Design of Collaborative Learning Activities

Abstract

The PISA study has emphasized the importance of collaboration and, starting in 2015, it will measure the capacity and willingness of students to solve problems through interaction among themselves. To prepare the community for PISA 2015, the aim of this talk is to show how small group collaborative learning activities can be designed. When peers work in a group, we distinguish three types of dependencies. Weak dependency, where just one solution exists and every peer has a defined role; medium dependency, where the solution is unique and the peers need to coordinate and negotiate among themselves in order to assign the roles that everyone will perform in order to reach the solution; and strong dependency, where group members must first negotiate the desired solution among themselves, and then assign the roles to be performed by each participant.