Creating a Better Future Through Collaborative Learning | Maddie Edwards | TEDxYouth@Brambleton
Summary
TLDRThe speaker reflects on their experiences with individualistic versus collaborative learning, emphasizing the benefits of the latter in enhancing productivity and psychological well-being. They recount their time at the Academy of Engineering and Technology, where project-based learning fostered a collaborative environment that leveraged individual strengths. The talk also critiques standardized testing, suggesting it may become obsolete as more institutions adopt test-optional policies and recognize the value of diverse intelligences beyond traditional assessments.
Takeaways
- π Group learning can be unproductive when members lack connection or interest in each other's contributions.
- π€ Collaborative learning is more effective when it accounts for individuals' skills, strengths, and weaknesses.
- π« The speaker's experience at the Academy of Engineering and Technology emphasized project-based and collaborative learning.
- π An incubator program allowed students to apply business knowledge in a tangible way, highlighting the benefits of collaborative learning.
- π A survey used to categorize students into roles based on their strengths contributed to more effective group dynamics.
- π The preference for days at an alternative school over home school was attributed to the benefits of collaboration and passion.
- π Innovation challenges at the school helped students become comfortable with group settings and creative problem-solving.
- πΌ Research by Johnson & Johnson in 1989 identified three key benefits of collaborative learning: higher achievement, supportive relationships, and improved mental health and self-esteem.
- π Standardized testing may become obsolete as more colleges become test-optional, reflecting a shift towards recognizing diverse intelligences.
- π‘ The speaker suggests five key ways to increase a collaborative learning mindset: creating a relaxed environment, identifying strengths, embracing failure, being honest with feedback, and setting achievable goals.
- π The potential for a collaborative approach to education is seen as a catalyst for change, innovation, and progress in the educational system.
Q & A
What is the common issue with group projects as described in the script?
-The script describes a common issue with group projects where one person ends up doing all the work while another does none, leading to unproductive group learning.
What is the potential solution to unproductive group learning mentioned in the script?
-The script suggests collaborative learning as a potential solution to unproductive group learning, which takes into account people's specific skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses.
What is the Academy of Engineering and Technology, and how does it relate to the speaker's experience?
-The Academy of Engineering and Technology is a new school the speaker applied to, which emphasizes project-based and collaborative learning, shaping the speaker's experience in a different learning environment.
What is the 'incubator edu' program mentioned in the script, and how does it relate to collaborative learning?
-The 'incubator edu' program is an entrepreneurship initiative where the speaker learned to apply business concepts in a tangible way, highlighting the effectiveness of collaborative learning in a real-world context.
How did the speaker's school use a survey to improve group dynamics?
-The survey helped categorize students into groups based on their passions and strengths in business, leading to more effective collaboration by assigning unique expectations and contributions to each group member.
What are 'innovation challenges' at the speaker's school, and how do they promote collaboration?
-Innovation challenges are school-wide events that combine all three pathways (IT, engineering, and entrepreneurship) to create something with rough deadlines and materials, promoting collaboration and comfort in group settings.
What are the three key reasons Johnson & Johnson found collaborative learning to be more effective according to the script?
-Johnson & Johnson's research identified higher achievement abilities, more caring and supportive relationships, and increased psychological health and self-esteem as the three key reasons collaborative learning is more effective.
Why does the speaker believe that collaborative learning can make standardized testing obsolete in the future?
-The speaker believes that the increase in collaborative learning will make standardized testing obsolete because it promotes different types of intelligences and skills that are not measured by traditional tests, and because many colleges are becoming test-optional.
What personal challenge does the speaker have with standardized testing, and how does it relate to the broader issue?
-The speaker has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which makes it difficult to sit for long standardized tests. This personal challenge relates to the broader issue of accommodating diverse needs and recognizing that not everyone can perform equally under the same testing conditions.
What are the five key ways to increase a collaborative learning mindset as suggested by the speaker?
-The five key ways are creating a relaxed environment, identifying the strengths of each group member, embracing failure, being honest with the team, and setting both small achievable and larger goals.
How does the speaker envision the future of education with increased collaborative learning?
-The speaker envisions a future where education revolutionizes the way people work together, fostering a generation that collaborates towards a common goal, with teachers, school systems, and students having the power to create change.
Outlines
π The Challenges and Potential of Group Learning
The speaker begins by humorously addressing the common issue of unequal workload distribution in group projects, where some individuals contribute significantly while others do not. They delve into the inefficiencies of group learning when there is a lack of connection or interest among group members. The speaker introduces the concept of collaborative learning, which leverages individual strengths and weaknesses to enhance productivity. Drawing from personal experiences at the Academy of Engineering and Technology, they highlight the benefits of project-based and collaborative learning in an entrepreneurship program, emphasizing the importance of utilizing everyone's skills to make group projects more effective. The speaker also discusses the preference for days at school over home, attributing this to the value of collaboration and passion for learning.
π Research Insights on Collaborative Learning
The speaker cites research conducted by Johnson & Johnson in 1989, which identified three key reasons why collaborative learning is more effective than individualistic learning. These reasons include higher achievement abilities, the formation of caring and supportive relationships, and improved psychological health and self-esteem among participants. The speaker also mentions additional benefits of collaborative learning, such as increased language apprehension, literacy levels, and effectiveness in STEM communities. They argue that despite the proven advantages, collaborative learning is not widely implemented due to laziness or difficulty in execution, and they predict that an increase in collaborative learning will render standardized testing obsolete in the future.
π‘ Strategies for Fostering Collaborative Learning
The speaker concludes by sharing five strategies to enhance a collaborative learning mindset. They emphasize the importance of creating a relaxed environment that encourages brainstorming and the expression of innovative ideas. Identifying the strengths of each group member is crucial to ensure every individual feels valued and contributes to the group's success. Embracing failure as a learning opportunity is also highlighted, as is the necessity for honest feedback within the group. Lastly, setting both small, achievable goals and larger aspirations is presented as a pathway to progress. The speaker expresses optimism for a future of education that is revolutionized by collaborative efforts, sparking change and innovation.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Group Learning
π‘Collaborative Learning
π‘Project-Based Learning
π‘Incubator EDU
π‘Innovation Challenges
π‘Standardized Testing
π‘Psychological Mental Health
π‘Strengths and Weaknesses
π‘Relaxed Environment
π‘Embrace Failure
Highlights
The speaker discusses the unproductive nature of group learning when there is a lack of connection or interest among group members.
The concept of collaborative learning is introduced as a more productive alternative to traditional group learning, taking into account individuals' skills and weaknesses.
The speaker shares personal experiences from the Academy of Engineering and Technology, emphasizing the importance of project-based and collaborative learning.
The Incubator Edu program is highlighted as an example of successful collaborative learning, where students are grouped based on their business passions and strengths.
The preference for school days over home days is attributed to the benefits of collaboration and passion in the learning environment.
Innovation challenges at the school are mentioned as a way to foster comfort and creativity in group settings, similar to common group projects.
Research by Johnson & Johnson in 1989 is cited to support the effectiveness of collaborative learning over individualistic learning.
Three key reasons are given for the superiority of collaborative learning: higher achievement abilities, more caring relationships, and improved psychological health and self-esteem.
The speaker argues that an increase in collaborative learning could render standardized testing obsolete, as it does not account for various types of intelligence.
Over a thousand colleges being test-optional is presented as evidence of a shift away from standardized testing.
A study from the National Association for college counseling is mentioned, showing no impact of SAT or ACT scores on college or post-college success.
The speaker's personal struggle with POTS and its impact on the ability to take standardized tests is shared to illustrate the need for alternative assessment methods.
The importance of accommodating different learning needs beyond just providing test accommodations is emphasized.
Five key ways to increase a collaborative learning mindset are outlined: creating a relaxed environment, identifying strengths, embracing failure, being honest with the team, and setting goals.
The speaker expresses optimism for a future of education that is more collaborative and innovative, driven by teachers, school systems, and students.
The talk concludes with a call to action for change in education, emphasizing the power of collaboration to spark progress and innovation.
Transcripts
any of you here have ever worked in a
group project where one person did all
the work and another person did
absolutely none of it yeah yeah I see
some of you guys not raising your hands
um I don't know what's going on there so
so why is group learning so unproductive
well the group learning we might be
working with people we have no sort of
connection to or no sort of sort of
interest in knowing for example we might
ask one person to do the first two
slides of the slide show and another
person to the next two but the first
person doesn't do their slides and the
second person does absolutely all of
them we all know how it goes
so Brugler ting rarely works which is
why so many people students teachers
even business professionals are scared
of it however it has the potential to
work with something called collaborative
learning so collaborative learning takes
into account people's specific skill
sets strengths and weaknesses in
creating more productive learning so
today I will talk to you about my
experiences in two different learning
environments with an emphasis on
individualistic versus collaborative
learning and how an increase in
collaborative learning will cause things
that high-schooler struggle with right
now to become obsolete in the future so
in the late spring of my eighth-grade
year I applied to a brand new school
called the Academy of Engineering and
Technology and I didn't know anything
about it
applied completely on a whim with no
expectations and if you know anything
about the stem schools here in Loudoun
County you know how rare this is I mean
the students and their parents actually
mostly just their parents trained them
specifically from middle school to get
into these high schools right and so if
you're not from one of the richest
counties in the United in the United
States this might seem a little weird to
you that middle schoolers worked so hard
in middle school just have the
opportunity to learn somewhere different
in high school but that's how it works
here and so I'm not the smartest person
ever but I work really hard so I apply
it to a brand new program called
entrepreneurship where they stress
something called
project-based and collaborative learning
so in my entrepreneurship program I
experienced the highlight of
collaborative learning in a program
called incubator
edu so my freshman year in
entrepreneurship I learned all the ideal
things you need to start a business
things like marketing tactics financial
plans even other business tactics and my
sophomore year we were able to actually
apply this into something tangible like
a business so I remember at the
beginning of the class sophomore year we
had to take a survey and so I've been
with these people since the beginning of
my freshman year and I was so annoyed
that we had to take this survey it just
place this in our groups already we know
we all know who each other are but we
took this survey and this ended up being
one of the best things that ever
happened to be in high school so let me
tell you why in this survey we picked
what we were passionate about in
business what we felt like our strengths
were and what we best felt like we
contribute to the group and this
separated us into four different
categories the first category or my
category was the visionaries then there
was the rainmakers responsible for the
financials the customer service and the
product service people so each each
category one of each of us was placed
into each group and each category came
with unique expectations deadlines and
what they were supposed to contribute to
the group so in a rough poll I've done
at my school I found out that most
people prefer days a eighty more than
they prefer days at their home school
since we go every other day trust on
schools and I wonder why I mean you
obviously come here to challenge
yourself it's harder it's more stressful
the answer is the reason for
collaboration and the reason for passion
so also at my school we have something
called innovation challenges where it
combines the entire school all three
pathways IT engineering and
entrepreneurship and we're all put
together and told to make something so
we get rough deadlines rough material
set very very rough instructions for
example once we felt a coin sorter out
of just cardboard wood and tape so this
helps people who are less comfortable in
the group setting become more
comfortable in the process and so I'd
like to think of the common group
project in the exact same way so in
innovation challenges you're given this
set of materials and same with group
projects you're given a set of skill
sets of the people you work with
so in these innovation challenges that
we use every single material we have our
disposal to our advantage and it would
be a shame not to do the same thing in a
group project and so using everyone's
skills in a collaborative group makes
groups more effective so it turns out
the ATS not only created some of the
best music of the century but also
created some of the best research on
collaborative versus individualistic
learning so in 1989 Johnson & Johnson's
did research on why collaborative
learning is more effective than
individualistic and they found out it
was because of three key reasons the
first reason is that it creates higher
achieve abilities so people can actually
accomplish more under these group
settings collaborative group settings
and they normally would be able to the
second one is that it creates more
caring and supportive relationships with
the people you work with which i think
is the most important in the business
world where people feel like they have
no connection to the people they work
with and the third and final reason
which is the most important for
teenagers our age that it actually
increases our psychological mental
health and self-esteem
well this research has stood the test of
time there's also been some unique
effects only if you were up there it
increases things like language
apprehension literacy levels it's
effective in STEM communities where I
actually thrive
so if collaborative research is so
effective then why isn't it being used
more often well the reason is that maybe
it's laziness or maybe it's the fact
that it's hard to implement but so many
people are used to being
especially teenagers on how they do with
a pencil and paper test and that brings
me to my next point an increase in
collaborative learning will cause things
like standardized testing to become
obsolete in the future now for everyone
goes crazy I know we all have to take
standardized testing let me explain so
over a thousand colleges are currently
test optional meaning that they do not
require you to sent in your SAT or a CT
score in order to be admitted into their
school this includes many of the big
names like Harvard and University of
Chicago and the reason I wanted to make
this talk in the first place is because
I actually read a study from the
National Association for college
counseling were over a hundred and
twenty thousand people were part of the
study to see if submitting higher SAT or
a CT scores has any effect on how you do
in college or even after college and I
think you already know what I'm gonna
say is that there was no impact
it showed that SAT scores cannot be a
specific measure of intellect or success
but there are different types of
intelligences that need to be measured
other than the intelligences that
standardized testing are measuring so my
story
I am diagnosed with postural orthostatic
tachycardia syndrome better known as
pots so basically the blood pools in my
legs I get dizzy and I pass out at the
most inconvenient times in the most
inconvenient places for example and you
can laugh at these because I Huff at
these I passed out at the top of the
Empire State Building in the middle of a
street and most recently during my AP
calculus exam which is just really
unfortunate but I personally cannot sit
and take a standardized test for
three-plus hours but what about people
with problems that are worse than mine
people with problems like ADHD dyslexia
or even autism so the problem with this
people are given accommodations
accommodations exist for some but the
root of the problem is that we are all
placed on this platform expected to do
the exact same thing and get the exact
same score so how
we fix this and move towards a more
collaborative mindset well in my
experience in creating a business in
research science research on the
regional and state level and even
starting clubs a ton passionate about at
my school all which are by the way I
could not have done just by myself I
found that there are five key ways to
increase collaborative learning mindset
their first way is the most important
because without it we can't have
anything else and that's to create a
relaxed environment to create an
environment where it's okay to
brainstorm to have crazy ideas if people
have these crazy ideas they're more
likely to be successful than those who
bring no ideas to the table the second
one is to identify the strengths of each
group member and I know what you're all
thinking I've worked in a group with
someone who has absolutely no strengths
at oh I tell you that might be a little
bit true but the strings might not be as
glaringly there as some others but
everyone has something that they're
passionate about that they're willing to
learn more about and contribute to the
group this makes every group member feel
needed and creates a more productive
process the third one is to embrace
failure I know this entire event today
has been about failure but I tell you
you know innovators who have had
successes in the past they say that they
had failure over and over again before
they get to these successes but this
failure could not just be embraced on
the individual level it Hostin has to be
embraced by the group itself the group
itself has to be on board with the
failure the fourth reason is to be
honest with your team and my groups that
I've worked with we implemented positive
and negative feedback from the start so
if everyone knows what they're doing
right most importantly but also the
little things that they can work on they
are able to express themselves a more
positive way and the fifth and final one
is to set goals we just talked about
this and this is really important but
not just huge big goals that might be
able to lofty like I'm gonna make a
million dollars my business next year
you have to set small achievable goals
that we can work towards every single
day if we achieve these goals smaller
goals would be more likely to be able to
work towards the bigger goals so I feel
super lucky I'm lucky to be a part of a
generation that works together towards
one common goal but I think teachers
school systems and students themselves
have the power to create the change of
Education so I see a future of Education
of revolutionising the way we work
together change sparks progress and
progress sparks innovation thank you
[Applause]
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