Comparison of Cooperative learning and experiential learning
Cooperative Learning – Overview
Cooperative learning is a teaching method centered on group of students, in which students complete tasks and solve problems through teamwork. its characteristics include group interaction, shared goals, positive interdependence, and the development of social skills.
Advantage
- Promotes teamwork and communication skills
- Improve academic achievement
- Enhance the learning motivation
Challenge
- Inactive group interaction may affect the quailty of the learning, and not everyone may like the way of group cooperation
- Insturctor needs to invest more time in designing group tasks, which will be more difficult than design an individual assignment.
Applicable Scenario
The Cooperative Learning is suitable for courses that requires teamwork and social interaction, such as learning a new language, team leading and sales skills.
Personal Experience
Cooperative learning reminds me of when I took the engineering design class in my first year. The professor asked us to design a small robot to disinfect the laboratory. There are many parts that require everyone to divide the work. Some people When doing model design, some people need to work on the code of the robot, while others need to work on the methods and principles of disinfection. In this way, everyone quickly learned the design part of industrial manufacturing within 4 months.
Discussion
Although cooperative learning can divide huge teaching content into various sections, and reduce the burden on students while allowing students to absorb the content during the cooperation period, if the teaching content is too obscure and difficult to understand, while lack of a lot of help from the lecturer. , the group is likely to be unable to complete the assignment independently.
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is a way of learning through direct experience and reflection, in which students acquire knowledge and skills through practical operations, experiments and experiential activities. Features include active participation, authentic situations and reflective processes. Learners gain experience in real or simulated situations and transform experience into knowledge through reflection.
Advantage
- Improve the practical application ability of learning
- Enhance student’s autonomy and enthusiasm
- Promote deep understanding and long-lasting memory of the learning material
Challenge
- Requires abundant resouces and time
- Insturctor needs to design appropriate experiential activities
Applicable Scenario
Experiential learning suitable for courses that require practical operations and in-depth experience, such as scientific experiments, field trips, etc.
Personal Experience
Experiential learning reminds me of the elective course “Photography with Film Cameras” I took when I was a sophomore. Learning about film photography in books and videos compare to the experience of actually getting our hands on a film camera is very different。Compared with a digital camera, the different thicknesses the film camera brings to you, and the cost of taking a photo make you think carefully before taking the shot. These are things that cannot be learned from books.
Discussion
Although experiential learning can turn boring theories into interesting attempts, allowing students to absorb knowledge while enjoy the experience, this teaching method requires students and lecturers to have a lot of time to experience, and the content of some courses is difficult to achieve on-the-ground experience, such as when learning the mysteries of the universe, we cannot really go (or it is difficult) to go to a rocket launch site to observe a launch.
Similarities and differences
Similarities
- Both emphasize students; active participation
- Helps develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Emphasis on active interaction and ecperience accumulation in the learning process
Differences
- Collaborative learning focuses on teamwork, while experiential learning focuses on personal experience and reflection
- Collaborative learning requires good group interaction, and experiential learning requires real situations and in-depth reflection.
Conclusion
Cooperative and experiential learning each have their own unique advantages and challenges. Insturetor can choose or combine these two methods based on course needs and student characteristics to provide a richer and more effective learning experience. By applying both approaches flexibly, students not only gain knowledge but also develop important skills that prepare them for future academic and career advancement.
4 Responses to “EDCI335 Blog Post #2”
hi I’m in support of your point of view, I think in our group work we are more suitable to use experiential learning. Because it’s hard to break up into small groups to work together regarding the use of web tools. Also it is difficult to have group cohesion because we are using a blended model for our lectures. However, experiential learning allows students to work with different web tools and intersperses inquiry-based learning with activities that allow them to explore on their own.
I like the way you laid out the advantages and disadvantages of cooperative and experiential learning and how you related them to classes you took in the past. I agree with you that cooperative learning has to do with courses that require teamwork and not everyone likes group work so diversity may come in the way of group success. Experiential learning also increases student autonomy but needs a lot of time and resources and not all courses can be taught using experiential learning just as you rightly said. The instructor would need to know when to use these different approaches and combine them when needed.
Quingze,
Excellent description of cooperative and experiential learning. It is impressive you were able to create a robot in only 4 months! It really demonstrates the efficacy of cooperative learning. I am looking forward to discussing without how we might implement these learning strategies into our own learning resource.
Overall 10/10 blog post. I really like the layout of the blog post. You had a section laid out for both coperative learning and experimental learning. You then did a great job with the supporting ideas by adding an advatgages section, real world applicable problems and solutions. The simillarities and differnces section makes for a great recap at the end of the information. I am looking forward to havving a discussion with you to help me develop better blog posts. Well done!