Teaching and Learning

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Browsing Teaching and Learning by Subject "Collaborative learning"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The classrooms as learning communities
    (The IIE, 2017) Maphalala, Mnecidisi Christian
    Classrooms are sites in which learning takes place through interactions with others and learners are given opportunities to construct knowledge, and to acquire skills, values and attitudes. Classrooms in which learners and teachers learn together and contribute to knowledge construction are called ‘learning communities’. Learning communities as an area of study have been under researched despite the fact that there is a body of research that indicates that learning is a collaborative activity rather than an individual exercise, which brings with it significant benefits. This paper argues that effective learning takes place in a collaborative learning environment in which both teachers and learners work together to construct knowledge, and proposes ways in which classrooms as learning communities can function.
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    Collaborative learning of mathematics by educationally disadvantaged students at a university.
    (The IIE, 2014) Pillay, Shan; Maharaj, Aneshkumar
    This paper reports on a qualitative study of how collaborative learning as a pedagogic intervention was implemented in the Centre for Science Access (CSA) in a South African university. Students in the CSA are from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. Collaborative learning was implemented to improve the mathematics knowledge and skills of these students. Collaborative learning involves organising students to work in pairs or in small groups to achieve shared goals or learning outcomes.
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    Learning through transformation: a collaborative learning strategy.
    (The IIE., 2012) Dos Santos, Victor; Steenekamp, Karen
    This article describes how art and design students within a higher education in South Africa are able to learn through transformation during the periods leading up to, and eventually writing, year-end examinations. The description is related through data generated by means of a focus group interview with five purposefully selected participants which was then followed up by one individual interview with a sixth participant. These interviews essentially adopted a qualitative research paradigm from which the contextual phenomenon embodied in an end-of-year examination could be investigated. The data collected yielded that participants felt that the most effective learning strategy involved group or collaborative learning. Collaborative learning as described in this paper can provide supportive structures that not only facilitate learning but go a long way to help realise personal transformations. More importantly, collaborative learning was explored as being a critical marker in determining that Transformative Learning (TL) had indeed occurred, even though TL as a pedagogical tool had never been applied.
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    Peer-to-peer programming versus individualised programming: The real world
    (The IIE, 2016) Govender, Desmond; Govender, T.P.
    Does programming alone depict the real world scenario? It is often said, ‘In programming, One is the loneliest number’. Addressed in this paper is a strategy referred to as ‘peer-to-peer programming’, and the focus is within an object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigm. The paper explores options available to students at secondary and university levels who are engaged in individualised programming, and potential opportunities associated with peer-to-peer programming which resemble programming in the real-world scenario. Most programmers learn to program as individuals and then are faced with the real world, programming in a team. This research was based on confirmed observation, analysis and assessment against published data and information extracted on peer-to-peer programming and its influence on contemporary instruction and comprehension of computer science programming concepts. The research was conducted within the parameters of the programming information technology curriculum at three secondary and two university-level academic institutions. Gaining the perceptions of peer-to-peer programming was arrived at through using threshold concepts in Computer Science and an interpretive paradigm. Two critical questions were posed: • What are learners’ experiences of programming alone and programming with a partner? • How does peer-to-peer programming enhance programming in an OOP paradigm? Based on assessment and analysis of the data, our recommendation is to create an environment of peer-to-peer programming in an OOP setting which is similar to programming in a team in the real- world scenario. The benefits are not only better problem solving and better programmers but also the enhancement of good social skills.