Peer learning is group learning
When students collaborate in teams, teamwork is the way. It often includes peer-to-peer learning which means that, while during an ordinary class students listen to their teacher or their lecturer, in groups they can learn from their peers which erases the usual formality between the teacher and the students.
However good and solid the relationship between the latter two might be, the human psyche still perceives it as a superior-inferior relationship. This is why studying with another course- or classmates are the right solution; besides, in this manner, the class practically runs itself.
Why is groupwork useful?
Several academics fear to cede control to their students and therefore they are afraid to make their students work in groups. But there are important advantages that academics can get from making their students work in groups. Besides, this applies also to the collaboration between teachers and/or academics.
- The division of tasks.One can assign tasks to groups of students so that they can practice peer learning and at the same time learn something new. It does not only have to be the teacher lecturing in front of the class, but it can also be students working together to find a solution to a problem. The teacher can assign readings, research, or note-taking responsibilities to their students without any problem at all.
- Educatorsand/or teachers can also make their students exchange ideas through teamwork. This might be a good technique when it comes to discussions where critical analysis is involved. Students are more likely to exchange ideas and encouraged to tell what they think when they are among themselves. Also, some good and innovative ideas may bear from these group discussions.
Moreover, the exchange of ideas does not only apply to students, it might be something that also the educators and/or teachers themselves might practice. When honest and constructive, feedback between colleagues is always a good way to improve the lessons, including teaching and learning approaches. - Also, the skillsetcan be expanded through teamwork. When it comes to students, every each and one of them has their own set of skills that they are free to experiment with during their teamwork. But also, teachers and/or educators might help others with topics in which they are more experienced than their colleagues.
Collaboration between universities, colleges, and their staff
Moreover, when it comes to the workforce in a university or a college, they should collaborate as peers for a bigger goal: the return to normality after the global pandemic. Covid-19 crisis hit hard higher education institutions, and it is not easy to take it all up from where it left or from how it was before. Universities and colleges have to undergo a process of modernization to keep up with the current situation and this means that every part of their staff: from the educators to janitors has to collaborate.
The university and college complexes cannot be seen as divided into sub-areas such as the gym, the classrooms, administration offices, and the dormitory. They of course continue to exist as physically independent and/or divided sections but all of the people working there have to collaborate.
The better the teamwork, the easier the comeback and the coping with the new norms after the global pandemic crisis. This theory should then be applied to different universities worldwide. All universities and colleges should collaborate, also with other institutions, whether private or public, to ameliorate and prosper altogether after this difficult period of emergency.
ASOMI College of Sciences promotes collaborations as well as internships and common research between different universities. Moreover, the staff at ACS is collaborating daily by supporting one another to deliver the best college experience ever to its students.
