Dr. Fortenberry,
Was that the question Dr. Whitney Meade, an assistant professor in the College of Education at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), is hoping to answer? Together with Dr. Letha Etzkorn and Dr. Huaming Zhang, her colleagues in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Science, Dr. Meade was awarded funding from the university's Collaborative Learning Center for their research project, "What Is the Extent of the Problem: How Many Students Will Do Poorly in Collaborative Learning Because of Lack of Social Skills?"
It was Drs. Etzkorn and Zhang who initially brought the issue to Dr. Meade's attention. "About a year ago, they reached out to me about an increase they had seen in the number of students who were struggling in the class setting," she says. "Whether it was interrupting the professor or not being able to vary their thought process, they would seem to get stuck on one thing and not let it go." Dr. Meade, whose research focus is on autism and behavioral disorders and who serves as the director of the UAH Regional Autism Network, suspected the cause might be an impairment of social skills, particularly given the professors' field. "It's possible those who don't have strong social skills or are introverts might be more likely to choose majors like computer science, where their social skills aren't going to be tapped so readily," she says. "So we wanted to see how many people would need intervention." @George Miller, may have some good insights?
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Stephanie Harrington
Director of Membership Marketing and Development
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-05-2018 12:47
From: Dr. Norman Fortenberry
Subject: ASEE - Does a collaborative learning approach work for everyone?
Hi Community,
There's a good reason why universities have spent the last few years dedicating precious resources and time to fostering a collaborative learning environment. Students who are encouraged to participate in discussions, work cooperatively in small-group settings, and actively engage with their peers are believed to gain not only the cognitive skills needed to survive in the professional workplace but also the interpersonal ones needed to thrive. And for many, the approach seems to be working. But is it working for all students? #learning
Read more <g class="gr_ gr_32 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="32" data-gr-id="32">at:</g> https://phys.org/news/2018-11-collaborative-approach.html#jCp
Best,
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Dr. Norman Fortenberry
Executive Director
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