Case Studies and Examples

Teaching Communities Within Learning Communities by Jean MacGregor - A short paper on Learning Communities.

The Omnium Project (Australia) hosted the Creative Waves project on behalf of the International Council of Graphic Design and their worldwide education network (IEN)

Teaching Matters: A four-part video on university teaching - DVD or Video case studies: “Teaching Matters 2: Tutorials” and “Teaching Matters 4: Assessment” with accompanying booklet obtainable from the Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Technology, Sydney.

University of Okalahoma Program for Instructional Innovation - Tips for designing a taught course "developing 21 st Century Learners".

Bournemouth University – Peer Assisted Learning - Academic support incorporating peer assisted learning into a course. The benefits of such practice, plus research and further links about the theory.

53 Books Technical & Educational Services Limited - Book Publishers and Educational Consultants who produce the 53 book series: each book gives 53 tips on how to improve quality of teaching.

Enhancing Teaching and Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses - A series of (generally downloadable) papers and reports on enhancing teaching and learning, covering a veriety of subjects areas.

Learning based on the process of enquiry - A programme of professional development for HE staff in the North East of England, with examples.

Assessing Group Work - A resource on assessing groups, including peer assessment, from Lincoln University, New Zealand.

National Institute for Science Education - Collaborative Learning - Small Group Learning Includes techniques to achieve effective group learning, plus some useful stories of teaching success with the use of collaborative work, all backed with creditable research and references.

Center for Instructional Development and Research - Brief overview from the Unviersity of Washington of small group learning, plus links to further articles on problem solving groups and the movement from lecture-led courses to collaborative learning.

Centre for the study of Higher Education – Assessing Group Work - From the Centre for the study of Higher Education and Australian Universities Teaching Committee, this practical guide covers the reasons for using group work, common issues and concerns that come with group work, and related topics. (Also available as a downloadable pdf or PowerPoint presentation.)

Thirteen ed-online – Concepts to the classroom – Cooperative and collaborative learning A six-step lesson on how to include cooperative and collaborative learning techniques in your teaching (From Channel Thirteen, USA).

Liverpool John Moores University – Approaches to learning - Why encourage group learning? - Highlighting some of the advantages students get from group working, including social, learning and critical thinking benefits.

Keele University - Support for the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching - A Guide to Maximizing Learning in Small Groups - This guide was originally prepared for a workshop on small group teaching held at York University, Toronto, October 19, 1976. It explores the fundamentals of group working and teaching, and associated issues.

Team-based Learning – The power of teams for powerful learning – University of Okalahoma - This is the website for another book but has some good information plus useful video demonstrations.

Kennesaw State University - Georgia Educational Technology Training Center - Collaborative Learning - This is addressed at a quite basic level, but includes some nice examples of activities.

Learning to Collaborate/Collaborating to Learn – Online Seminar - Learning curves Education Network

A Brief Summary of the Best Practices in Teaching - Intended to Challenge the Professional Development of All Teachers - Compiled by Tom Drummond North Seattle Community College, 1994, 2002.

Integrating Environmental Science and the Humanities Through Team Teaching - The advantages and disadvantages of team teaching

Teaching Guides for Graduate - Creating Ground Rules for Discussion Sections

The Case For Student Centered Instruction Via Collaborative Learning Paradigms – highlighting the academic and social benefits of collaborative learning.

Small Group Options – how to organise small group disscussions

London Metropolitan University - Learning in Groups - About groups of various kinds from the student point of view.

GNU – Geography for new Undergraduate Students - Liverpool Hope University - Advice for students on how to work effectively in group situations.

Working In Groups - Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University. A quick guide for students.

The Ohio State University - CETE - Adult Learning Groups - by Susan Imel - This is a paper that focuses on the nature of group learning, group forming, the role of a facilitator and structure of group learning in adult education.

1. promoting individual and group accountability.
2. using assignments that link and mutually reinforce individual work, group work, and total class discussions; and
3. adopting practices that stimulate give-and-take interaction within and between groups.  Further, to obtain the best results from using small groups, instructors must observe these keys in managing each of three opportunities (shown as "3 Boxes" in Figure 1) to engage students with course concepts: individual work, small group work, and total class discussion.

Learning in groups - design strategies - Pottruck Technology Resource Center, Simmons College. A discussesion of how group coursework can prepare student for collaborative settings in the workplace.

Cooporative learning in Higher Education – Susan Ledlow - This paper distinguishes the fundamental differences between collaborative learning and group work. But underpins the importance of peer tuition.

University of Medice and Disentary New Jersey – Centre for teaching excellence - This site entitled Group and Collaborative Learning has many further links to useful resources.

UtilBase – Article Achieve - Group dynamics and learning in an Organisation Behaviour virtual learning community: the case of six virtual peer-learning teams. – By Elisabeth L. Creese. This paper looks into the dynamics of online group activities in a virtual classroom.

Small Group Teaching Check List - University of Colorado at Denver and Health Science Center – Center for Instructional Support - A series of checklists for the co-ordination of small group teaching.

Adjuncts and Ignorance in Collaborative Learning By Terry Caesar - An article from Times Higher

Online Role Playing - An extract from Discussion-Based Online Teaching To Enhance Student Learning by Trisha Bender.

Changing a course from lecture format to collaborative learning - A paper by Dean A. McManus, Prof. School of Oceanography. Center for Instructional Development and Research – Resources – UW Faculty on Teaching.

The critical thinking community - Defining Critical Thinking - A statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul for the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction.

Team based learning – The power of teams for powerful learning - A book about group learning edited by Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink.

Tomorrows professor Blog – A partnership between Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.

Group Leadership and Problem Solving – Gloria J. Galanes Southwest Missouri State University – Supplemental chapter for Confidence in Public Speaking, seventh Edition (Telecourse Edition).

An Annotated List of Critical Thinking Tests - Prepared by Robert H. Ennis, University of Illinois. Revised July, 2006

Faculty Learning Communities: What Are They? - An overview of student learning communities.

A Few Good Learning Theories – descriptions of several learning theories.

How Students Learn – George Brown – A supplement to RoutledgeFalmer Key Guides for Effective Teaching in Higher Education Series

Betty Collis - Betty Collis and Jef Moonen are specialists in learning involving information and communication technologies. This site gives good advice on approached that can be taken to produce high quality blended learning courses.

Kurt Lewin: groups, experiential learning and action research - Kurt Lewin was a seminal theorist who deepened understanding of groups, experiential learning, and action research.

David Jaques - British Medical Journal - bmj.com - An article by the author of Learning in Groups: “The ABC of learning and teaching in medicine”