Collaborative strategies focus on utilizing the different viewpoints of peer-to-peer, small group, or large group members and allow those participants to address misunderstandings or clarify meaning. In the setting of a science classroom, this can provide educators with a more insightful perspective about their students’ learning and where exactly they need to review or extend concepts.
Collaboration in a classroom setting provides many advantages, including increased student retention and a boarder understanding of different viewpoints. Most importantly, encouraging collaboration amongst peers allows for the development of higher-level thinking, along with increased communication and leadership skills.
How can this be accomplished?
Implementing collaborative strategies can be done easily with preparation and thoughtfulness. Carefully consider some ground rules for participation and contributing to the group; for instance, allowing each speaker to speak without interruptions. Also, the use of peer and self-assessments allow students to have more ownership of their learning and participation.
Below we share three types of collaborative strategies and how they can be used with some Take Care of Texas lesson plans provided for free on our Lesson Plans page.
Collaborative Strategy: Think-Pair-Share/Write-Pair-Share
Lesson Plan: Create Your Own Compost
Think-Pair-Share or Write-Pair-Share is a collaborative strategy that focuses on students sharing their own thoughts on a concept. This strategy is versatile as it can be used in any classroom regardless of grade level. It is also flexible in the sense that it can be implemented throughout any lesson but is usually utilized at the beginning to trigger any prior knowledge students may have about that topic.
For instance, when using the Create Your Own Compost lesson, students are asked to think about what happens when leaves, fruits, or branches fall on the ground. Implementing the strategy during this time and having students either think about or write down their ideas then pair up and share them will enrich their discussions and help them reflect further on their own prior knowledge.
Collaborative Strategy: Fishbowl Debate
Lesson Plan: Community Awareness Plan
Fishbowl debate is geared towards a small group setting, ideal for upper elementary and higher grade levels. Students are grouped into threes and assigned distinct roles. One role will have a stance or position regarding the topic at hand, another would take an opposing position, while the third takes notes and decides on the most convincing position with a proven argument for their choice.
The Community Awareness Plan lesson provides an opportunity for the use of a fishbowl debate at various points. In the beginning of the lesson, students are tasked with reviewing their stream handouts and identifying problems such as unusual smells or low oxygen levels. They are then asked to brainstorm to find a possible main cause. During that time, students can be grouped into threes with two students identifying a problem and a cause and the third listening, taking notes, and deciding which can be shared to the larger group. This technique provides many opportunities for students to listen, share, and provide factual evidence to prove a claim.
Collaborative Strategy: Stump Your Partner
Lesson Plan: How to Recycle
Stump Your Partner is a unique strategy; in that it can be used with any lesson and at any point in time during a lecture. With Stump Your Partner, students are asked to write a question based on the learning that has happened thus far. Students can then trade with a partner and see if they can answer the question, or teachers can collect those questions to create a pop quiz or review.
Using the How to Recycle lesson plan, there are many opportunities to utilize this strategy and frequently check on students’ understanding. For example, after watching the SciGirls: Going Green video, students learn about the varied materials they can recycle at their school. Stump Your Partner can be used after watching the video by having students write a question about what they learned. This activity can then lead to the discussion of what materials they can recycle.
These are just a few of the strategies that can help to enhance scientific discussions within the classroom. Implementing them with clear expectations will give students opportunities to learn from each other and explore their own academic growth. For more science-focused lessons, please visit the Lesson Plans page.
