So I have been thinking for few days what should I write on topic 3 on collaborative learning? As we discussed in our group meetings on Zoom, one of the success factors in a collaborative learning setting is commitment and interest. We all have been in such settings where the enthusiasm to learn and collaborate together produces satisfactory results for all the participants. While I write this, I came to realise that I have used different, all positive, to some extent interchangeable, terms already: commitment, interest, enthusiasm. To me, if these things are missing from the onset, the whole collaborative learning process becomes more of a burden rather than a pleasant learning experience. So to me, the fundamental question is what affects one’s commitment, interest and enthusiasm? Well, in my view, there can be several motivations that make people committed, interested and enthusiastic. The top on my list is a genuine desire and intrigue to learn new things or to put in different words: add to ones knowledge about a topic. I can actually relate to this. The reason I opted to take this very course was that I wanted to add to my knowledge regarding digital ways to improve teaching. This desire makes one “compelled” to work towards meeting the goal of knowledge-addition; the group activities become value-adding and focussed (goal-oriented). There are obviously many other factors that play a part in affecting one’s commitment, enthusiasm and interest. As grown-ups, all of us are thinking of utilising the gained knowledge in some ways: for researchers like me, we are always on the look for new topics to write exciting proposals on, for teachers (again like me), we are wondering what is the best way to enhance our students’ collaborative learning experiences, for students, well, for smart students, they would like to utilise the gained knowledge for seeking exciting jobs in the future. Surprisingly, my raw and limited search for articles on individual’s motivation impacting the collaborative learning did not give me too many interesting results; rather a lot of research is done in the opposite direction: how collaborative learning impacts individual’s motivation. This has surprised me a little bit …
Topic 3 – Commitment, Interest & Enthusiasm: Essential Ingredients for Collaborative Learning?