Deeper Learning and Collaborative Teaching and Learning

Video Transcription

Welcome. I'm Trisha Fyfe. And today I'm going to be guiding you through the lesson, "Deeper Learning and Collaborative Teaching and Learning." As we explore this topic, we will work toward several learning objectives. Together we will answer the questions, what is deeper learning? And how is deeper learning connected to collaborative teaching and learning?

Let's start with a definition of deeper learning. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation defined deeper learning as "A set of competencies students must master in order to develop a keen understanding of academic content in the classroom and on the job." Deeper learning entails helping our students not only master key academic content, but also apply and transfer their understanding and knowledge of the content to real-world situations.

One goal of deeper learning is for students to develop a better communication and collaboration skills, as well as critical thinking, and problem solving skills. All of these skills will be needed to function successfully in our society. Our role as teacher is to help develop students that will be competent communicators, collaborators, critical thinkers, and individuals that will thrive in work-related roles, as well as the college setting or higher-level academic environments.

So how does all of this connect to collaborative learning environments? Deeper learning and the collaborative learning environment have several things in common. They're both focused on working together collaboratively to solve real-world, authentic problems. Deeper learning and collaborative teaching and learning also requires students to use and better their 21st-century skills-- communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.

American Institutes for Research, or AIR, looked at deeper learning in the high school environment. Their report and press release from September of 2014 is available at www.air.org, and it's titled "High School Students Receiving Instruction Focused on Deeper Learning do Better in Math and English and Have Higher Graduation Rates than Their Peers." In this study, 22 high schools from 10 deeper learning networks in California and New York were studied. These schools all committed to deeper learning. 1,762 students were involved, all from diverse backgrounds.

The findings that were reached were that higher achievement in core academic areas or standardized tests were recognized. Students were more engaged and enable to problem solve. The rates of those enrolling in college were higher. And more of their students were graduating on time instead of graduating late. There were many, many positive impacts, but this study reported no negative impacts.

So let's review what we've learned today. We covered the following questions, what is deeper learning? And how is deeper learning connected to collaborative teaching and learning? We explored deeper learning and exactly what that looks like. Remember that deeper learning is a set of competencies that students need to master in order to develop a keen understanding of content, problem solving, communication, and collaboration.

We looked at the benefits of deeper learning and the connections to the collaborative teaching and learning environment. Both of these environments focus on working collaboratively to solve authentic, real-world problems. And they also both require students to use those 21st-century skills, the four C's-- communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. I also took you through a study and findings on deeper learning and how successful it was when used in high school classrooms in California and New York.

Now that you're more familiar with deeper learning and the relationship to collaborative learning, let's reflect. Have you experienced any of the benefits of deeper learning in your own education or observations of learning environments? Who can you collaborate with to enhance your students' ability to reach deeper learning?

Thanks for joining me today as we discuss the lesson, "Deeper Learning and Collaborative Teaching and Learning." I hope you found value in this video lesson and are able to apply these ideas to your own teaching in classrooms.

For more information on how to apply what you've learned in this video, please view the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. The additional resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource.