Page 15 - CBSE Cover Jan-March 2014_16-07-2014 FINAL

learn how to respond to the person with opposite ideas. Te students should be able to think in a creative manner, be able to solve problems and be able to arrive at decisions/ conclusions as a member of team. While working in groups, the students learn about diferent cultures and diferent persons and how to acknowledge the diferences of opinions. When questions are raised, there will be diferent responses from students. Every student may help the group to arrive at a result which shows wide perspectives and proves that it is more comprehensive. While many researchers are in favour of collaborative learning, some critics stress on problems about the vague objectives as well as poor expectations for accountability. Tey consider it an ‘avoidance of teaching’. Tey are of the view that the teacher will be escaping from her responsibility while dividing the class into small groups. Tey feel that this may result in more burden on intelligent students in the group. Te brilliant students do most of the work and they teach the weaker students. So the weaker students learn from the brilliant students and on the other hand, the brilliant students have very less to learn in this process. Collaborative learning may be more efective if the instructor takes teaching as a tool for developing as well as enhancing the ability of students to learn more from each other in a group. Te teacher should serve as a facilitator for learning. Te collaborative learning process motivates the students by getting them more actively engaged. It helps in promoting the development of critical thinking through discussion, evaluation of others' ideas and clarifcation of ideas. In a nutshell, the collaborative learning provides many advantages to teachers as well as learners. It results in intrinsic motivation of students and fosters students’ interest of learning together. January-March 2014 13