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Collaborative Learning
By Georgina Vazquez

Example in Action
Moving Around in the GTA
This lesson is intended for new residents of the Greater Toronto Area who have
either moved from a different country or from a different city within Canada. In this
lesson, participants will learn about the different public transportation systems available.
As newcomers, it is important to become familiar with all the options to move around
that the different regions offer and how those systems interconnect.
The learning goals of this lesson are for the student to be able to:
Identify the different public transportation systems available in the GTA
Select the most appropriate route to get from point A to point B using public
transportation
Apply the skills acquired by planning a route using one or more of the
transportation systems presented and actually traveling to the selected
destination.
The Instructional method appropriate for this lesson is Constructivism because
learners will construct the new knowledge based on what they already know from
previous experience. The progression of the material presented during the lesson will


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be from the most basic to the more complex including critical thinking and problem
solving skills. The Instructional Strategy underlying Constructivism used in this lesson is
Collaborative Learning, which refers to an instruction method in which students at
various performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal. The
students are responsible for one anothers learning as well as their own (Gokhale,
1995). Learners may have previous experience with transportation systems in their own
countries or cities and thus, can help each other to perform a practical task. As
newcomers, learners will also benefit from collaborating with other people who are
experiencing the same type of fears and challenges. Collaborative Learning is a
student-centred strategy that empowers the students and allows them to make their
own decisions.
Important considerations when using Collaborative Learning is group formation,
facilitators must ensure that members agree on a set of rules and that roles and
responsibilities are assigned.
The following lesson plan includes activities from all three learning domains to
exemplify how Collaborative Learning is a very flexible strategy that can be used in
many different situations and areas of study.





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Lesson Plan
Phase Activity Facilitators Guide Tools and Resources
Introduction
(Affective
domain)



Each student to introduce
themselves using the Naming
Ourselves technique (Brookfield
and Preskill, 2005. p.128).
Diversity is and important aspect to
consider in this lesson. In choosing how
we wish others to think of us, we can
explore how identifying with a particular
class or culture influences our behaviour,
language, and attitudes (Brookfield and
Preskill, 2005)
Brookfield, S. and Preskill, S.
(2005). Discussion as a Way of
Teaching. Tools and Techniques
for the Classroom. San Francisco,
CA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Group Formation 1. Split the group into small groups of 4
participants
2. Have each group come up with a set of
rules (Bens, 2012, p. 67)
Bens, I. (2012). Facilitating With
Ease! Core Skills for Facilitators,
Team leaders and Members,
Managers, Consultants and Trainers.
New York, NY: Jossey-Bass
Activation Students to discuss transportation
options in their home town:
1. What transportation
systems exist?
2. What challenges do they
pose?
3. How effective are they?
4. How often did you use
them?
1. In their groups, have students answer
the questions.
2. Have a representative of each group
present a list of the challenges faced
by all the members
3. As a whole group, students should
develop a final list of challenges
Flipchart/whiteboard and
markers

Demonstration
(Cognitive
Domain)
Facilitator to teach about the
public transportation systems
available in the Greater Toronto
Area
1. Show a map of the GTA with the
network of the different public
transportation systems and how they
operate
2. Provide each systems website
3. Explain how each system connects the
different regions of the GTA
Transit Toronto. Public Transit in
the GTA, Yesterday, Today and
Tomorrow.
http://transit.toronto.on.ca/info.shtm
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Application Task: Each group to come up with
the best route to go from Square
One Shopping Mall in
Mississauga to The Distillery
District in Toronto using public
transportation.
Considerations:
They are travelling with a dog
They must arrive to the
Distillery District by 6pm on a
Tuesday
They must try to spend the
least amount of money
possible

1. Assign the task to each group
2. Have each group select and assign
roles appropriate to the task. One role
should be the Recorder
The recorders responsibility is to write a
report of the group's discussion and
consensus and then speak for the group
to the class as a whole (Bruffee, 1995)
3. Provide each group with the necessary
resources and tools as well as the
deadline for completion.
Have the groups refer to the list of
challenges they came up with during the
Activation phase and consider them
throughout the completion of the task.
One computer per group
Copies of maps and schedules
of each of the transportation
systems discussed

Bruffee, K. (Jan-Feb, 1995). Sharing
Our Toys: Cooperative Learning
Versus Collaborative
Learning. Change 2(1), 12-18
Retrieved
from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40
165162
Presentation of results
Students to discuss the following
questions regarding their task in
their small groups:
Why did you choose the
selected route? What were
your main considerations?
What process did you follow?
What challenges did you
encounter throughout the
process?
What were the main learnings
obtained from the completion
of this task?
1. Have the recorder in each group
present their conclusions to the group
as a whole.
2. Conduct a discussion in which the
group as a whole compares and
contrasts the different routes and
discusses the advantages and
disadvantages of each one.
Provide feedback with regards to the
process and not the final result of the task.
Highlight the learnings during the
experience and their application to the
learners everyday life.
Flipchart/whiteboard and
markers

Integration
(psychomotor
Moving Around in the GTA
Each group to select a
1. Working in the same groups, each
one will identify a place in the GTA
One computer per group
Copies of maps and schedules


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domain) destination, develop a plan and
travel to it.

that they would like to go to.
2. Each group must develop a plan that
includes: when to go, what time, the
best route to take and the money
needed to get there.
3. Once they complete the plan, they
must travel to that destination as an
assignment to do before the following
session in the program.
4. As a final conclusion, they must
present a poster or presentation with
pictures they took of their ride, a
description of the process and
whether or not they were able to stick
to their original plan.
of each of the transportation
systems discussed