Introduction

Skills Lab is a simple, collaborative learning teaching technique. Collaborative learning is when people work together in groups on a shared activity or task. It is easier said than done! Many things can go wrong that reduces the effectiveness of this approach.

• The participants could not work together, but simply sit together in a circle while individually completing the activity.
• The participants could spend too much time discussing and never complete the task.
• The participants could totally misunderstand the activity or lack the skills to complete it.

All these problems are solved by advanced knowledge of how to design a collaborative learning activity. As the teacher, you cannot control how your learners work together. But you can control what they work on! Advanced skills in designing the collaborative learning task ensures you set learners up to maximize their learning from groupwork.

Basic Approach: Activity Options

Advanced Approach: Neriage

Neriage is a Japanese word meaning: Discussion. It specifically refers to students discussing a question or completing a task that has multiple possible solutions. Every student group solves the same problem but comes up with their own unique answer.

Example Lesson Activities

In Summary, Neriage includes...

Set a problem for students to solve together in groups.

If the problem has one right answer, ensure learners can get to that answer in different ways.

If the problem has multiple right answers, ensure learners understand what makes them all correct.

Anticipate the different ways students might solve the problem when you plan the lesson.

In Skills Lab during PRESENT, compare and discuss the different solutions. Identify those solutions which are correct and those which reveal a misconception by the students.

In the end, summarize the lesson and the learning objective.

Quiz