installed and have either the QuickTime plugin for your Web browser, or have an appropriate external helper application installed (such as MoviePlayer) and your browser correctly configured. To use the QuickTime plugin rather than an external helper application, you will need Netscape 2 or later on Macintosh, or Netscape 3 or later or Internet Explorer 3 or later for Windows.

To download the Quicktime extensions and plugins as well as the MoviePlayer helper application, see:

The clips:

• Sample 1: on facilitation (1.1 MB) - an EMBEDDED QuickTime video.
• Sample 2: on reflection (2.7 MB) - an EMBEDDED QuickTime video.
• Sample 3: on roles (1.0 MB) - an EMBEDDED QuickTime video.

Background to the production

The key issues in the video involve a recognition of the four stages of group development, the importance of class working time for the groups, tutor facilitation of the process and printed materials for use by students. Understanding and utilising each of these will lead to improved group performance and increased student satisfaction with collaborative assignments.

This video has been professionally produced by Murdoch University under a grant from CAUT. It is part of a series that also includes From Life to Learning and Critical Thinking in Context. While each was a separate grant, there has been a conscious attempt to utilise a similar style and format. Two of the actors appear in all three videos. A Users' Guide to the video Collaborative Learning is included in the package and provides useful information about the video and its use in teaching and learning situations.