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A collaborative learning/assessment model
Art Journal, Fall, 1995 by Thomas E. Russo
One solution to the outmoded "banking" concept of learning i professors make deposits into the minds of students in the hope they will be able to make withdrawals when test time rolls around)(1) is to integrate collaborative learning strategies into the lecture format. Collaborative learning, which entails students working and learning together in pairs or in groups, promotes interactive discussion, peer teaching, and critical thinking.(2) Allowing time for group work and discussions, even at the expense of coverage, results in a better grasp of the material and a greater likelihood of its assimilation into the individual student's world view.(3)
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The course structure on which this learning/assessment model is based is a standard ancient through medieval survey that meets twice a week for about seventy-five minutes. The creation of study guides and oral reviews of class material replace conventional exams during the semester; a comprehensive examination, however, is given at the end.
The objective of this model is for students to produce their own study guide for the final examination. This is accomplished through group discussions and oral presentations designed to contribute to the creation of the students' written work. To keep students on task in their discussion groups, I give their group-generated written work as much weight in their final grade assessment as their individual work.
The course material is divided into four sections: Paleolithic through Mycenaean, Greek, Roman and Early Christian, and medieval. When a section of material has been covered by the professor, the class is separated into groups of seven to eight students; they will work in these groups for the next two class periods. Each group will be responsible for developing a study guide for the four sections of course material. During the first forty-five to fifty minutes, students discuss the significant aspects of the section and begin a general, historical overview of the period--which may require additional work outside of class time. One member of the group is chosen to act as "group historian," to write down this overview.
In the remaining twenty-five to thirty minutes of class, groups are provided with a list of about fifteen significant works from that section. Each member of the group is required to analyze one of the works and to place it within its historical context. Although not all fifteen will appear in the group's final study guide, students will be required to know all of them for the final. Students will be responsible for about sixty works for the comprehensive examination.
At the next class meeting, students are required to bring their group-written historical overview and their individual analyses. Both the overview and individual papers should be about two pages in length. The teacher chooses one or more groups to present their material to class for discussion. Eventually, each group will make at least one classroom presentation during the semester. The presenting group(s) designate one "revising recorder" to keep track of any significant points raised in discussion not mentioned in their report. At the end of this class, all papers are collected with the exception of those by the presenting group(s), who will be allowed to revise their papers on the basis of class discussion. Copies of the revised papers, due the following week, are made available to the entire class, who will use them to study for the comprehensive examination.
Notes
(1.) See Paulo Freire, Education for Critical Consciousness (New York: Seabury, 19731.
(2.) See David W. Johnson et al., Circles of Learning: Cooperation in the Classroom (Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1984); and Elliot Aaronson et al., The Jigsaw Classroom (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1978).
(3.) See Arthur N. Applebee, "Toward Thoughtful Curriculum: Fostering Discipline-Based Conversation," English Journal 83, no. 3 (March 1994), 45-52.
COPYRIGHT 1995 College Art Association
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